Do Horses Bite?
This is the story of one of my weirdest experiences: being bitten by a horse (yup, seriously!), and its consequences.
After A/L exams, three of us (myself, Dhanushan, and Nirmal) decided to visit the tower of Ambuluwawa, in Gampola. The area surrounding the tower was full of stray horses, in groups, in pairs, and in every possible combination. Needless to say, we were making all kinds of horse jokes while arriving at the tower. Climbing the tower, on top of a tall mountain was an unforgettable experience, with the entire world below us and the wind rushing past us.
When we finally climbed down and prepared to leave, we encountered this lonely horse, standing calmly and quietly in a hall. With the photographer’s spirit rising within me, I took a couple of shots of the horse and told Dhanushan:
“I’ll go and stand with the horse, you take a photo of us.”
and I handed him the camera, walked up to the horse, stood by it, beaming ear-to-ear. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my right arm, and as I turned, the horse had a mouthful of my arm and kept tugging at it. I pulled it out instinctively and my first reaction was…. I began to laugh!!
“LOL, I’ve been bitten by a bloody damn horse!!!”
With myself laughing and two of my friends horrified at the scene (c’mon, who expects a horse to bite?), the famous horse, which has bitten Aba was still calm and quiet, looking down at its feet. We examined the wound and it began to bleed through marks of 5, 6 teeth.
Now, I had the ultimate problem, worse than the horse bite itself. As always, I haven’t told my parents I’m in Ambuluwawa. To avoid the hassle, I’ve told them I’m going to school that day, visiting a few teachers.
So, as always, I came up with a cover story. We have these “police grounds” near our school, and they used to train the police horses there. I told my home So, as always, I came up with a cover story. We have this police ground near our school, and they used to train the police horses there. So naturally, I came up with a story and told my home
“I was walking after school, minding my own business when a policeless police horse bit me.”
After some shouting & scolding for being so reckless, mom called the family doctor and told him the situation. He said:
"Well, I've treated dog bites and cat bites, I don’t know if horse can bite. You better take the Anti-Rabies-Vaccine (ARV) from general hospital"
So, I went by myself to the Kandy Teaching hospital’s ARV section, filled out forms, and sat in the line of people who had their dog bites. When my turn arrived, the nurse called my name, got me seated, filled the syringe with ARV, and asked casually :
“Putha, ballek’da kave?” (“Was it a dog?”)
“Na. Ashwaya” (“Nope. A horse”)
I had looked up the Sinhala word for a horse before arriving.
She was amazed! Probably I was the first such person in her service.
“Me balanna! Meyawa ashwaya kavalu!!!”
She was calling other nurses to introduce the horse-guy. With four-five nurses gathering around me now, one asked the other
“Deyyane!! ashwayo kanawada?” (OMG, do horses bite?)
“Danna ne. Harak kanawa ne?” (Dunno. Even cows bite right?)
I was staring at this crowd, wondering "Are these nurses gonna ask me for autographs now?”
After enjoying the brief celebrity moment, I was injected with the vaccine right on the wound with three-four syringes, which in fact hurt for a week, much more than the horse’s bite itself.
Being a cheapskate, I had selected the free vaccine, which had a slightly higher probability of allergic reaction. So I got admitted to a hospital for the first time in my life, thanks to the horse. They had to admit me for a few hours to verify that I have no allergies. I was released after 3 hours or so, after which I took a bus back home.
Thereafter, whenever I happen to tell this story to people, the first question they ask is (after having good laugh, course), Thereafter, whenever I happen to tell this story to people, the first question they ask is (after having a good laugh, of course), “Hahaha… What did you do to the horse?”
