Kicking Bear asked:
For example: I was riding my mare down a hill one morning. We were zig-zagging our way down when she slipped and fell. I was able to clear my leg from under her, but when we hit the ground I took a moment to catch my breath and look to see where she was. While I did that my mare stood up and promptly fell again. This time the point of her hip went into the small of my back and caused some significant kidney damage. It really hurt and sometimes still does, but I learned that when you hit the ground – for whatever reason – you get the heck out of the way because you can never be sure of what your horse will do. Other great injuries have included:
3 broken toes = steel toed shoes and horses don’t mix
torsion of a testicle = whenever possible, you a saddle with no horn to teach a horse to canter.
destroyed right knee = have patience and set small goals
2 broken wrists = falling is just as much a skill as riding!
There have been a lot more, but what are some of yours?
James
For example: I was riding my mare down a hill one morning. We were zig-zagging our way down when she slipped and fell. I was able to clear my leg from under her, but when we hit the ground I took a moment to catch my breath and look to see where she was. While I did that my mare stood up and promptly fell again. This time the point of her hip went into the small of my back and caused some significant kidney damage. It really hurt and sometimes still does, but I learned that when you hit the ground – for whatever reason – you get the heck out of the way because you can never be sure of what your horse will do. Other great injuries have included:
3 broken toes = steel toed shoes and horses don’t mix
torsion of a testicle = whenever possible, you a saddle with no horn to teach a horse to canter.
destroyed right knee = have patience and set small goals
2 broken wrists = falling is just as much a skill as riding!
There have been a lot more, but what are some of yours?
James
Megan
My husband had a green broke horse. He kept aggarvating me one day wanting me to get on it and let me lead me arround. I finally gave in and got on the horse. Next thing I knew the saddle slipped,I ended up flat on my back on the hard ground. ended up at the emergency room. Spent a week in bed barley able to move. What I learned from all this is to check the saddle for yourself to be sure it is sinched tight.
Mary
my most memorable horse accident would be letting my ex put the saddle on and not double checking and it twisting off while the both of us were double riding together and falling off the horse Thank goodness we were going extremely slow cuz we were waiting for a group of people!. What did I learn, if I want things done right I need to do them my self!!
Madeline
At a family reunion my cousin I were riding bare back, we went around a bend faster than we should’ve when we fell off, I fell on his arm and broke it. He spent the rest of the summer in a cast. That was 30 years ago and still they bring it up when ever we get together.
Joseph
i’ve never been seriously hurt but i was pole bending for the first time on my new horse and the poles weren’t set well. anyways, i was going pretty fast and a pole in front fell. my horse transitioned from a canter to a back, so i flew back! i was okay but the wind was knocked outta me. it coulda been a lot worse, though! the pole was big and heavy and coulda hit my head! i learned no to take things with my horse too fast.
this is not my personal experience but today i was at a show and a lady put a young child on a really hard horse to handle, which was really stupid. only the trainer should really ride and control that horse, but the trainer but her up anyway. anyway, the horse was really outta control and the girl fell and was okay but fell near a fence. if the horse was any closer to the railing, the girl would have been thrown into the hard metal poles. how stupid is that?
Nevaeh
Long story short… Riding a 3 yr old mare, stallions freaking out in the next field. Mare freaks out too. Safety stirrups do their job but the problem is im STILL ON THE HORSE– now stirrup less.. Reins fly over the horses head, horse breaks them. Horse decideds to jump the jumps. Then buck me onto a standard… Broke 2 ribs, ripped my breeches in half literally, concussion and 12 stitches =)
I learned that helmets are really important to wear no matter how experienced you are because If i wasn’t wearing a helmet i would have gotten a lot of brain damage and may not even be mobile today.
Alexander
Training a young mare who liked to jump from 10 feet in-front.She was doing fabulous during a schooling session so I let the rein out anout 1/2 an inch, she went 6 feet in the air I hit my face, fell off, cracked my rib got stepped on and bounced a few feet. Lmao it was crazy. I still lov ethe mare and she is a wonderful horse now.
Mollie
worst accident i ever had everything that could have went wrong did. a friend was riding by on her mare and i rode up near her to holler at her to wait a minute as i was not yet ready to go on the trail.( this was on a country road, not even 3 houses down from the trail) well, i tried to turn my mare to head back to the barn to grab a few things, and my mare decided she really didnt want to go back, so she leaped the drainage ditch (you kow the kind.. way out in the county the car eating variety) upon landing she bucked, the cinch broke, saddle went sideways (thank you back cinch) at the same time her back end hit the ground she decides to leap like a racehorse out of a starting gate towards the barn, i lost the reins when the cinch broke, she stepped on them and broke the bridle at the chicago screw holes, whole thing went flying. i went flying off the mare into the gravel driveway. knocked myself out cold. well, at the end of it i had a concussion, a cracked rib, 3 bruised ribs, and a slew of road rash from my butt all the way around my front to the opposite hip plus a whole lot of cuts and punctures from the mulch and gravel. lesson being..check your tack each time you ride and if it isn’t your tack ( this wasn’t mine) check it too. and wear your helmet.
Kyle
I have fallen A LOT. But my worst one was when my horse got excited on a trail ride. He bucked really high and hard and I was leaning forward a little because we were about to go up a hill so I wasn’t ready for him to do that! I wasn’t mad at him one bit because he is the cutest little pony =) and didnt know. I had to go to the hospital and I laserated my spleen in 2 places. I was internaly bleeding a little but not bad enough to have surgery. And i got a CT scan and they said I was fine on the day of the fall. So I went home took about 4-5 ibuprofens for the pain. Then the next morning I went to a show and got champion in my hunter divison (3’6)! A lot of people think it wouldnt hurt, but if the spleen is injured, what it does is grabs other nerves like your left shoulder and make it very painful! Then the day of the show, the hospital called back and I had to go back to only find out I rode in a horse show while bleeding internally with a laserated spleen.
~The horse I rode was very quiet, he had hte ocasional spook but nothing bad to a point of a fall. In fact they used him as a beginner lesson horse and a confidence builder for kids who needed it. It just proves that ALL horses are unpredictable and can do anything! I also learned how show in pain! lol
Megan
My wonderful horse was the most well-behaved animal that ever lived, so we didn’t have too many problems, but we did have a few accidents…
Once we were with a group of other riders and a huge horse took exception to how close we were to him. He gave a mighty KICK and of course my horse turned away to avoid it – and the kick landed squarely on my shin. Can you say OUCH!! It knocked me right out of the saddle! Somehow I landed on my feet and my leg wasn’t broken, but I sure became more careful about getting too close to the back end of a horse!
I loved to gallop and trusted my horse completely…but twice he tripped and SOMERSAULTED. It’s quite an experience going heels over head on a horse! We were SO lucky — we weren’t really hurt either time.
The first time he tripped in a groundhog hole — and I learned to WALK a trail first to find any holes and then gallop. I landed in some tall grass without even a bruise and he was fine too.
The second time he tripped over a big rock… There was nothing to be done about that, we were on a familiar trail and he just mis-stepped. Accidents do happen. That time I fell really hard and it knocked the breath out of me (HIGHLY unpleasant!). I was SO sore all over the next day, but I wasn’t injured. My horse got a tiny cut on his forehead when he fell. As I said, we were SO lucky!
Daniel
My mare’s age at the time: 4 and half.
My age at the time: 11 years old.
Just bought my mare that October.
When: Decemeber 29, 1996.
My step dad, step sister, a friend of ours (former trainer) and few others was out riding with us on a trail. We are about 2 miles from the stables (where we used to board) near a major park. My mom stayed at the stables to relax, read paper etc.
It was raining that day. My mare begin to act up and want to head back home. I wouldn’t allow it and pushed her forward to keep up. I was a beginer rider still. My mare reared up, I with out thinking, pulled on the reins and due to the mud and that, she slipped and fail ontop of me on my left side.
The medics said that if the saddle horn was only 2 more inches more, it would of hit me straight in the head. I would of been dead most likely.
I blacked out and awoke to firefighters and paramedics putting me in the ambulance. While that, I watched my step sister and former trainer (Chris: A girl) walk my horse and my step dad’s horse back as my step dad rode with me to the hospital.
My mom getting the news, rushed to the hospital after she seen everyone come back to the stables pony’n and me not there. She thought my step dad had a heart attack as he complained of chest pains. But she was really scared after everyone saying abby fail on me.
Doctor thought I had a broke back but after x-rays. I had 2 breaks in my left pelvic, two broken ribs, colasp lung and spinal injury.
I went home a week later under direction to not walk (have to be carried if not wheel chair) and not allowed to ride for quite a few months after therapy says I am ready to get back on.
B.S! I hobbled by pushing myself from one side of the wall to the next to the restroom and I got back on my mare 2 months by lying to my very first trainer (who I got the love of barrel racing from) saying I could.
I think that is why I got a third break in my pelvic, but eh, oh well. That wasn’t as bad as my mom finding out I rode…..boy was she mad lol.
Not a week later my step dad was on his Mounted Sherrif Serach and Rescue training (family can attend on this one) and my mom rode my mare and step dad rode his horse. i was told to stay behind. heck no! I wanted ro ride damit. so I followed, tears and all until they turned around to pick me up and I rode double on my step dad’s big TB. (who has boney hips and ride might I add).
the hospital social worker told my mom to not sell my mare (as my mom was going to do) as I needed her to heal. The social worker was right. If my mom would of sold my mare, i wouldn’t have the oppurtunity to get back on and I had potential to develop a fear.
I am all for dusting off and getting back on. After the accident, my mare and I went through some intense trainings and bonding.
I got many other injuries: When my gelding was born, we took him and my mare to the stables we breed her at to show the stud’s owner how wonderful his stallion produced. The owner left the stallion in the arena and didn’t warn us. My mare freaked, pulled back on the trailor as I was tying her up with the lead rope. My hand slip through the small opening on the trailor with rope twisted around it. More she pulled back, tighter it got and worse condition my hand got.
By time I got undone from that, I had no skin on the top or palm of my left hand, my thumb and finger next to that nails where ripped off and my pinki was noticably broken. Hurt like hell……and bad thing was, we didn’t go directly to hospital as we had to quickly load the horses, drop them off with the trailor and then go to the hospital to sit for 2 hours before I got seen……..
I had neck injuries with an 8 year old green broke, but nothing really to be hospitalized. Just hurt for awhile.
The typical kicked, bitten, ran over (my fault as I slip from the saddle while doing barrels) and thrown into things.
I have not been thrown in gesh, over 4 years now. I think all those previously where
Alexis
hmmm, theres been many, idk… but maybe this one….
i was canter towards a two foot vertical on this horse… he was NOT known as a quitter but this time he slammed on the brakes one inch from take off and i went over his head, over the jump, over several feet of areana, and landed on my shoulder/neck. I got back up, albeit shaky, and got on, and rode that jump…. i learned you never quit even if your horse does!LOL! (i was about 9 or 10)
Makayla
Selling my second horse was my most memorable accident. I learned never to over estimate my riding skills and send a great horse down the road. Tried to buy him back 3 times, but he was so wonderful the ne owners loved him and wouldn’t sell him back to me.
I now have 2 wonderful horses once again — 1 of which I was faced with the possibility of selling, but I am happy to be able to keep her, and now,they’re not going anywhere.
Cameron
I have learned many over the years. I had this one instructor who was not only strict, disciplined but crazy. During one riding class she said my hands were moving way too much, I was not using enough leg(too much hand) and the big show was coming up in 2 days so she needed to do something radical. well the crazy b**** tied my hands with bailing twine to the saddle. Well my horse at the time was young and a little crazy. Everything went okay until the horse spooked and bolted. Problem my hands were tied in place and Ihad no control. Even the split rail fence did not stop him. He was a jumper and that was what he was trained to do, so jumped the fence and kept on going. I thought I was dead for sure. After a good mile of a strong run, alot of praying I managed to untie my hands and stop the horse. Lesson NEVER ride for a NUT!
Never push an inexeperienced, took a young horse to a show which he was not ready for, ended up going thru a mirror in the warm up ring.
Avoid if possible going near a hornets nest and if you do pray it is near a body of water.
regardless of everything and anything a horse is still an animal, no matter how calm how tame they are they can always be spooked and if you are not leary you can get very hurt.
Ian
I had a 4 year old horse that had never shown any signs of spooking at anything before. He acted like he was 20 years old instead of 4. I was saddlin him up one winter evening, and it was kind of windy, but nothin new for Oklahoma. I guess a branch had hit the barn (it’s tin) and I didn’t have him tied up, because I’ve had a horse break a board doin that. He bolted out the door though, and me being stupid, kept a hold of the rope. I got drug on my feet for about 10 foot, then I got him stopped. He looked back, and I guess he thought that whatever hit the barn had a hold of him, so he kicked. I was at the very end of the lead, so I got the worst of the kick too. He hit me in the face under my left eye and on my nose. Broke my nose in 3 places. Lesson: either tie the horse or let go of the lead rope.
Matthew
I was in my lesson and we were on a trail ride. My horse was getting really excited, but I kept him under control and we went on. We came to a creek, and my horse was having a ton of fun splashing with his hooves. He finally calmed down enough to lean over to drink, and one of his feet sank forward into some soft ground. We were on a bit of a slope, so the saddle slipped forward and I was dumped right into the creek! I was soaked, and now I always get my horse off the slope before he drinks!
Wyatt
I’ve only had a horse for about two months but when i rode her for the first time at my house i had my experienced friend and a friend from down the road at my house with me. I was riding her down the trail, enjoying the fact that i had a horse when she began to canter down the trail. I tried to stop her but she went right through the bit and whipped into a side trail. at that moment, i knew i was going to fall off so i took my left foot from the sturrup. When she got back to the main trail she took a quick turn to the left and i fell off. My friends said all they saw was this bright red helmet go down. My experienced friend went after the horse (who stuck around) and my other friend came and helped up. It hurt really bad because i had landed on my hip and i cried/laughed (mostly cried) i was really mad at my new horse but my friend made me get back on her and practice simply walking and stopping her. It took me a long time to get me to trust her to even trot and only two months later i’m perfecting her canter. I learned that you can’t let a horse have its way. About four or five weeks later i fell again, got up, brushed myself off said you think that’s going to keep me off of you and got back on. She hasn’t tried whipping me off since. She and i learned a lesson (but i also learned how to forgive my horse and apologize for being angry!)