Republican Congressman Kicked By Horse, Gets Right Back To Work

If the “Tennessee Tough” mantra was ever in doubt, one House Republican just made a strong case for why people from the Volunteer State are no pushovers.

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) and his team announced on Tuesday that the congressman was kicked by a horse over the weekend and not only lived to tell the tale, but has been keeping up with his August recess plans despite a broken rib.

“While working on his farm over the weekend, Congressman Burchett was accidentally kicked by a horse. He suffered a broken rib and bruising but hasn’t missed a beat,” Burchett’s office said in a statement. “He spoke in Maury County last night and has a full slate of district events throughout the week. There have been no changes to his schedule.”

Burchett, who joined Congress in 2019 after serving eight years as mayor of Knox County, shared further details in a post on X.

“Since everyone is asking, here’s the deal: On Sunday, I was kicked by a horse. Broke a rib. He didn’t like being bit by that horse fly, and my rib was collateral damage,” Burchett said. “On Monday, I traveled 3.5 hours to middle Tennessee. Attended 3 events. Got back to the farm at 2:30am. Today, I was awake by 6am. Traveled to Campbell County. Attended 2 events. It’s going to take more than a broken rib to slow me down. I sincerely appreciate everyone’s concern and prayers for a quick recovery. Pray for our country.”

Over the past 24 hours, before news of the horse kick emerged, Burchett published to X some photos of himself participating in a meeting with the Maury County Republican Party and videos providing updates after the events in Campbell County, among other posts.

Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram posted on X that Burchett told him the horse kicked him in the chest “with both hooves” and later was informed by a doctor that he is lucky because the damage would have been a problem “had it been an inch-and-a-half higher.” He also reported that Burchett joked, “I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a tattoo.”