Horse Riding falls and fail experiences? Share them!

OK, Sherley was a bit excited initially when he found the beach....
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But he did settle in the end...
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No pics unfortunately but when I tried to remount my mare on a hack (brave for me as I'm no longer flexible enough to bounce on so had to find a suitable boulder) recently, I stupidly (I can't get over how stupid) forgot to check the girth. Saddle slid, Id committed to the mount so leg was over, my usually sane mare lost it and launched forward (and possibly up - it felt like I was catapulted) which happened to be down a hill. I didn't stand a chance and exited left, though by the amount of mane on the floor I tired hard to stay put. I don't bounce like I used to so now have a pinned left leg - managed to break my femur at the head of the hip! I've had some falls but this was the most stupid with the worst consequences! I was only 2 mins from home too. Gutted!
 
Ceriann said:
No pics unfortunately but when I tried to remount my mare on a hack (brave for me as I'm no longer flexible enough to bounce on so had to find a suitable boulder) recently, I stupidly (I can't get over how stupid) forgot to check the girth. Saddle slid, Id committed to the mount so leg was over, my usually sane mare lost it and launched forward (and possibly up - it felt like I was catapulted) which happened to be down a hill. I didn't stand a chance and exited left, though by the amount of mane on the floor I tired hard to stay put. I don't bounce like I used to so now have a pinned left leg - managed to break my femur at the head of the hip! I've had some falls but this was the most stupid with the worst consequences! I was only 2 mins from home too. Gutted!
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Oh no, I hope you heal up quickly. x
 
Red-1 said:
Oh no, I hope you heal up quickly. x
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Lovely horse - mine does that on the very odd occasion she has a meltdown and so far I haven't been able to sit to it. Doesn't help she's generally v quiet so it's always a surprise! Already on the mend I hope - I just need good news when I have my 6 week x ray and told I can start walking on it x
 
my worst was my mare, about 12yrs ago!

she bolted with me, I couldn't move her head at all! we got to the top of a hill I tried to steer her to the right, towards a tree, she darted to the left of the tree, down a track, I can off sideways, in what felt like slow motion, I saw her hooves coming towards my face as I was hitting the floor! luckily she missed my face and trampled on my leg and rips! nothing broken.

but then to make it worse, she carried on, my friend tried chasing her, which probably made it worse, as I got up off the ground, some man appeared from between the trees, so I thought I was going to be murdered! he was just the gamekeeper, he saw what had happened and pointed me in the direction of home!

we'd been out for 3 hours at this point and she took herself almost home, in gallop, down windy country lanes! some bloke almost knocked her down with his car, turned around and followed her, trying to stop her! she was approaching the main A road and a man pulled out of his farm drive way and saw her coming so he blocked the road with the guy that was following her! they then put her in a field and the first guy came back and got me!

needless to say I didn't trust her for a long time after that!

the next time I feel off out, I refusing to let go and got dragged across the field before she gave up and stopped.
 
So many falls, so little page space....!! :-D
One of my funniest (although I did have a sense of humour failure at the time) was hacking through the local forestry on my 18hh show horse who wouldn't bat an eyelid at a 10t lorry going by at 60mph but would need a sit down & a glass of brandy if a leaf was a different green to the next one!!! My fault entirely, I was daydreaming, slopping along on a long rein, didn't see the horse eating bilberry bush, suddenly got catapulted skywards!! As I landed on my belly I thought "don't let go" so I clung onto the reins as he set off down the path, having 50 fits at the swearing 'slug' that was 'chasing' him!!! The trouble was, (apart from being dragged) that my jodhpurs were sliding downwards & my top migrating upwards & all I could think was "oh god, I've got tartan knickers on"!! Finally, he decided that "woah you *********g imbecile" meant stop & he did! I leapt up, rearranged clothing, checked round to see if I'd scarred any dog walkers for life & remounted! When I got back to the yard my friend nearly died laughing - I was brown with mud & had a considerably larger chest size than when I set off (mud filled bra)!!!
If falling off was an Olympic sport I'd have been good medalist by now..... :-D
 
My best was when I was about 12. We were jumping ditches and the horse I was on stopped, so I sat back and relaxed. Was about to turn round for another try when he jumped! I remember seeing the trees upside down, then a jolt under my feet, and I was standing by his shoulder, still holding the reins. I wish video recorders had been invented back then!
 
Oh, and I was following behind somebody once who got swept off his horse by a branch which had "helpfully" been held back by somebody who then let it go at just the wrong moment. Thelwell sure got it right!
 
Many years ago I was having a jumping lesson on my young maxi cob. I went a bit gung-ho a a 2'6" jump and according to onlookers he jumped over 5'. All I remember was his massive bum coming up and catapulting me out of the saddle, next thing I was on the flat on the floor looking at a big muzzle. Everyone was panicking and running towards me, I was fine but so winded I thought I'd never inhale again. Went off jumping a bit after that though!
 
Oh gosh .............so many to choose from!

I was out hacking with my friend, she was on my mare Red, I was riding my pony Star. My friend was cantering ahead of me when a branch went between her hi viz and her coat and lifted her out of the saddle, Red carried on leaving my friend hanging in mid air. Star skidded to a halt! By this time Red became aware she had no rider and stopped herself, checked over both shoulders, just in case, gave a deep sigh, turned around and came back. My friend was still hanging there, the branch was bending more and more and I was by now convulsed in laughter, barely hanging on. The branch by now had reached the end and snapped and my friend plopped down on to the track, unhurt. As she fell however, my horse leaped sideward, I was by this point crying and so I went out the side door. We where then both on the floor laughing fit to burst with two slightly confused horses looking on!!!
 
Going pony trekking as a child in Ireland, myself+my mum already rode but dad+brother didnt!! Cue my brother falling off twice+myself + dad galloping flat out over a field heading for a 5 bar gate which was thankfully open!! Got back to the yard to find out said ponies were used for racing not that it deterred me+mum for going trekking with them again +after all this my brother did take up riding however dad has never again been on a horse, cant think why! LOL!
 
Dazed'n'confused said:
So many falls, so little page space....!! :-D
One of my funniest (although I did have a sense of humour failure at the time) was hacking through the local forestry on my 18hh show horse who wouldn't bat an eyelid at a 10t lorry going by at 60mph but would need a sit down & a glass of brandy if a leaf was a different green to the next one!!! My fault entirely, I was daydreaming, slopping along on a long rein, didn't see the horse eating bilberry bush, suddenly got catapulted skywards!! As I landed on my belly I thought "don't let go" so I clung onto the reins as he set off down the path, having 50 fits at the swearing 'slug' that was 'chasing' him!!! The trouble was, (apart from being dragged) that my jodhpurs were sliding downwards & my top migrating upwards & all I could think was "oh god, I've got tartan knickers on"!! Finally, he decided that "woah you *********g imbecile" meant stop & he did! I leapt up, rearranged clothing, checked round to see if I'd scarred any dog walkers for life & remounted! When I got back to the yard my friend nearly died laughing - I was brown with mud & had a considerably larger chest size than when I set off (mud filled bra)!!!
If falling off was an Olympic sport I'd have been good medalist by now..... :-D
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Love this! I'm laughing my head off! Hehehe so funny
 
I've had millions....
At about 11 years old on a trecking holiday the cob I was riding decided he'd done enough work for the day and took himself off to bed. I pulled and tugged to no avail until I was swept off backwards as he went under a low lintel and landed flat on my backside in the yard.
Aged 14 riding my first pony at a PC hunter trial, I trotted out of the start towards the first obstacle, a gate and the beginning of the timed section. I had total confidence as the pony was a star at opening gates. You can imagine my surprise when about four strides away he locked on and I suddenly realised he intended to jump it. At that point we were committed and did successfully clear it, it was about 5' tall and 3' wide, however I was so overcome I fell off on landing
Final in my early 20s I was unceremoniously dumped by my usually bomb proof horse when a sheep dragging the length of fencing it was attached to made a stealth attack on him from a hedge. He reared, span, fell and proceeded to flee the scene with me in hot footed pursuit.
 
I've had several. I've had a couple of 'Thelwell' moments this year though. I'd not fallen off my girl for a couple of years till this summer and stupidly thought we were invincible!
This summer we were hacking out on our own and were trotting along a path across a field when she suddenly spotted a particularly tasty clump of grass. She went from a lovely forward going trot to a standstill and head down in a nano-second!! I sort of somersaulted over her head and b******d up my shoulder.
I had just about recovered from that and went out on a hack with 2 others on a very windy day. For most of the ride I had a feeling she was building up to something and sure enough, on the way back they all got a bit silly. One kept shooting forward and jogging intermittently, the other was jogging sideways and we were at the back with me trying to keep her in a walk.
Suddenly she just took off at a flat out gallop - overtaking the other two and just bombed home! The minute she stopped I got off and my knee's were knocking!! One of the friends I had been riding with said it looked like something out of a Thelwell cartoon - you know, the one with the pony bombing along and the rider being towed along in mid-air!
 
Cowpony said:
Oh, and I was following behind somebody once who got swept off his horse by a branch which had "helpfully" been held back by somebody who then let it go at just the wrong moment. Thelwell sure got it right!
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Was up on dartmoor with 3 friends doing a Trec training day some years ago.Well,we got a bit lost and found ourselves in a small wood on a very narrow track.The low branch seemed no problem,'it's going to be tight'i thought,got right down beside Chesters neck and we walked under.Suddenly i seemed to be falling for ever,i'd forgotten i had a rucksack on!!!.Chess stopped,looked back at me,you could almost hear him say'what are you doing down there?',lol.
 
When Ethel was a 3 year old and I hadn't long had her, I decided to do around the world on her. She was fine, stood like a rock so the next day I decided to show my friend what a little pro Ethel was! I got to sitting on her backwards and lost my balance so I put my hands on her bum to stop myself falling, thinking she would be fine as I always touched her bum whilst riding her. She promptly took off bucking with me and I got thrown off backwards. It hurt a fair bit but I couldn't stop laughing! My friend checked I was ok and then laughed at me a lot. Poor Ethel just stood on the other side of the school looking very worried ans confused at what had just happened!
 
Ceriann said:
No pics unfortunately but when I tried to remount my mare on a hack (brave for me as I'm no longer flexible enough to bounce on so had to find a suitable boulder) recently, I stupidly (I can't get over how stupid) forgot to check the girth. Saddle slid, Id committed to the mount so leg was over, my usually sane mare lost it and launched forward (and possibly up - it felt like I was catapulted) which happened to be down a hill. I didn't stand a chance and exited left, though by the amount of mane on the floor I tired hard to stay put. I don't bounce like I used to so now have a pinned left leg - managed to break my femur at the head of the hip! I've had some falls but this was the most stupid with the worst consequences! I was only 2 mins from home too. Gutted!
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I broke the neck of my femur in July this year when my youngster and I had a communication error! As I recall she bolted and fell on me too. Had it pinned and plated and was told 9 months non weight bearing. The pain has been minimal and I am back on quietly with no ill effects so far! Looking forward to next year greatly! I am 52.
 
I was really chuffed the OH captured this little gem of epic rider fail. For the record, I managed to stay on (and thankfully kept my teeth!!).
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No pictures, but I was once riding a roly poly type cob, having a good canter through some water- cue turning a corner and the saddle slipping and me exiting the side door into the middle of it. Everyone found it funny. Horse stood next to me distinctly unimpressed. Least it will teach me to have better balance, but I was only about 13 at the time!

Whilst jumping a friends old pony who was a bit of a git. We had done a few nice fences and were starting to really work well, when suddenly he put in a dirty stop. I ended up on the other side of the fence, on my feet, still holding on to him.
 
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smanf said:
I was really chuffed the OH captured this little gem of epic rider fail. For the record, I managed to stay on (and thankfully kept my teeth!!).
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Ouch! I know that feeling. My now very old boy used to throw his head really high when jumping. If I didn't remember to move my head to the side of his that's exactly how I ended up looking.
 
ok, first fall was off a trekking pony who was trotting along and then he suddenly flung his head down and started eating. He'd been a ****** throughout that whole holiday inc cantering off without being told but he actually just got me off the one time. Fell forwards over his head but didn't hurt anything.
second time was falling off cantering and winding myself, not sure what the pony did.
Third time falling off and getting knocked out.
Fourth was falling off and breaking my humerus. Young horse (welsh cob) did a good buck.
Fifth time falling off whilst cantering and bruising my ribs as I did a forward roll.
 
I have a video of a bad fall from last year.

[video=youtube;TUTjlXDm0e8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUTjlXDm0e8[/video]

My mare doesn't like rosettes, but the judge wanted me to try and wear my rosette.....Set off OK, she felt a bit tense, I look down quickly to see if my rosette is flapping, she bolts off, I'm there trying to turn her, as she heads for the separate First Ridden class, she jumps in, and heads for a pony's bottom, I'm thinking, "Oh my gosh we're going to get kicked!", try to stop but obviously can't, so decide it's time for an emergency dismount, I 'dismount' just as Sunny passes the pony's bottom, and as I land 'push' against it's hind end, land right by it's back hooves, I'm then thinking "Oh no, get up, it's going to kick or trample me", but I got badly winded, so I couldn't get up, and was just lying there trying to breath. Thankfully Sunny just stopped immediately after I fell off, and waited for me.

She's much better with rosettes now. You can see all my falls, fails & bloopers in this video, but it's from last year so not been updated
yet.

[video=youtube;XYZFzrcHAdQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYZFzrcHAdQ&list=UUPbdM4a5BY4WGCTtqL7TAWw[/video]

No criticism please, I know what I did wrong, it was nothing to do with my mare, and a few of these falls/ fails are over 2 years old and I was very young in some of the clips :)
 
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First time I fell off was off a naughty riding school pony, we'd gone out into the field to jump and the pony put in a huge buck and I came off. Helpfully I was told AFTER that the pony was known for bucking when taken out into the field!!

Second time I was cantering in the school and the horse rounded his back, I don't know what happened but next thing I know I'm flat on my back seriously winded. No idea how I got there! And that's how I damaged my back.

Third time I was jumping on an ex BSJA pony and he decided I wasn't committed enough! We were doing grids, first two fences fine, third - nope. I did a very good somersault over the fence and again ended up flat on my back. Ouch.

I then somehow didn't manage to fall off for a good few years until earlier this year when I took my loan horse to an XC fun ride. Showed him the ditch and he didn't seem bothered. Trotted towards it and he suddenly said HELL NO and stopped. I just sort of slid over his shoulder and lay on the floor! Slightly embarrassing! It was run by the hunt I go out with and they haven't let me forget it!

I did have a good nearly moment out hunting a couple of weeks ago, I said jump, horse said no so I don't prepare, horse then decides to jump and I get badly left behind, lose my right stirrup and helpfully horse then takes off after everyone else with me flapping around on top with one stirrup and lack of control! There's a brilliant series of photos of this moment but they're watermarked so I can't post them directly. http://sharontphotography.co.uk/photo22956068.html#photo Keep clicking next!
 
Doodledoyle said:
I broke the neck of my femur in July this year when my youngster and I had a communication error! As I recall she bolted and fell on me too. Had it pinned and plated and was told 9 months non weight bearing. The pain has been minimal and I am back on quietly with no ill effects so far! Looking forward to next year greatly! I am 52.
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Sounds like a pretty spectacular fall. 9 months non-weight bearing! Why so long - did you have a particularly bad break (I appreciate a pinned and plated femur isn't exactly low grade as is)?! You have clearly recovered much quicker, which is great and gives me a lot of hope. I'm 3 weeks in and almost off painkillers and fairly mobile (on crutches) and doing my exercises religiously!! I want to be allowed to walk for Christmas!! Hope you continue to recover well and speedily.
 
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