Disabled girl needs your help again please

samual said:
Hi, im spike123 friend. I think you are truly amazing I had a riding accident and totally smashed my ankle and leg to pieces i was pinned and plated but had them out as they caused me more pain. Iv been shows and jumped but in the last couple of months i have this gut renching fear and my horse is really playing on my nerves hes making me not want to ride. I have no confidence and am so scared of loosing my leg as this is what i have been told, i feel unbalanced and that i cant ride and im letting my horse down and that really is breaking my heart as have had him from buba hes six now. just want to be me again.
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I'm going off on a tangent here, but I really think Bach flowers, or Homeopathy could help you. There is a Bach Flower Remedy (Mimulus) which is for the fear of something known (rather than fear without knowing where it comes from) which I think you sound like an ideal candidate for. They act gently, are 100% safe and don't take away "you" but do help you to deal with things. x
 
Kal40, thank you when you say vaulting team did your instructer give any idea of who and where these people are by any chance,balance is the issue due to the leg going right up to my backside so have no real grip with the thigh area either very much one sided, thanks again :)
 
Blitz, have had this mentioned before but its the money thing yet again, cost of saddle and then would think Ebony would have to be schooled for it,but it does cross my mind but down this way not alot of anything seems to be around, perhaps one day :)
 
Cost of sides saddle sis not too bad if you hire one. I hired one for £150 for 12 months - that is going back about 8 years but try googling Liz turner Saltash and side saddles. She has loads of saddles and will travel all over to fit one. as for training a horse to carry one, I just popped one one my horse when Liz was there, hopped on board and rode him. He took to it immediately. We jumped on day 1 and it was fine. This was a horse that had never had one on before and a rider who had never sat side saddle.

I know of 2 people who ride side saddle because of leg problems. One rides to the left - the other has a saddle that rides to the right. Highly unusual - but makes sense - why should you be restricted to riding to the left.
 
I had a sidesaddle taster lesson a while back, and I seem to remember the instructor saying that most horses take to it really well. H&H did a feature on it a couple of weeks ago, might be worth a look?
 
Spudlet, I will see if there is anything around this area, as all the responces on here have really inspired me to go further, I want to do so much more with her and it is my balance and my lack of confidence now that is holding me back, which I do find hard having never been like this before the accident,just got back in as my lesson which was today was cancelled at the last moment, so will now have to wait for two weeks, thank you does not seem to say enough but I really do appreciate all the help and advise that I am getting on here, I am really touched by it all.
Chrissie :)
 
How about finding one of those riding simulator thingummyjigs to try on, so you can concentrate on finding your balance without having to worry about what Ebony is doing? I think ThelwellGirl went on one, and she is in London so could tell you where to find one that I guess would be local-ish to you.

Knowing how much horses and riding has helped me through rough points in my lif, I just think it's really important that you can get back on board too:)
 
It's great to read such a positive post, well done you and I hope you get some links and help from this thread.

I remember reading this on the BD magazine (also on their website) a while ago and it might have some more links for you to check out:

Fundraisers secure £13k for para rider’s first 'riding legs'
last updated on November 03, 2008 20:25


A team of fundraisers have raised £13,000 for para rider Erin Orford to have specially designed prosthetic legs made.

Orford, who won the 2005 Para Talent Spotting Final, had both her legs amputated aged one and has shortened upper arms.

Andrew Hogge, a partner at chartered surveyors Cyril Leonard, found out about Orford through SportsAid and lead a team of nine fundraising friends. They decided to take on a gruelling 23-hour mountain bike ride of more than 200 miles, starting at Fishguard in Wales and finishing at Chepstow.

Hogge said: “We were specifically looking for a young person with determination, ability, physical need and financial need, who we could assist in living their dream to compete at the 2012 London Olympics. When we were introduced to Erin by SportsAid, we knew we had found the right person.”

Orford, who is currently studying for a business management degree at Birmingham University, said: “What Andrew, his team and everyone who sponsored them have done for me is just unbelievable. Having prosthetic legs made especially for riding will give me significantly more control and also help to reduce the pain and discomfort I have at the moment. In turn, this means I will be able to train more often and for longer periods of time.

“The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, who normally make my everyday legs, are in the process of making my first ‘riding legs’ at the moment. They have never made any before, so I’m not sure when they will be finished, but I will hopefully have them for next year.”
 
ebonyallen said:
Kal40, thank you when you say vaulting team did your instructer give any idea of who and where these people are by any chance,balance is the issue due to the leg going right up to my backside so have no real grip with the thigh area either very much one sided, thanks again :)
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Do you wear prostheses? I have a dim and distant memory of reading about an adult having a different pair to ride in, as they needed more freedom in the hip, although maybe in your instance its more stability and less movement you need :)

If you wear prostheses to ride in, could you invent new strapping of some kind to mimic the stable fork a full-legged person would form? It sounds like you are going to have to ride from your voice and hands, so may as well "weld" the lower half in, if you understand what I'm trying to say.

I think if you could find a good old fashioned saddler, I'm sure they could modify your existing, or a not too expensibe saddle for you. I am imagining velcro-straps on the saddle flaps which would keep your prosthetic legs in place, or if you still have stumps (Forgive the crudeness, I can't exactly imagine how much if any of your leg is left) you could see about getting some sort of leather pockets fitted.

I don't think any of the above would be too expensive, particularly if you were willing to buy an old, maybe "past-its-best-but-still-serviceable-and-fits-ebony" one that could be unstitched, have new things stitched on, taken apart and messed with until you find a good solution for you.
 
Booboos and Naturally thanks, I ride with the only leg that they have given me, which is not really that good for anything let alone for riding, when I past a comment regarding this I was more or less told that was all that was available unless I had around £18,000 to buy a private one which of course we all have in a spare bank account lol !! So I just use this one and what I do at the moment and really not to sure if its safe or not is to put velcro around the girth and around my lower leg, to try and hold it in place. Other wise it just moves backwards on its on and because it comes all the way up to my bum it then tips you forward, which is not good. Do not know if anyone has any further thoughts on this as really it needs to give way if I fall off, or one of two things could happen I get dragged or Ebony runs off with just a leg in the saddle now that would be a sight for sore eyes lol. So do you think what we are doing is correct or any other ideas, re the special leg for riding think I have as much chance of that as running !! Thanks for both your ideas, will see if somehow can contact that chap. x :)
 
Oh Blitz that was a kind thing to suggest if only eh. Re limbless great if you want to do any other sport in the world apart from the riding bit, no aboves sometimes it just seems like little old me and thats bad enough for everyone lol.
Spider will look her up, there are people far worse off than me, she must be amazing to carry on, thanks both of you x :)
Chrissie
 
spider said:
Seem to remember that when i helped with RDA some riders had blocks which velcroed to the saddle to keep their legs in place.
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Dammit, you got there first with this one! :p I second this idea. :D

Could you contact some of the 100s of horsey companies (especially the saddlery ones) and ask for sponsorship, help getting the contacts to get good instruction/ modification, or help modifying everything to make it work..., in return for being willing to do PR for them (e.g. articles in magazines etc)?

PS If all else fails ridden-wise, what about carriage driving?

ETS I can see Your Horse magazine being interested in running a series on you, a bit like they do with the win a horse competition. Try them.
 
It seems to me that the RDA ought to be the specialist organisation that can help you. I can understand that your local group is not suitable as the group I used to help with would not have been either. Maybe if you contacted the national office they would be able to suggest something with regard to groups and equipment.
http://www.rda.org.uk/contact

The other avenue to follow could be something like para dressage, they could be helpful evn if you don't want to do dressage as have experience of people riding at higher levels.
http://www.britishdressage.co.uk/para_equestrian/getting_started

I think you are very brave and wish you the best of luck in finding a way to ride comfortably and effectively. Let us know how you get on.
 
Spider, Thanks I did contact the National Office and was told about the Group that we went to which was only really for people being led around the school, and with out sounding horrid even as I am I can trot, canter and have even been over a small cross poll, but I feel that I am not as good as I should be and just want better for me and her, so I told them this and they then gave me this other group near Dover in Kent, and as said before have left all my details what is wrong with me what sort of help I would like, and yet again they do not ever return my phone call, so you begin to think that you are just being a pain in the aR!!!!! so have to say I gave up ringing. I do not have alot of confidence in anything anymore due to my leg, so i tend to crawl back under that stone, where some people make you feel you belong.

Naturally, again thanks have drafted out a letter already so will get sending them out to see what they have to say, re not doing this before again re the confidence thing you think that no one really would want to help me as I am nothing special, but what have I got to loose nothing they can only say no, so thanks for the push x
 
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