I was participating in a 50 mile cross country horse race. I am a professional horse trainer and considered a "Expert" in this field. A person I know from the races (have known for about 5yrs) is known to be "reckless" and not the sharpest knife in the drawer put his young son (age 9?) on a mule and entered the race. This kid has raced in prior races with success. Rules of this sport say a Jr. Rider must have an adult with them during the race and with in so many feet. This was the case during this race. The jr rider was on the mule, dad was on his horse, they were riding together. I was in front and they wanted to go around (they were racing faster). I pulled over and we all STOPPED to rest and let horses nibble grass. Dad went by me on his horse at a safe distance, Jr. came by and just as he came by his mule got very aggressive, Jr lost control and was dumped off. Mule kicks at my horse in a very aggressive manner and ended up getting me directly in knee, shattering it in 8places. I was taken out of the race in ambulance and long story short have endured many surgeries, have not raced again and am told I need a complete knee replacement (I am 44yrs old) and will never ever be the same. I know for a fact as do others this mule has kicked and been aggresive in the past and people have come forward stating a jr rider should have never been allowed to ride the mule or enter it at all. I have lost my income from training, have $10,000's in medical bills, plus the everyday of horrific pain (my femur sits now directly on my knee cap). Since this happend the dad called me ONCE to say how sorry he was the "accident" happend and thats been it, no other communication what so ever. I signed a release stating I would not hold the race promoters liable (this is always done by entrants). I am in Calif, this happend last April, so the year is coming to a close pretty soon. What should I do? I'm going bankrupt here very quickly.

