# Whats your scariest riding moment?



## pheobe111 (Feb 18, 2019)

hi!

so im mostly just interested to hear what people have considered is their most “scariest” riding moment, whether out on a trail or in a ring. Mine would have to be i was trail riding and since we had a recent hurricane, a lot of trees were knocked down. Well we came across a fallen tree that wed have to go around and we had a lot of beavers in the area so a lot of the trees were gnawed off with a jagged point. in order to get around the tree we had to climb up this relatively sleep slope around the jagged trees. On the way down, i think my horse accidentally stepped on a flat rock and slipped and we both ended up sliding down the hill on our sides with my foot still caught in the stirrup. we managed to dodge every tree stump or sharp object which i consider a miracle. We were both okay except i had a bit of scrapes and bruises.

Whats yours?


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Riding on a snowy trail; fresh snow, but under the few fresh inches was sheer ice. My horse fell on the ice while I was in the saddle. I rolled off and was fine. She was stuck on the ice for what seemed like an eternity, scrambling to get up, before I managed to pull her front half off the trail onto more solid ground and she was able to get her feet under her and stand again. Fortunately we were close to the barn, so walked home unhurt if shaken.


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## Caledonian (Nov 27, 2016)

Three moments have stuck with me.

The first one was hitting the top log on the second fence of a double going downhill. We didn't get high enough and she somersaulted over the solid fence. I knew i was going to hit the ground by her shoulder, and there was a good chance that she'd land on top of me. I did everything i could to get out of the way, which probably wasn't very much. I still don't know how we missed each other but, luckily, she landed further away and scrambled up. Although I wasn't on my feet as quickly, we weren't injured. 

The second was when i was leading a trail ride full of beginners. When one got into trouble i dismounted to help her and her leader but my young horse decided that this would be a great time to spook and he turned and lashed out with both feet. I was hit over my heart and ribs. I can remember being lifted off the ground and then lying on my back trying to get air into my lungs, thinking 'this can't be good!'. I can still see the faces of the other riders as they tried to help me. 

The third was when i was leading a trail ride home. Close to the yard, there was a dark and narrow stretch of road, that looked like a tunnel because of thick bushes and trees. As we rode along, a huge double-decker bus suddenly appeared over the hill and hurtled towards us in the middle of the road. The bushes and trees were blowing about and the air swirling with its speed, which terrified the young horse i was riding (same one as above). He jumped in the air, froze, then started panicking. I decided that i needed both hands to control him rather than trying to signal the bus to slow down. I thought he was going to take us in front of the bus but, as it flew past, he went sideways into a ditch in the grass verge. He remained terrified of large traffic for the rest of his life and was killed when he spooked at a bus passing his field.


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## kewpalace (Jul 17, 2013)

I was showing in versatility and doing the trail course. Part of the obstacles included roping a dummy cow, so I had my rope on my saddle. Another obstacle was getting the mail out of a mailbox. The mailbox was on a wooden stand that was not anchored to anything. My Arab mare was a rock star on a trail course and got right up next to the mail box. I opened it, got the letter out, waved it around, put it back and closed the door and went to move off and the mail box came with us ... my rope had gotten around the door.

My mare went ballistic with this thing following her and I thought, "this is going to be an epic wreck!" My mare knew "whoa" really good, so after I got my wits about me, I told her whoa and she stop and stood stock still, her eye never leaving the mailbox. I was reaching down to undo the rope, when I saw out of the corner of my eye one of the judges RUNNING towards us - NOT a good thing to do. My mare caught sight of her and took off again, and the mail box stand whipped around and knocked the judge off her feet. Which I think helped knock the mail box off my rope & it fell to the ground. I took a breath and we continued on with the course, finishing it. I think we came in 2nd or 3rd on the trail course, LOL. 

Yea, that could have been really bad.


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## therhondamarie (Sep 18, 2019)

I have a few that stand out to me. One was when I was about 14 or 15 and we were out on a trail. I was leading my mare through an opening in a wire fence and did not see barbed wire that was hidden in the sand. Her hind foot caught it and she, of course, ran being scared. The wire ended up wrapped around her back legs and my legs with about 2-3 feet between us, every time she kicked up to free herself I'd fly into the air and come back to hit the ground. Fortunately, when the wire tightened my mare laid down and someone came out and cut us out. I remember yelling at them to cut her out first. Other than being sore we were both fine after some rest. 

Another one is when I was riding a green horse on a trail, and I woke up in the middle of the road to a bus full of kids yelling "there is a dead body!" and "that horse killed her!" I have NO clue what happened to this day. My horse (one of the greatest I've owned) stood next to me eating grass on the side of the road until the fire truck arrived then he bolted. 

Not me but my sister was riding her horse up a fairly steep hill along side a small paved road that led to the trails by our house, and her horse spooked over something and when she hit the asphalt she slipped and slid on it. They both had road rash but were otherwise okay. That could have been a real disaster.


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

therhondamarie said:


> Another one is when I was riding a green horse on a trail, and I woke up in the middle of the road to a bus full of kids yelling "there is a dead body!" and "that horse killed her!" I have NO clue what happened to this day. My horse (one of the greatest I've owned) stood next to me eating grass on the side of the road until the fire truck arrived then he bolted.


Nothing like having an audience!

Other than a pretty thrilling bolt while out on a trail ride with friends (thankfully there was a meadow in which to make a turn, and after which we learned the one-rein stop) my lifetime with horses has generously been marked by the garden variety bumps and bruises, and assorted ground connections.


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## therhondamarie (Sep 18, 2019)

When I look at my biggest horse accidents, it is because of something I can do better! I took a lot of unnecessary risks as a youngster. I'm trying to instill in my stepdaughter who is 8 and just starting out that the most important thing is for you and the horse to be safe. Once we know better we have to do better.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

I have had many scary moments but one comes to mind first.
I was cantering on my horse when he just suddenly went down, he fell on his side with my left leg pinned under him, I was riding in the western saddle that day and as I lay there I could see his feet coming up, the saddle horse was jammed into my stomach and I thought he was going to roll right over me but somehow he struggled and went back down the way he came up.

My leg was pretty crushed and I did go to Emerg but no broken bones, the leg was black and blue from hip to toes and that knee never fully recovered and have suffered pain with it since then.

Not one of my pleasantest riding memories.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

therhondamarie said:


> When I look at my biggest horse accidents, it is because of something I can do better! I took a lot of unnecessary risks as a youngster. I'm trying to instill in my stepdaughter who is 8 and just starting out that the most important thing is for you and the horse to be safe. Once we know better we have to do better.


Too true, I am wondering how old I have to be to - know better-.


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## Misty abc 123 (Sep 2, 2019)

There are a few scary moments that have stuck with me.......

Me and my little brother were riding double on my big pony and we had ridden around for about an hour. My pony was the type that NEVER wanted to canter and had never bolted in the 5 years I rode him. We were coming up a slight hill on the trail and my pony bolted faster than I had thought he could. My little brother held on to the cantle of the saddle for about 10 seconds before flying off the back of the pony. Luckily his head barley missed a sharp rock and he was ok other than a couple of bruises. 

Another time that was pretty......scary ......I guess......was when me and the same pony from before were at a gymchana and we were doing a jumping course. He was doing absoloutley amazing until he got to the last jump. We were approaching it and I was already in 2 point when he hit the breaks. I flew up onto his neck and both of my sturrup leathers were wraped around my legs. He started walking away as I hugged his neck and with one hand I pushed myself off the jump onto the top of his neck. I got untangled and recovered my courage and then cantered around and actually cleared the jump. My pony sadly passed away about a moth ago from eating red maple leaves


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I was cantering on a circle, in a lesson, and not paying attention to the fact that the circle was drifting closer and closer to the fence. Next thing I know, I'm cantering toward a certain 'encounter' with the fence of the arena, and I can feel my horse gathering herself up to jump this fence (probably a 4 foot fence). On the other side are trees, stumps, bushes rocks and I know jumping it would be a disaster. At the last second, I haul her around so that we slam into the fence somewhat sideways; my leg between her shoulder and the fence. Horse rebounds one way, I the other, landing ON the fence. I am scared to stand on my feet, thinking my right leg must be broken.


But, it isn't. It did, however, create such a bad bruising that the skin died and sloughed off of an area about 5 inches round. The surface skin nerves never grew back. To this day, if I touch that spot, I cannot feel the touch at all.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

I survived many stupidities I tried on various ponies can't say I was ever really scared, I just thought naughty words as I went through the air. 

I do remember, when I was 14, a gypsey cob falling with me, I was against a tree trunk and watched her backside coming down towards me thinking, "This is going to hurt!"

I did some damage but I survived.

My most scariest moment were brought about by other people falling. On one occasion out with a rode of children a girl popped over a log, something done many times before. The pony slipped and went down on her side and then leapt up and took off. The girl's footmwas caught in the stirrup dragging her. 
The pony went along a track and luckily a tractor driver saw a loose pony and blocked the track. The girl was unhurt. I can assure you my heart was racing as at happened.


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

A big gelding and I were chasing a renegade steer across a pasture at a dead gallop, and the gelding picked up a drainage ditch hidden in the grass with both front legs. Over we went; I know I saw the ground go by twice, and the gelding upside down above me at least once. We both landed in a heap and skidded along the ground, then took a minute or two to come to the realization that we were alive. I was sure that the horse had broken his leg(s) and/or neck, as he wasn't moving, but he lay there for a minute or so, and as I crawled over to him, he got up, shook himself off, and started cropping grass. Aside from a broken collarbone and sore ribs on myself, a missing front tooth and bloody mouth on the gelding, and a broken bridle rein and big scrape on the saddle, we were both bruised and sore, but ok. We were a good four miles from home, and after realizing walking with a collarbone scraping itself with every step wasn't much fun, I did manage to haul myself back on the horse (not easy with one arm) and ride back - he was every so slightly lame, but in good spirits and moseying right along and you'd never have suspected anything happened to him. The gelding got a chiropractic adjustment for his back (I suspect injured when he landed on the saddle) and a week off. I got a trip to the ER, a sling, and orders not to ride for a few weeks. I had that horse for 20 years and it was the only time he ever fell with me. I'm thankful the only lasting effect from that incident was the need to file the gelding's incisors twice a year or the lower tooth would grow into the spot of the missing upper one. The big scrape in the horn of my saddle is a reminder for me of it every time I ride, though!


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## Aprilswissmiss (May 12, 2019)

Reading all these replies makes me realize how lucky I've gotten off as far as riding accidents go, despite riding at least three days a week every week for the past 10 years, and at least 90% of those rides were on green horses. Twice I have had a cantering horse trip and roll onto me - both times they were Arabian-type mares, so naturally, they did everything in their power to avoid putting their weight on me and jumped right up with absolutely no injuries to myself or them.

I have had only a few falls that did a little damage, but nothing involving broken bones, concussions, or injury that prevented me from riding for more than a week. Again, I'm so amazed looking back at this considering all the green horses I've ridden and all the stupid things I've done.

The only injury I ever received from a horse that required a trip to the ER was when a 17hh warmblood kicked me in the face. It was just an average day, I was doing turn-in, leading him inside, and half way to the stable he just decided to bolt and kick in the very same moment. Three people saw it happen and none of them have any idea why he did it. He was just a grumpy old Hanoverian. I lost three front teeth and needed 14 stitches to piece together a couple gaping holes in my lower lip, but amazingly had no concussion. This is why I love Arabian-type mares, and own one now... They really watch out for you. I've decided I'm not a fan of big hot warmbloods because they are bred for athleticism and not at all for their ability to mesh with people.


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## dustywyatt (Aug 19, 2019)

I've had more than one but I think the worst was a few years back - Ben and I were gathering on steep terrain just outside of Red Bluff and as we were headed to a water crossing he tripped over a log and fell on me. Both of us were sliding down this steep mountainside and I just knew he was gonna roll over and crush me, or send both of us plummeting to the bottom. To this day I don't know how he missed me, but he did. We stopped got up and just kind of stood together shaking. I got back on after a bit and we finished the gather, but man was I sore by the end. There were some pretty spectacular bruises and a swollen spot where the saddle pinned my leg a little, but both of us made it out with minor injuries.


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## 281187 (Sep 19, 2019)

Probably the time I got one of my boots caught in a wire fence at a (Very small and local) horse show. Didn't help that the mare I was riding was _really_ reactive (She was reported to have had an abusive past) and I had only ridden her once previously. 

I avoided what probably would've been a very bad wreck by the skin of my teeth, still took the second place ribbon though!


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

This:. https://www.horseforum.com/horse-talk/close-call-bailing-off-road-403218/

I've had way crazier rides, have been bucked, bolted and reared. But I was younger and I bounced, now I splat.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I think the scariest was when I was re-schooling a bull dogging horse. The owner wanted to see if the horse would work for his high school daughter in gymkhanas. 

After a couple weeks, and the horse doing nicely, I chose him to gathering the remuda of about 80-90 horses. He lost his mind. To be fair, not all horses can gather others without becoming overly excited.

I tried to haul him around and instead broke a rein. After that I just tried to anticipate his next move, the pasture was hilly and heavily wooded, and stay on.

We beat the herd in and had started in the back.

My co-workers teased me about not trying to turn him with the remaining rein. No way. It felt like a security blanket to at least have one. 

Horse did go on to do games. But no more wrangling!


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

boots said:


> I think the scariest was when I was re-schooling a bull dogging horse. The owner wanted to see if the horse would work for his high school daughter in gymkhanas.
> 
> After a couple weeks, and the horse doing nicely, I chose him to gathering the remuda of about 80-90 horses. He lost his mind. To be fair, not all horses can gather others without becoming overly excited.
> 
> ...



I came in one morning at a guest ranch I used to work for to find that no one else had kept a horse in, and my 4 y.o. paint filly with about 10 rides on her was the only horse to jingle on.... Gathering 100 horses off a mountain in the pre-dawn dark on a green filly who had never been ridden outside the arena wasn't exactly how I would have chosen to do it and I was fully prepared to be a sad statistic on the evening news, but she did great. She got a little 'woo hoo!" galloping with all those horses, but came back just fine and I rode her to jingle nearly every morning I worked there after that.


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## ChebrysRescueHorses (Aug 21, 2019)

My scariest riding moment was when I was riding with my best friend in our arena. I was riding bareback as I wanted to show our skill of jumping bareback. After a few rounds I went and stood by my friend and her horse and we chatted for awhile. Then out of nowhere my horse lunges forward and attacks my friends mare. My horse is a small 14hh gelding and my friends horse is a huge 18hh Ottb... I fall off and land directly underneath my horse. I was so scared as all I could hear were the sound of hooves. I thought I was going to die! But my horse jumped over me and ran to the other side of the arena. I was so lucky... 

My dad told me later that my horse was trying to step around me through the whole thing. I thought it was sweet that he didn't want to hurt me lol.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

The bottom of our pasture was a local train track. The trains only came through twice a day, going really slow, carrying coal. It was easy to go faster than the trains by just trotting. They came through around 2 a.m. and 4 p.m.

My jousting partner had lost his horse, and we were practicing our joust show using our neighbor's horse. Our neighbor wanted us to ride her a little because she always bucked with the kids the first time she was ridden in the spring.

So, we were having a really good practice--everything was going great--and we didn't realize how dark it was getting until it was quite dusk. In order for me to ride home on the road, I would have to ride about 3 miles on a curvy road with no shoulder--extremely dangerous in the dark.

So I decided no reason why I couldn't ride home on the train track. No train was due--it was a much shorter ride than the curvy road--and even if a train should come, I could trot and outpace the train.

So, I headed down the train track. It was built up on the hills so it was about 20 feet high up on hills of egg-sized rocks, but I wasn't worried. We'd ridden the train tracks hundreds of times for various reasons.

It got quite dark as I was riding home, in fact pitch black. I kept my horse on the cross ties because it was too dark to see where the built-up places were. There was one place where there was water, and I knew I didn't want to take my horse down there. I just wasn't sure where the water was.

I kept glancing behind me, suddenly nervous that a train might actually come. But, I reminded myself, I can easily trot, even on the cross ties and stay ahead of the train. Suddenly, a train headlight appeared around the curve! Right where I thought there was water below us. I started trotting, assuring myself there was really no danger.

I glanced again behind me, and the train was coming up really REALLY fast! Much faster than the trains ever came. I booted my good horse into a canter, looked again, and saw the train was still coming up on me. By now we were galloping for all we were worth, and the train was still gaining on me. I was terrified to be galloping on the train tracks. My mare's steel shoes were shooting sparks with every stride. I was going much too fast to try to turn my horse to jump the rail in the dark and slide through the rocks down to the bottom. I just had to outrun the train. I asked my mare for more speed, and more speed. The train light was just about on me, when we got to the road where the tracks were flush with the ground and I could turn and get off the track. The train flashed on by. It wasn't a train. It was one of the track-trucks that can run on rails or roads, and doing about 40 mph.

I dismounted and my legs were water. I had to hold on to the saddle to walk back to our gate.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

Some stories here, gives me goose bumps and shivers reading some of them. I just can't like them but have read them all and know what I need to avoid with future riding. I certainly won't plan to ride on any train tracks!!
@tinyliny I have also lost a lot of feeling in my left leg that my horse fell on, probably due to nerve damage


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## IRideaHippogriff (Jul 19, 2016)

My scariest moment wasn't nearly as dangerous as most of these, but I'll share. It was late winter and I was riding in a lesson with 4 other girls in an indoor. All of a sudden, the melting snow on the tin(?) roof fell off all at once and made a sound so deafeningly loud that the roof sounded like it was collapsing. Add this to the fact that this was an old indoor and I legitimately thought the roof was falling and waited to be buried.

All four horses spooked and in my own terror, I forgot to even try to stay on. My pony bolted forward and I was dropped onto a ground pole and slipped a disc in my back. No broken bones, but it took about two weeks before the sharp, lightning bolt pain subsided, and to this day I still have some radiculopathy/sciatica in my lower back/upper leg from that fall. (Only one person in the lesson stayed on, but I was the only one who was injured - stupid ground pole.)


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## SteadyOn (Mar 5, 2017)

My newly-purchased first horse bolting off with me when I was 11. I have very little memory of the actual event. I only know that we were supposed to canter in our lesson, and he was just suddenly GONE. It didn't help that I completely panicked and screamed my head off, of course, but I don't think anything was going to bring him back from that bolt anyhow. He zig-zagged all over the tiny arena, completely out of control, until I fell off and hit a trotting pole with my tailbone -- and smashed the trotting pole. My tailbone got better, but I never got over the fear of a horse getting too fast on me. I still get anxious about speed on horseback, to this day.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

SteadyOn said:


> My newly-purchased first horse bolting off with me when I was 11. I have very little memory of the actual event. I only know that we were supposed to canter in our lesson, and he was just suddenly GONE. It didn't help that I completely panicked and screamed my head off, of course, but I don't think anything was going to bring him back from that bolt anyhow. He zig-zagged all over the tiny arena, completely out of control, until I fell off and hit a trotting pole with my tailbone -- and smashed the trotting pole. My tailbone got better, but I never got over the fear of a horse getting too fast on me. I still get anxious about speed on horseback, to this day.


Understandably so!


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

knightrider said:


> The bottom of our pasture was a local train track. The trains only came through twice a day, going really slow, carrying coal. It was easy to go faster than the trains by just trotting. They came through around 2 a.m. and 4 p.m.
> 
> My jousting partner had lost his horse, and we were practicing our joust show using our neighbor's horse. Our neighbor wanted us to ride her a little because she always bucked with the kids the first time she was ridden in the spring.
> 
> ...


Daredevil!!!! That scared me just reading it!!!


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

It's true that if you have had a really bad experience but recovered from it and continue riding as tho' it didn't happen you never completely get over it and are always aware of how it happened and have some anxiety even if you are not aware of it.

I had a horse fall on me, slipped on the wet grass going over a jump and fell on it with me underneath him. It was a solid jump and I heard the bones breaking. I am now a sniveling coward with solid jumps. Never got over that one. But others, if a similar situation comes up memory reminds me of what happened before, I can ride them out but the thought is there.


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## SteadyOn (Mar 5, 2017)

Woodhaven said:


> I had a horse fall on me, slipped on the wet grass going over a jump and fell on it with me underneath him. It was a solid jump and I heard the bones breaking. I am now a sniveling coward with solid jumps.


To me that doesn't sound like sniveling cowardice; it sounds like good sense and self-preservation. I also refuse to jump solid jumps -- the extra potential for harm has always scared the bejeezus out of me, even though I've never personally had a bad experience -- and I think that's a perfectly good boundary to set.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Just thinking... If a non-horse person happened upon this thread he's think we were all crazy for riding at all!


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## therhondamarie (Sep 18, 2019)

OMG boots you are so right! I get that all of the time. I recently just had to have a physical for a job I was trying to go for and when I had to recount the times I'd lost consciousness and they were horse accidents! She asked "do you still ride?" and I was like "of course I do!" She just shook her head and made a comment about crazy horse folks.


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## pheobe111 (Feb 18, 2019)

knightrider said:


> The bottom of our pasture was a local train track. The trains only came through twice a day, going really slow, carrying coal. It was easy to go faster than the trains by just trotting. They came through around 2 a.m. and 4 p.m.
> 
> My jousting partner had lost his horse, and we were practicing our joust show using our neighbor's horse. Our neighbor wanted us to ride her a little because she always bucked with the kids the first time she was ridden in the spring.
> 
> ...


holy!! this has a "stand by me" vibe to it :biggrin: I couldn't imagine how frightening that would be.

another scary ride I had was my worst injury. I was riding down a dirt road when I was 16, and the dog I had at the time used to like coming with. there was never a lot of traffic so I would just ride nonchalantly. well, one time my dog got under my horses legs and spooked him so he reared up and did a cow hop to the side and his back legs went in the ditch. I rolled backwards off him and fell into a deep concrete water crevice. a little bit wobbly, stunned, and soaking wet I got up and limped after my horse who was just casually walking back home. by the time I got a hold of him, I happened to look down and the whole side of my shirt and leg was covered in blood. I then noticed my arm was slightly distorted and then I seen a bit of bone sticking out of the skin. I was about a kilometre away from home so I walked back with my horse on lead and dog in front of me and all I could think about was how my parents would never let me go by myself on a ride again. surprisingly, I haven't felt any pain yet but I think I have to thank my adrenaline and shock for that. as I walked back into the yard, my mom seen me coming up the driveway through the living room window and came out freaking out, and my dad was out mowing the lawn and quickly hopped off his lawnmower (almost forgetting to turn it off as he said), grabbed my horse and put him away. the first time I felt pain was when my mom tried lifting me into my dads dodge Dooley, and accidentally grabbed my elbow pushing me in. let me tell you how excruciating that was, and I felt that pain all the way to the hospital. still got a huge scar on my elbow to remind me of what can always go wrong.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

I have two, they both tie for #1 Most Scary.

First one, Trigger was new to me, and he had no whoa, nothing but go. He was and sometimes still can be a puddle of equine nerves and adrenaline. I was still in my I Need a Golf Cart Horse but Got a Mazarati Horse stage. He was fighting me to run off with me, I wasn't even able to ride a trot yet, had a too big saddle on him, the stirrups were way too short for my height, I mean horse jockey short. My daughter's half-grown blue heeler darted out of the weeds, nipped his heels, and that was it. I lost control of him. He launched forward at a hard run. I heard my son, on his horse yell: HOLLLDDD ONNNN MOMMMM!

We made it 100 yards... I was losing my seat, he was headed for the fence. Between he and I were two steel feed troughs, a stretch of dirt between them and the fence, and against the fence my husband had 5 bass boats backed up to the wires... all the outboards had props on them.

Trigger showed no sign of slowing, I didn't know how to slow him, he was running through the bit, and so I chose my place of falling. I let go, fell off, got wadded up, got road rash, grass in my bra, dirt in my drawers, hit neck first, and got my bell rung. That was my first concussion. I laid face down in the dirt and couldn't move my arms or legs, not even my fingers or toes. It was like the hit on the ground knocked me into a system reboot. I don't remember it, but Son and the kid that was living with us said Trigger came back to me and waited nervously, as if worried I wasn't going to be okay. They helped me to the couch, unsaddled him... and the rest of that weekend is a blur. Despite that, some very good things came out of it.

He's my bestest most trusted trail horse now and I am under no illusions. He's not consciously taking care of ME. He's looking out for himself first and I LIKE his heightened sense of self-preservation. That's why I trust him - I know he won't stupidly put himself in danger (Unlike Leroy, in my next story)

The other time... we rode the McGee Creek wildlife area in Atoka County. I knew it would be rocky. I didn't realize the horses would be contending with basket ball sized boulders lining the steep downhill trails. I had Leroy by then, a tank-built Homer Simpson of a horse - and he was even yellow. Leroy thought he was a bulldozer. He was and still is, a straight-line thinker, and you're screwed if you think he should go around a locust tree, not rake you through it. He thought since he could go under, it didn't matter there was a 5'8" person on his back and he would fight you so hard to go at his pace, through everything, that he would end up throwing himself down.

That ride was above my skill level and he was an idiot and not sure footed at all. It scared me so bad, the kid that lived with us gave me his horse, Gina (who is now our horse) and rode Leroy on down the mountain to the lake. Gina... God love her... will lower her head and literally sniff her way through treacherous footing. Leroy scared me that day because he was going to get us both killed. He listened a little better to L (the kid) than he did to me but even L admitted it was hairy business, riding him the rest of the way down.

Glad I sold him and kept Trigger. Trigger and I have ridden that same trail system and I rarely have a tense moment. When I do, it's because he's slipped on the rocks due to no fault of his own.


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## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

boots said:


> Just thinking... If a non-horse person happened upon this thread he's think we were all crazy for riding at all!


I will NOT show these posts to my husband, he already thinks this^^^^


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

Probably the scariest time was when I was about 14, riding my appy gelding across an old filled-in gravel quarry we'd cut across many a time before. But this time it had rained and rained, and all that water had turned the fill into gravel soup that looked solid until you were in it. Arod went in and sank up to his shoulders. I threw myself off and floundered to solid ground hoping he could do the same. I think there must have been firmer ground about four feet down, because in a couple minutes he managed to heave himself free. We walked home a couple miles, both of us shaking, covered with gravelly mud to the ears. 

It could have been much worse, we were both unhurt and just needed a big rinse off (the saddle was really a mess, I remember). Really scared us both though.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

Woodhaven said:


> I will NOT show these posts to my husband, he already thinks this^^^^


Glad my husband spent his childhood with his best friend and best friend's rough old ranch horses, getting into who knows what miles away from the barn. LOL

NOTHING surprises him, and in fact, he often just says: That's just horses for you. LOL

Guess I'll throw my third scary moment in there: Easter weekend, this year, when that 30-40 pig sounder of wild hogs cut us off on the trail. They were being ran by some high dollar bird dogs that got on the hogs, not the birds, to their owner's shock and horror. Trigger and I were the lead horse. A boar got separated, circled around to mine and Trigger's right... the dogs were baying at the hog... they then squared off with me and Trigger and started stalking forward, growling and barking (I guess the thought they could run us too) and that pig was MAD and at the same time, it was trying to figure out where we were. They can't see for ish, but they can SMELL and he knew we were there.

Talk about having to consciously control my own emotions so they didn't bleed into Trigger. Not gonna lie - a hundred This is Going to Go Pear Shaped and I'm going to Die thoughts ran through my head.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

I like most life long riders have my fair share of horror stories. Some are because if my own stupidity and others just bad luck.

1. I snuck my horse out (and my sisters horses out) of our pasture for a midnight ride with friends (and I guy I wanted to impress) I was riding my sisters 3/4 Arab Chico. We headed out of town on an old gravel road when we were all joking around and playing tag. The pace got faster and faster and eventually turned into a full out run down a gravel road with 5 horses. Chico and I hit the paved cross road and he tried to turn the corner to the left. We went down and he slid on his side with my leg underneath of him - all of us screamed so loud we woke up the neighbor that lived in that house - they knew it was me - I gritted my teeth from the middle of the road and told her all was fine. My friends got me back up on Chico and we rode home. The next morning my entire side was black and blue and one large scab - my ankle was 10 times its normal size and had road rash on the INSIDE portion where my foot must have turned. Chico also had a side full of road rash and a scabby messed up face. We hit the ground so hard that it bent the grazing bit he was wearing. I got 4 weeks on crutches and Chico got a vacation.

2. When I was very young (about 8) my family went for a trail ride. I was riding my Aunt's pony Red. We rode to an abandoned quarry where we liked to swim our horses - Red played in the water and eventually rolled with me on top of him. I got squished between the bottom of the quarry and the saddle as he rolled. I still remember the terror of having the air squeezed out of me and sucking in water. He rolled more than once before anyone noticed me limp in the water. A horse rolling with me in the water is still one of my biggest night mares.


And the most terrifying thing I have ever seen or been on part of did not happen to me - but happened to my older sister Renee. I had been riding with a friend and was approaching home from the east. My sister had been riding herself and was approaching home from the west (we were riding toward each other) as we get closer together I see her horse Chico try to go a little faster (he was approaching home and his herd mate) Renee pulled him back and her rein broke. Chico moved into a slow trot and Renee bent down to catch the piece of rein dangling from his bit. As she did this Chico trotted down the ditch toward our lane. Renee leaning down caused him to lose balance and he tripped causing Renee to fall off - when she fell she hit the back of her head on the sidewalk at the top of our lane. Chico went on home - my parents who were in our back yard heard Renee scream as she fell of and saw Chico trotting down our short lane - they came running and got there just as I did. My sister was laying face up - her eyes glazed over, blood coming from her nose, mouth and ears. She did not move when we called her name. My parents were both EMT's for our local Rural volunteer fire dept. My Dad rushed to the fire station (we live in a rural village) and brought the ambulance down and toned out for other paramedics. My Mom was hysterical as my sister turned blue and remained unresponsive. My Dad got there and he and I started working on her. Dad suctioned blood out of her mouth, put an e collar on her neck, I handed him gauze and equipment as he cried and called her name as he worked to save her life. My Mom was hysterical and being held back by neighbors. As other firefighters arrived they tried to pull my Dad back and he would not stop - suction beg her to breath, suction beg her to breath. They got her on a back board and off they went. I was 14 and drove my Mom to the hospital- they life lined my sister to a hospital about 2 1/2 hours away where she spent 4 weeks in a semi coma (she appeared awake and could mumble but did not function or speak) she had fractured her skull in 3 places. She had to learn to walk, talk and feed herself again. She was in the hospital over 6 weeks. It was a freak accident - everyone blamed the horse but he really did nothing wrong. One of the absolute worst days of my life.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

^^^ I can't hit like on your post @carshon! That's all very scary stuff!


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## 4horses (Nov 26, 2012)

One time my horse got really sick on a trail ride by ourselves in the middle of nowhere. It was a very hot day and I think she over heated. She stopped and started getting in the urinary stance. We would walk some and she would stop again. Then she started looking for a place to lay down. Plopped down in the middle of the trail. I pulled off her tack. Let her rest. Then poured all my ice cold drinking water over her. She got back up and we very slowly walked to the nearest hill which had a trickle of water. Enough to scoop up and pour on her. Of course by this time I'm starting to panic- hot day with no drinking water in the middle of nowhere. I can't walk all the way back without water. I ended up riding back at a very slow walk. Made it to the creek where I drenched both myself and her and got back to the trailer okay. 

She got sick again this summer on a much slower ride- much closer to the barn that time. No more summer riding for her! She's had the rest of this summer off and is just being brought back into work now. Riding in the arena only. Poor girl doesn't tolerate the heat well. She sweats but it just doesn't seem to be enough. 

One of my other scary rides- my old thoroughbred could spin bolt right out from under you. There was no staying on a spook like that. She dumped me off and ran home one day. We were trotting along and she spooked at something. Never saw what it was, but she spun out from under me. Some nice guy pulled over in his truck and offered me a ride home. He had two kids in the backseat so i jumped in. He drove me home and sure enough there was Desy. Her bridle was completely gone and she had a goose egg on her forehead. I never did find that bridle. I guess she snagged it on something and it flew into the canal.


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## its lbs not miles (Sep 1, 2011)

It was forever ago LOL. Back in the 70's. On a runaway. Training horses to include riding on the highways I've dealt with runaways before. What made this one different was that we were coming home from a hunting trip, riding on a dirt road. Horse was already well trained (I was hunting from her back, moved cattle down roads with her, etc...). Why she spooked and ran away with me I'll never know, but the dirt road intersected with a highway. I could not stop her or even slow her down. No place to force her into a turn without rising bashing my body into trees and heading at full tilt towards a well traveled highway (the mind sees the worst options LOL). Fortunately when she hit the highway there was nothing even in sight from either direction and it gave me a place to turn her head to change directions. Not that it matter much since she was still a runaway. Just in a new direction LOL, but I was in a position to ride it out if need be without worrying about crossing traffic. Proof positive that a bit means nothing really. She was wearing a curbed bit and I might as well just had a halter on her. Stopped using bits not terribly long after that event.


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## Filou (Jan 16, 2014)

I've enjoyed reading these. 

I agree the scariest stuff is watching it happen to someone else. 

Someone I worked with was trying to get on too hastily. She fell off, hit the back of her head, out cold, bleeding from her nose and mouth. Called 911. Emergency brain surgery. In a coma... I honestly don't want to think too much about the intensity of that situation but now with your family instead. 

Going back in my memory, had a greenie who learned rearing to evade turning. He reared and flipped right over, I slid off to the side. Another time I had a bridle break on trail and my horse gallop toward the highway so I decided to hop off on the asphalt before risking getting hit by a car. On the same trail higher up on a different ride I was cantering romantically along when a mountain lion popped out behind and chased for a few yards. The trail then turned and went down a very steep ravine to the creek. It was either go down, or go back toward the lion. 

As time goes on I see the risk more, but I keep going and navigating that space. I appreciate those who took the time to write their stories out!


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## pheobe111 (Feb 18, 2019)

Filou said:


> I've enjoyed reading these.
> 
> I agree the scariest stuff is watching it happen to someone else.
> 
> ...


wow! thats insane. what ended up happening to the horse that took off?


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## Aprilswissmiss (May 12, 2019)

Filou said:


> Another time I had a bridle break on trail and my horse gallop toward the highway so I decided to hop off on the asphalt before risking getting hit by a car.


How does the story end? You can't leave us hanging like that!

Edit: I was beat to it :lol:


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## Jolien (Aug 19, 2019)

not a lot of experience with horses and not really easily scared (I mostly remain calm), but when I was leading a horse by hand I suddenly heard a horrendous scream from the other side of the grasslands... I also heard horses whinnying really loud and anxious. I felt my horse stop behind me and turn his head, I looked back to see what he was doing and then also looked at the direction of the sound and saw some horses that were broken out. My horse immediately leaped sideways (not on top of me, luckily) when seeing this (the other horses suddenly appeared from behind the bushes) and before I knew it my horse was so agitated he was rearing and standing on his hind legs. (Only once has he reared around humans in his 16y old lifespan) I let the lead rope go up and gave him some rope so I would not be jerking him and worsening the agitation. In a split second I was thinking: he is gonna bolt and I have to decide if I will let the rope go or not. I did not want him to step on the lead rope and stumble/hurt himself or take off...., so I held on, gave some slight corrective jerks when I saw him landing on the ground and preparing to move. I also calmly spoke to him. He did some more jerking and side jumps, but luckily he did not bolt. For a beginner seeing a horse rear and flapping his legs in the air is not amusing.  He could have hit me (by accident)... But he is generally a sweet horse...


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## cbar (Nov 27, 2015)

My scariest doesn't involve riding. My horses used to be kept in a field below our house - wasn't ours but the fellow who did own it said I could turn them out there if I wanted. 

I went out one afternoon to catch the horses and for some reason they were a little wound up. So I stood there with the halter waiting for them to settle so I could go catch my riding horse. For some unknown reason he decided it would be a good idea to run across the cattle guard. I watched in horror as he trotted through it and onto the road. I thought for sure I would find him on the other side with a broken leg. Went onto the road and he was calmly eating grass in the ditch with not a mark on him. 

Every time I think of how that could have gone I feel like puking. And never again will I keep my horses in a field with just a cattle guard to keep them in. 

I have been very lucky with very few riding accidents. I guess the 'what could have happened' is what scares me the most in a lot of cases.


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

This is a fun thread! Anyone who has never ridden but is thinking to start may have second thoughts if they read these stories lol.


I have a couple of stand out moments, one day I took Phoenix down the beach that I had ridden on my whole childhood - my memories of it were that it was always a safe easy ride. We stepped out onto an expanse of smooth sand and went Woompha! it turns out it wasn't sand at all but deep mud hidden by a film of sand, Phoenix was suddenly up to her belly in thick mud. The sudden drop threw me forward but I stayed on her, she started floundering madly in the mud which kept me on her back as it didn't seem safe to try to get off her. I had images of me having to race to a neighbours to get a tractor to get her out of the mud but with a mammoth effort Phoenix managed to get us both out of danger. We went home straight home for a hose off after that debacle.


Another memorable incident was in Scotland, I was a stable girl at a racing stable of steeple chasers. I was riding out on this massive 18hh steeple chaser (nick name Lofty). He was generally pretty good to ride out on but this particular day he was obviously pretty full of himself. We started off with a gentle canter but he really got the bit between his teeth and like many race horses, he had no sides at all and very little stop. As Lofty bolted with me I managed to turn him enough to get him galloping up a hill, I had hoped that I could slow him down on the incline ( I couldn't). By the time we got to the brow of the hill I was pulling on him with everything I had, just as we began our descent down the other side of the hill he really reached out with his head to get a firmer grip on the bit. I was holding on so tightly that he pulled me out of the saddle, I remember looking down at the ground and thinking "man this is going to hurt". Luckily as I was thrown forward I was clamping my legs to him as hard as I could and accidentally kicked him hard between his flank and his hip. He was so affronted by this that he threw his head back up, which thankfully threw me back in the saddle with enough force that I also got control of the bit again. I still remember that moment of looking at the ground, it seems like it was happening in slow motion, I had time for coherent thought but no time to prevent what was coming next. Very scary!


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## Filou (Jan 16, 2014)

@pheobe111 and @Aprilswissmiss

I hit the ground pretty hard and I don't think I was wearing a helmet. I didn't hit my head right on the ground but I think I got a little whip lash. It was cold and I was wearing layers so I just got a few scuffs on my shoulder. 

Louie was a really awesome horse so I really couldn't let him get hit by a car. I hopped up right away and ran for about 20 yards before I could tell I had a concussion then realized that I couldn't do anything to help him and he would have to figure it out for himself. 

I walked back to the barn, which was pretty close at this point, maybe just 100 yards away. There were a couple people on bikes stopped and a man had taken his belt off and wrapped it around Louie's neck and was holding him there. I grabbed the bridle and wrapped it around his neck. Thanked the man, then headed through the gate. I had a camera on my saddle that day. I filmed myself falling, but the footage cut out a few seconds later and didn't get to see what happened at the highway or after that. 

I had started riding Louie in a hackmore style bridle that had a knot to secure the noseband. It lasted for the miles of trail we rode on, but just came undone at the last stretch.


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## charrorider (Sep 23, 2012)

Mine has to be the day I was riding solo and a military jet fighter broke the sound barrier. My Arabians are not complete strangers to the BOOOM of a jet braking the sound barrier. We hear them occasionally. But this one must've been flying directly above us, because it felt like a bomb had exploded right above our heads. One gets zero warning. We were riding along, less than a mile from home on our return trip and all of a sudden, BOOOM!!! You want to talk about a horse bolting! There are two things I'm thankful for. The first one is that I have a pretty solid bond with my horses and after 30' or so, Ibn settled down. The second one is that I was riding solo. This last one might sound strange to people who believe there's nothing more reckless than riding alone. But, I look at it this way: my horse was not affected by the reaction of another horse and its rider.


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## Captain Evil (Apr 18, 2012)

Holy smokes, you guys! After reading these posts, I don't think my scariest moment has happened yet...


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

Quote from Charrorider


> I was riding solo. This last one might sound strange to people who believe there's nothing more reckless than riding alone. But, I look at it this way: my horse was not affected by the reaction of another horse and its rider.


This is so true! About a month ago, my neighbor decided his horse was hurting his hips, knees, and ankles. I suggested he ride one of mine before he sold his good quiet, well-behaved horse. So he got on my good quiet well-behaved horse and I got on his. We were having a fine ride (sure enough, it didn't bother his joints on my horse) when we came to a nice hill. I asked him if I could canter his nice horse and he said "Sure". I cantered the lovely horse to the top of the hill, expecting to pull up . . . but the horse keep galloping. Nothing I could do would stop that ol' thing. When I tried to turn him, he just cranked his head to my knee and kept running straight for all he was worth through the heavy scrub oak and pine brush.

I reminded myself that sooner or later he would get tired, and I could certainly ride a galloping horse until he did. So that was OK (sort of--we were in heavy scrub, logs, and holes, but oh well)

Meanwhile, my neighbor, on my "good quiet safe" horse, went ballistic, seeing his buddy bolting off in a dead run. My neighbor turned him and turned him, like a good rider would do . . . but the saddle went over, so he came off.

If either one of us had been solo, there wouldn't have been a problem. The horse I was riding would still have bolted, but after he got tired, he stopped, just as I expected he would. My neighbor had a nasty fall and my horse was 3 1/2 miles from home with a sideways saddle and flapping reins.


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## charrorider (Sep 23, 2012)

Knightrider. Absolutely. They feed on each other's panic. The herd mentality instinct takes over their brains.


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## pheobe111 (Feb 18, 2019)

whelp, had another accident. my trainer and I were out riding in the back fields, and he decided to take his new filly for the first time off property. Well, she ended up bolting off and of course my horse got a little jiggly watching a horse take off right in front of him. My horse ended up doing a head bop and accidentally banged right into my hand (hard to explain, still not really sure how it happened) and broke my hand in multiple places. Didn't realize it was broken, so I didn't go to outpatients for a few days until it got really bruised and swollen. After a lengthy recovery (happened in November) and a cool scar, im finally fully healed.


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