October 28 2015
Ride managers Steph Teeter and Regina Rose have designated proceeds from the Owyhee Hallowed Weenies ride, on October 31, 2015, in Oreana, Idaho, to go to northwest endurance rider Julia Corbin, who was injured in a horse accident in September.
"We've all been there, or been close..." Teeter said.
Corbin explained her situation:
On September 26, 2015 I was at an endurance ride, just going for a trail ride with friends. On our way back from our trail ride, A rider who was in the competition, came galloping up on our horses and failed to listen or heed to our verbal warnings and slow down gestures, and spooked our horses. My horse reared and stumbled over backwards on top of me, breaking my pelvis in the process. Luckily we were in cell service and we could get a call out to get me life flighted to the trauma center. Certainly it could have been much much worse and I am eternally grateful that it was not. And that no other riders or horses were involved.
Currently I am unable to walk. I am bound to a wheelchair. I can stand on one leg with the assistance of a walker. Idaho does not offer short-term disability and I do not qualify for any unemployment.
I have not had a clear diagnosis as to where and how badly my pelvis is broken. I do know that I have a very large bone chip off of my pelvic symphysis. I am trying to get a team of doctors to me figure out exactly what I need to be doing and what I need to not be doing in order to heal properly so that not only can I ride in the coming year but so that I can ride well in the next 50 years. Like any horse person can relate, I need to know about stall rest, and hand walking, turn out, and cold hosing lol!
I absolutely live to ride and to be confined to a chair and not be able to just sit on a horse is absolutely crushing to me. But I need as much love and support as I can get as I go through this process. I have never been through anything more physically demanding nor mentally taxing and I am struggling. I'm asking for support for my medical expenses BUT mostly to ensure my horses always have a safe place to live and are able to be provided for properly. And if something should happen to them, I would be able to ensure their health.
This next part is very hard for me to write because I have kept this part of my life a secret to many of my friends and much of my family.
In March 2015 I went to the ER very ill thinking I had pneumonia. My lymph nodes, spleen, and liver were extremely enlarged to the point where you could not feel my lower ribs and I had no definition to my waist. Through x-rays and ultrasounds and CT scans we found out that my lymph nodes were numerous and abnormally enlarged. I tested positive and was diagnosed with Mononucleosis. It wrecked absolute havoc on my body and left me very weak. I was also diagnosed with possibly having lymphoma. I also found out I have a very large ovarian cyst that needs to be surgically removed. I was hoping it got smooshed in the accident, but alas my luck was needed elsewhere :) It is larger than my uterus and could possibly compromise my future fertility. Months have gone by playing the waiting game to see if my lymph nodes will continue to reduce in size and they have not. Living in cancer limbo is no fun at all. I need to have my lymph nodes biopsied and my ovarian cyst removed.
One of THE most important things for me to be able to produce from this is rider education, so that equestrians in the sport of endurance, understand that trail etiquette is not just for the safety of your own horse, but the actions you take in a split second can change the life of someone else permanently and in a very terrible way. And most of these actions are easy to do! Slow down! Don't run up on horses whether or not they have ribbons in their tail! Talk to your fellow riders, ensure their safety as well as yours, and treat them as though you would wish to be treated yourself. I am absolutely not looking to point fingers or put the blame on anyone, Shit happens, but at the same time some future shit can be prevented by others learning from my accident.
In the Endurance world the motto is "To Finish Is To Win" To me that is the shortened version of "TO FINISH (Knowing You Did All You Could To Help And Assist Your Equine Partner, Yourself, And Your Fellow Competitors Without Hesitation Through To Completion) IS TO WIN"
Corbin's Gofundme campaign is here:
https://www.gofundme.com/8h77wjw2
Come ride or help at the Owyhee Hallowed Weenies ride:
http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2015OwyheeHallowedWeenies/
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