<p>We are guitarists and show jumpers in this family. Not a contact sport, but finger injuries are common-- my dad shattered the bones in his fingers when his horse refused a jump and he got thrown forward into the horse’s neck. It’s a disappointment when something like that happens, its much harder for my dad to play now, but nobody is discouraged from doing both. If guitar was our bread and butter it might be different, but we see no reason to kill one hobby for another. My dad is an extremely talented guitarist who could do professional work if he wanted to, but he’s just not that kind of musician, he’s passionate but it’s not his day job. In that case I don’t see why you would force someone to limit themselves if they wanted to do both.</p>
<p>I also do alto-sax and have done show jumping, figure skating, karate, soccer, basketball, softball, hockey-- you name it, if it’s available for girls I’ve probably done it, and probably injured my hands in the process. Personally I think they made me better at my instrument, because I really have bad hands to begin with and they need to be used in as many ways as possible to remain functional. But I was never more than a hobbyist, either.</p>
<p>Worth noting: I fell on my face on the stairs a few weeks ago and hurt my hands, sprained both wrists and both ankles, and messed up a knee, an elbow, and a shoulder. Haven’t been able to type as much as I normally do, which is a problem for the work I do. Were I still doing some kind of physical sport maybe my balance would have been a little better and this could have been prevented. :P</p>