# giving up or sticking to it?



## shastasmygirl (Jun 19, 2013)

I have been riding since age of 7 and I am now 18. I can't remember a time when I didn't have a horse. Horses have been my life. About 6 months ago I had a terrible accident. It was just like any other day. I was taking my beloved bamse out for a ride to the neighbors. Bamse was the most amazing horse I had ever owned, he had never once offered to buck or even spook. That one day as soon as I sat in the saddle he went bronc on me. He threw me straight up in the air and landed on my head. I was sent to the E.R. with 3 broken ribs my back fractured in two places a severe concussion a busted hand and memory loss. I was told that if I hadn't been wearing my helmet I might not be here, that's how bad it was. Something snapped in bamse and changed him too. He was sound and healthy so nothing wrong there. He was just different. He became aggressive and pushy. Even getting a saddle near him was out of the question. It ended to him having to be sold. I have spent the last 6 months trying to gain my confidence and find the right horse. Now is the question of giving it up or sticking too it. I seem to find every excuse possible from the financial side of things to becoming injured again. I've been riding and I do great but after awhile i break down and have a panic attack. I have no support on this issue.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

oh , dear, that sounds like a really awful experience. I imagine you are really not healed yet. 

if you can take some time totally off horses, til you are fully healed, inside and out, I think you would be wise to do this. at 18 you are still very young. to have this kind of pressure to KNOW if you will ride again, NOW , is just too much to put on yourself. there IS more to life than horses. take this as an openning, a window or door, and go try some other things for awhile. in time, you will WANT to ride again and it will feel good. you've got it all inside you, and it won't go away , even if you don't ride for years. 
what other thing brings you pleasure to do?


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## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

If you feel you "must" ride, you are creating tension which is counterproductive to overcoming your anxieties. As tinyliny suggests, you might try to occupy your mind with something else for a while.

If you still enjoy being with horses, there are many things you can do with them besides ride. If you meet the right horse and he invites you to ride, you will probably feel better about doing so.


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## hyperkalemic4 (Dec 8, 2014)

Oh, so sorry to hear about your accident, but I'd say you are a very lucky person to be here to tell about it.

Could have been your saddle had been hurting him for some time, but this time when you stepped up, it was just too much.

My daughters and I had taken some Mules and horses to the Red Bluff Sale Ca. We had all taken turns riding the different horses and mules. I had ridden this big mule quite a bit the day before. The day before the sale I had ridden done some quiet collected trot circles, when I asked him to canter. I got one of those strange ear tips. I did not canter him.
He was sold the next day for almost 10 thousand. A few days later the owner called and said both he and his wife had been bucked off. We met them half way and took him back. My daughter said she had had a horse go over backwards on that saddle. She found the bar of the saddle cracked. It had probably been a sharp spot and a little more hurt over and over, then when the big guy got up it hurt him bad.


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