Riding with a broken little finger... Anyone done it?

J

Jericho

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 February 2008
Messages
2,568
Visit site
As title really - daughter fractured her little finger and docs have said 4-6weeks to heal. She is going to go mad if she can't ride not to mention all the activities at PC she is going to miss out on inthe Easter holidays. I know we should heed doctors advice but just interested if anyone did ride soon after (obviously she won't be doing anything in the next week as very bruised and swollen!)
 
Didn't break a finger but broke both hands after being catapulted into the ground after horse hit a jump and flipped over. Both hands were in casts so I put a slit in the cast so I could ' hold' the reins. Rode and competed as normal!!! Not saying your daughter should do the same!!! Hope it's not too sore and mends soon x
 
no but have done it with a broken third finger in a metal cast...it was fine, just hold the reins between first and second finger
 
My YO has broken his little finger and his ring finger over the years and kept riding. As Frumpoon says, hold the reins between 1st and 2nd fingers if it doesn't hurt her. The only thing to make sure of is that it heals straight. YO would tape the broken finger on to the one next to it and now his fingers are misshapen and ickey looking.
 
ZondaR said:
My YO has broken his little finger and his ring finger over the years and kept riding. As Frumpoon says, hold the reins between 1st and 2nd fingers if it doesn't hurt her. The only thing to make sure of is that it heals straight. YO would tape the broken finger on to the one next to it and now his fingers are misshapen and ickey looking.
Click to expand...

I had mine taped to the ring finger and it's now very odd looking!

Hope your daughter's mends soon, OP.
 
Also ridden with broken ring finger - agree with other posters. Do not tape to other finger - it makes them decidedly odd in shape and definitely prevents them from healing straight. I have one finger that now looks like it belongs to an old arthritic 80 yr old lady! chuckle.
 
Jericho said:
As title really - daughter fractured her little finger and docs have said 4-6weeks to heal. She is going to go mad if she can't ride not to mention all the activities at PC she is going to miss out on inthe Easter holidays. I know we should heed doctors advice but just interested if anyone did ride soon after (obviously she won't be doing anything in the next week as very bruised and swollen!)
Click to expand...

I had a spiral fracture of my little finger (did a somersault whilst it was caught under the mat on a dry ski slope). It needed internal fixation but I only had a cast on for 1 day, from thereon it was strapped to my ring finger but with lots of physio in between. It's important to get the movement back into the finger and also to prevent it setting into a 'claw' - from my own experience I'd listen to the doctors. My surgeon did a face palm when the first thing I said when he did ward rounds was 'when can I ride' - he told me all riders were 'bloody idiots' and he was sick of that always being their first question ;). Personally, I'd speak to the physio, the most important thing is that she can straighten the finger again, and lots of riding will prevent that.
 
Yep I've done it. Taped the little finger of my glove to the next finger and held the reins with my first and second fingers. Got a bit awkward when my instructor wanted me to do an exercise with my hand under my seat bone, but other than that it was fine. Didn't jump though, just did flat work.
 
Last edited:
I would say, it depends on the break.
If it's a straight forward one, possibly. However my daughter recently did this, and the break was anything but straightforward, it rotated and she was in plaster (yep, for a little finger!). She wasn't able to ride for about 4 weeks with the cast and then another couple as it was still painful and swollen after that.
Hope that's not the case for your daughter.
 
I was jumping my pony and somehow caught my little finger in the reins and bent it at a very bad angle ! Don't know if it was fractured or not, but it went very black/purple and was really swollen. I think I just rode by gripping with the second and third finger, had to squeeze a bit harder with my other fingers i carried on jumping and rode pretty much every day following until it went back to the normal colour and size.
 
Not a broken finger but ridden with a broken right hand! Broke it hitting my hand on my mares neck during a jumping lesson when she launched over a trotting pole I lost my balance and hit my hand on her neck! Carried on with the lesson even though I heard something snap. Was very swollen and even more the next day when I went to work. Scrawled minutes for a meeting at work until my boss forced me to go to the walk in centre who confirmed it was broken. Back on the horse within a week!
 
I broke and dislocated my ring finger - I carried on riding, but I did need to strap it to my middle finger or else it would have been too painful :)
 
Yep broke my ring finger on left hand - I just strapped it to next finger and away I went - not the best idea to strap it as finger is now wonky

Have also ridden with a broken toe and broken shoulder
 
Depends on daughter and pony. I broke mine but it was spiralled and twisted so had to be fixed in place and then in a metal splint that went over my wrist- I couldn't drive let alone ride!! They had wanted to operate but being a physio I have seen the things that go wrong with that so perceivered with the above. It is important that she does keep the finger moving (she should have seen hand therapist at fracture clinic for exercises) it needs to bend at all joint and straighten completely!
However remember she is young and any lasting damage will affect her in future!
 
thanks everyone - swelling has already gone down significantly, so she is badgering me already to ride at the weekend (which is not going to happen!!!!) She broke her wrist back in September but I did refuse to let her ride until the cast was off for that one!
 
Yep strapped it to the other 1 learnt to hold my reins differently & rode & competed. Got told off going BSJA with it mind so the next time I hide it in my gloves :P

I have broken most of my fingers & most of them are now wonky from not following "the rules" not terribly wonky but definitely noticeable :|
 
Yes - I broke my little and ring finger. The doctor suggested strapping them together, then asked me to remind him how I broke them (falling off horse) and changed the instructions: "Plaster to elbow, because she'll be back on the horse!" So I felt that was permission from the doctor to ride.
Having said that I didn't let my daughter ride with a broken arm or following an operation - I wouldn't be able to face medical staff if there was a further accident.
 
I shattered one small bone into 14 pieces going over a jump and not tucking finger in so shoving it into his neck. The bits were too small to fix with plates and it just had to be splinted in the right position till it mended. It took 15 weeks. I rode after 10 with a splint and brace. And did lots and lots of hard physio. If you get it wrong it will affect her hand function forever. A little finger sounds trivial but is essential to grip. Please be sensible.
 
Broke my little finger 5 yrs ago. I work as a cleaner and groom and so just got on with it. It never mended correctly. Has a distinctive bend and clicks when I move it.
 
I shattered my little finger when landing awkwardly from a jump and finger dug straight into horses neck. I had it in a cast for 6 weeks but was riding for all that time so it had to be re plastered 4 times as I kept on breaking cast. I had to have several weeks of physio on it and its now really wonky, can‘t fully bend it and it hurts in the cold or if its knocked.
 
My boy has fractured both my ring fingers, at different times (pulled lung line out of my hand for the first one and reared and caught my hand on the way down for the other). Hospital gave me little plastic casts for them each time so they did not have to be strapped to any other finger. Was riding the next day with both, just held my rains between my middle finger and ring finger.
 
I've broken the finger next to the little finger on each hand, and managed to ride OK after a couple of days each time. I just held the reins slightly differently and it was fine, apart from when my horse spooked and the jolt made it hurt a bit, but nothing I couldn't cope with.
 
LJR said:
I broke and dislocated my ring finger - I carried on riding, but I did need to strap it to my middle finger or else it would have been too painful :)
Click to expand...

I did this with my little finger and I taped it to my ring finger and carried on riding. It felt awkward holding the rein between my ring and middle finger but I was able to carry on pretty much as normal so should be okay. Young people tend to heal much quicker than oldies like me too LOL
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top