Riding horses may be how Chad Ormsby makes his living, but it is riding bulls that is his biggest passion.
That passion took him north to compete in a rodeo near Whangarei over the weekend where he was involved in an incident that resulted in a broken leg and a trip to Waikato Hospital for surgery.
“It is a bit unfortunate, but it is the game we play. The way it was broken was a bit unlucky,” Ormsby said.
“In the chute where we come out of on the bull, instead of coming out right through the middle of the gate, the gate opened too fast and he ran into the post with my leg in-between him and the post. Only one thing was going to give there and that was my leg.”
Ormsby said he heard a crack upon impact with the post, but soon realised it was his leg where the sound had come from.
“If the bull hits the post you can get a re-ride,” he said. “But by the time I hit the ground I realised the crack wasn’t just the post, it was my leg.
“I got myself to hospital and the x-ray had shown I have broken my leg in the exact same place before. I travelled to Waikato Hospital on Sunday and had surgery this morning to put a pin in it.
“I haven’t had an update yet, but going from last time it (recovery) is anywhere between six to 10 weeks. If things go well, hopefully we are at the six-week mark.”
While it is the peak of the rodeo circuit, Ormsby is also busy with his day job running Riverrock Farm and he is hoping to get discharged from hospital in order to watch over his team at the Matamata trials on Tuesday.
“I am hoping to get discharged tonight (Monday), because we have a bunch of horses trialling tomorrow and I would like to watch them go around, including Moana,” he said.
Photo: Trish Dunell
“She is going to have a trial before she goes to Wellington.”
Ormsby said the three-year-old daughter of Ocean Park has been working well since her third-placing in the Gr.2 Eight Carat Classic (1600m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day and he is looking forward to targeting the Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m) at Trentham on Saturday with the filly.
“She has been great since her last start,” he said. “She just keeps on improving and I can’t fault her. We are going to head to the trials for a hit-out to tighten her up for the Group One on Saturday.”
Ormsby is also intent on trying to get around to many of the stud farms over the next week in order to complete yearling inspections ahead of New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sales. “I will still try and get to the on-farm parades and get as many done as we can before the sales,” he said.