Pictures Crazy falls?

[Myloubylou]

Yep 2 weeks ago. I was in the school just starting schooling session & my mare was bit wired. I put her in trot as usually settles after short trot but she spooked at something and bucked across the school and then span to avoid arena fence which I flew into. Broke my glasses & had arena fence paint on back of my hat (replaced) shoulder & back. Fortunately had my kan bp on. Still got sore hip & back although barn was full of people everyone was busy mucking out so ended up having to phone YO to come and help. Back to riding my other horse but going back to ground work as she does same on lunge.

 

[jj_87]

Practising for a dressage test, grabbed the laminated sheet off a friend who was supposed to be reading it but couldn't hear her. The laminated sheet rippled in horses ear, sending her into a terrified bronc/ take off, sat 10 huge explosions before hitting the fence post with my face, dressage sheet in hand. My teeth ended up through my lip, took over 45 mins to catch a very upset horse in the school. Spend a good month drinking through a straw!

 

[Denbob]

I don't know why I read these sorts of threads, especially with a youngster to bring on!

I think one of my scariest was when I was 8 or 9 being dumped by a riding school pony out hacking when a group of young lads on dirtbikes came flying up behind us on a narrow bridleway and when we didn't get out of their way (nowhere to go) they revved their engines and started shouting. Cue bolting horses, pony bucked and I landed flat on my back in a patch of stinging nettles, bit through my tongue when I hit my head on a log. I've never seen my instructor that angry, those boys left with their tails firmly between their legs. Pony was stopped by the bum of a very reliable lead horse and I was hoisted back into the saddle and off we plodded home. I kept begging the instructor not to tell my mum because I was scared she wouldn't let me come back! Unfortunately concussion watch took precedent on that one.

Another was when I was hacking with a friend on her horse, we were first and after I opened a gate and halfway through he bolted, the gate shut behind us trapping the two horses in separate fields. My friend's horse nearly jumped a 5 bar from a standstill and got his front leg caught. I managed to stay on for two or three laps on increasingly smaller circles but when he stopped I just went A over T and hit the deck. Horse carried on for home, thankfully stopped by the gate at the top of the field. Took us nearly half an hour to coax the other horse through the gate after I'd tramped after the chestnut demon. I've NEVER let a horse become accustomed to cantering in open spaces since.

 

[ester]

This isn't really dramatic but it did surprise me. I was getting up from a mounting block (a couple of crates stuck together). It was pouring rein and I slipped. The block fell over, I went with it and ended up on the ground underneath my horse's belly 😱 Luckily he's pretty much bombproof.

We used to use the large plastic tubs with rope handles as mounting blocks. Until the time I had my foot in the stirrup and the one on the block just went straight through it!

 

[Mule]

It's been more annoying than truly painful to be honest. I couldn't drive and was in a leg brace for two months followed by a months swim walking then been beasting it at gym for last few weeks. Super annoying thing is it will probably need an operation so will be back to leg brace/rehab plus no riding for another 5 months 😫

That was really bad luck. Falls are strange that way. It

We used to use the large plastic tubs with rope handles as mounting blocks. Until the time I had my foot in the stirrup and the one on the block just went straight through it!

😱 That does not sound good!

 

[Julia0803]

Thankfully never had a truly bad fall. The ones above sound awful!

My son had a great comedy dismount on his pony a few years ago. Think he must have been 10/11 and was still very novice.

They were jumping in the school, only little things. They got the striding wrong, pony took a leap and son lost his balance.

He landed on the other side 3/4 of the way up pony’s neck. Pony is a sensible soul and very good when there’s a pilot error. Thankfully he was unperturbed. He stopped and gently lowered his head till my sons legs were on the floor, straddling pony and my son could just walk forward and safely away! It was very funny to watch. And pony is a saint!

 

[Merrymoles]

More stupid falls than I can count, including one where I went straight over horse's head and landed on my feet, getting a round of applause from some passing walkers.

However, near miss on Sunday this weekend when my horse took off at the edge of the village. It was close to a point where we usually turn round so I thought he'd stop but he didn't. So we ended up cantering rapidly downhill on the road and, every time I nearly got him back he took off again, smacking me on the bum like an ejector seat which was quite unseating. I remember thinking "I am too ruddy old to fall off on the road at speed!" most of the time while doing my best to slow him down. Eventually I judged we were at a speed where I could probably keep my feet if I bailed so I did and, of course, the minute I did he stopped!

I have a massive bruise on the inside of my left knee where presumably it hit the cantle when I bailed (still thinking straight enough to put myself between him and the traffic), a sore ankle and am stiff all over. However, I didn't come off!

I have no idea what spooked him and I don't really know why the brakes then failed but the positives I am taking from the whole horrid experience are:

1. I didn't fall off
2. The drivers on the road were all brilliant - could obviously see I was in trouble and all stopped
3. We stayed on the right side of the road and in a straight line more or less
4. No shoes meant I didn't have to worry as much about him slipping on a downhill charge
5. I didn't fall off!
6. I did get back on as we went home through the village.
7. Did I mention that I didn't fall off?

 

[tatty_v]

We were doing a dressage test at our yard, pong was a bit on edge anyway and then a non-horsey spectator decided to flap a golf umbrella just as we tracked left at C... cue a huge Lippizaner-style leap from my pony (judge thought he was coming over the arena fence onto her car bonnet) which I couldn’t sit, so I somersaulted off over his head, landed on my feet under his head holding his reins! He looked at me with such relief as if to say “there you are mum! Someone just tried to kill us with a flappy thing!”

 

[Ceriann]

Glad you are both ok - that’s sounds and looks horrendous! You’ve been very lucky in the circumstances.

Worst one for me. Was taking my mate out for a hack - we had a long slightly sloping driveway (to a very small country road) with trees running along side. Just walking her down it and she went from calm to bolt in a blink of an eye. It was our second incident so after leg dodging the trees and knowing her head was gone and we were heading toward the road I bailed. She went through our exit over the small road, through a thick hedge, over the fence with a 4/5ft drop into our neighbours garden. She was fine but I would have come out of that very badly had I tried to sit. She bolted again months later so I retired her.

 

[SEL]

I left handprints on the wall of an indoor school once pushing myself back into the saddle with a mare doing a rodeo impression underneath me. Only helped for a few more bucks then she splatted me and carried on with her performance until the saddle was under her belly. Lovely sweet little jumping pony who was apparently fixed from her bad back. Or not!!

I've had a few crackers where the horse has fallen. I dislike those even more than being projected through the air because you just don't get any warning that gravity is about to take over.

I did laugh last year when one of the kids was showing off and standing on Militaire's back (circus trained - you can somersault on him if you want). She didn't ask anyone to hold him and just assumed that he would stand still. He trotted off. She was so embarrassed and I was laughing too much to be cross.

I'd get on anything when I was younger. Nowadays I leave the stupid stuff to people who bounce instead of crack when they hit the deck.

 

[Tarragon]

I fell off once when I was a teenager. I don't remember the fall but I do remember the walk of shame as the pony shot off back home and I had to walk the 3 miles home along a road wearing my muddy jodhpurs and carrying a whip and a stirrup

 

[Tarragon]

Has anyone seen the photos doing the rounds on Facebook of a man out hunting who somehow left his horse on the up part of the jump and then jumped the huge hedge beside his horse, still holding on to the reins, and then landing together?
It is a whole series of photos and amazing. I haven't got access to Facebook (because I am at work - shh) so sadly cannot post the link.

 

[On the Hoof]

I'm quite impressed that you managed to land on your feet in that last one!

well that isn't always the best thing, I'm another that came off in walk in a stupid fall and no where near as horrendous as the stories above, when pony took exception to a tractor parked at the yard which we had already ridden past about 5 times, sadly landing on my feet left me with an open dislocated and fractured ankle, an 8 hour operation (it was a big hole that needed extensive plastic surgery to close, 10 days in hospital and not being able to put my foot to the ground for 2 months, no riding for 3 months (I don't think I was supposed to get back on when I did) and has left me with a permanently cosmetically challenged ankle.....

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I dont mind falling off. It's the hitting the ground part I greatly dislike! I have also learned the nack of knowing when to hop off whilst you still have the choice of how you land!

I've had numerous stupid falls, we all have and I am incredibly lucky not to have had any major injuries from my meetings with the dirt! I have 2 threads on here about the last 2 times I came off - both of which were hugely entertaining and I wish someone had got them on camera!

 

[vmac66]

Last Sunday I met some friends at a local off ride ride I hadn't been to before. There was a stream to cross and Indie decided there was no way on this earth she was going through it. Wasn't helped when she spooked at some walkers and went from 0 to 60 in seconds. I lost both stirrups and was fine until we started to slow down. Was hanging in thinking I'm not coming off that rapidly changed to I'm coming off. Landed on my back and have a lovely bruise. Horse bogged off back towards the trailer. Met the walkers later who told me how entertaining I'd been. Wasn't impressed .

 

[Normsrp]

well that isn't always the best thing, I'm another that came off in walk in a stupid fall and no where near as horrendous as the stories above, when pony took exception to a tractor parked at the yard which we had already ridden past about 5 times, sadly landing on my feet left me with an open dislocated and fractured ankle, an 8 hour operation (it was a big hole that needed extensive plastic surgery to close, 10 days in hospital and not being able to put my foot to the ground for 2 months, no riding for 3 months (I don't think I was supposed to get back on when I did) and has left me with a permanently cosmetically challenged ankle.....

ouch.. I suppose the best thing you can do on impact is roll

 

[MagicMelon]

I seemed to like hitting wire fences when I was younger, I somehow fell off onto a barbed wire fence getting tangled in it. Ended up with plenty of stitches and shredded clothes. The other one I remember vividly was hopping on one of my ponies bareback in a headcollar and cantering along a narrowish boundary round my field, pony spooked, I slid off sideways and ended up with my leg up a fence post lying on the ground. The bruise all down the back of my leg was the most impressive one Ive ever had thats for sure. Have had plenty of falls over the years, often quite dramatic but the only fall which has shaken me a bit was my 17.1hh stopping at a jump, I landed on my head and was out like a light. I just hated the feeling afterwards, felt so odd.

 

[LaurenBay]

Mine was similar to EKW's.

I was trying out a Horse for share, I was naive and didn't see the owner ride him first. He was a great big strapping 16.2 ex Race Horse. Owner said he was the chilled kind and suitable for pretty much any rider. We went out for a hack, he was fine on the roads and then we went onto a field and on hell broke lose. He started getting very on his toes and was shaking, I kept him circling and was trying to keep him calm and then he spun and bolted. He bolted down the road at a full gallop, sparks were coming from his shoes. I did think about bailing out, but its a lot harder when you are going that fast and the chance of me falling onto the small grass verge were small. I tried everything to stop this Horse. But I couldn't. We galloped back all the way to the yard where he fall over and skidded into a concrete pipe, my leg through this pipe and ripped it off the wall and the Horse fell on me. My foot got wedged in the stirrup and the Horse got back to his feet and took off again. Don't ask me how but I managed to pull myself back up into the saddle. This time we were heading full pelt towards a steep downwards hill that comes out on a very busy national road. I honestly thought we were both going to die. He tripped again and I leaned forward and yanked the bit as hard as I could while his head was down (actually cut his mouth I found out after) he changed direction and ran at full pelt gallop through an indoor stabling block, luckily the other end was blocked off. The other liveries manged to grab him and they wriggled my foot free so I could get off. I didn't realise what I had done to my leg til I looked down and realised my leg was wet. I still have the scars now luckily no stitches needed. I found out after from the other liveries that Horse had been on box rest for 7 months due to a back injury. I was the first person to sit on him. The Horse did it again with 2 more riders and I believe the owner had him PTS in the end as she couldn't trust him.

 

[Denbob]

I found out after from the other liveries that Horse had been on box rest for 7 months due to a back injury. I was the first person to sit on him. The Horse did it again with 2 more riders and I believe the owner had him PTS in the end as she couldn't trust him.

Bloody hell, what an awful owner to put potential buyers in that situation! Incredible you walked away from that one, could have been much, much worse.

 

[Mule]

Glad you are both ok - that’s sounds and looks horrendous! You’ve been very lucky in the circumstances.

Worst one for me. Was taking my mate out for a hack - we had a long slightly sloping driveway (to a very small country road) with trees running along side. Just walking her down it and she went from calm to bolt in a blink of an eye. It was our second incident so after leg dodging the trees and knowing her head was gone and we were heading toward the road I bailed. She went through our exit over the small road, through a thick hedge, over the fence with a 4/5ft drop into our neighbours garden. She was fine but I would have come out of that very badly had I tried to sit. She bolted again months later so I retired her.

Sometimes bailing is the safest thing to do. I had to do it with a bolter (mentioned in an earlier post). She was fine to ride in an arena but outside a confined space she was dangerous.

 

[Talism4n]

My weirdest incident was more of an emergency dismount than a real fall. I was trotting down the road on my late horse when he spooked at a bird scarer and started slipping on a patch of mud left by tractors - our roads are a mess at certain times of year due to farm traffic. He kept sliding as he tried to place his front feet and it quickly became apparent that he was going down on his front knees. A couple of weeks earlier a friend's horse had totally shattered his knees in a similar fall so I made the split second call that I cared more about his legs than mine. Somehow, and I'm still not clear on exactly what supernatural intervention must have taken place to do this, I managed to throw myself over his shoulder and roll so that he landed with his knees on my thigh. We both lay there, dead still, for what felt like a good 30 seconds looking at each other in shock. He stayed put until I sat up and moved one of his legs to show him how to get up - I think he realised he could hurt me if he stood in the wrong spot, as this was one of many times he'd frozen waiting for instructions when I've been on the ground. He walked away with a slight graze on his pastern and my legs were purple for a couple of weeks after. I've had other falls where I've expected worse injuries than I ended up with and my fair share of freak accidents, but this one always stands out as the scariest, in my head at least, and certainly the biggest gap between my expectations and the result. Had I broken my own legs I still think it would have been worth it.

 

[Normsrp]

Mine was similar to EKW's.

I was trying out a Horse for share, I was naive and didn't see the owner ride him first. He was a great big strapping 16.2 ex Race Horse. Owner said he was the chilled kind and suitable for pretty much any rider. We went out for a hack, he was fine on the roads and then we went onto a field and on hell broke lose. He started getting very on his toes and was shaking, I kept him circling and was trying to keep him calm and then he spun and bolted. He bolted down the road at a full gallop, sparks were coming from his shoes. I did think about bailing out, but its a lot harder when you are going that fast and the chance of me falling onto the small grass verge were small. I tried everything to stop this Horse. But I couldn't. We galloped back all the way to the yard where he fall over and skidded into a concrete pipe, my leg through this pipe and ripped it off the wall and the Horse fell on me. My foot got wedged in the stirrup and the Horse got back to his feet and took off again. Don't ask me how but I managed to pull myself back up into the saddle. This time we were heading full pelt towards a steep downwards hill that comes out on a very busy national road. I honestly thought we were both going to die. He tripped again and I leaned forward and yanked the bit as hard as I could while his head was down (actually cut his mouth I found out after) he changed direction and ran at full pelt gallop through an indoor stabling block, luckily the other end was blocked off. The other liveries manged to grab him and they wriggled my foot free so I could get off. I didn't realise what I had done to my leg til I looked down and realised my leg was wet. I still have the scars now luckily no stitches needed. I found out after from the other liveries that Horse had been on box rest for 7 months due to a back injury. I was the first person to sit on him. The Horse did it again with 2 more riders and I believe the owner had him PTS in the end as she couldn't trust him.

Gosh you were lucky to come out of that one alive, why on earth would the owner not tell you he hadn't been ridden for 7 months, it's like she was using you as a crash test dummy..

 

[Quigleyandme]

My old ISH took exception to a burst bag of chalky stuff in the lane so I got off to lead him past. Kept walking as I needed to find something high enough to get back in the sidesaddle. The parapet of a little stone bridge seemed to be the best option but I was hesitant and the horse moved sideways causing the safety stirrup leather to detach and me to loose my balance and fall backwards into the river. It was a long way down and the river bed was covered in rocks. It was a long, wet, sore walk home.

 

[SEL]

LB - that's horrendous. You were lucky to walk away from that....and the owner was lucky too given I doubt they would have been insured if you'd had serious injuries.

Is it awful to admit I'm quite enjoying reading all of these - along with some deep breaths that people have escaped serious harm.

 

[Mule]

Mine was similar to EKW's.

I was trying out a Horse for share, I was naive and didn't see the owner ride him first. He was a great big strapping 16.2 ex Race Horse. Owner said he was the chilled kind and suitable for pretty much any rider. We went out for a hack, he was fine on the roads and then we went onto a field and on hell broke lose. He started getting very on his toes and was shaking, I kept him circling and was trying to keep him calm and then he spun and bolted. He bolted down the road at a full gallop, sparks were coming from his shoes. I did think about bailing out, but its a lot harder when you are going that fast and the chance of me falling onto the small grass verge were small. I tried everything to stop this Horse. But I couldn't. We galloped back all the way to the yard where he fall over and skidded into a concrete pipe, my leg through this pipe and ripped it off the wall and the Horse fell on me. My foot got wedged in the stirrup and the Horse got back to his feet and took off again. Don't ask me how but I managed to pull myself back up into the saddle. This time we were heading full pelt towards a steep downwards hill that comes out on a very busy national road. I honestly thought we were both going to die. He tripped again and I leaned forward and yanked the bit as hard as I could while his head was down (actually cut his mouth I found out after) he changed direction and ran at full pelt gallop through an indoor stabling block, luckily the other end was blocked off. The other liveries manged to grab him and they wriggled my foot free so I could get off. I didn't realise what I had done to my leg til I looked down and realised my leg was wet. I still have the scars now luckily no stitches needed. I found out after from the other liveries that Horse had been on box rest for 7 months due to a back injury. I was the first person to sit on him. The Horse did it again with 2 more riders and I believe the owner had him PTS in the end as she couldn't trust him.

The owner could have killed you 😡

 

[Mule]

I had a scary one when I was a child. I was drag hunting and the horse was far too strong for me, I couldn't slow her down. The field we were galloping in was really slippy and I knew we were going too fast. She slipped in the mud and I somehow stayed in the saddle. She fell on her side with my leg underneath her. She was a big chunky Irish draught 🙄 I ended up with damaged tendons but they healed fine.
The worst thing was I had to get up again as there was no other way out.

I didn't hunt anymore until I took up riding again as an adult. When I did try it again I made sure to do it on a horse that could do it with its' eyes closed. The only reason I tried it again was to conquer my fear. After a few hunts I'd decided I'd my fear was conquered and I called it a day 😉

 

[twiggy2]

Some of these incidents sound scary but I suppose at least everyone is still here to tell them.
I didn't false but the horse did, I was in a riding lesson cantering round the indoor manege when the horse just fell over, I was still strife the horse when it hit the ground and as my feet were still in the stirrup, my foot indoor the horse was broken in 8 places.
It turned out that the horse had fallen in the same way twice before and it was then retires from lessons.

 

[Pippity]

The only reason I tried it again was to conquer my fear. After a few hunts I'd decided I'd my fear was conquered and I called it a day 😉

That was the only reason I got back on a horse at all, eight years after fracturing my spine in a stupid fall - "one lesson, just to conquer the fear". That was ten years ago...

 

[lottiepony]

My impressive fall captured on camera.
Old mare suddenly started a good old rodeo. I stayed on for a bit but end result was a proper dunking! All I remember thinking was 'don't let go' as I think the week before someone had lost their horse as it swam out to sea!

 

[SEL]

^^^ you got a proper dunking!!! Did you have to do the ride home soaking wet?