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Worst fall you've had?

11K views 52 replies 46 participants last post by  rideverystride 
#1 ·
Falling, ouch!

What's the worst fall you've had in all your time riding?

Usually I'm pretty good about falling. Don't get me wrong, sometimes on the back of a jump I'll spring onto the horse's neck but I haven't actually fallen into the dirt for quite some time.
My worst fall ever was on a post-rainy day a few years ago. Only I and one other rider were out, a car screeched near the arena and both of us fell off of our horses. I had a huge blue bruise from my knee to my bellybutton for a while. :/
 
#2 ·
Well my worst fall was about seven years ago I was showing one of my friends (She was about 4 years older than me) that I could canter. We were cantering around the arena and we met going down the center line. Her horse decided that it wanted to bite the horse I was riding and her horse moved half way across the arena next to me and tried to bite my horse. My horse (of course) had to kick out at her horse and I was hanging off of the side. My horse started galloping and I fell off. My mother took me to the hospital because I fell on my hip and I couldn't walk. I was in crutches for 3 weeks!
 
#4 ·
Usually I am the queen of falling off, I've been known to do flips land on my feet still holding the reins on my way off lol BUT I have hit the ground, never bad tho. The worst time I was riding a 4 year old just gelded horse for the first time, he was doing good (my trainer said she had done lots of ground work) all of a sudden he just cut loose and I biffed 'er sideways, fell and cracked 3 ribs and broke one.
 
#5 ·
My worst fall was the one where I didn't actually get hurt other than bruising.

It was a very long time ago. I was learning how to jump on my TB and as I was heading toward a very small 18" cross rail, he started to drift. I didn't manage to get him back centered and my foot hooked on the jump standard, rocking it. He landed and took off startled and I started to fall to the right. I was scrambling to get back centered and had just about managed it when he ducked out the opposite way and over his shoulder I went, flat on my back. LOL
 
#6 ·
My worst fall happened this summer, I was riding out in the field on a young horse and the neighbors dog decided it would be a fun day to jump out and start chasing my horse (teeth bared, ears pinned not just a fun game of chase). I can't blame the horse for taking off and bucking, I rode for 5 good bucks then came off. I landed on the ground and he caught me with a hoof in the back of the head as he bucked over top of me. I remember the bucking and being in the hospital 8 hours later. Thats about it. I was dizzy and had headaches for almost 4 months after. I was back on a horse about a week later.
 
#7 ·
Two years ago. Stupidest thing I've ever done.

So, my friend owns a bucker. I mean, you just go to get on and BAM, he bucks. Yes pain is ruled out, no he's not cold backed, he's just a bucker.
She wanted to ride bareback with me, but was too nervous to get on. She asked me to ride first, and I said okay. He was fine, but after my leg was across his back, he chucked a HUGE buck, and i literally flipped over backwards and my right calf hit the corner of the step-up I was using. My whole calf was black. literally, for over two months. Now I have a dent in the muscle where it never grew back. Also 4 inches surrounding that dent is numb. There's no feeling there.
I don't remember it being very painful, but the bruising definitely hurt.

I absolutely loved showing people my black leg, it was great. I showed all of my teachers and my friends. lol
 
#9 ·
I was loped over 3 years ago. That was cool..

I was taking senior pictures for high school on a mare (not mine, as I did not own mine at the time) that I was very fond of and happens to be the reason for my username. I was bareback. At the time, I wasn't very good at it, but decent. Friend/photographer asked if I'd lope, which I'd never done. She assures me that it's not bad. It wasn't and I loped around fine.

Then, as I had the mare stop to take a picture, I was caught off guard looking all pretty and she took off back to the corral (we were in the middle of a field). I didn't think and wrapped my arms around her neck, slipped sideways and fell in front of her. She did a couple more strides before i opened my eyes and saw her belly.

Somehow, I was completely fine other than some scratches and bruises. Including a full hoofprint on my shoulder blade that was only scratched in. She managed to just glance me everytime rather than completely crushing my chest.

My friend about peed her pants watching it and was not impressed when I stood up and asked if she got a picture. :lol: I was and still am a bit disappointed that the hoofprint didn't scar. I had the two ends for a while, but they've since faded.
 
#10 ·
1) Smashed out of the saddle by a tree under the jaw, then off the horse by another tree across the chest at the gallop; broken jaw, tongue nearly bitten clean off a bunch of cracked teeth (bits still fall of occasionally), massive concussion, broken ribs.
2) Horse fell out from under me at the trot, I landed in front of the horse, it jumped up and ran right over the top of me, hoof in my right eye socket, another on my right hand and a third in the back of the head, I had only just put new shoes on her the day before. Massive concussion and all cut up about the head. In and out of consciousness for about 6 hours.
3) Training a horse and was riding it around the yard bareback and got a little cockier than I had the right to and after she started to buck, and I was on her clowning around, she dumped me right on my tailbone; could hardly walk for about 3 weeks.
4) First ever saddlebronc ride I came out of the chute, marked out and everything, was going fine until I got loosened up and got dumped right on my tailbone, again (only about 8 months after the first time) have had lower back problems ever since.
 
#11 ·
It wasn't exactly a fall but I was in a halter class. The horse behind the mare i was leasing at the time was flipping out and bite her butt. She reared and kneed me in the face, knocking me to the ground. On her way down she landed right on my hip with all her weight with her foot. Then she reared up again and I jumped/got dragged under the fence. Nothing was broken and got right back on a few weeks later when I wasn't soar anymore.:)
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#12 ·
Oh another time, these boarders at my barn bought a new horse and I was asked to ride him. No one had any knowledge about his past, but he saddled, bridled, let you mount, I was walking and trotting him around and while we were walking, he flipped out and started bucking, so violently. I was western and her threw me into the horn quite a few times, then I bailed. Oh man. I cried. I thought I broke my pelvis.
I was bruised really bad, and the bruise on my left thigh turned into a hoofprint. it was pretty cool:) lol
 
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#13 · (Edited)
My worst fall was a pretty scary one.

I don't remember much of it, but from what witnesses say was that I was cantering around a corner on my horse and he tripped, wasn't able to catch himself and fell to the ground. All I remember was seeing the ground coming toward me and thinking, on the ground, "Oh my god. Is Audi (my horse) ok?!" Apparently, I stood up almost right away. My friend's mother came over, as my mom was running back to the ring from the barn, and she asked me if Audi fell on my leg. I said, "Yes, but he rolled off." (I don't remember this at all!!) However, I do remember the next part. I looked over toward my horse, still on the ground, and watched him to see if he was ok (I didn't approach because I was still in shock/wasn't thinking straight). He stood up on his own and as soon as he saw me, came straight to me. And I went straight to him. All I can remember from this part was that I kept petting his face and saying, "It's ok. It's ok."

I went to the hospital, got a cat-scan, but there wasn't any brain damage whatsoever. I got a mild concussion but that was it. Don't worry, Audi was completely fine. When I came to see him the next day, I called his name and he came galloping over to me from the pasture. 2 weeks later when I was cleared to ride, he and I went to a local horse show. lol If anything, he and I bonded quite a bit from the experience. It's also the only time I've fallen off my horse (I've fallen off of plenty of other horses though!).

But, hey, we're both more bonded than ever. :)
 
#14 ·
Oh boy...my worst fall.

I was teaching a horse how to canter. This comes naturally to most horses, but this horse was such a train wreck that he just had no clue. We were making progress but things were still iffy and one day when I asked him to canter, he just took off.

We zipped around the arena and I was bellowing for people to get out of the way. We were doing motorcycle turns and I was trying my best to get him rebalanced and bring him back down when we took a turn awkwardly and wasn't set up right for the next turn. He was headed straight for the chain link fence (the gate). At this point, we would either try to jump it or smash through it, because he just couldn't take another turn and still stay standing.

To avoid trying to jump the chainlink fence or smashing into it (which would have probably killed one or both of us), I leaned back and hauled on the inside rein and brought him to the ground. Kind of like a movie fall. He was so ubalanced that it was pretty simple to put him down, but it was at a cost.

He was fine but I slammed my head so hard against the ground that I got side-to-side whiplash. The next day I couldn't move my head and the pain was horrible, so I went to the ER. They passed around X-rays for 5 hours, thinking I broke my neck, before deciding I sprained it and sent me on my way.

By far the most eventful fall I've had...YET!
 
#15 ·
Well..I just recently realized why my back is screwed up..lol.

I had just started leasing Lucky (bought her! Lol) and we went out to a nice show about 2 hours away. Her owner asked why I wasn't running an exhibition and made me feel stupid for not signing up..so I went and signed up for one. Well, I ended up with one and a third xD

I'd only ridden this horse twice on trails and had no idea her leg cues were so PERFECT during a run. I went around my first barrel and looked great, amd as we approached the second she was a little too far out so I put on a little leg to scootch her over..Well, instead of a little she went about two feet and almost right into the barrel..being the fat, self preserving b!tch she is, she ducked to the left so she wouldn't run into the barrel. I flew off her (not sure how or where) and landed flat on my back (like I was taught in TKD). Well, instead of a leather belt, I had on a studded one and it ended up like so: / into my lower back. I can't even get it massaged because I can't deal with the pain. The studded belt didn't bend like a regular leather one would've.
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#16 · (Edited)
Hope you don't mind a non-jumping story.

The one I consider the worst was when I discovered my kids had worked a filly, a three year old, without my knowledge. The kids were very young and thought they could do well. I didn't find out about it until she started bucking, striking, running backwards, etc, and scared them good.

I worked with her on the ground a bit and she was nicely mannered. Next day I worked her on the ground and stepped into the saddle. She blew up. I remember thinking how unusual it was that I could see both hind hooves out to each side as she sunfished. Both to the right. Both to the left. She was very athletic.

I eventually tired of riding all this out and sought to dismount. I got her slowed and as I stepped off she gave a huge lunge up and buck and drove her front legs into the ground like pile drivers.

Next I remember sitting in the dust and wondering why I had so much bacon in my teeth from breakfast, which I didn't have that day. Took a bit of time for my head to clear to realize I was chewing dirt from the corral. Most likely pulverized manure.

I remember finally seeing my kids, wide-eyed and looking through the corral boards. I told them, "Y'all aren't very good trainers. Yet."

The filly turned out well, but it took a bit of doing. Or un-doing.

I rode bareback broncs, one-handed rather than two-handed like some women, in the old GRA. That was six seconds or so and usually the pick up riders weren't so hot at the girl rodeos. Those were nothing compared to that filly.
 
#18 ·
Whew. First one toasted my ACL, tore the miniscus in said knee, luxated shoulder and concussion. Green mare, scary object instead of my idea of circling until reason was reached, she pitch a bucking fit. Only managed to stay on through one(knee came down on steel pommel).

Second FAR more damage. Loping a 12hh pony bareback with 4 other riders in arena, like a hooligan. Came around the bend to some teaffic and not a clear plan. Pony broke gait, jackhammer trot on a turn + slippery ski pants = **** on ground. Only, this arena had frozen manure clumps and my lumbar connected HARD. L3-4 is now disc-compressed/non-existent. Made an epidural during labour tricky and hurts on a regular basis. Pelvis all wonky from compensating, regular chiro and tennis ball massaging. Some sciatic issues. Horse rides lopsided cause o me. Other riders really notice it on him. Boo.
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#20 ·
I've been pretty lucky so far.
I managed to crack one of the wooden jump standards with my neck/upper back (literally broke the standard...they had to get a new one) but that was on a horse who was known for being a diiiiirty stopper - I was good at riding out his stops, but he started spinning after and I came off, right into the standard.

I can't move 3 of my toes on my right foot, 2 vertebrae in my neck are rotated 15 degrees to the left, and my new chiropractor thought I had been in a really bad car accident because of the bad damage 3 vertebrae in my upper back showed. Oops?
 
#22 ·
Scariest was when I pulled my mare over on top of me. Thankfully she just landed on my leg and I just limped for a couple days.
I was riding my current gelding bareback down the road at a fast canter. I wanted him to slow down so I told him to 'settle'. I never pulled on the reins but he knew what I wanted. He also didn't want to slow down, so he went into some crowhops. My mind went into slow motion and I didn't grab a hold of his mane or pull up on the reins (my usual response). I went over his head (taking his bridle off while doing so) and landed on my head on the gravel road. Of course I wasn't wearing a helmet. I sat up to try and tell my sister that I was fine and my world spun. Pretty dizzy for a week or so after. I probably gave myself a concussion.
 
#23 ·
I have a couple...

First big fall was off a friends horse who I had never ridden before. I mounted and asked her to walk off. She decided to buck. I sat 3 pretty decent bucks (apparrently) before falling off and landing square between my shoulder blades (at least I think). I can't remember about 2 hours of that day. According to my friend, I wanted to hop back on but she wouldn't let me. I untacked the horse, gave her a brush and put her gear away. Then my friend noticed I kept repeating myself so I was taken off to hospital. Nothing too serious, just a concussion :)

Second time, I fell off my horse Bo. I lost my stirrups cantering (Bo has a HUGE canter) and I slid off right near a fence post. I twisted mid air to avoid hitting the post and ended up in hospital again, as I had severe back pain. Nothing serious again, just soft tissue injury and I managed to put most of the muscles in my torso into spasm.

Last one, I was jumping my other horse GK and he rushed a double, got in too deep and cat lept over it (as he usually does in that situation), he cleared it (80cms from a standstill) and I forgot to keep my heels down, lost my stirrup and slid off landing on my feet. As I landed my patella tracked out and I could barely walk. I had to get my instuctor to load my horse into the float and get my grandmother to drive out to the stables to untie him from the float as I couldn't get up the ramp or step. I was back in the saddle about 2 days later (after being checked out by the doc) athough I did have to mount from the wrong side for about 2 weeks til the swelling went down. :)
 
#24 · (Edited)
My worst fall I actually wasn't hurt very bad at all. I was cantering my horse around a corner (that she hates, and always acts up in) and she lost focus and slipped. Going down onto her knees. She got right back up, but decided that it was my fault she slipped and started throwing a bucking fit. Like rodeo horse bucks. I stayed on quite a few, but then she slipped to her knees again throwing me to the side. She stood back up but my right foot was caught in the stirrup and I was on the left side dangling from her. Stupidly I yelled for help and she got scared. She bolted and I was just touching the ground on since it was my right foot caught, and I had fallen on the left. I was only stuck for a few strides, I was scared so much that I admit, yes I was in tears. I wasn't hurt and neither was Shadow. But I had no confidence for the longest time, because not until after did I think "Wow, I could be dead right now. Or close to it."

My other worst fall was my horse spooked, bucked, and wheeled around in a tight circle, I flew off and landed sitting up. I slipped a disc in my back, that still bothers me and this was well over a year ago. I didn't find out that it was a disc until this summer after I went to a horse camp and it was really bothering me. I went to the chiropractor and she thought that I was in a car accident. Just goes to show how dangerous this sport really is.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I've has so many that I can't remember them all!

The most recent really bad fall was about a week before my wedding, my friend had a horse come back from the "breakers" but she was too scared to hop on and asked if I would. Half way through the ride we're having a really nice canter on a loose-ish rein when he drops his head between his knees and goes to town. This horse isn't particularly co-ordinated, so he ends up bucking his feet out from underneath himself, lands on his shoulder, drives me into the dirt and rolls clean over the top of me, squishing me into the ground. I didn't break anything, but I got sand absolutely everywhere and it wasn't until the day before my wedding that I was able to walk properly.

My worst jumping fall was on my old pony, we were doing a six bar comp, bareback when he decided that he'd had enough, and took off for home. As we were heading through the float parking area towards the main road I decided that it would be a good idea to bail out rather than encounter the truck that was heading along the road. Unfortunately I bailed at a really stupid time, and ended up going head first into the side of a horse float, spun around into the actual float itself and bouncing out down the ramp. Oh, and I have it all on video as my mum was filming it. Her commentary as I'm coming off required beeping out lol
 
#26 ·
I was cantering on a 13hh Kaimanawa (NZ wild pony) mare when a bird flew out from under her. She tossed her head violently, hit me on head and knocked me out.

According to witnesses, we continued cantering for about 200m before I slid off and the pony ground to a halt, wondering why i was on the ground. I woke up about 10mins later and was immediately hussled back onto the pony. The doctors appointment came later.
 
#27 ·
Well, when I was about 7 my dad bought a big bay gelding. And I decided I wanted to use his heavy saddle. Had my sister help me lift it onto him... but not tighten it. And we went to the Back of 40 acres. On the way home. The gelding took off. And so did the mare my sister was riding. As I tools down at my saddle it was slowly sliding sideways. Soooo. Me decided I was gonna bail.

Well my foot got.hung up and I ended up being dragged under the horse for about 20 acres... with only scratchs. I think the gelding was more sore from.the back of.his front legs hitting the saddle then I was.. I consider that the worst. But not the only bad one lol
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