In the city, you take it for granted that you can dial "9-1-1" and get a response. Out here in the country we don't have numbered street addresses, we have rural routes and they are rarely marked or posted. So you learn quickly to be careful on the farm--if you break an ankle stepping into an armadillo hole, some time is going to lapse before the ambulance/med evac gets to you or you get loaded into your truck by a relative or friend and take an hour long drive to the hospital.
Such was the case when our gelding, showing two other horses that he was The Dude, began to kick up his heels. My husband zigged when he should have zagged and went sailing out of the barn, skidding along the gravel and fetching up against a steel pipe fence post. Ow ow and ow again. We had fortuitously joined a local air evac unit and called them first, only to find out we had to call the local ambulance first, then call the air evac. Since he had nothing broken that we could see, he could walk shakily to the front yard, we opted to send him to the ER by ambulance. He was badly bruised and in pain, but he recovered within a couple of weeks.
We are both much wiser and aware around all of our large animals; you simply cannot take for granted that your "domesticated" buddy isn't going to act like a goober around other animals.
City to Country Lesson Learned: Watch your step, watch your critters, watch your butt!
