Near death/Life changing experience

LaurenBay, I am shocked that that horses owner let you ride it for the first time after box rest for six months!

My scariest experience happened a few years ago, I had a horse on trial to buy and decided to take him out for a hack, I had only had him two weeks so didn't fully know him yet but I had hacked him before and he seemed good in traffic though so I thought I would take him for a short hack around the quiet village near where he was stabled. The route I had planned involved a short stretch a long a main A road, as he was good in traffic and it was early on a saturday morning, and it was only two hundred metres or so I thought this would be fine. I turned him onto the road and as it was all clear I thought we should have a short trot up a slope to get us to the place where we were due to turn off. Anyway I gave him a little squeeze to ask for trot and he did go into it, then very quickly this became canter then flat out gallop. We passed the place where I had planned to turn off and continued at flat out gallop along the side of the main road which was quite undulating so I was terrified he would slip over. There was a big hedge and trees on the side of us so there was no was we could turn off. Obviously I tired to get him to stop but nothing worked, my arms became exhausted from oulling on the reins, there was no way to turn sharply as there was no room and there was traffic coming towards us. As there was no way I could stop him by pulling the reins I decided to abandon this and just go with him until I could spot a safe place to turn off the road. It was completely terrifying. Lorries cane past on the other side at 60mph, if my horse had veered into the path of these we would both be dead. Some crazy drivers then decided to overtake me whilst I was flat out galloping! I don't know if they thought I was meant to be doing this but it just made my horse go even faster. He had metal shoes all round with no road nails, one slip at that speed would probably have killed us and there is no way I would have contemplated bailing out as it just wasn't safe to do so. I am sure giving him his head is the thing that saved us as thankfully there was a large lay-by sloping away from the road ahead and I managed to steer him into this and then with a massive effort got him to come back to walk. I think he had tired a little by this time which obviously helped too. I think that on the road the cars overtaking just spurred him on so if it hadn't been for that lay-by god knows where we'd have ended up. I then had to turn him round and walk the whole way back along the road to get home again, he had galloped for nearly two miles! Needless to say I did not let him out of walk after that! Amazingly he was sound afterwards and we both escaped unscathed but it definately made me think. It didn't put me off, I still bought him and he's turned into the best horse I've ever had but he needed a lot of re-schooling after that and it was a long time before I could fully trust him out hacking!
 
dont remember my accident - thankfully my mind seems to have permenantly blocked it from my memory. But it has changed me, and I am still fighting to get my confidence back 5 years later.

I was trading my horse with a local well known dealer and as I took my previous horse out of the stable to load him, he bolted into a field as soon as he saw the lorry - he was not a good loader. We had a few successes getting him loaded using a lunge line so that we had more contol so as I brought him out of the field back towards the lorry I clipped the lunge line (brand new just out the bag) onto his head collar to try loading him. Thats the last thing I remember - he bolted again, the lunge line caught my hand (it wasnt wrapped round my hand or anything, I was holding the loop in one hand) and I was promptly dragged about 60/70' up a tarmac road on the yard. I was effectively scalped and had a large chunk of my scalp missing, along with scraping most of the skin on my chest and left arm, and my face. when my arm came loose and I stopped being dragged my YO came running over and thought I was dead until I tried to stand up and asked where my horse was - took 3 of them to get me back on the ground so that they could perfom first aid until the ambulance came.

I have had 7 surgeries on my head in 4 years, went 5 months after the accident not riding - my YO got the horse loaded and took him to the dealer and brought my new horse back to the yard - so he was there for 5 months before I could sit on him. I lost a lot of confidence although I was desperate to ride again, and 5 years later I have got a great deal of confidence back in my general riding/hacking/galloping on the beach but for some reason I cant get my jumping confidence back - I go from jumping 1'8 to jumping 80/90cm but if I dont jump regularly I lose it and have to start again - am currently practicing jumping 4 poles on the ground in a 20m circle to help me get my canter going forward well enough for us to jump - my boy has such a powerful back end that he really lifts over the fences and I have been bounced out of the saddle numerous times - it says something about my confidence that I keep getting back on but I dont know if I will ever get it back completely.

In other areas of my life, I have quit full time work and now work part time and go to college where I study photography which I love and have always wanted to do - I dont miss any opportunity to do something and I dont leave things till later, I do them now. I dont hold grudges, and realise that life is too short to sweat the small stuff - I treat everyone how I would like to be treated and I no longer suffer fools or put up with being treated like rubbish. Its made me stronger in some parts of life and weaker in others but its also shown me more about myself than any other incident in my life.

My story was in a few magazines, and was in Your Horse and the Daily Mail and News of the World both ran it - along with a fetching photo of my scalped head complete with skull on show :eek:

I also found out that my current horse is worth his weight in gold and has a character that money cant buy - never parting with him :D
 
A friend brought a horse and was a nervous rider so asked me to ride him a few times a week for her. I took him on a hack with my sister and her safe pony.
Hack was perfect no issues at all got back onto the yard which was concrete and i dropped my reins was about to take my feet out the stirrups when he went bolt upright and straight back over ontop on me then he stood on my leg which snapped my femur. I remember laying which was outside my horses stable just watching him till the ambulance came. The vet check the horse over and sound a sting in his ear and we used to have a few wasps around so reckon it was a reaction.

I recovered really quickly and was riding my own horse in walk before I could walk of cruches. I trusted my own horses so well he gave me the confidence to not let nerves get in the way.

My sister rode a pony for a little girl as they were having issues, it was in a lesson. Pony played up a bit to begin then settled.
Someone in the other school cracked the lunge whip and the pony bolted but as the school has no sides my sister thought she was never going to stop so right at the end of the school my sister tried turning the pony and it slipped and fell onto her and straight over her body then got up and ran to its field. My sister went to hospital but luckily came away just with serious brusing. Her confidence was knocked a bit but at 12 you can expect that. Now her confidence is fine.

But we both learnt to be more picky with riding other people's horses as both our accidents were not on our own.
 
Donkey's years ago I took my youngster to the Essex Show, just for the craic. I went with friends who were competing. Youngster & I pootled round the collecting ring, all excellent experience, then headed back towards the box. On the way back, round the corner came a team of Shires, all dressed up looking magnificent, but pulling harrows! My youngster took off, proper terrified, and I couldn't stop him. He galloped down the centre avenue of the Essex show, it was mid morning Saturday and the place was heaving. I can remember seeing screaming women snatching their children out of our path. At the end of the avenue I saw a gap into a field and turned into it. The household cavalry were in it. There were two soldiers lying on the grass chatting, and my horse jumped over them. It was a huge open space and I had enough room to circle smaller and smaller until we eventually stopped. I got off and the two cavalrymen helped me sort the horse out and walk it back to the lorry park. At the end of the day, no-one was hurt. But it felt like a near death experience, only I thought I would kill someone else, rather than me!!
This was long before anyone thought to separate spectators and horses, so maybe there is something to said for 'elf n safety!!
 
There have been two occasions in my riding life (only 9 years) that I haven't trusted my gut and by going against it - things have gone wrong.

1) Share horse had gone lame so I stupidly got on a horse offered to me for a hack - never ridden her or seen her ridden - just trusted the owner. 16.3 Chestnut Mare - Solly. Had been on the hack for about an hour, walk and trot. Got to the brow of a hill/junction, she put her head bolt up, called so loud and that was it we were off. She galloped on road and verge the whole way back, cars skidded to a halt, I called at people to help (what could they have done?), I kept taking my feet out to go to ditch and bail out but just couldn't as we were going so fast and mostly on road. I stayed on the whole time, crying and repeating 'I'm going to die, I'm going to die'.

IT WAS THE WORST 15 MINUTES OF MY LIFE.

She screeched into the yard, I slid off and fell to my knees (couldn't stand). She had cut her legs as we went past/through/over stuff, lost two shoes, was covered in sweat and I couldn't even speak.

It is now nearly seven years later and I am only just getting my nerve back out hacking, able to have short canters.


2) Having a lesson on my loan horse, cantering out of my seat - she said 'do it on the other rein' I said 'no, he feels like he is going to go'. She wasn't having any of it, cantered him on the other rein and he then lost it, turned himself inside out, bucking, rearing, then racing around the school - back to bucking. I ended up coming off onto the school fence. Was in hospital for some time, deep tissue damage in my back has me in pain everyday and not a day goes by that I don't curse the fact that I didn't trust my gut.

x
 
Paint me proud. I think she suspected he may do something like that and she wanted a guinea pig to test him out. I was just the mug that did it!
 
Hevs said:
dont remember my accident - thankfully my mind seems to have permenantly blocked it from my memory. But it has changed me, and I am still fighting to get my confidence back 5 years later.

I was trading my horse with a local well known dealer and as I took my previous horse out of the stable to load him, he bolted into a field as soon as he saw the lorry - he was not a good loader. We had a few successes getting him loaded using a lunge line so that we had more contol so as I brought him out of the field back towards the lorry I clipped the lunge line (brand new just out the bag) onto his head collar to try loading him. Thats the last thing I remember - he bolted again, the lunge line caught my hand (it wasnt wrapped round my hand or anything, I was holding the loop in one hand) and I was promptly dragged about 60/70' up a tarmac road on the yard. I was effectively scalped and had a large chunk of my scalp missing, along with scraping most of the skin on my chest and left arm, and my face. when my arm came loose and I stopped being dragged my YO came running over and thought I was dead until I tried to stand up and asked where my horse was - took 3 of them to get me back on the ground so that they could perfom first aid until the ambulance came.

I have had 7 surgeries on my head in 4 years, went 5 months after the accident not riding - my YO got the horse loaded and took him to the dealer and brought my new horse back to the yard - so he was there for 5 months before I could sit on him. I lost a lot of confidence although I was desperate to ride again, and 5 years later I have got a great deal of confidence back in my general riding/hacking/galloping on the beach but for some reason I cant get my jumping confidence back - I go from jumping 1'8 to jumping 80/90cm but if I dont jump regularly I lose it and have to start again - am currently practicing jumping 4 poles on the ground in a 20m circle to help me get my canter going forward well enough for us to jump - my boy has such a powerful back end that he really lifts over the fences and I have been bounced out of the saddle numerous times - it says something about my confidence that I keep getting back on but I dont know if I will ever get it back completely.

In other areas of my life, I have quit full time work and now work part time and go to college where I study photography which I love and have always wanted to do - I dont miss any opportunity to do something and I dont leave things till later, I do them now. I dont hold grudges, and realise that life is too short to sweat the small stuff - I treat everyone how I would like to be treated and I no longer suffer fools or put up with being treated like rubbish. Its made me stronger in some parts of life and weaker in others but its also shown me more about myself than any other incident in my life.

My story was in a few magazines, and was in Your Horse and the Daily Mail and News of the World both ran it - along with a fetching photo of my scalped head complete with skull on show :eek:

I also found out that my current horse is worth his weight in gold and has a character that money cant buy - never parting with him :D
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Wow. I remember reading about you. This post has made me want to rush back down the yard and ride, ride relaxed and loose. I am so uptight when I ride but tomorrow I will try and think of you and try not to let past experiences make me miss moments with my lovely mare. I can trust her with my life, I just don't.

Amazing that you are still riding, it sounds like the pain you have been through has made you lead a more fulfilled life, hope your recovery contines.

xx
 
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