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Dangerous hobbies
Aug. 19th, 2008 12:37 pmDon't know what happened yet, but ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sixtine's accident is giving me pause for thought.
In the relatively short time I've been riding, I've had two falls. Perhaps if I'd been a better rider, the falls could have been avoided, but more experienced people who were there seem to think not. In the second, I landed on my left hip which is still uncomfortable after three months. The first, on holiday last year, ultimately resulted up in removal of cracked molar out under general anaesthetic after six months of pain and aggravation.
With these things there's a calculation based on benefit versus risk, with risk being a product of impact (sic!) and probability*. This is why I don't have a motorcycle anymore, after riding one daily for about fifteen years; the roads are so crowded that the fun is not enough to outweigh the chances of becoming raspberry jam. Long gone are the days of blatting down that stretch of the A1 from Biggleswade to Letchworth at speeds of over 120mph.
The consultant dental surgeon wrote me a lovely letter after it was all done pointing out that he gets many more patients from riding accidents than motorcycling accidents, and asking me to be careful.
On the other hand, we rode absolutely darling Icelandic horses on holiday. Sweet, good-natured, much given to nuzzling, and little. I felt safe, in contrast to being high up (further to fall...) on the horses at the local riding stables which are big enough to carry me. I'd like to ride Icelandics in the UK - two possibilities are in Dorset and Cumbria. None locally, however!
Mongolian horses are little, too.
Still thinking.
* Yeah, and 'proximity' for the pedants, but that's not relevant here.
sixtine's accident is giving me pause for thought. In the relatively short time I've been riding, I've had two falls. Perhaps if I'd been a better rider, the falls could have been avoided, but more experienced people who were there seem to think not. In the second, I landed on my left hip which is still uncomfortable after three months. The first, on holiday last year, ultimately resulted up in removal of cracked molar out under general anaesthetic after six months of pain and aggravation.
With these things there's a calculation based on benefit versus risk, with risk being a product of impact (sic!) and probability*. This is why I don't have a motorcycle anymore, after riding one daily for about fifteen years; the roads are so crowded that the fun is not enough to outweigh the chances of becoming raspberry jam. Long gone are the days of blatting down that stretch of the A1 from Biggleswade to Letchworth at speeds of over 120mph.
The consultant dental surgeon wrote me a lovely letter after it was all done pointing out that he gets many more patients from riding accidents than motorcycling accidents, and asking me to be careful.
On the other hand, we rode absolutely darling Icelandic horses on holiday. Sweet, good-natured, much given to nuzzling, and little. I felt safe, in contrast to being high up (further to fall...) on the horses at the local riding stables which are big enough to carry me. I'd like to ride Icelandics in the UK - two possibilities are in Dorset and Cumbria. None locally, however!
Mongolian horses are little, too.
Still thinking.
* Yeah, and 'proximity' for the pedants, but that's not relevant here.
