Lynne Heller recovering from surgery

Lynne Heller, wife of Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., is resting at her Carson City home following surgery to repair a broken ankle.

She suffered the injury Wednesday while horseback riding above the water towers west of Carson City.

"I'm fine," she said. "I just don't want everybody worrying about me. My parents are on their way from L.A., and Dean's parents are here so I've got lots of help."

In fact, she said she ordered Dean to stay in Washington for the vote on the economic package.

"He said, 'I'm coming home,' and I said no you are not. This is one of the biggest votes in history."

He will return to Nevada after Congress adjourns this weekend, and she said she'll have him to wait on her for a full month.

She said she was riding a friend's horse to give it some exercise when the accident occurred.

She said she got off the horse to lead it across a creek with a small embankment on the other side.

"I've done this since I was a little kid with horses," she said. "You hold the end of the reins and jump across and they wait. Then you pull the reins and they jump.

"Well, I jumped and he literally jumped with me and hit me in the back. He knocked me down, and as he was kind of scrambling up the embankment, he stepped on my ankle."

The result: A broken fibula and torn tendons.

"He landed square on my leg."

She said fortunately, the horse didn't run off.

"That sweet horse stood there and let me kind of climb up the side of him."

Holding the ankle to protect it from further damage, she was able to ride back down the mountain and call for help.

Heller said Dr. Jack Davis, who performed the surgery, said her right leg should recover completely from the injury.

"It's just that I'm not going to be able to touch it to the ground for five weeks. It could have been much worse. He could have stepped on my head."

• Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.