Ankle injury

I fell off my horse today and sprained my ankle pretty bad. The worst part is I have a horse show on Saturday and Sunday, and it's a double points show so it would be extra sucky to miss it. Have any of you guys ever had a sprain keep you from riding? How long where you out of the saddle?

Personally, I've had quite a few injuries and kept riding. I had my toe cut into (eww.), my doctor said I was okay to ride, but it would hurt. Majorly. So I competed two days later. I just wore my boots as little as possible, kept it well bandaged and kind of sucked it up. I've ridden with sprained wrists, ankles, etc. Although, I'm also aware of my injuries and how much my body can handle.

Once I competed with broken ribs, because it was an important show for my horse and I. Basically, it comes down to a personal choice, some people can handle it and others can't. Obviously, if its something a doctor says 'don't ride', then I don't encourage you too. (:
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First and foremost, listen to your doctor.

I’m currently healing from a severe sprain from two months ago. There were some tears involved and it is taking a while, but… I also run a farm and business, so taking time off from riding is important to my healing since I’m not able to just rest it like I should.

I’m also no spring chicken either and all the injuries I used to “push” through the healing process are starting to catch back up to me.
Take the time to heal properly now. It is better to miss a show than have a lingering ankle issue that takes months to heal or comes back later to cause problems. There will be more shows, but you only have two ankles and you need them both to be healthy for the rest of your life.

Your post just made me want to add, that the sprains I did ride with were mild. Also, every injury which I did ride with was discussed with my doctor. Who said it would be okay to ride, the only side affect would obviously be the pain (e.g. Trying to put operated toe into riding boot, what an excellent time that was)...

I've sprained ankles three times, twice my left and once my right. The right sprain was mild, I just wrapped it snugly, laced up my boot and kept going.

The two on my left were worse. The first one my cinch broke racing flat out. When I landed my tightly laced riding boot was sitting next to me, still laced up. I woke up staring at my boot with whiplash and a concussion(and a broken helmet). I laced it back on not realizing how bad it was. I was in the middle of riding season getting my horse in shape for an endurance ride. I took a few days off, rode stirrupless for a couple weeks, then took lots of pain killers, wrapped it tightly and wore boots with lots of ankle support.

The third time was a bad skiing accident. I ended up on crutches for three weeks. By the end of three months I was back skiing and riding, lightly. I was on bareback after a month. Thankfully it was in winter. It still bugs me a year later.

Ask your doctor. If its mild, go ahead and suffer through it. If riding on it will cause permanent dammage, its not worth it.

I had minor Achilles tendinitis. I didn't ride (I mean, I sat on my horse and walked around for 5 minutes once but...) for a couple of weeks, maybe two or three, but I don't remember the exact amount of days really. I know it might be tough, but there are things you can do to get past it. It honestly ended up being a blessing in disguise for me. You know, sometimes I get frustrated the way things work out, but my injury was actually a positive experience for me. There is some positive part of your injury, as horrible as it may seem, and you may realize it and you may not. Just push on and realize you are tough. If you miss this show, I know it's a downer, but you'll get past it and experience other amazing shows in the future I assume. So as my friend kept telling me, get focused on getting better and don't push yourself until you know you are ready. I'm sorry that you are hurt, and I hope that you feel better soon. (:

2 weeks. Supporting it with a boot pair of boots and those stretchy brace things helps a lot.

Be careful.. the damage from using it won't be worth the show. You can really screw your ankle up for life if you ride on an injury.

I got a bone bruise that kept me from riding for one lesson, and then a sprain that kept me out of commission for about two months.

As for sprains, they can actually be worse than breaking a bone in a few ways.

I'm not a doctor but I believe that it's important to let them heal properly, especially at the beginning. It's also important to see a doctor that specializes in ankles and if he deems it necessary, wear some kind of support and go to rehab. I had to wear an air cast for a while and went to rehab twice a week. You have to be gentle with it for a while or you could injure it again and possibly make it worse. If you do go to rehab it's important to be honest about your injury.

That was back when I was still in school, and it still bothers me from time to time. It also tends to be the first heel to go up while riding, or to be funky, as opposed to my right ankle like it had been in the past.

Let your ankle heal. There will be more shows.