# Your worst fall?



## Pen (Apr 26, 2012)

Hello, I'm new to the forum 
I was recently talking to a friend about our worst falls and was wondering if anyone else here would like to share theirs?

My worst fall was also my first fall! My instructor was telling me to trot around the school but the horse I was on decided he wanted to canter instead (he is like this most of the time.) After a bit of patience I managed to get him trotting around the school without him trying to canter off with me and then we came back to a walk. My instructor then decided we should trot around the school again, so, I got him into trot and about 5 seconds later he had picked up canter and was going around the school at a fast speed! He then tripped but picked himself up and this made him go even faster. My instructor then told me to keep circling him at one end of the school and not to let him stop until she said so, we literally must have circled about 15 times but my instructor was still telling me to push him on, I was getting a bit exhausted and dizzy from going in a circle for so long so my instructor decided she was going to try and "help me" and smack his bum when we came past. This obviously spooked him so he went towards the fence and made a sharp turn and I went flying into the air, landed on the fence, went over the fence and landed on my head on the outside of the school! In result of my fall I punctured a muscle in my leg where I hit the fence so hard on it and I now have a lovely dent in my leg! I unfortunately couldn't get back on because I was in a lot of pain and had to be carried back down onto the yard. 
At the time I was in tears and was shaken up but now I laugh about it with the instructors because they said they have never seen anyone exit the school the same way as I have!


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## rednecklove (Apr 20, 2012)

Worst fall was getting bucked off and couldnt move


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

A new boarder had asked my friend to help her saddle and ride her new horse for the first time, but my friend wasn't comfortable on strange horses, so she asked me to help. We got the mare tacked up and in the round pen. Tried to lunge her a bit, but she had absolutely no clue what I was asking for, so we went straight to getting up in the saddle. My friend and I weighted the stirrups to see how she'd react (we'd been told by the owner that she "had been ridden a lot, just needed a refresher"). She just stood there. So, my friend counter balanced for me and I swung up into the saddle. I reached down to catch my right stirrup (weird saddle...was almost impossible to catch the stirrup with my toe) and she threw a little crow hop at me. I came forward in the saddle, but was fine, so I tried for my stirrup again. Last thing I saw was that mare's head snap around to the side so she could see me, her ears pinned flat against her head and this ****ed off look in her eye. Then she rodeo bucked me and I flipped over her right shoulder. My left foot tangled in the stirrup (severely sprained my ankle...I'm thinking there may have been a small fracture they didn't see because even now, almost a year later, it will HURT if I overuse it). I hit the ground hard and blacked out (wasn't wearing a helmet). Luckily my friend was still in the round pen with me, because that mare came after me when I was on the ground. My friend jumped between us and kept the mare off me until I could get to my feet.


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## Pen (Apr 26, 2012)

DraftyAiresMum said:


> Don't remember if I posted my worst fall on that other thread or not, so I'll humor you.
> 
> A new boarder had asked my friend to help her saddle and ride her new horse for the first time, but my friend wasn't comfortable on strange horses, so she asked me to help. We got the mare tacked up and in the round pen. Tried to lunge her a bit, but she had absolutely no clue what I was asking for, so we went straight to getting up in the saddle. My friend and I weighted the stirrups to see how she'd react (we'd been told by the owner that she "had been ridden a lot, just needed a refresher"). She just stood there. So, my friend counter balanced for me and I swung up into the saddle. I reached down to catch my right stirrup (weird saddle...was almost impossible to catch the stirrup with my toe) and she threw a little crow hop at me. I came forward in the saddle, but was fine, so I tried for my stirrup again. Last thing I saw was that mare's head snap around to the side so she could see me, her ears pinned flat against her head and this ****ed off look in her eye. Then she rodeo bucked me and I flipped over her right shoulder. My left foot tangled in the stirrup (severely sprained my ankle...I'm thinking there may have been a small fracture they didn't see because even now, almost a year later, it will HURT if I overuse it). I hit the ground hard and blacked out (wasn't wearing a helmet). Luckily my friend was still in the round pen with me, because that mare came after me when I was on the ground. My friend jumped between us and kept the mare off me until I could get to my feet.


Woah, I'm glad that you're okay! I have thankfully never been bucked off!


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## gigem88 (May 10, 2011)

About 4 weeks ago, my gelding jumped from a booger, knocked me off balance and took off! Well he turned when he came to the fence. Unfortunately, I didn't and was thrown into the fence. Now I'm healing from a hairline fracture of the tibiba and torn ligaments in my knee. The many stitches in my arm are out and just about healed. Doctor has grounded me for awhile


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## Pen (Apr 26, 2012)

gigem88 said:


> About 4 weeks ago, my gelding jumped from a booger, knocked me off balance and took off! Well he turned when he came to the fence. Unfortunately, I didn't and was thrown into the fence. Now I'm healing from a hairline fracture of the tibiba and torn ligaments in my knee. The many stitches in my arm are out and just about healed. Doctor has grounded me for awhile


Oh no! Thankfully the worst damage I have got is a punctured muscle. I hope you get better soon!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Tennessee (Dec 7, 2008)

When I was 7 or 8, my first pony flipped over backwards and the saddle horn hit me so hard it bruised my diaphragm. That kinda sucked.


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## WesternJake (Jan 29, 2011)

My worst fall was riding bareback with 2 saddle pads underneath. I asked my horse for a trot and the saddle pads started slipping and I went with them. Hit the ground hard on my lower back and with my head. 
Got a concussion. Couldn't move for a couple days. I wouldn't have gotten to go home if my sister hadn't of come to the barn with me! I was in no condition to drive. 

Learned my lesson about using saddle pads! Haven't been as enthused about riding bareback since, either, sadly.  

Emily


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## Samstead (Dec 13, 2011)

Mine happens a couple weeks ago I came off a jump (I'm working on sitting up quicker) this time though Lucy didn't give me the chance she put her head down and I went right with her trying to regain my balance at the same time she sped up I started getting WAY too close to her shoulder. The next thing I knew I was hitting the ground the impact winded me but anything else was fine just a tad sore. Trying to tell my couch I was fine without air in my lungs was difficult I could only get out little "yeah"s when she asked if I was okay. Managed to get back on and "walk it off"


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## Misty'sGirl (Oct 22, 2007)

Mine was about 6 years ago now. I was trotting Misty over poles and she got a bit too excited and bolted at a flat out gallop; I lost my balance slightly, then she either tripped or bucked, not sure which, but I flew over the front of her and broke my collarbone into several pieces! Got a lovely plate and 6 screws in to hold it together


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## GhostwindAppaloosa (Jun 3, 2011)

I was schooling a TB over fences. She stuttered before the jump and still jumped... it had thrown me off enough that as soon as she hit ground i toppled to the side. 16.2 is a long way to fall.


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

The worst as far as damage to myself was 17 years ago and all could have been avoided. It was an unusually warm spring day so I was very excited to get out of the indoor and ride outside. Took Jana out to work her, didn't consider that even though it was warm, the ground was still frozen solid under the thin top layer of unfrozen sand in the arena. Jana had sliding plates on. Asked her for a stop, she hit frozen ground, lost her legs and fell on top of me. She was sore, got chiro & massage. I fractured 6 ribs. 

The worst as far as being scary and the only one that I can say truly shook my confidence was a little over a year & a half ago. I was riding Woodstock, putting maybe the 10th ride on him, loping for the 2nd time. He went down in a hole that wasn't visible from the surface. We both went end over end. It was one of those rare slow-mo falls and felt like the cartoons when you see the characters rolling in a snowball effect with legs and arms flailing. I had no concern for my injuries, I knew my shoulder hurt (dislocation) but was more concerned about him. I was certain when I got up that he broke a leg. Thankfully he didn't. He ended up tearing a tendon and doing a lot of soft tissue damage in his knee. I didn't ride for a couple weeks after that one. That's the longest break I've taken from riding in 25 years.


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## Ellieandrose (Apr 27, 2012)

I have a few!
First; Me and a horse I used to ride where doing some cross country training in one of the paddocks and we where going up a bit of a hill that had small rocks(almost pebbles) and she quickly put her head to the grown and pulled me with her, next thing I know the mare is on the opposite side of the paddock(10 acres) and my mum was going up to her, so I had been knocked out for a few minutes. I fractured my neck and back.

Second; Zoey had been out of work for about two weeks (from injury) and when it was time to get her back in to work, me and my friend decided to go on a short trail ride. I wanted to go for a bit of a trot, Zoey had other idea's. She took of bucking with her head to the ground and I went straight in to a barb wire fence, ripped my whole arm open and was knocked out. I still have scars on my arm.

Third; I was riding Zoey in the arena and at that time I was teaching her to canter(long story) she had been doing really well on the lunge line on both leads so I tried in on her back, OH NO, all I remember was getting up and realising I was in the paddock, which was over the arena fence and the paddock fence which was about 10 meter that I had been thrown.

Forth; I was out at Equestrian Park riding on of my friends standardbred. He can jump but his very slow so most jumps turn in to cat leaps, we were doing a very forward canter(for once in his life) and he completely over did it, my friend thinks he went at least a meter over it and this house(cross country jump) was about a meter as well, so you can tell it was a fair big jump that I wasn't expecting. I was winded for days!

Sixth; I was at EP again but with Zoey this time, we were jumping around a meter and then I did a set of jumps and then after the last one I landed awkwardly and Zoey completely flipped on to me, my AP saddle went in to my face and stomach.


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## Pen (Apr 26, 2012)

Thank you all for posting, I've enjoyed reading all of your experiences! I hope you have all recovered okay.
Another one of mine is when I was cantering a young horse on a 20 metre circle in an indoor school, he wasn't listening to any of my aids to turn and went straight towards the wall and sharply turned away in the opposite direction at the very last second, I went straight into the top of the kick boards and cut my hip up, the funny part is I actually bounced off of the wall and landed on my feet, hehe.


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## SamBadger (Aug 7, 2011)

I was jumping my friends arab and we went over the jump but he knocked it and it spooked him so he did a sharp turn to try and canter off and i didnt expect it and just flew over his shoulder but when i landed he trod on my leg, got back on but boy was my leg bruised later that day,haha.


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## Blaze (Apr 21, 2012)

My worst fall was actually my first fall and it was before I was even into horses! We had two horses and were riding double on both. We were riding bareback on the horse I was on. Well, a motorcycle came flying by and the other horse spooked, did a 360 and bolted and of course the horse I was on followed! Needless to say, I did fall off and had a badly sprained wrist and both of my hands were just tore up (road rash!). 

I have also been on a horse that fell twice. The first time we were both fine (he just slipped or something... not sure). But the second time, my horse spooked and slipped on the grass (I was double with my friend) and my leg and shin got badly bruised! Of course I got right back on!


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## countryryder (Jan 27, 2012)

My worst,as in most painful,fall happened when I was galloping my mare on a dirt track and we came around a turn and encountered a giant badger hole that had recently been dug.Horse hit the brakes and pulled a pretty nice pivot to the side to avoid the hole,but slipped.I kept going straight at the 30+ miles/hr. speed that we'd been running at (we were being clocked at the time) and hit pretty hard,skidded a ways before coming to a stop. Thankfully the horse was ok,if she'd stepped in the hole she probably would have broken her leg for sure.I had major bruising and scrapes on my entire side as well as a sprained shoulder and some stretched muscles,hurt for days but it could have been much worse.The helmet certainly did it's job!


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## palominolover (Apr 28, 2010)

My worst fall would have to be when I was practicing barrel racing. Me and my horse were in the outdoor arena, and we had just started our run. He spooked and galloped into the parking lot, when he wasn't satisfied with that he added a huge buck. And of course I was unprepared, I landed face first in the parking lot, and I completely lost my peripheral vision. Scariest moment of my life. I went to the hospital and I had fractured my skull.


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## minstrel (Mar 20, 2012)

My worst one was three years ago. It was just before I sold my horse to go to uni, and whilst I warned the new owners about my fall it wasn't the reason I sold him!!

He was always a bit spooky, and had a tendency to bolt and buck if he didn't like the situation he was in. It was something I mostly trained out of him, but the reaction was still there when things went wrong. Of course, it went wrong one day when out hacking in the middle of the hills with my sister: she was riding a youngster, who spooked at a rabbit and then tripped and nearly fell over. This freaked my horse out, who couldn't decide whether the rabbit or the other horse falling was more scary, so he went to bolt.

Normally I would have caught him before he got going and it would've been fine, but I'd injured my hand the previous week and was riding one handed with long reins, so when he bolted I wasn't quick enough to stop him. Usually, when he got going, the best thing to do was to do a quick flying dismount, as he would start to buck and work himself up, and would bronc until you hit the deck (and as an ID he had a LOT of power). However, I decided that I would stick the bucks out that day, and while he bolted across a nice grassy field I stuck on really well, despite his best efforts. 

However, he then took off across a rough bit of ground, where there had been an old drystone wall that had long since fallen down. He realised how rough it was, and skidded from flat out to a standstill right in front of a pile of drystone rubble, throwing in a massive buck as he did so, and spun 360 degrees. I went flying off into the remains of the granite wall, headfirst, and cracked my hard hat down the middle.

I was unconscious for about 2 hours, waking up in hospital after my X-rays. They had originally thought my neck was broken, thankfully it wasn't, but I was kept in hospital for several days for brain scans, as I had a severe concussion and they wondered if I had brain damage. Thankfully I didn't, I was lucky beyond belief, but I scared a lot of people, and even my university wanted proof I wasn't brain damaged before I could attend. Scary time - especially for my little sister, who went to fetch help (no phone signal on a Scottish mountainside) and got me airlifted to hospital, and who caught my horse and took them both back to the yard and looked after them. She was only 14 at the time, and had originally thought I was dead when I didn't move after she heard the big 'crack' of my hat splitting.

But yeah - that's why I get a bit funny when I see people riding without hats. It literally saved my life: my head would've fared much worse against granite rock, especially if my hat cracked in two!


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## tlkng1 (Dec 14, 2011)

Fall was the worst injury wise but the dumbest reason wise 

I trotted my horse over an 18" crossrail (we were doing some grid work in the lesson..this was a horse that was used to doing 3 foot courses). For whatever reason, he landed, immediately planted his front feet and bucked. Since I was still in two-point and therefore still a little forward, I came off over his left shoulder, landed on the heel of my hand and broke the bone in my upper arm. Two plates and 24 screws (add 6 months of the radial nerve remaining asleep so I had no hand control) later, it's been 6 years now and that arm is still weaker than the right.

To this day those that saw the jump and the buck said the jump was textbook...horse was checked for the usual pain/pinch points with no issues.

On my very first horse, we were riding our very first inddor show, course was set at 2'6. We had schooled over 3 feet for 10 minutes prior to the class over the same fences we would be jumping IN the class. For whatever reason, we came down to the one stride in and out, very simple, two single pole verticals, 2'6, he jumped the first fence beautifully and then stopped dead at the second jump, turned sideways and sent me into the second pole sideways. I actually broke the jump pole (standard size pole) in half with my hip, got back on while they reset the jump and then rode the rest of the course for schooling purposes, starting with that particular in and out, which he had no problems with..jumped it great the second time around  Of course, I was literally crawling around the house for the next couple of days with this really interesting colored bruise on my right hip.


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## cowgirl928 (Feb 4, 2012)

I have had 2 bad falls. 

My first really bad fall as while I was in a QH race. A horse cut in front of my horse way quick and my horse checked herself. I ended up on her neck holding on and her knees were hitting my chest. I had a split second thought moment of "ok..i can hang on and hope she stops or I can let go and cover my head". I let go, she ran over me, kicked me in the face and the ribcage. Fortunately, sh eonly broke my nose and cracked a few ribs. If she had kicked just a little higher she would have killed me, if she had kicked a little lower she would have shattered my jaw. 

2nd worst fall was a first ride on a horse. I had just gotten on her, she looked at me, pinned her ears, and jumped a 5 foot fence. Of course I wasn't ready for this and flew off the back of her. I broke the board in half, if there hadn't been a knot there I would have broken my back. I ended up with bruised ribs, a bruised elbow, wrist, and hand, and some seriously bruised vertebrae. 

My BEST fall happened just last Friday  I was riding my friends horse because he is a snot and really buddy sour so I took him out. We were loping up hill, the moment I shifted my seat forward he took the opportunity to kick me onto his neck. Like my butt was in front of the saddle horn and my hands by his poll. I let go out of previous experience (see above lol) it was the MOST comfortable fall ever! The grass was super soft and squishy, and felt like my mattress to be real honest. So since the horse was making his way home, I had a break and laid in the grass LOL


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## ellygraceee (May 26, 2010)

I can't really decide which is worse out of my two worst falls. 

The first one, I was riding my spooky horse in the arena in the front yard, which is right next to a dirt road. He was going really well and we were cantering in a twenty metre circle when a horse float turned onto the road. It was empty and clanging everywhere. My horse freaked and he reared, bucked several times, reared again and pigrooted. I went over his head and landed on my chin, flipped my body over my head and landed hard. Dad caught my horse, and Mum called the ambulance. Apparently they had the major hospital in the state on call because they were worried that I broke my neck. I ended up simply cracking a bone in my lower back. Silly me didn't rest it well enough and stuffed up the bone somehow and my back is a funny shape and I can't stand for long periods of time - I can't even stand to wash the dishes anymore. 

My second really bad fall was when I was schooling my mare in the back arena with no helmet on. My plan for the day was just to walk, and work on our lateral movements just in walk. When I asked her to do a walk pirouette, the saddle pinched in her back and she went bananas. She began bucking and rearing. I fell off, and my head landed on a solid dirt clump and then she kicked the other side of my head. I'd never been so scared in my life, and I was certain that I was going to die. I ended up with two huge swellings on my head and I tore all of the fibres, and ligaments in my right shoulder. I've still got lumps on my head, and my shoulder still acts up a bit, even though this happened like a year ago.


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## Pen (Apr 26, 2012)

minstrel said:


> My worst one was three years ago. It was just before I sold my horse to go to uni, and whilst I warned the new owners about my fall it wasn't the reason I sold him!!
> 
> He was always a bit spooky, and had a tendency to bolt and buck if he didn't like the situation he was in. It was something I mostly trained out of him, but the reaction was still there when things went wrong. Of course, it went wrong one day when out hacking in the middle of the hills with my sister: she was riding a youngster, who spooked at a rabbit and then tripped and nearly fell over. This freaked my horse out, who couldn't decide whether the rabbit or the other horse falling was more scary, so he went to bolt.
> 
> ...



I really do agree with you with about riding with hat. Even though my fall wasn't too bad on my head, I suspect that it would be a lot worse if I wasn't wearing my hat. I understand that it is a personal choice and people do know their horses really well but at the end of the day you never know what is going to happen :-(


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## Amandaa (Apr 23, 2012)

I hadnt ridden my Quarter Horse bareback in a while and it was the begginging of summer so i decided to ride him bareback and gallop him full blast around a dirt pile in my field, i failed to realize that he had just lost his winter coat so he was SUPER slippery! After he went around the pile he took off full blast and i slid to the side, couldnt regain my balance and hit the ground HARD! I got a minor concussion and my hip was terribly bruised but that didnt stop me from riding to the creek! Haha


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## Mary Liz (Mar 21, 2012)

All I can remember is going to my barn and then waking up in an emergency room the day after. The people that saw it said I was on my horse and he got me off and kicked out and when he did it connected with my head. I was in and out of conciseness going to the hospital and was awake at the hospital but out of it completely and can't remember anything of what went on going to the hospital, at the hospital or being transferred from that hospital. I woke up in a completely different city because they transferred me to a bigger hospital that could handle the trauma I had. I woke up barely in time to be considered not in a coma because the doctor made one last round and said that if I was not awake by the time he rounded again it was time to do tests and see why I was not awake. I was unconscious all night and all morning and I woke up not knowing where I was or when I had went to sleep with a nurse beside me. I suffered a close head injury but the same day I woke up I was able to leave and I'm fine now and back riding. Note this all happened and I was riding in a helmet.


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## Pen (Apr 26, 2012)

Mary Liz said:


> All I can remember is going to my barn and then waking up in an emergency room the day after. The people that saw it said I was on my horse and he got me off and kicked out and when he did it connected with my head. I was in and out of conciseness going to the hospital and was awake at the hospital but out of it completely and can't remember anything of what went on going to the hospital, at the hospital or being transferred from that hospital. I woke up in a completely different city because they transferred me to a bigger hospital that could handle the trauma I had. I woke up barely in time to be considered not in a coma because the doctor made one last round and said that if I was not awake by the time he rounded again it was time to do tests and see why I was not awake. I was unconscious all night and all morning and I woke up not knowing where I was or when I had went to sleep with a nurse beside me. I suffered a close head injury but the same day I woke up I was able to leave and I'm fine now and back riding. Note this all happened and I was riding in a helmet.


That sounds awful, I'd hate to not know what happened to me. I'm glad you wore a hat though


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## Army wife (Apr 29, 2012)

Man, these stories are WILD!! Glad your all ok  I've got two to add. First, my mare and I were very young! (we "grew up" together.) I was in a HS drill team competition. Going into a cross through...like an "X" of horses running, one in front of the other. She bucked in the corner, I went up on her neck holding on for dear life. She went through the cross through and locked up the brakes. Well, needless to say, I didn't let go of the reins. I pulled her over on top of me. Wish I had the video. You see me fly over her head, her head goes down, and she is ever so careful as to not step on me. Picking up her legs, trying to stop, all of this in a vague cloud of dust. I had a scrape on my leg, I should have been trampled. Second, I took her into a hazing line for roping for the first time. No big deal, had a buddy with me. Arena was freshly tilled, and very very deep. She spooked, went back, stumbled in the deep footing, reared up, stumbled back more....as she flipped over backwards, right at the very last second, she literally threw herself face first sideways into the dirt. I stood up, she stood up, her boots all twisted sideways and dirt caked in her eyes. My friends said she had never seen a horse deliberately hurt it's self to keep the rider safe to that degree. I truly have an amazing mare  and yes, we have done a lot of growing up, and are accident free these days  knock on wood!!


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## Rascaholic (Oct 4, 2010)

First of, I was young, STUPID STUPID STUPID, but I could stick in a saddle like I had velcro on my butt. I rode everything and anything with a problem. I liked a challenge. If it had a problem, I could fix it! :twisted:
The barn I worked for brought in a gorgeous mare with a problem. She reared. Bloodlines out the wazoo on this baby. Registered and almost the perfect old time TWH conformation. 16 hands of muscled up awesomeness waiting to rear and toss you off. WOW!! Who wouldn't want to be the one to tame her, right? UGH wrong!

Our first ride went surprisingly well. Supervised in the arena. No biggie. So I got her into regular work and she settled in perfectly. I was so amazed at the way she moved, the way she settled in so well.

Fast forward 2 weeks to our first trail ride. I never even made it out of the drive way. She went up and down several times then bolted. I cranked her into a one rein stop and she went to backing up. Up she went again. According to the BO's daughter whom I was riding with, the last time she went up she flung herself over. She swore the mare knew she was going to crush me.

I landed underneath her half on and half off the cement driveway. Broken pelvic bone, dislocated hip, broken leg, almost every rib on the left side broke, Broken collar bone, cracked my helmet in half and still got a concussion, broken nose, broken right arm, road rash on the right hip and leg. Internal seepage bleeding was the worst. My guts hurt for months while the bruising healed,I pulled and tore all kinds of muuscles throughout my body. I'd have to actually look at the file to see exactly what all I did injure. I thought my Mom was going to kill me when I healded up. 
It was horrible. I couldn't ride for well over a year. 

This is why when people say I have a horse, should I train it to rear, I will be the first on the "You're a moron!" bandwagon. It's not challenging, it's not funny. It's freaking dangerous as hell to chance 16 hands and over half a ton of horseflesh landing on you.

I am thankful everyday that I am alive after some of the things I did when I was young and stupid. I got way lucky more than once.


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## Hailey1203 (Dec 12, 2010)

I was jumping my horse down a 2 stride line. First fence was 2'3, then second was a 2'6 oxer. We took the first fence horribly. Striding was horrible, not enough impulsion, and way crooked. We landed and were headed way left of the next fence. I decided i had enough time to correct the direction and get more impulsion. My horse disagreed. He hit the brakes right infront of the fence. I summersaulted over his head and landed on my right hip on the jump. Immidiately blacked out. Woke up a few minutes later thankfully. Turns out i broke 2 of the poles from the jump. My intrusctor tells me that something was going to break in that impacts, and shes just glad it wasnt my hip. 

I decided that my hip wasnt broken or anything, so i didnt get it xrayed. It started bugging me again this Autumn (the fall was last winter). So i went to the doctor. Turns out i had fractured my hip and torn a bunch of ligements. Because i didnt get it checked out, everything healed awkwardly, and un able to be fixed (unless they rebreak my hip, and thats not happening.) So, now i cant lit for long periods of time without being in a considerable amount of pain (i work an office job :/) Cant ride without stirrups for too long, and at the beginning of every winter it ACHES. And im only 18. 

Moral of the story. Go to the hospital if you have any doubts. Never risk it, its not worth being in pain for the rest of your life.


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## Pen (Apr 26, 2012)

Army wife said:


> I stood up, she stood up, her boots all twisted sideways and dirt caked in her eyes. My friends said she had never seen a horse deliberately hurt it's self to keep the rider safe to that degree. I truly have an amazing mare


That is really lovely to read, I can imagine that you and you mare have an amazing bond.


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## Army wife (Apr 29, 2012)

Rascaholic...thats intense!!! I've never thought I was invincible. Always had a healthy respect for a 1000 lb animal lol. Pen, thank you!! We do, I can honestly say she has saved my life in more ways then one!! lol I love my mare very much!! She is like my guardian angel or something. I wouldn't trade her for the world. She is a once in a lifetime kinda horse. I am truly blessed  I think she knows most ppl would have sold her off when she was young, I never gave up on her and she never gave up on me!! Thank you again, that's a big compliment


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## Rascaholic (Oct 4, 2010)

Army wife said:


> Rascaholic...thats intense!!! I've never thought I was invincible. Always had a healthy respect for a 1000 lb animal lol.


ROFL healthy respect was present. I knew she could hurt me, but I thought I was Wonder Woman when it came to riding. I could ride the hair off anything with 4 legs. Well that mare rode the hair off of me! Literally!

Sadly that wasn't my only stupid moment on horseback. BUT it did teach me that I was breakable much more so than she was :wink: and I have the arthritis to prove it :lol:


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## MiaSweetVersion (Jun 18, 2010)

Well I have to say that my absolute worst fall was my first. I was just learning to ride on my new horse, who I had only had for a couple months. My dad followed me on a four wheeler (the horse wass not scared of the four wheeler) and for some unknown reason my horse took off bucking into the woods. My dad jokes with me and says I should join the PBR because I was on for 8 seconds. That was pure luck, as I was 9 and had only been riding for a few months. I ended up flying head first into a tree, cracking my helmet (thank goodness I was wearing one) and I broke my left humerus. This was right before we went to Disney Land on vacation, I was so unhappy! This horse was the greatest teacher I have ever had, unfortunately we had to put her down. I miss her dearly, she was my best friend and I still cry sometimes when I go down to the barn and she is not there. 

My second worst fall, which is worth mentioning because this was my fault entirely. I was having a lesson and riding without stirrups, I had begun to lose my balance so instinctively I grabbed onto the fence rail. Unforunately the horse was moving forward and I pulled myself off the horse. I slipped to the ground and my horse attempted to get away from me to avoid stepping on me, but she managed to tramped on my ankle. No broken bones but bruised tendons and a limp for a couple weeks.


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## JumpingJiminy (May 2, 2012)

I haven't had too many bad falls.. Usually they look really painful(such as when my horse suddenly stopped and spun around and I went flying into the fence) but don't actually hurt. The only one that really hurt as of late is when I was riding this pain in the *** little hunter pony. He was being a tad bit spooky and had stopped on me before when I'd ridden him, but this time we were headed full speed(very rare for being such a lazy little thing) toward a jump about 2'6"-2'9" and at the VERY last second.. Slammed on the brakes and ducked at the same time sending me flying into the jump(We have REALLY heavy poles where I board.) So I got a purple and black bruise along the length of my back that stuck around for a few weeks.

I suppose I'm quite lucky that I haven't broken any bones yet.


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## DawnsBreak (May 10, 2012)

*Worst fall*

I have a tie breaker.

I was riding on one of my instructor's horses bareback, and he moved at the last second towards said person. I lost my balance, slipped off, landed on my head and back of my shoulder. I almost passed out.

Second one, I was riding my Appy, and we started to lope/canter. We weren't but 5 minutes away from home, she decided it was a great idea to turn around. Lost my balance again! Anyways, fell off, landed on my back, my head hit the back of a rock (Thank you helmet!), and my horse stepped on my leg as she turned.


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## Pen (Apr 26, 2012)

My falls seem like nothing compared to some of yours! Ouch!


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## yadlim (Feb 2, 2012)

Worse fall...

(dont read if your having a bad day)





My stable had lost its lease and we wound up with two weeks notice to find a new place and wound up settling for a LOT less. I gave away two horses and kept two - my then 6 year old gelding and my daughter's show prospect that I got her for 4H. This mare was one of those natural peanut pushers under saddle. 

Well, I started her at the spry age of seven and had about 20 rides on her. For Obivous reasons, my daughter was still riding my horse. Well, with the move, the mare had not gotten worked for almost three weeks. We also had NO facilities - just the pasture to ride in. I lunged her down as my daugher rode my gelding and promptly left my helmet on the pile of grooming equipment. 

I led the mare over to the mounting stump, swung one leg over and as my butt touched the saddle she was off. As she had never misbehaved before, I was not expecting it. I did not have ahold of my reins, I didn't have time to get my feet into the stirrups. I am told that I did not make the full eight seconds, more like four or five. 

At that point I went flying over her head. I actually had time to think, 'oh damm, my helmet' before I hit the gound, head first. I felt the shockwave travel up through my skull and up my spine - but my body was not perfectly straight. My legs flopped farther than my body - over backwards. When the shockwave got to the point where my spine was bent, one vertibra took all the energy as a crushing blow. I also broke 8 ribs.

Sort of like if you hit a pill with a hammar...

I spent three weeks in two different hospitals before I could stand again. I spent six months in a full torso brace. I managed to get back to work for a couple of years, but sitting in front of a computer was pure agony - which does terrible things to accuracy. It was a full four years before I could physically take a deep breath, it was agony, but at least I could do it.

Over the years, I have given up on being able to work. I am only functional for a few hours a day. In the last three years the vertibea has gone from 30% crushed to 70% gone now, with both discs collapsed. 

I take 6 tabs of oxycotten a day, which gives me about three to four hours of functionality. In the last two months I have had to give up going for calm walks on my gelding - I have not been able to ride faster than a walk in the 7 years since the accident. 

I see the Dr on Monday to continue to discuss surgical options to get me off the pain killers - we are looking at full spinal reconstruction - which may put me in bed/recovery for up to two years.


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## DawnsBreak (May 10, 2012)

yadlim said:


> Worse fall...
> 
> (dont read if your having a bad day)
> 
> ...



Ow. I hope you're okay!


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## BellaMFT (Nov 15, 2011)

The worst fall I have had happen January of this year. I was out riding with our local fox trotter group. All the horse where pretty fresh but the ride was going ok. So we had stopped because another girl lost her balance and fell off. So when we started going again my horse got to close to my husband horse and he landed a kick right in her chest. She started bucking like you wouldn't believe. I thought oh she is just going to let out a buck or two and then stop. Heck no she just kept going. I finally hit the ground. All I remember is sitting on the ground bleeding like crazy. Everyone thought I broke my nose. No one had cell phone service should we decide the best thing was to put me on another horse and walk me out. It seemed to take forever. I think I was in shock, in fact I am pretty sure I was because I just sat there bleeding on that poor horse but I was not in any pain. After we got back to the trailer someone radioed the guard station and they called the ambulance. After another 5 hours in the emergency room it turned out that I didn't break my nose but I did fracture my c-6 vertabrae. They had to call in a plastic surgeon to stitch up the cuts on each side of my nose. Long story short I am still recovering. I have numbness in my forehead and my left knee is still swollen and I did some major nerve damage to it. I wont post pictures they are kind of scary. :lol: Still riding though but now I were a helmet.


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## Rancher6 (May 9, 2012)

Last time I got thrown was in the round pen a few years ago. I swung my leg up over the saddle and he took off bucking before my butt got settled so I bailed and fell on my buck knife. 

**** right it hurt.

It took me 20 minutes to recover before I could get back on him and then he was ok. Rode him for 30 minutes and all the time my side hurt.


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## yadlim (Feb 2, 2012)

DawnsBreak said:


> Ow. I hope you're okay!


I have a few good days... but honestly, no. I am putting my horse back into harness as I can wear my torso brace while riding in a cart. 

Sorry, today is not a good day...


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## Pen (Apr 26, 2012)

yadlim said:


> I have a few good days... but honestly, no. I am putting my horse back into harness as I can wear my torso brace while riding in a cart.
> 
> Sorry, today is not a good day...



I really do hope that your days get better. Hang in there.


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## yadlim (Feb 2, 2012)

*Thank you!!*



Pen said:


> I really do hope that your days get better. Hang in there.


I am sory about being such down on the list the other day. It was a bad day. Yesterday I spent an hour grooming my gelding - who was PERFECT! It was a great relaxing time and very personal for him and I. 

I also let my daughter's 3 year old work on holding her feet still - while attatched to the hitching rail of woe... She will eventualy learn that it is much funner to hold still and get loved on and groomed then fuss while being tied - honest. Really she will. 90 minutes on the hitching rail of woe and wow she really held still for a body scratch! Silly fillly.


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## CattanWolf (Dec 28, 2010)

wow, some of these falls sound terrifying!
My worst fall from an injury point of view was about 3 years ago when I was trying out a new riding club. For several weeks I had been begging the instructor to let me have a go on one of the horses there, a superb black selle francais gelding. Now I had ridden tons of horses more challenging than him, but none of them had been the type of horse I liked, they were all TB's and other skinny little things rather than muscled warmbloods. The instructor finally let me ride him, it had taken her a while to find a space for me to ride him since he was really popular. Then I discovered that it wasn't a normal lesson, but only once I was tacked up and waiting on 17.1hh of jumper and they all turned up on shetlands, welshes and other small ponies. Isntead of a normal lesson we were doing 'pony games' and one of the things they asked me to do was to lie down, with my head on the horse's bottom, my feet on his shoulders and canter. I told them if I did I would fall off, they didn't listen, the horse, bless him, sensed that I was uncomfortable with the exercise and refused to canter, so the instructor slapped him with a whip as we went past. Cue massive buck and rider flying through the air. I landed on my neck, result three cracked vertebrae and no riding for 3 months. 
I never went back there.

My worst fall in terms of possibility of getting hurt was at a competition however. It was the first time I had competed in about 2 years so I was really nervous and had only entered a clear round class. Whilst warming up, another girl had been having terrible trouble with a young anglo-arab mare that kept tanking off over jumps. a guy that hangs around the stables a lot and calls himself a 'trainer' dragged her off the mare, jumped on, no hat or anything, he then proceeded to gallop around the arena full speed, drumming on the horse with his crop. 
Meanwhile I tried to get on with warming up Sparky, who was of course being his usual Grand-Prix-warmblood-mini-me self. As I went to go over an oxer, stupid guy on the mare cut straight in front of me to go over first (I was maybe two strides from the jump). The mare frog-hopped it and bucked her back legs as she went over, Sparky, who was mere moments from take-off, slammed on the brakes and stopped in a way that most professional reiners would be proud of. I flew and landed arm chair style in the oxer, which stayed upright.
Loyal as a house-cat, Sparky abandoned me and bombed off to the side.
Sounds pretty comic right? Rider at ease on the jump, horse leaving at high speed in the opposite direction, but this is where it gets dangerous. The b****** on the horse was still galloping around and obviously was so aware of his surroundings that he didn't even notice me, draped over a jump, because he came round and headed for the jump, at the last second I managed to slip between the bars, which was just as well, because missy mare hit the top pole, exactly where my head had been and threw it off the jump. The guy then turned round, saw me under the jump and had a go at me, saying I might have put the horse off jumping! he didn't care that he could have killed me! Last time I checked the code for a rider falling off is that all horses stop moving at check they're not hurt, not jump straight over them when they're lying winded on the obstacle!


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## DawnsBreak (May 10, 2012)

yadlim said:


> I have a few good days... but honestly, no. I am putting my horse back into harness as I can wear my torso brace while riding in a cart.
> 
> Sorry, today is not a good day...


Need an internet hug?

:hug:


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## Pen (Apr 26, 2012)

CattanWolf said:


> The guy then turned round, saw me under the jump and had a go at me, saying I might have put the horse off jumping! he didn't care that he could have killed me! Last time I checked the code for a rider falling off is that all horses stop moving at check they're not hurt, not jump straight over them when they're lying winded on the obstacle!


How terrifying! Some people are so rude.


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## HorseLover123 (Sep 28, 2008)

Had a few bad falls, I'll just share them haha 
-First fall, the horse tripped and we both fell... was VERY scary as he almost went on top of me.
-A horse stopped with me at a jump and the wooden pole fell on my finger, couldn't move my finger for days!!
-One of my old loan ponies tripped and fell on her front knees, I somersaulted over her head and nearly landed on the horse in front's bum 
-Last summer with my pony, he refused a jump then catleaped it and I went over his head and landed head first, my neck twisted and it was so sore!

Those have to be the worst lol!


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