Bridge Collapse

Two days ago I took a friend out for an hour and a half hunt. He got two pheasants in two shots. I heard the first one from about a half mile away. I was right there for the second one, but I had forgotten my camera. I had a beautiful view of his two-year-old Shorthair holding a classy point, watched him shoot it, then the dog made a very nice retrieve. Sad that I missed the pictures.

The next day I took my dogs and the horse for a short evening hunt close to home. The whole team worked smoothly together. We got our one and only bird within the first 20 minutes. One point, one shot, nice retrieve.

Today I was again short on time so I saddled up for a trip just above our home. The dogs found some hot spots, made some good points, but nothing ever flew. On the way across the footbridge just across the street from our place the horse, with me on board, broke through the bridge

His front feet dropped four feet in an instant. I was pitched forward. The center of my chest hit the top of his head hard. I then flipped off onto the ground. In a couple lunges, he was up standing beside me.

I lay there for a second, then gasping for air I struggled to my feet. I checked him for blood. All I found was a little extra pink on his tongue. When I took the bit out of his mouth back at the barn 10 minutes later, the center of it had some blood on it. He is eating fine. My guess is that he bit his tongue. My chest is real sore, but I can breath OK as long as it is not too deep. 



The Brittany was solid, while the Shorthair wasn't sure. As it turned out the Shorthair was right.






That is my barn roof in the right foreground. What a beautiful day!

 


This is Farmington against the Idaho hills. The state line is the water tower running center right.




The bridge where the bay fell. Reconstruction starts tomorrow.