# Medical workers treating horse-riders badly



## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

In my case not just horses but cattle and the line they take is it is abuse from a spouse you are trying to hide.


Behavior as you described is uncalled for and not acceptable. Reporting to the managing group/partner and higher up if a chain should be done.


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## horseyboys (Jul 9, 2019)

QtrBel said:


> In my case not just horses but cattle and the line they take is it is abuse from a spouse you are trying to hide.


Hmm. I guess for people who actually are victims of abuse, this suspicion can be life-saving. Still, I think taking care of their patients no matter the cause of injury should be done without any bias and judgement.


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## txgirl (Jul 9, 2010)

The few times I have been to the ER, the medical staff were all very good. Sounds like that hospital needs some education on bedside manners.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I live in ranch country. Most of the medical staff has cattle, sheep, horses. So we don't get any grief. I've not been injured by a horse, or other livestock.

My own doctor says he won't treat me if I get in a horse wreck. I responded that I won't treat him if he gets an injury from lifting weights. But we have that kind of a sparring friendship. 
@horseyboys - how does the med staff in your area treat people who get injuries from other sports?


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Ditto @boots. I have lived in horse/cattle country most of my life.

When I was recovering from cellulitis a few years back, one of the nurses had horses and cattle and was the most helpful of the group in telling what to do after I got home from the hospital.

I am still recuperating from cataract surgery in one eye. One of the techs at the Surgery Center has horses and cattle and was able to tell me what I am and am not allowed to do, with accuracy, as follow up care.

I’ve been to the ER a lot in my life - almost always self induced trauma injuries and I can’t ever remember someone saying anything more than “a horse — I should have known — horses and chain saws ———“,


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Yes, when I went to ER because my mare spooked and I got a deceleration concussion so a nurse friend told me to go have it checked out, the Dr. wasn't terribly sympathetic. They did an X-ray and found that I didn't have whiplash, and that my injury wasn't too severe, so when I asked when I could ride again, the Dr. just sighed and said "You horse people are all the same, you just can't stay away." 

My regular physician also told me to stop riding when I complained about lower back pain. It was completely unrelated to riding, and she has zero horse experience, so I took what she said with a grain of salt. I know what I can, and can't do in terms of my back. I can throw bales of hay (for me, that's more of a shoulder motion), but have to be careful about picking a lot of manure. Riding is not a problem. It's not the exertion, it's the repetitive, small movements that are hard on me. My chiropractor didn't have much sympathy either, but at least he didn't tell me to stop riding. 

I just find that people who don't have experience with horses/riding don't understand the nature of the sport, much less why we do it. My chiropractor didn't believe me when I told him that picking manure was harder than riding on my body. I told him that on average, a horse produces 50 lbs of waste per day, and he said that was impossible. I told him to go home and google it, and at my next appointment, he showed me how to pick manure in a way that would be less hard on my back (bent knees, etc.). He didn't admit that I was right, but I think he must have googled it. But the same medical professionals who scoff at us for riding or horse injuries complely understand a hockey or football injury and would never tell those athletes to stop playing.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Not something I've ever experienced and we do spend some time in ER with horse related injuries.

The only question we're always asked is if it was our own horse or someone elses that caused the injury - thats because the insurance claim would go to the owner of the horse


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## horseyboys (Jul 9, 2019)

@boots


I have not heard about incidents like that from people that do different sports. I just think horse people have kind of a stigma around horse people here. I live in an Eastern European country where horse riding is not a popular sport at all. Most people believe that horse people are either dumb, poor country hicks or privileged, spoiled, bratty princess girls. 

I am very aware that horse riding is a dangerous sport and it's a risk I'm willing to take. I've heard many people say that racecar drivers or motocross racers are so brave, yet horse riders are so stupid for putting themselves in danger.


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## horseyboys (Jul 9, 2019)

jaydee said:


> The only question we're always asked is if it was our own horse or someone elses that caused the injury - thats because the insurance claim would go to the owner of the horse


Fortunately I have public healthcare and insurance wasn't an issue. Getting an insurance for the horse or rider(talking about a specific horse riding sport insurance) here is pretty much pointless as it doesn't cover most things and has many loopholes.


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## Caledonian (Nov 27, 2016)

No I've never experienced problems with horse related injuries, whether the doctors visited the house, I went to their surgery or visited A&E. I did get a lecture from a one about an injury related to another sport, archery. I was warned that if i didn't stop it would be permanent... he was right.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

jaydee said:


> Not something I've ever experienced and we do spend some time in ER with horse related injuries.
> 
> The only question we're always asked is if it was our own horse or someone elses that caused the injury - thats because the insurance claim would go to the owner of the horse


What happens if it was the hurt one who did something idiotic around someone else's horse? Even though it was a horse related injury doesn't necessarily mean that the horse created the accident.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

I had a broodmare try to stomp all over me prepping her for a live cover a couple months ago.
My general Dr. and office staff just chocked it up to the hazards of dealing with livestock but not treated any different.
Because I can't move three of my toes I was referred to a specialist where I had another set of pictures taken and the lack of movement evaluated. Specialist grew up on a ranch and his sister is a show jumper. His instructions to me started out as, and with a smile, "I know horse people and you're going to do what you want regardless of my advice..." So rather than telling me to stay off of it which he said would be optimal, it went to- get off of it when you start feeling it because I know you're not going to stay off of it.
He also commended me on my wound and wrapping care. He said ranch people usually take the best care of their wounds and know how to bandage. LOL


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## Bombproof (May 20, 2015)

This is a fascinating discussion! I've been an MD for more than 30 years and a rider all my life but I've never run into this. I did once have an ER doc ask if I'd really had seven broken ribs over my life after looking at my x-ray but he didn't tell me to quit riding. He did shake his head and give me a funny look, if that counts. (Full disclosure -- only two broken ribs were from riding, the others were from military service.) I've dealt with riders, motorcyclists, and skydivers over my career as well as smaller numbers of rock climbers and mountain bikers and I know that people are going to do what they have a passion for. I give it to them as straight as possible knowing full well that they may not follow my advice. But that's true of every patient to a greater or lesser extent. At least with riding I have enough experience to help them work out a recovery regimen without stopping altogether.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Bombproof said:


> This is a fascinating discussion! I've been an MD for more than 30 years and a rider all my life but I've never run into this. I did once have an ER doc ask if I'd really had seven broken ribs over my life after looking at my x-ray but he didn't tell me to quit riding. He did shake his head and give me a funny look, if that counts. (Full disclosure -- only two broken ribs were from riding, the others were from military service.) I've dealt with riders, motorcyclists, and skydivers over my career as well as smaller numbers of rock climbers and mountain bikers and I know that people are going to do what they have a passion for. I give it to them as straight as possible knowing full well that they may not follow my advice. But that's true of every patient to a greater or lesser extent. At least with riding I have enough experience to help them work out a recovery regimen without stopping altogether.


Wonderful that you have the experience to help with recovery! Here, our sports therapist really don't know anything about riding. When I went a few years ago for issues with my right calf, they could not understand how I would hold my foot in the stirrup. They kept putting me in squatting position, but I had to explain that it's more like standing with your toes on a ledge and your heel pushed down with your body in a squat position. They did try to help me, but really couldn't (this was physiotherapy) so sent me to massage therapy. That didn't really help either. I guess riding here is limited to a few. I was happy to find that one of my son's oncologists was a rider, but she just told him to stay out of the barn because our hay might have fungus in it that could make him sick during chemo. I thought that was weird because if my hay has fungus, I'm not feeding to my horses! Not a problem for my son, he doesn't ride or spend a lot of time in the barn, but I thought it an unecessary precaution.


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## cbar (Nov 27, 2015)

I've only been to the ER once for a horse-related injury. It was when I tried to take my eye out with a tree branch while in an endurance race. The ER doctor was very kind. The specialist I went to for my eye surgery told me to stop riding while my eye recovered, which didn't make any sense to me (so I didn't take his advise). He wasn't rude or mean about it; I just thought it was silly as I was able to do all my other activities (and it's not like I was actively seeking another tree to scratch my eye balls on). 

I do find I get funny looks when I went to physio due to all my running injuries. They say to just stop running - which, if you are an avid runner, is nearly impossible to do. 

People will do what they are passionate about - whether someone tells them to stop or not. Sometimes it would be nice if people were a little more understanding - some professionals are, but some can be very rude about it.


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## ClearDonkey (Nov 27, 2016)

A somewhat different scenario, but along the same lines...

My friend once injured her back at work, while lifting something I believe, and proceeded with a worker's compensation claim to get her back checked out at a doctor's office on her company's dime.

While making her claim, the person in charge of the claims made talk about how my friend owned horses, and shifted the conversation to point blame on the horses causing her injury, not the work itself. It was an attempt to avoid having the company pay for the doctor's appointment.

My question is, if my friend played videogames in her spare time, or enjoyed gardening, or played some sport, would the blame be targeted towards any of those 'extracurricular' activities?


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

LoriF said:


> What happens if it was the hurt one who did something idiotic around someone else's horse? Even though it was a horse related injury doesn't necessarily mean that the horse created the accident.


Ive no idea but I have a feeling that the injured person's insurance company would go after the owner of the horse and say they were responsible for controlling anyone on their property who was there by invitation, that was near their horses.

Its always wise to have a third party insurance on your horses to cover for idiots!

You can put a notice on your fence and gate where it can be clearly seen but it won't 100% protect you from someone hell bent on making you liable by negligence


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

jaydee said:


> Ive no idea but I have a feeling that the injured person's insurance company would go after the owner of the horse and say they were responsible for controlling anyone on their property who was there by invitation, that was near their horses.
> 
> Its always wise to have a third party insurance on your horses to cover for idiots!
> 
> You can put a notice on your fence and gate where it can be clearly seen but it won't 100% protect you from someone hell bent on making you liable by negligence


There is a lot less ligitation in countries with free health care for all. I'm not saying insurance isn't necessary, but no medical professional in Canada would ask who owns the horse because it is entirely irrelevant. Everyone gets treatment for their injuries regardless. Now if the injured party needs long-term therapy or expensive medication, it becomes an insurance issue because those may not be fully covered. But that gets sorted out afterwards, not in the ER.


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## Kaifyre (Jun 16, 2016)

lol.This happened to me once. During my years loping colts for Bill Hunter, I developed a knee issue and it ended up needing surgery. At one of the early consult appointments the doctor asked me if I'd ever considered not riding anymore, to which I fired back, "Have you ever considered not breathing anymore?" He was amused at first but my deadpan stare shut him up in a hurry. 

Don't EVEN think you're going to tell me how to live my life. If I want to live to the ripe old age of 43 with the joints of a 90 year old, having to take my horse's MSM supplements just to get out of bed in the morning, I shall do so with a smile on my face, thank you kindly. If I decide to take up knife throwing, or base jumping, or cave diving, and become injured doing those things, it is no one's business but my own. I fail to see why people like that are admired for their bravery and people who ride horses are scolded like errant children. Biggest double standard in the world, that is. Same with folks who play sports. A guy I work with is a fighter and has boxing matches all the time and comes to work with a black eye or whatever and no one ever suggests to him he find a tamer hobby. 

Risk is risk. Whether we do it on the back of a 1,000 pound animal afraid of its own farts or jumping out of an airplane with nothing but a strip of cloth strapped to your back, it makes no difference. Do what you love. Only then will you be truly free.

-- Kai


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

My GP was so usemto me arriving at his surgery evening time after hours. 

I would ring the doorbell, his wife would answer and call out, "Darling it's Foxhunter. I think you ought to see her."

His normal reply was, "Kick, bite or a fall?" 

Never had any problems in the ER.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

I only went to the ER once over a horse related injury. I was sure that I had broken my finger. The doctor studied the radiographs. He said, "It's not broken, but whoever set the one next to it did a bad job." Oops. I guess I should have gone that time. 

Every doctor that I go to tells me not to ride. So I don't ask. I am riding.


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## pnr (Jan 16, 2021)

I wasn't treated badly for the 2 months that I was in hospital last year. But during times during covid it is a really bad time to be in hospital and I would say just say be as careful as possible as you don't want to be ending up in hospital now. The hospitals are overwhelmed as well and I picked up covid when I was in rehab.


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