A bit of a dark question: how would you feel...

_MizElz_

_MizElz_

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...about riding a horse from whom someone had taken a fatal fall?

If you bought a horse and then found out that a previous owner had died in a fall from it, how would you feel? Would it affect the way you felt about the horse?

Or, if you owned a horse and someone you knew was either horrifically injured or died taking a fall from it, how do you think you would then feel towards that horse?

I appreciate this could be a sensitive subject, but I am interested to know how people would feel - I don't recall it being a topic that has come up before.
 
i think i would naturally be wary of the horse, but like anything riding is a risk and you could potentially have a Fatal accident from any horse or pony, and in some cases it may not even be the horses's fault.

If I knew what happened and the rider fell off but maybe wasnt the horses fault I wouldnt feel as bad
 
Oo, that's an interesting one.

I suppose it depends on the circumstances of the fall. If it were a freak accident then I think I would be ok riding that horse, but if the horse had a track record of rearing/bolting etc which caused the previous rider's death, then I wouldn't.

I used to work in a garage many, many years ago when I left school and we used to get the insurance repair jobs in and if a car wreck came into the workshop where someone had died in it, the garage would have a horrible 'feel' to it all day. Slightly off topic, but same sort of principle.
 
I'm not sure how I would feel. I had a fall from Axey when he was a 3 yr old and badly broke my leg, it wasn't his fault at all (he nearly fell down a rabbit hole that suddenly appeared in the indoor school) but afterwards a lot of people told me I was mad to get back on him!
At a horse rescue centre in Lincoln I went to there was a horse there that had killed his last 3 riders, I don't know the exact details but it makes you wonder why something wasn't done with him after the first 1 or 2! But then some horsey people like a challenge...
 
It all depends on what happened.

Who's fault was the accident? If it was the horse, was it a habitual behaviour ie was it a known rearer who went over backwards on someone or was it a rotational fall at a xcountry fence? Or was it a freak accident - like the woman who was killed by her youngster in a showring, he reared and kicked her in the head IIRC....

It probably wouldn't bother me if the explanation was 'genuine accident' rather than 'difficult horse' but that's because these days I don't get on the difficult ones anymore even if they haven't already hurt someone.
 
It would totally depend on why. Was the rider maliciously thrown, or was it an unlucky fall?

Quite a few event horses have passed onto new riders after a fatality.

I knew someone killed by a kick from a young horse. Her husband never wanted to see the horse again, and it was taken away to be sold..
 
I used to ride a horse that the owner fell off and was knocked out. She ended up having a few serious problems as a result of the fall. It didn't bother me as the horse had a heart of gold and I never felt out of controll at all I evan had kids on her! Possibly not the situation you are describing but similar.
 
if it was in a cross country course and a rotational fall, again thats not really the horses fault, xc can be very dangerous, and I myself am a little wary of xc fences as if a horse does catch its leg it can roll over whereas sj the poles on a fence can come off very easily.

XC has it risks but to me that wouldnt be the horses fault it simply caught the jump and rolled and once rolling there is nothing that can be done about it.

There are some very tragic situations!
 
Think it would depend on what had happened, but would like to think it wouldn't effect my feelings towards the horse, although it must be difficult if it was a loved one.
 
A difficult one. I think if it was just an "accident and not necessarily the horses fault I would be ok, if, however it was through a problem with the horse ie. it was a rearer, bolter i would feel different.
 
I may not have ridden a horse that was involved in a fatal accident but I've almost certainly handled one. The accident in question was from a RS horse at a walk/trot transition on a gentle hack. It shouldn't have even been a bad fall. But the lady in question didn't survive. There were several horses on that hack and tbh I didn't even ask who she'd been riding at the time. All were larger than the ones I normally rode there so that didn't come up and it didn't occur to me to worry about handling them when mucking out etc.

I'd be much more concerned about a horse's general behaviour in terms of riding as rider deaths are so often the result of either accidents or bad luck in the way someone fell. A death (or even two or more(!) if the horse normally carries people more vulnerable during a fall/events or something) wouldn't make much difference in itself.

Realistically it might affect the price though.

PS I think this topic sort if did come up before when there was a rather brave young lady on here who was looking after a horse a close relative of hers had been killed falling from.
 
My sister was close to death after a fall from her horse.

It was a freak accident and not the fault of the horse at all.

This was her scar after the fall...(don't click if you're squeamish!)

http://www.justgiving.com/Utils/ima...2009/94156497-6cfb-4a94-9378-edaedb674dfa.jpg

and here is her riding the same horse about 8 months later.

6572_1228633075243_1211567069_30685440_4995030_n.jpg


And she ran the London Marathon, in aid of the air ambulance which picked her up

imaging.ashx


She's a pretty amazing lady!
 
I think I would be trying hard to understand how the horse felt about it and whether he had any anxiety or was closed off about it. I'd also watch how the other horses treated him for clues.
 
brucea said:
I think I would be trying hard to understand how the horse felt about it and whether he had any anxiety or was closed off about it. I'd also watch how the other horses treated him for clues.
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This is an interesting point - how do you think it would affect a horse to have an awful fall like that? I'm thinking eventers and racehorses in particular. Does anyone have any experiences?
 
It would definitely depen on the circumstances of the fatality, for me.

If it bucked like stink for no apparent reason, or reared and threw itself over backwards regularly....then I probably wouldn't go near!

But a fall out jumping due to an error on the part of horse or rider, or a slip out cantering....different kettle of fish.
 
Kitsmas_Pudding said:
Wow Pacey - ur sis is quite amazing, what happened?
Click to expand...

To cut a long story short...She hit a tree.

Ruptured her liver, massive internal bleeding and it was touch and go for several days.

This was her account of the accident, in her own words, from her marathon fundraiser page. It's an interesting read:


My Thoughts

Yeah, ok, so it's just another charity that needs help. Call me unpassionate, non-caring or whatever, but I'm far too busy dealing with my (actually rather important) stuff to think about charity. Yeah, they definately need money and they do good things, but my donation isn't going to make a massive difference. Not really.



Fast-Forward to March 24th 2009

I remember this date reasonably well. After 3 nights in Intensive Care, 2 op's on my liver, half my liver being removed, several blood transfusions, a ventilator down my throat making me breathe, 1 night on the High-Dependancy Unit and 4 more nights (and days) going mentally crazy from drugs and shock, the 24th was a peaceful moment laid in Ward .... of Queens Medical Centre. I'd survived.


So what happened?

Well, after a 20 mile pony trek with my sister Jess, we were 10 mins from base. One last little canter home and 'pat on the back, another good ride out together.' Textbook!

Except this (oh so sadly) was not to be. You see, we'd not counted on the rather insignificant looking, silver birch tree. It couldn't have been more than 3 years old, but it took me on.

Not a broken bone, or damaged piece of clothing anywhere. Just me winded on the floor, getting my lungs back after a few seconds and then trying to get up. Little did I know that my new-found silver friend has ruptured my liver and I was bleeding internally. My abdomen was actually filling with the blood oozing from my broken liver. When I could move no more, I laid on the floor and (sorry folks) wet myself. I was scared.

Jess rang 999. The Lincs and Notts air ambulance was sent to recover me. After what seemed like forever, I could hear it coming. Each beat of the rotor was a wave of relief to me. And when it landed in a field and the medical crew reached me I felt so safe.



What About That Donation?

There's only ONE air ambulance covering Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire

This life-saving service needs £1.3 million pounds a year to keep flying.

It may well surprise you that the critical work they do is

NOT funded by the government, and is

NOT funded by the National Lottery.

It is funded by charitable donations. Even the helicopter fuel has to be paid for out of donations. When I found this out, I couldn't believe it. It's made me feel very close to all those strangers out there who've donated, and kept the ambulance up there, un-noticed above our heads flying about with casualties like me aboard.


On 25th April 2010 I'm running the 26 mile 385 yard London Marathon to raise awareness and money to keep our helipcopter flying.



Please help support the charity. It's out there waiting to save lives.
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And this is her rather funny account of running the marathon:

The Race

So.... I did the London Marathon. I did it. 5hours 45mins. And I'd like to share just a few highlights of the day with you.

HIGHLIGHT 1
The walk to the start line in Greenwich Park. I was late. Now this sounds terrible but it actually played into my favour. The huge humming bulk of mass that was the 'on-time' runners had left the scene and I had a few straggling rhinos to contend with. A nice easy start with plenty of uncrowded photo ops.



HIGHLIGHT 2
Miles 0 - 14. Felt as I fully expected. Steady running taking in the amazing event, the costumes, the effort, the throng of support at every step. Running light and loose.



HIGHLIGHT 3
Toilet Stop! Running, running, running, bladder filling, filling, filling. Must keep going, going, going......NO I MUST STOP HERE! Immediate halt, queue, bit of banter, hobble up step into stinky portaloo, do some sort of shaky sitting down action, drag myself up and then the worst bit. Getting down the step again and getting going. Nigh on impossible. Like getting a square tyre to roll again.



HIGHLIGHT 4
I found a runner (about my height 5'3") who was running at a similar pace to me. Tucked in behind her through Canary Wharf. She was all in black and seemed determined. We ran through those streets together and I'm sure she must have sensed she was being followed - erm, maybe not!! I felt I was the fitter party. But after 5-6 miles I left her in front. A good memory.



HIGHLIGHT 5
The final highlight. The final run home. Climbing up the gentle gradient that is The Mall I was in full flight. For every 1 that overtook me, I overtook 5. And the professional pics show my PAIN. Not bought those. Round the right-hander to the finish line to have the one and only good pic. Arms up, make race number clear, smile, big smile. Not to be! Another runner was already on the finish line, collapsed after her exertion. My final pic has it all, including flailing paramedics arms and legs. The lady did get up and we both deservedly received our medals!
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I knew of a similar situation. The poor girl was 14 I think and had died after falling from her horse after it spooked and bolted. I was looking at the time to buy a horse and was shown this one. It was too small for me but it did put me off a bit. To be fair it wasnt really the horses fault but the stigma was there. I dont know what happened to the horse but it was for sale for a long time.
 
i have. Two of them. One of them was a nutjob and was never going to change and the other was a sweetie but had certainly had her fair share of accident and didnt trust humans (read vets) any more as they were always around when she was in pain. Once she trusted me She was and, still is, a beautifull ride. It is in the back of your mind when you get on but it really does depend on the circumstances of what happened. Horse no.1 i believe did intend to kill, horse no.2 didnt, was just scared and in pain.
 
myhorsefred said:
Oo, that's an interesting one.

I used to work in a garage many, many years ago when I left school and we used to get the insurance repair jobs in and if a car wreck came into the workshop where someone had died in it, the garage would have a horrible 'feel' to it all day. Slightly off topic, but same sort of principle.
Click to expand...

You should see how jumpy people get from using anything to do with a crashed aircraft. I went to spray a repair on an aircraft and everything was fine until someone spotted that the paint was originaly ordered for an aircraft lost with all on board on its return flight from the maintenance organisation.WOW talk about spooked out!!!
 
Not a fatality, but nearly. I met a lady, now a good friend, at a meeting for event organisers. She had suffered a near fatal fall (broken collarbone, ribs, punctured lung etc) riding her horse in the school. She had no memory of what happened, but best guess was saddle slipped round & he freaked. She was asking for people to exercise him for her until she was able to ride again. Unsurprisingly there were no volunteers, except me. I went & met him, he came across as a genuine sort who had just had a bad experience. I rode him out again until his mum was ready for him (she needed to see someone else riding him to convince her he wasn't nasty, plenty of her 'friends' had told her to get rid of him). He is a lovely boy, has a few querks, lively, but without a nasty bone in his body. He needed a chance, & now they have just had a great season together, having fun.
 
someone told me someone had died from riding my horse (before i owned him) didn't bother me at all by that stage as i have had him 2 years, and turns out they were just trying to ***** stir as when i started questioning them about it the dates didn't match up.

i think it depends on the circumstance, if the horse had buck/rear/bronced/tramped etc the rider then i wouldn't ride it but if they had misjudged a jump or something similar that isn't really the horses fault then there would be no question or whether i would get on it or not.
 
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