On A Wing And Prayer

This one knocked me back a few pegs.

It sort of felt like being thrown out of a moving car and then having an elephant dropped on top of me.

Rod Shepherd asked why I decided to dive into the pool when it was empty. Stuart and Daniela just looked on in disbelief at what they described as a “freak thing” when the horse dropped a leg midair for some odd reason. I am glad I didn’t see it. For me, it was just another fall (albeit one that left me seeing Tweety Birds and shooting stars throughout the seemingly endless ambulance trip to the lovely Putra Medical Centre). It was only on hearing about it afterwards from those who watched in horror that I realized how frightening it might have been.

My surgeon, Dr. Benjamin Chow, described my collarbone as shattered and comminuted. “Shattered” is nearly onomatopoetic; “comminuted” I had to look up: “Comminuted bone, as in crushed; comminuted material, which has been pulverized …” Nice. One of his reports went on to say that the “prominent fracture end almost impinged upon the skin” (“Impinge”, by one definition, means “to come into violent contact with”). I think my point of greatest concern (apart from when the elephant was sitting on my chest) came when the airplane hit terra firma in Hong Kong rather abruptly and I feared that impingement might in fact be imminent!

But enough of all that, I am well on the mend and a-OK!

What was I just saying (in my last blog entry) about seeing the positives despite any outcome … well thank Christ I didn’t end up in any more serious trouble! I am fine. Bones heal. And it seems they can heal remarkably quickly … my three hours of surgery ended around midnight last Tuesday and Dr. Chow sent a physiotherapist to my hospital room just after noon the following day. I nearly belted him one when he mentioned physio (my thinking being: “I will sit here in this bed and not move a muscle, thank you very much”), but sure enough the stick-wielding physiotherapist marched in and got me “flexing” and “abducting” my shoulder from the outset. And thanks to Dr. Chow, here I am back at the computer writing this blog – pain free – albeit with a metal plate and a bunch of screws in my collarbone (see photo).

I can’t yet bear weight (which is exactly what our 5-month old little boy is packing on), so it is torture not to be able to pick him up. And I continue to torment myself with why I opted to get on a horse other then my own when I had things so carefully orchestrated in the run up to the final SEA League World Cup qualifier of the season … but as every riding coach has ever exclaimed, “eyes up and look ahead” … there’s no use in looking back.

Finally, I would like to end this rather random stream of consciousness with a quick plug for GPA helmets … I am now a true believer and lifelong customer and I thank my lucky stars every day for my SpeedAir.

Hope to see you all at the KL Grand Prix!

“That’s what makes a horse race” (11 August 2009)

I have a bottomless ability to find the positives despite any outcome. And I love to root for the underdog (especially when that’s me).

When I began to pen this blog entry on the flight back to Hong Kong from KL after Sunday’s second SEA League World Cup qualifier, I wrote: “that’s what makes a horse race” … meaning, obviously, that there may be a favorite, even an odds-on favorite, but anyone can win in a horse race. Then I read Pete’s article: “Qabil crowned SEA World Cup League Champion” and my hopes were dashed. But it was (and still is) my understanding that with only three qualifiers in this years SEA League series that all three results will count toward World Cup Final qualification.

So not to be controversial on Pete’s own website, and not to take anything away from Qabil’s unequivocal success thus far into the series (a wholehearted congratulations to our clear front runner), why doesn’t everyone humour me and let me carry on thinking that I’ve still got a shot – albeit a long shot.

This being my fifth consecutive year competing in the SEA League World Cup qualifiers – and my most consistent series of starts so far – I am really enjoying the ride.  Though I do hate it when there is no jump-off, and I am still kicking myself for letting that single rail fall on Sunday.

But hey, we can always torture ourselves with what might have been: ‘What if I had been 1 second faster? Why didn’t I give Luc a better ride? What if, what if, what if … ?’  We show jumpers (as well as a lot of other athletes out there) love to whine about the unfairness of it all … If we all had a dollar for every time we have said (or thought): “if only I hadn’t had that rail, if only I had turned a bit tighter, cut a stride out, not cut that stride out, etc., etc., etc.” well then we would all be wealthy indeed.

But no excuses and no regrets!

I believe, over the long run, that credit usually lands where credit is deserved. Luck gives and luck takes and sometimes it does all seem unfair, but somehow it evens out in the end. The clock doesn’t lie and the record speaks for itself. So full credit to Qabil again for giving us the only clear round on Sunday.

Of course it was a costly 4 faults for me when Luxor tapped the second (and second easiest) fence on the course. I know there was a visible grimace of disgust on my face when I heard that rail waft to the floor. But in terms of the overall point standings, it was an even costlier 1-second on the clock. With Akkara and his ever able mare Celine also jumping around for 4 faults but 1 second faster, that relegated Luxor and me to 3rd place and put Qabil a formidable 8 points ahead in the overall standings.

But as they say, its not over till the fat lady sings. So come on out and watch the fun unfold at the final qualifier on the 16th of August. It is indeed a long shot, but I must confess that I would really love to be the singing fat lady!

Some photos from the first two qualifiers of the 2009 SEA League World Cup series …

Yours Truly w/ Luxor and Mary Kate w/ Jasper … a 1-2 for Hong Kong in the 1.40m Accumulator class on Saturday, August 8

Welcome back, Jasper!

Luxor 91

Luc Skywalker

It’s great to be back in the saddle again!

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder.  And I do find that each time I take a break from riding I come back appreciating it all the more (and somehow with more confidence and maturity … a.k.a. age?). When I graduated from High School, in Portland Oregon in (ugh) 1988, it was strongly implied by my parents that so too was it time for me to graduate from horses, i.e., they were not going to foot the bills any longer. And so in the years that followed I took a long hiatus from competitive riding to attend Skidmore College (in scenic Saratoga Springs, NY) and then Columbia University (in New York City’s Morningside Heights), and then I chased a career in international business development. That landed me in Hong Kong and what I thought was the unlikeliest place to get back into riding, but the rest, as they say, is history. I have now been competing for Hong Kong in show jumping since 2001. read more »