Broken Ankle - how do you cope with horse accidents?

mrsjcmking

mrsjcmking

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So about 10 days ago I had an accident on my youngster. Not his fault, he just got giddy down a fairly steep slope and I bailed.

And now I have a broken ankle. A very rare break and one that is going to take a long time to heal. I know I was lucky - it could have been a lot worse, but i'm still feeling pretty annoyed. I don't know the extent of the damage but best case scenario I could not need surgery, be walking with a limp by 3 months, and properly by 4 months with lots of physio. Worst case scenario I could end up with arthritis in my foot, or bone necrosis and spend a long time in physiotherapy and may end up with a permanent limp. I'm waiting for MRI's and CT scans to assess the damage and hopefully in 3 weeks time I should know the damage.

So with this in mind I have had to put my pony out on loan.

Has anyone else had an incident like this? How did you get back on the horse?

I have to admit i'm worried about it. Mostly because I can't get the look of fear on my husbands face out of my mind when he saw me come out of the ambulance. A friend of mine once told me, when you are young and you have no attachments its easy to be fearless, but when you have a family of your own you have to think about how your fearlessness affects them. I have also recently met a man whos sister who is just coming out of a 3 month coma after a horse accident - shes had a stroke and is only just responding.

I know I only damaged my ankle but after being boarded up (back board neck brace) undergoing lots of tests just to make sure and having a seizure after a reaction to morphine (not accident related, but still not great when you've been through so much already) it really makes you realise how vulnerable you are. Everytime I think about riding again I just cant help but think - what if?! How would my family cope if I were seriously injured or paralysed? Is it really worth it?

Has anyone else had any experience like this? Any suggestions on how to get back on the horse?
 
I fell off plenty of horses and seemed to have a day pass to A&E at one stage, hats were not so good then, and no BPs , I only cracked ribs, sprained ankle, mild concussion, one wrist and one knee. All these were over a lifetime, so it is not all that likely to have to be stretchered.
I am struggling now as I twisted a leg [turned over in bed] and over 18 months it has not healed properly.
If you are not happy, just give up on youngsters and do something else, no need to give up on horses altogether. The ground is the main thing, you probably won't get hurt in an arena, it is concrete that hurts. I learned to keep hold of the reins and not to put my hand out if falling.
 
Miss L Toe said:
I fell off plenty of horses and seemed to have a day pass to A&E at one stage, hats were not so good then, and no BPs , I only cracked ribs, sprained ankle, mild concussion, one wrist and one knee. All these were over a lifetime, so it is not all that likely to have to be stretchered.
I am struggling now as I twisted a leg [turned over in bed] and over 18 months it has not healed properly.
If you are not happy, just give up on youngsters and do something else, no need to give up on horses altogether. The ground is the main thing, you probably won't get hurt in an arena, it is concrete that hurts. I learned to keep hold of the reins and not to put my hand out if falling.
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I think they stretchered me as I was drifting in and out of consciousness and the angle that I fell at didn't look so good.

I lost my balance and was halfway out of the seat when I decided that i'd rather jump and clear him, than risk falling under him and causing both of us damage. Apparently he stopped as soon as I jumped, turned around and stared at me!

Think I will just have to see how it goes. He's on loan for 6 months now, will have to see how I feel about it when the 6 months is up. My husband is very relieved he is out on loan (which makes me feel very guilty for scaring him!)
 
Oh yes, I am sure it was a good idea to stretcher you, but it was a most unfortunate fall really, however if you are not happy to ride him again that would be understandable, you don't have to.
I have jumped off myself and was a bit sore but nothing worse.
 
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i had a daft accident with my horse, sad fact is i wont ever have full use of my left hand again, which meen i have to accept i may never ride my current horse.. hes my horse of a life time but a current unbroken handful

it will kill me to sell him, and to give up competing, but if i have to buy a safe dependable sort so be, id ratherthat then not ride/be around horses.
simple answer is you deal with, cry get angry get over it and crack on :)

im 6 weeks in on a 6 month rehab, its gone badly after major surgery im already booked in for a second op.i understand peoples thoughts but horses have been in my life for 35 years. im not giving up. more to the point i need a reason to try my hardest to regain as much use of my hand as i can
 
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jhoward said:
i had a daft accident with my horse, sad fact is i wont ever have full use of my left hand again, which meen i have to accept i may never ride my current horse.. hes my horse of a life time but a current unbroken handful

it will kill me to sell him, and to give up competing, but if i have to buy a safe dependable sort so be, id ratherthat then not ride/be around horses.
simple answer is you deal with, cry get angry get over it and crack on :)

im 6 weeks in on a 6 month rehab, its gone badly after major surgery im already booked in for a second op.i understand peoples thoughts but horses have been in my life for 35 years. im not giving up. more to the point i need a reason to try my hardest to regain as much use of my hand as i can
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I couldn't sell my baby. Even if I can't face getting on him again then he wont be sold - he'll either go on permanent loan, or i'll figure something else out. He's been through enough, I want to know who is taking care of him, and that if anything goes wrong he can alway come home.

I think i'll just have to see how i'm feeling in 6 months time. I'm pretty low atm so not really decision making time I think. Just wondered how others had coped with similar issues.
 
Oh that is so annoying poor you! I guess we all just have to be as safe as we can and try not to think about the what ifs unnecessarily or we'd never go out and do anything! I have to admit I go through phases of feeling extra vulnerable and worry a lot about riding on the roads especially! I wear a BP at these times and think I would wear it all the time if I had a better one (haha shopping excuses) Totally know what you mean about jumping clear of horse too, mine would have fallen on me last time!

Hope it is the best case scenario and it gets better soon!
 
mrsjcmking said:
I couldn't sell my baby. Even if I can't face getting on him again then he wont be sold - he'll either go on permanent loan, or i'll figure something else out. He's been through enough, I want to know who is taking care of him, and that if anything goes wrong he can alway come home.

I think i'll just have to see how i'm feeling in 6 months time. I'm pretty low atm so not really decision making time I think. Just wondered how others had coped with similar issues.
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i have a youngster thats bred to comptete, he needs work when hes not working hes a handful, its not a time for seintiments, its a time for doing whats best for the horse.

im low as hell. but i refuse to self pity, i plan for the future and am relstic, exactly the time to make decisions.
 
jhoward said:
i have a youngster thats bred to comptete, he needs work when hes not working hes a handful, its not a time for seintiments, its a time for doing whats best for the horse.

im low as hell. but i refuse to self pity, i plan for the future and am relstic, exactly the time to make decisions.
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Mines the same regarding the needing work. He's not bred to compete but he sure as hell gets bored easily.

I'm not sentimental - i'm realistic. My horse was a wreck when i got him. wild, and underweight and in the hands of the wrong person. I don;t want him to end up in the wrong hands again - which is why he will never be sold. He's only a dumpy little native, with no fancy pants lines but i've seen him during suffering and I sure as hell wont watch him go through anything like that again. he's going on loan - in 6 months time if I have the confidence then I will take him on again, if not he will go out on loan.

My friend had 3 horses, a little rescue gelding, a crazy mare and a foal she bred herself with fantastic bloodlines. She had to sell. The mar went to a friend but has often been threatened with being moved on because she is getting old, the youngster (who is now about 4or 5) has been in 4 homes in the last year and has been completely ruined, refuses to jump and throws any rider off (she was a beautiful little welsh, with so much sj potential), the gelding was abused neglected and when finally rescued by someone he has shrunk 3 inches and is a nervous wreck. Luckily he was traced back to my friend who has been offered the chance to visit him in his new home whenever she wants to.

All of the people she sold them to offered a forever home.

I want to know that if something happened (financially or they just got bored of him) that my pony would always be able to comeback to me, even if it were just temporarily. It may be sentimental but when you've seen how he was in the hands of the wrong owner, you know you just cant let that happen again. Luckily I have the full support of my husband who refuses to let me sell him (when I asked about the money issues he said - I don't care woman that horse means the world to you and i know if you sold him you could never live with it, we'll figure it out :D)

So even if I don't have the confidence to get on him then he will go out on loan, or I will find a rider for him and i will just do cuddle times with him ;P
 
Hell i'd pay someone to ride him if it meant I didn't have to sell him.

He is just the sort of pony that would end up being passed from pillar to post when the little kids get bored of him or they want something bigger. If I sold him - I guarantee that in under a years time he'll be at the sales being sold for meat.

The reality is he isn't anything special (well he is to me!) and there are too many like him around. So many times I have been close to selling him, but I just take one look at the picture of the first day I got him, stood in that filthy stable with no food or water and ribs and hips sticking out and it makes me sick to my stomach and I know I can't do it.

I'm generally quite a sensitive person - and i guess we are all different in our approaches to riding. This is the first time i've ever really been knocked back confidence wise after a fall. I regularly fell off when learning to ride (I learnt ont he crazy mare, who had a rearing tendency :D) and my younger self would probably say stop being a wuss - I think the real hitting point for me was the impact on my husband. I've never considered how it would affect him if I injured myself badly.

I dunno maybe i'm being extra sentimental cos its practically 1am and i'm sooooo insanely tired.

Anywhos enough yabbering utter nonsense from me- i'm off to bed.
 
When you can ride again start on the slowest safest horse you can find and build back up, and just do what your comfortable with - ridings too expensive and time consuming to not be enjoyable!

I had a nasty accident 5 years ago - horse spooked/reared/span on the road and went over on me. I was knocked out, broken nose, broken ribs and broke my left leg in 32 places. 3 surgeries later my leg is fully functioning - yes I have early onset arthritis in my knee but it is manageable, I was told I would always walk with a limb but i don't now! I sold my youngster as wasn't able to ride for over 18months - but when I did get back on it was on an rda horse for a few goes, after a few rides my old confidence came straight back! For the first few years I steered clear of newly broken horses or ones with a 'reputation'. But I'm ok on anything now. Just take it at your own pace!
 
Riding is dangerous. But then putting into perspective - so is driving a car, so is riding a bike etc. etc. It depends how far you want to lessen the risk, if you really thought about it you shouldn't really leave the house!

My OH is going through this stage at the moment after I came off a youngster a month ago and ripped a heap of muscles (so painful, worse than my c-section I'd say and thats saying something!). He's did the "right, you're never riding again, that's it! You have a 3 month old child to think about now!". Shortly after he said that, he threw his motorbike down the road! He doesnt want to give that up and I dont want to give my horses up so we discussed it and basically - I sent the youngster back (was backing it for a friend) and he's selling his bike. Now we've get more sensible ones! He's got a much slower, less-sporty motorbike and I've just taken on a friends 7yo horse who knows his job and is pretty sensible. So we've tried to lessen the risk, but not stop our hobbies totally. I always said from day 1 when I got pregnant, I wanted the baby to fit into our lives, I didnt want to stop everything we did for him as I dont think thats healthy. I'd love for him to compete ponies and do motocross when he's older so its a bit ridiculous for him to do that if his parents are too scared to do so!

OH is still telling me I'm not doing XC again though (eventing was my thing until my own horse got injured earlier this year). I'll work on him...!
 
I rode like I was bomb proof for 40 years until aged 45 my vast warmblood mare spooked and I came off legs first and smashed my right knee and left ankle, fell under her and she stood on me before galloping off. I got on after three weeks without having the sense to work out how I was going to get off again - my legs were not strong enough to hold me up walking let alone leaping off a monster horse. I opted for the muck heap as a nice soft landing but landed on my bum and was unable to get up . Thank goodness my yard mates were able to stop laughing enough after 10 minutes to pick me up. Unfortunately my confidence in riding her ebbed away and in the end I was too scared to even ride her in the school so I sold her. I took three month off before riding a school master to establish I wanted to continue riding and bought my current mare, Maddie. Maddie and I clicked immediately and I'm back to riding with my confidence restored. At 50 I know another fall on my legs could easily cripple me so I am more careful but still ride fast and have a massive amount of fun.
 
Hi, sorry to hear about your fall - hope you find that you don't need surgery and that it turn out to be the best case scenario.

I had a very similar fall to yours. I was schooling my 3 year old and, as the sand school was being used at the time, I used the jump paddock. He had a bit of a broncing session and I decided to bail out. I landed on my feet but went over on a divot and broke my ankle and tore the ligament too. I was in a non weight bearing cast for 8 weeks it was an absolute pain in the bum as I had to use crutches and a wheel chair for the whole time - much to hubby's delight when shopping! I'd say I want to look at those dresses over there.... He'd then wheel me to just out of reach of said dresses!!

When I had the cast off I was surprised at how painful it still was but I may have been expecting too much of a recovery. Anyway, I had Physio but it took nearly 2 years before I was able to walk without a limp.

As to riding I did get back on soon after the cast was taken off. Obviously it was impossible to put my heel down for a very long time. But eventually everything got back to normal. I do still get pain when damp/ cold but nothing I can't deal with.

I think the physical injury is easier to deal with than the 'what if thoughts'. I guess you're feeling a bit low now and obviously have enforced time to spend thinking about things.

Putting your horse on loan is a great idea - it will give you time to get over your injury and I'm sure you'll feel more positive as time goes on. Try not to look on the bleak side. By the time you're physically able to ride it will be springtime and hopefully that will put a brighter slant on everything. Go easy on yourself and try not to listen to war stories. I found once I was injured almost everyone wanted to give chapter and verse on their 'brush with death' accidents!!!!

Wishing you a very speedy recovery x
 
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Sorry to hear about ur accident. I broke my fumur after a friends horse reared and fell over on top of me. I was 20 at the time so had no committments but luckly my own horse was of work so he didnt need riding and we came back into work together he was a saint and we only started with ten mins walking and we built up together. It makes a massive difference riding something safe to get the your confidence back. I sometimes had moments which i didnt have before my accident but i ride my youngster.
 
My Trec riding friend broke her ankle badly in two places mid June, she was stretchered off the moor (Dartmoor) and operated on a couple of days later. Her young horse went away to be worked on and her older horses have been looked after at home. Her plaster is now off and she is gently walking, swimming and we are planning for her to first ride (mount/dismount) at RDA as i am an Instructor with a local group. Riding will also help with flexion of her ankle joint.
Mentally I don't think she will have a problem, her horses are her life and the accident, although horse related, was not a fall so no lack of confidence there.

I would suggest that you aproached a local RDA group for a little mental and physical support when you are ready to ride. Good luck with the repair job!
 
Oh no poor you :( I had an accident 2 years ago that was a complete freak accident an innocent walk down the road with a couple of other horses which ended in me being airlifted to hospital and being in a high dependency ward with a consultant sat at the end of my bed and my poor family fearing the worst.

I was actually very lucky yes I ended up with a ruptured spleen which had to be removed and am on antibiotics for life but I am still here and able to live a normal life. The biggest thing for me was I have a little boy and I said to my Mum (completely non horsey) 'perhaps I should give up riding' and she surprised me by saying 'if we thought like that we wouldn't leave the house in the morning'!

The luckiest thing though is I remember nothing about the accident so I was able to eventually (when physically able) get back on the same horse. However my confidence was totally shot and my mare was a very difficult and spooky ride who liked to buck when cantering in company. With some very good support from my wonderful yard managers I persevered for a year with my yard manager riding Tilly when I was having a confidence wobble and lending me her super safe dales ponies. In the end I decided I was never going to trust Tilly again, even though the accident wasn't really her fault (although we think she bucked me off) so I sold her (to a friend who knew the full history). I thought I would never buy another horse until my other YM found me Max who I initially had on loan and I now own my horse of a lifetime and am enjoying my riding again.

Sorry for the long reply but I wanted you to know you are not on your own feeling like you do and if you don't feel comfortable riding your horse again there is no shame and letting him go to a more suitable home and finding something that suits you better may turn out for the best. However the biggest piece of advice I would give is take your time and get some really understanding support behind you who will be there but will give you a push if you need one.

Good luck and I hope the news about your ankle is on the best scenario side x
 
Poor you. I've just broken my collar bone in a stupid accident when the pony I was riding for the first time tripped and fell in trot. I don't think I've any fear at the moment about getting back on. I'm also getting some disapproval from my family. I don't have my own horse so it's one less problem to sort. I hope you get all fixed up soon. Healing is quite an individual thing so focus on the positive and deal with future problems when the time arrives. It's no use worrying yourself about what might or night not happen. Get well soon :)
 
I also broke my ankle in a horse riding accident, I broke my talus which like you may have led to arthritis and the bone breaking down. I was out of work for about six months. Getting back on isn't so bad, once you have ridden a handful of times you will relax again, maybe just stick with a schoolmaster for the first few rides.
 
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