Have you been injured horseriding? how?

1979 fractured skull (headbutted an overhanging branch), knocked myself out cold and broke a finger for good measure when I hit the ground

1994 twisted pelvis following a showjumping fall

2006 broke the other side of my pelvis coming off a bronco of a 4 year old (wasn't correctly diagnosed for several months though)
 
Wasn't riding at the time but was unloading my horse off a rear unload trailer. He went off a little fast, tried to pull back and slow him down a little, lead rope whipped up around my hand and tore my right thumb off. :rolleyes:
 
dragged along a road after friends pony bolted got my foot caught in the stirrup ended up ripping my back to pieces =/

thrown into a moving car thank god it wasnt going fast and only suffered bruised ribs .. poor woman driving was in shock

yard had a xmas tree and as me and math passed it it fell over math spooked bronked and i hit the concrete straight on my knees some how didnt break them but ripped the flesh to expose the bone .. of witch i then fainted

erm many more like that
recent ones would be when i though i was clever to stand on maths back in a field with no hat he then bolted i fell onto the floor on my shoulder was knocked out for 30mins well by the time i got to hospital i was just coming round
suffered 3broken ribs rest bruised somehow didnt break my shoulder but couldnt use it so was put in a sling and damaged my neck and had concussion + lecture from my mum about me being a idiot... haha my friend got the whole thing on vid

erm a rather large cob in our field decided to run over me so was again knocked out ffor 10mins had concussion and was forced to stay in hospital =/

not a horse incident but when i was 13 my friend by accident stabbed me in the side with a pitchfork at the time wasnt funny but thinking back we just stood there looking at it and then blood came out and i started screaming and she just screamed and one of the women came in and had to calm us down then remove the pitch fork from me and take me to hospital =/ but thats about it haha
 
Came within a millimetre of breaking my neck when my newish Haffie (sold to me as a plod for a nervous rider, ha ha) decided he didn't want to do any more work in the group lesson and put in a load of impressive bucks that would have had the crowd cheering at a professional bull riding rodeo. My fault for not seeing it coming.

Fell off Sunny a couple of years ago. Friend didn't pull her horse back so Sunny and friend's horse decided to have a race along the tarmac lane. I fell off after losing my hat and nearly broke my stupid skull. Air ambulance called. Great fun. Again, my fault for not having acted fast enough, because Sunny is a saint and would have stopped if I'd asked him, except by then I was hanging upside down round his neck. The only explanation for losing my hat is that I'd forgotten to do it up. Note to all riders, do your hat up as soon as you get on. Far far too easy to forget!
 
Broken hip & Pelvis - Found it's best to keep horse between you and the ground and if its on its back it best if you aren't still sat astride it (horse was fine I cushioned her fall;)).

Broken Collar bone - Don't land on your shoulder it hurts!
 
I broke my leg in 3 places!! Fell off my pony jumping everyone said he stood on me but he never pole did it!! Many years ago it never put me off cause i used to ride him with my cast on!!

Broken toes after being stood on!!
 
Have you been injured horseriding?
Yes:)

how?
I fell off:o, well, horse went down. Several horses, several times over 30 odd years

Was there anything you could have done differently?
As someone said "Not got on!" In all the cases I can remember, no, nothing to be done, just one of those things that happen out hunting, going fast, slipped or stumbled and down we went!

Guess I could have

a) gone slower, or
b) not gone hunting :rolleyes:

Not HUNT?! Not an option! :D

...
 
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ive broke both ankles and sprained them alot of times falling off

getting kicked in the head and having it gut open and blood going everywhere

damaging something to do with my kidneys and bladder, urine could pass back into my kidney from my bladder not good, this was done when gallopig full pelt across a field on my [ony and managing to fall off and hit the only bolder in the field

all of these before I was even 8

most recent in jurt is a broken arm when my horse kicked me trying to loaf him
 
Silly pony bolted with me one day, ran down a narrow path onto main road, jumped infront /over a car, clipped it, saddle broke i came off underneath, pony trampled me, then i got run over by a car..few broken bones, but pony split my pancreas in half and had half removed..

worst bit was my mother didnt believe me for 2 days until found perfect hoof print on my jacket!!!! she defineitely believed me after i arrested....

was back riding 3 weeks later, joys of being 9 years old and indestructable!! if that happened now... not sure i'd be so keen to get back on!!!
 
My only nasty horse related injury in 40 years was just before the snow arrived.

Horse spooked badly out hunting, my saddle slipped, I fell off, and horse trod on my chest. I broke 2 ribs but carried on cos I didn't want to walk back the 3 miles on foot !!

Moral was I should have checked my tack better and should wear a body protector.
 
Severed Ear & perforated ear drum & badly fractured skull which all required surgery!! Happened whilst mounting a mare (with an undiagnosed ovarian cyst). She went ballistic just as I had put my leg over her to sit down, she bolted resulting in me being thrown onto her rump.

She bucked & bucked until I fell off, she then turned & literally with teeth bared & ears back attacked me whilst I lay on the ground!!

My hat eventually shattered after repeatedly being kicked in the head. Part of the hat sliced my ear clean off.

At first I couldn't remember what happened & the hospital got social services involved as they were convinced that someone, possibly my Dad had cut it off with a knife as it was such a clean cut.

Luckily my Dad got the all clear when they shaved my head in preparation for surgery & there for everyone to see was a perfect hoof shape in my skull!!

OMG! I really should not be reading these ...
 
Out hacking on a beach and pony completely freaked out and bolted, lost my stirrups when she started bucking, pony was galloping flat out, heading straight for the rocks, thought I'd bail because she wasn't going to stop, just as I bailed pony swerved - broke my elbow, arrived at hospital and got an imediate transfer to another hopsital, had to get emergency surgery because part aof the bone was pressing into the vien in my arm and if the bone moved even slighty it would have been like slitting my wrist. Had my elbow pinned and was in a cast, shoulder to hand, for all of my summer holidays.

Jumping my lad bareback in an open field, spooked at something right before the jump, jumped huge, turned midair and I went striaght on, into the fence post with my shoulder and smacking my head off the ground too. Brought him in, untacked him and then practically collapsed, didn't break anything but defo did damage, shoulder was purple, couldn't put weight on it, couldn't really move it or lift it without holding it up with my other hand. Did it to the hand I write with, the day before my exams started, started off with english exam, and had to lift my hand onto the table, writing was agony! About two weeks later I was accidently knocked my shoulder, made a really nasty 'click' and was fine after than, although it does still get 'stuck' when I'm leaning on it. Preventable - yes, shouldn't have ridden him in an open space, bareback.
 
First time I rode the horse bombed off in canter, I obviously had no idea what i was doing, fell off and broke my pelvis in 7 places! (maybe that should of told me something!)

Leading a horse out of field he reared up, my hand was through the loop of the lead rope and I broke my finger. (never use lead ropes with loops on like a handle)

But the worst was the accident we had in Feb 2010. Hacking back home after a lovely ride in the fields, we were hit by a car going 60mph. I broke my lower back and had to have rods and pins put in, 3 weeks in hospital, almost 5 months off work. Benson died, as did Charlie, the other hprse that was hit. My friend that was riding him damaged her shoulder and hip and also had lots of treatment. (never ever will ride again, but if I could ride again if I could, I would never ride out on the roads.)
 
1 squashed against stable door by horse rushing to get his dinner
2 bucked off twice, damaged shoulder both times (still having physio!)
3 pony reared (years and years ago) and knocked down a dry stone wall on the moors above Hathersage, hurt my self esteem!
4 fell off in a jump off and smashed into the ump wing (taken by St John's ambulance, wasn;t badly hurt though)

What i'd do differently is not try to make a horse do something which would make it react in a way that put me in danger.
 
Twisted my pelvis as a 12/13 year old when the horse threw in a nasty stop XC and threw me onto the jump, I folded myself in half backwards and (so I'm told) only me head hitting the floor stopped me breaking my back.
Numerous KO's and concussions from the same horse doing the same thing (he was a nasty piece of work when he wanted to be!).
Severely bruised my shoulder and collar bone after my ISH mare threw me head first into the arena fence after a napping fit.
Another concussion when Olly went down in a god awful sandschool at walk - I was riding bareback and went down with him.
 
But the worst was the accident we had in Feb 2010. Hacking back home after a lovely ride in the fields, we were hit by a car going 60mph. I broke my lower back and had to have rods and pins put in, 3 weeks in hospital, almost 5 months off work. Benson died, as did Charlie, the other hprse that was hit. My friend that was riding him damaged her shoulder and hip and also had lots of treatment. (never ever will ride again, but if I could ride again if I could, I would never ride out on the roads.)


Benson21 that is horrific. My heart goes out to you, the other rider and the poor horses. I think we do forget how dangerous riding is until you start reading a thread like this.

I have had the broken toes, broken wrists, odd concussion and head banged of wall. My worst accident was a horse rearing and coming back on top of me while out hacking on the road. As someone else said, horse was fine, I cushioned her fall. Thank god for my big backside. Smashed pelvis and dented confidence. Mental scars last a lot longer than the physical ones. Not sure what I could have done differently.
 
not while horse riding but I rode with a broken wrist and shattered fingers, a shattered foot and dislocated shoulder...
all at separate times but i seem to have relatively good luck ON the horse... aha x
 
Benson21 that's terrible.

My mums been riding 25years + and new years eve 2009 me and my mum went for our normal ride on the beach making videos to send to old friends having a brilliant time and just before we went we had a race mum was going along on her 27 year old arab x welsh and she dropped a sholder and mum summer saulted off the side and landed on her back and broke her back again, 20 years earlier she was riding and broke her back and had to have hip bone placed in her spine i dont know how she still walks let alone ride. The amazing thing when she broke her back in 2009 the beach was packed and mum was on the floor im only small so i look like a young child holding two horses and looking after mum she was taken to hospital and stuck in bed for 2 months and then they over dosed her with mophine and her throat closed up but thankfully she is fine and riding :)

Paige x
 
Broken finger and hand, horse spooked in WALK lol and i fell and must of landed funny did not even feel it, got back on and looked down to pick up reins and noticed my finger was pointing in wrong direction.

Crushed leg (hospital job) - horse spooked on road and in her panic slipped over landing on my leg and crushing it very badly.

Knocked out cold a few times, XC mostly. Horse stops i kept going and bang it all went black.

Cracked knee cap. horse ducked out a XC jump between a tree ramming my knee into the tree.

Broken toe a few times, once she stood on it again , 1 week after being broken I was trying to get on at XC, she was super excited, it felt like a hot poker being rammed through my foot, still went and did the XC round but man it was painful.

Many muscle type injuries along the way too.
 
I think I've been lucky really as in 45 plus years of riding the only serious injuries I've had have been in the last three years and all from the same horse.

I've had the odd kick and bruising from falls but nothing serious til my then two year old kicked me in the face in the field (so not really a riding accident) and broke my nose, both cheek bones, various teeth and my upper jaw. Was really a freak accident and I don't think there was malice intended. Same horse broke my finger whilst been taught to load, my fault for having my hand in the wrong place! Same horse after been backed and everything going very well suddenly started to put the odd major buck in which resulted in damaged pride and bruised ribs until he did a major rodeo act as I got on him in the school (luckily I had changed my mind as was going to get on him on the concrete yard) and bucked me over the fence off into the next door field and I ended up with a fractured vertebrae.
 
Whiplash - ex racehorse taking him out for a blast after a schooling session. He decided he could gallop up a hill faster without me on his back so bucked me off.

Bucked off Welsh cob who was stung just as I sat on him - knocked out, bruised shoulder, lungs, ribs, hip and kidneys.

Broken foot after Highland stood on it and twisted for good measure.

Rope burns - but have learnt to wear gloves!
 
A few times worst one was Jan 09 riding in the indoor school. Horse bucked and spun at the same time. I came out of the side door so fast I was standing upright I remember thinking I'm going to land on my feet. Well I did but left foot went into a slight rut in the school and snapped, my foot ended up facing the wrong way!

I had broken may ankle both sides and dislocated it. Required surgery to put it all back together. however surgery was done wrong and less than 12 months later the whole thing nearly collapsed.
I had a total ankle replacement 6 months ago and am doing quite well, still a way to go building muscles and tendons back but hopefully I will get a bit better

Hurt my back a few times too when being dumped at fences that horse stopped at

Horse was a WC x TB with a bit of attitude! Had to retire him through injury and now have a WB he is more fizzy but not as silly and opinionated
 
Only once in 35 years of owning horses. I was jumping at home on grass, schooling a relatively novice horse through a treble. He'd done it a few times without a problem. Then, he tried to run out at the third element and I tried to bring him back in again. He slipped and came over on top of me. I remember lying on the ground thinking, 'This is bad!' I had fractured ribs, sternum and jaw. The jaw was the worst as it didn't set properly and had to be re-broken.
 
I broke my left hip and left wrist when a young cob I was riding reared up and fell over backwards in the middle of the road.
He was a lovely pony and I had broken him in myself and been hacking him out down that road for months. This day the farmer had put some young cows in the field and they heard us on the road and looked over the hedge to see what we were. Little Jo freaked out and in his panic went up and over. It all happened so quickly there was nothing I could do and I was very lucky to only have the injurys I had.
Now I try to avoid cows but living on the new forest that is kind of hard to do. :( :p ;) :D :D They just kindof appear from behind gorse bushes :rolleyes: Luckly both ponies I have now are forest Bred so are very used to just such situations ;) :D
 
Ok I have had a lot but not many extreme ones.
my little toes are now odd sizes and think I have badly broken my right one as still hurts 2 months after it was stood on.
Have a dent and huge scar on my knee after my horse spooked, bucked and tossed me into the fence of menage which wrecked my arm and side and then proceeded to step on my leg. knee still hurts sometimes
hurt my back badly when horse refused at jump, i clung on and she shoved me into the wall of arena and really badly wrecked my back. couldnt sit down for a while without being in severe pain and was on pain killers for ages. then cousin proceeded to step on my back when i was led on the floor to try and relieve pain which made it much worse.
 
Several years ago i was popping a friends horse around a course of jumps, halfway sound and horse decides she didn't want to just and ran out at v last minute, but very kindly let me jump it still! Resulted in a dislocated shoulder, broken ribs and broken wrist. I think it was surely down to not lining her up to the jump properly and not keeping my leg on.
 
fused 3 vertabrea in my neck, slipped a dic in my back.
Hair lines fractures my jaw and cheekbone. Broke my nose, my toe 3 times, 2 of my fingars and abit of rope burn for good measure.. I <3 horses :)
 
In well over 40 yrs of riding and plenty of falls, particularly in the early days, the most serious injury I've sustained was a broken leg (tib & fib) going to fetch a rope to take a recalcitrant old lady back to the field after her breakfast. She usually followed me with my hand on her forelock but on this occasion she refused to move. I foolishly was wearing a pair of sandals at the time (horses at home) ns when I realised that I'd forgotten to change just thought 'oh well I'll be ok SHE won't stand on me'. I slipped and sat down on the ankle hearing the crack. Then the horse strolled past me to go back into the field. I managed to stand up and open the gate for her!
Then just 3 days before my 55th birthday my IDx mare bucked me off on the road, I landed on my head and 4 months later was found to have a trapped nerve in my neck which had caused all sorts of other postural problems. That cost me nearly £500 in physiotherapy treatment. It was either pay or wait 10 weeks for an appointment. And I was in agony by this time.
I should have listened to her when she was trying to tell me that her back hurt.
 
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