If you were told your not allowed to ride ever again, would you?

do you agree


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shadowboy

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I have been told not to ride ever again. I have been riding for 18 years- so its quite gutting. I had an accident 4 months ago and have only just started full weight bearing without aid. Docs have said that if I ever fall off again and land on that foot it would catastrophic. I would be unable to walk and wheelchair bound. So would you ignore docs orders. I have decided to have 2 years off and then get an old beast who just likes to plod/help do some driving, I think my comp career is over as I will be too tense to be able to ride effectively..... what would you guys do?
 
I wouldn't ride again, but take up driving instead
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i dont really know and hope i`l never have too but hugs to you
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i probably wouldnt ride my mare as she is very buzzy but maybe on a safe plod? really depends. i`d prob take up driving or in hand showing with shetlands or something if i really couldnt ride
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I was told not to ride again after having a bad fall. I still do and still compete and break/bring on youngsters. TBH you could go around saying I won't get in a car again, in case I have an accident.
 
I'd only ride ultra-safe, short horses. I may be looking at a future of this, I'm waiting for the results of an MRI scan on my back and hopefully a bit of a risky operation. My job is driving ponies, its kind of fun but its crap compared to riding IMO.
 
Was told about 15 years ago to stop riding or my knee would need replacing at thirty.........................guess what I'm still riding, I over thirty and my knee is no worst than it was 15 years ago!!! Listen to your body and do what you feel able to do.
 
Entertaining that so many people appear to think that driving is risk free - obviously never seen a carriage tip over or some of the other things that can happen with driving horses - just because you don't sit on them doesn't mean they can't hurt you!
 
True!! I knew someone who broke her back because of it, but anything with horses isn't risk free! And a plod can spook if it really wanted too, or was really scared!!!

So if you don't want the risk of injuring it at all then don't do anything with horses!! But life is for living, and if its what you love then is it going to be easy to give up just like that??

Anyway, good luck with what you choose
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I dont think I can compete- the horse would sense my worries. My foot is currently being held together by pins and wire. Not just the bone but also the ligaments. Its the worry that the ligaments would not survive further impact and my foot would be totaly unstable afterwards- hence no walking. Id rather be able to walk for the rest of my life than ride for a couple of years and find myself unable to walk, but if my foot regains stability perhaps in a year, I may well start riding again. At the mo its not not stable- I cant even run yet!
 
I ticked the carry on as normal box as i think you either ride or dont you can have a bad fall off a quiet horse ambling or never fall off and jump 4 times a week.
When i had a knee op i was told not to ride for 12 weeks and i think i lasted 3. When i cant ride i always really really want to, when i can ride i sometimes find it a chore ( think that is human nature!!) i think it is just a case of weighing up your options and deciding what is important to you.
 
Just remember that all quiet horses could have a spook - which could cause you to fall and land on your foot.
pessimistic way of seeing things i know, but no horse is completely quiet.
its not the riding that i would be worried about, its the looking after and caring for the horses as well
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the idea of driving sounds good, as long as you are able to cope with it!
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to be honest, i would maybe get a mare when you are more active, and breed from it and start your own "stud"
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or even just keep unwanted and rescue ponies!

but thats just me, but then again my dentist told me that i should always ride with a gumshield!!
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i didnt... and my teeth are just fine
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i think it depends on how well your ligaments heal and how your recovery goes.

lots of hugs!
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I put only on a quiet horse but is there such a thing?
I was told not to ride after breaking my neck in two places, 20 years on have bad pins and needles most of the time in my right hand/arm but event to nov level
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You will know when the time is right, take it slow and see how it goes.
Good luck
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Minimise your risk, by hacking with a bomb proof horse. Chances are if you fell, you wouldn't fall on your foot. I've fallen off loads of times and NEVER yet hurt my foot.
 
As an alternative, would it be worth looking into reinforced boots for your affected foot - they might look and feel a bit like a cast, but if they substantially reduce the risk, whilst still allowing you to ride then they would be worth it
 
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I've fallen off loads of times and NEVER yet hurt my foot.

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I don't know how you injured it in the first instance but there's a ring of truth in this, more likely to get your foot trodden on I should think! I'd seek the opinion of a specialist who actually rides.

Personally would have to do something and would probably dust off the side saddle habit.
 
I had a convulsion fracture where the ligament pulls away from the ankle along with a chunk of bone, I had a 'Beckham' boot fitted for 2 months and told to only partial weight bare, I rode in the boot but used the stirrup Daps that the endurance riders use to stop the boot sliding through, The boot was like a plaster cast in the way of protection and so I felt safe with it. Not advisable but needs must!!
 
Some of the worst accidents I've seen have been in carriage driving classes. Drivers being dragged by four horses at the same time, with a socking great carriage on its side chasing you. Far rather be dumped by a single horse in one go.
I've voted that you carry on riding if you feel happy to do so, but on a quieter horse.
 
Mare bucked three times- each time a bit bigger and eventually i sumersaulted off her shoulder and all weight landed on left foot whick buckled- two metertarsals wer completely shattered and all toes were out of line due to liagament displacement. My foot is much wider than my right foot. I can no longer get it onto long boots anyway! (maybe thats a sign?!) I wont ride for a year at least- sold one of my horses already. So just have my one and mums one. If i feel I can do a safe dismount/mount after a year I will prob start riding again on a quiet cob or something
 
If I were you, I wouldn't make any decisions quite yet - not until the leg has finished whatever healing it is going to do, and stabilised.
Then, as Mother_Hen suggests, you could buy rigid boots to protect your vulnerable areas...or if not readily available, look into having them made for you.
Perhaps riding a 'safe' horse (bit of a contradiction in terms), or trying sidesaddle - in my crash test dummy days, if we had anything that was an a**e to ride, we could stay on better sidesaddle.
Wishing you a speedy recovery.
S
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How about side saddle? As side saddles are generally left sided, if your problem is with your right foot it would be 'free', with no pressure on it. If it's your left foot, I know you can get right sided side saddles.

Good luck whatever you choose to do.
 
I voted carry on as normal just because im that sort of person, I would rather ride knowing the risk if i did fall off than never ride again yet always question if i could have... I couldnt cope without horses in my life and ive had hundreds of injuries from handling them on the ground and only 1 from riding so in my opinion your in as much danger on the ground so may aswell just ride them! See how you go, give yourself time, it may heal so well that you won't think twice x
 
I smashed my pelvis in a freak accident and was told that at 50 I should never ride again, but I just couldn't bear it, so I found a lovely safe sensible heavy cob to plod about on. As the weight came off him he became beautifully forward going but has excellent manners instilled in him from years ago and so I reckon the risks are negligable.
True he spooks occasionally, or trips over!!
but I concluded that life is too short to never take some risks. And I do go on my OH motorbike too

But do pick a small horse -easier and safer to get off quick in any emergency. I was in a wheelchair for 4 months and on crutches for a further 3 months then hobbling for the rest of the year.
Now I feel completely at home in the saddle again.
Best of luck
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QR - Whether YOU should ride again depends on YOUR personality.

One of my exes broke his back and his neck in two separate bike racing accidents. He was told that the third heavy crash will paralyse, if not kill, him. He has now stopped racing because he's nearly 60 and not competitive any more - 25 years after being told not to ride a bike again - but still rides on the road.

My husband now does not ride a bike after a very bad crash. For him the thought of all the pain and suffering he went through trying to mend from the last crash put him off. Occasionally he thinks he'd like to have another go but then he gets out of his chair and feels the pain he's been left with and thinks again.

I've been told I shouldn't ride due to neck and back problems, but I do!

If you are pining for it as, I think, Mother_Hen and Shils suggested look into getting a specialist make you a protective boot to give you confidence.
 
Depends on the injury and how well it would mend...but if there was something I could do like swimming or physio or walking to mend the weaknesses in the injury and strenghten it then I would hold off the riding for up to a year and focus on getting as strong as possible and then, knowing my horse and the type of activities that I do...I would be back riding again. I say this because I know my horse inside out and we just hack about the countryside so would feel in those circumstances I would be at fairly low risk of coming off again. Everyone is different and in different circumstances. But for me, I would try to ride again even if I was wheel chair bound...people manage a lot more with incredably severe injuries. Look at Gill Hicks, one of the survivors of the London underground bombings...she was as near death as you can get and lost both her legs...what an amazing recovery she made to go on and lead a normal and active sports life. She walked down the isle for her wedding just months after losing her legs...what an amazing women.
 
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I wouldn't ride again, but take up driving instead
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I second this. I wouldnt ride again but would still have horses and would have my current ones broken to drive
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