What was your worst/best or scraiest horse experience?

best moment: getting over the big wall in the senior eventing, (fell off two fences later but...)
scariest:pony bolting onto a busy road past a cement mixer
worst fall:probably when pony jumped out of the sandschool from a standstill and I did my collarbone..
 
WORST: knocking myself out - Lucera had been a cow for the whole ride, the person I was hacking out with told me to go down this track as it linked with the long uphill gallop we used, that the track was straight and flat - so off I went, let her go (she was a bit of a maniac), suddenly we turned right and there was a big dip up and down - fine if in control, NOT if in a gallop
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As soon as I saw it I knew we were done for but nothing I could do - last thing I remember is having my face next to her soaked iron grey dappled neck - next thing I remember after that is coming round being choked by my hat neck strap and all I could say was "where is my horse, is she OK" - not good

Best - Sitting in a line up after an SJ comp with Nick Skelton one side of me (the lower side LOL).
 
I was working as a trek leader at a posh hotel in Wales, taking out thirty odd people with another guide.
My own horse went lame so I had to borrow one off a friend, it was his prized trotting mare who he also hunted as he was Master of a small farming pack.
The ride always started down a long back drive of the hotel, crossed the main road and up into the hills. My boss who was Porlock trained and an arrogant git decided he couldn't be bothered getting off to prop open the drive gate any more so he knocked in a four foot spike to loop a rope off the gate over, this was supposed to be easy to drop over said spike.
First day I'm at the front and get to the gate. Behind the gate is a bank around four feet high with a small ditch in front but behind the gate. I nudge mare near enough to loop rope, she refuses to go near the ditch so I kick her harder.
Next thing she being a huntsman's horse leapt right up onto the bank, couldn't get her balance so reared right up and fell slowly backwards...Now at this point I am in the air on a bank with a four feet drop to the driveway with a spike waiting to impale me. I remember thinking would it hurt to die like that then nothing more as I hit the floor. The horse and I landed side by side with the spike grazing both of our sides. My boss came cantering up calling me every name under the sun, but I just lay there unable to see. Eventually I staggered to my feet and held on to two saddles to say upright. I climbed back on one and walked back a mile to the yard. By this time the boss had taken the landrover to get me, and shouted at me all over again. He said as I could walk I could ride and saddled up Whisky, a just backed four year old and sent me back behind the ride. I don't recall anything at all about the day's ride, apparently the horse went beserk passing through the quarry where they were blasting, but I just sat there like a dummy. At lunch time I got off it, loosened it's girth, removed it's bridle and fell aleep at it's feet.
I rode home, helped all the riders untack and turned their horses out, then went upstairs to my room. When I didn't appear at 8.30pm to do the washing up (yes the devils even had me wash up for 40 people every single night) they found me unconcious on my bed.
I was rushed to hospital where I stayed three days with severe concussion.
When I went back to work he hadremoved the spike, the horse I was riding had a torn lining of it's throat but was otherwise unscathed, and went on to race at the Royal Welsh later that season.
I left at the end of the season, they were horrible people to work for but I felt I should finish my contract. years later I went back to stay as a guest, arriving in my Range Rover determined to show them I was as good as them. not just the groom and skivvy they treated me as. . Sadly they had all sold up and it was all very different..
Even the name had changed from Pencerrig to some ountry house or other.. damn, I would have loved to be a guest and have them dance round me as I had to round them
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Scariest moment was ....When I rode a 16hh 4 year old tb type horse over a small fence ... horse jumped shadow which was probably 3-4ft before the fence and then jumped the fence like it was 1.30m landed falling on his knees me going head over shíte slipping a disc in my back and torn muscles in my back also .


Best ever moment was .....When my last horse won the open competition at one of our local shows, she gave the best ride ever .
 
My best experience was spending a week with Michael Matz - former olympic showjumper, and trainer of last years KY Derby winner. I have for the past 2 years wanted to get involved in racing - this was the first door that opened up, and what an aweome door. Michael is not only a fabulous horseman, but just a great person. Everyone saw how he visited Barbaro everyday, Michael would do that for any of his horses.

The scariest moment was when I had a horse tied to gate and it pulled back taking the gate with it, and then ran around the parking lot banging it's legs, and cars. I ended up on the gate, cutting the lead rope with my knife - THAT POCKET KNIFE SAVED THE DAY. But it shows accidents happen to us all, it is humbling, but you learn a lot.
 
My worst experience was being hit by a car out hacking October 2001. The driver said the sun was in her eyes and she didn't see us. She ploughed straight into the back of my beautiful mare and we somersaulted over the top of her car. I had a few cuts and bruises but Amber had to be put to sleep on the roadside due to her injuries. Worst experience of my life not just of horses.
I've loads of bext moments- getting my first pony as a horsemad 9 year old. Getting to the final of UK Chasers show-jumping with my current mare. The thing that gives me the most satisfaction is working through all Jen's behavioural problems, proving a lot of people wrong and having a great horse at the end of it.
 
Worst fall - Was probably when a youngster bolted with me on a main B road at a busy SAt fell on the Road and straight on top of me.
Happiest moment - knowing my old horse has gone to a good home.
Scariest - riding a 17.3hh event horse that was event fit as had just been to Badminton and the bugger bolting off with me. 30 mins later we stopped. Stupid girl I was with told me to head for the fence. I was like er this horse has been round badminton he is just going to clear that.
 
My best has got to be Frensham sponsored ride last year, went with my 2 friends and it was fantastic.

Worst experience has got to be when I came off my horse last year. She got spooked by some guys with an umbrella and spun, I came off. All was fine until the guys kept walking towards her and she bolted straight over a main road with my other horse and sharer hot on her heels. I have never been so scared as I was watching them go over the road. Thankfully, all ended well.
 
Worst was after my brother and I had been fishing and we had put the fish we caught in the saddle bags and set off for home. Unfortunately one of the fish in my saddle bag was still alive and it flapped. My horse (a completely scatty TB) bolted. We were heading flat out for the edge of a cliff (not massive, but probably 20-30 ft drop). I decided to bail out. The horse thought better of it at the last minute and veered off. Surprisingly I didnt even have a bruise!

Best moment was doing a 'perfect' show with my naughty show hack, when we managed to do a one handed serpentine in canter and then a spot on rein back followed by walk to canter without putting a foot wrong. I was so happy as we had been on a long road to become a team.
 
Losing both stirrups at Lockskinners HT last year at the top of the hill, horse ignoring my please to slow down and proceeding to take the open fences at a gallop (through v.twisty wooded section).
Sadly I didn't feel brave enough to tackle the drop into water without stirrups so I turned a massive circle and incurred penalties just to regain control. We were still the fastest on the course which was small consolation but I still maintain it was the scariest ride I have had for years!
 
Absolutely the worst was when I was on the yard by myself and found one of the liveries had got through a footpath gate and gone over a bridge, fallen through it and ripped his foot literally off. I had to climb over him to get to his head to keep him down while all the time he was screaming, then, he did pull himself free and galloped around the field with his hoof flapping. It was three hours before the insurance company gave the OK to have him destroyed.

Best.......sitting in a field with a book on a sunny day and my arab mare coming to lie down beside me, she often did that.
 
Worst: Louis rearing up and over on top of me out XC. Also being thrown off on the road when 2 Gipsy horse and traps came flying round the corner and right up behind us in gallop whilst they were yelling and whooping...Louis and I were terrified, and he reared and bucked, i landed on the road and he galloped offdown the road. When I finally staggered down the road limping and bleeding one of the Gipsy's had Louis and the other had got on top of Louis and they were cantering him down the road...I went nuts screaming and hitting the guy until he got off. Louis was terrified and it took us ages to walk home as I was limping and he was shaking and in shock
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Was awful
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Best so far: qualifying for the nationals at Wellington and going on Horsecamp last summer
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I've had some cracking falls, all of which I would rather not have done, several involving hospitals and lots of drugs / casts / slings etc! But the scariest horse experience was as a friend an I were out hacking, on the buckle, came round a corner, and he was in front, his horse spooked at some cows that were never normally there (I think they had actually escaped), reared, spun, rider fell off, then my horse did the same, I didn't come off, but was thrown forward on to his neck - the last thing I saw as he started to bolt following the other horse was my friend lying not moving. So galloping a long a very narrow bridle path, I am freaking out as friend could be dead for all I knew, I knew if I baled out I would be in the middle of no where, with 2 horses galloping to the main roads. Eventually and I have no idea how, I got back in the saddle, and got my reins, managed to settle my horse down, there wasn't a lot I could do about the other one. Arrived at a house, screamed for someone to come out as I couldn't get off the horse, he would have gone again, made them ring my yard to get someone out to the road before the horse got there (as it was he made it back before tehy got out, safe thank goodness) and get someone out to where my friend had fallen and I turned and rode this poor exhausted horse back along the track we normally walk down, at full gallop. Got there to find no friend, which at least meant he was alive - he had walked back across the fields, and was fine, but it scared the **** out of me I can tell you.

Worst, a toss up - having to have one of the yard horses put down while YO was on holiday - heart wrenching as it was the first horse I had had to have put down, and the vet was on his own, so needed me there to hold the horse - I think I was only 16 - and was utterly terrified of what my boss would say when he got back - vet was terrific tho, it was absolutely the only option, and he made the decision easy for me, as did the horse, her eyes still haunt me. Heck I am almost in tears here.

Other contender is the horse who had all but ripped his lower leg off on barbed wire, one of the kids brought him in, and told me he was 'walking funny' - there was blood everywhere, he can only have just done it as he would have bled out otherwise. Sat on the floor, blood all over me trying not to freak the kids out, applying pressure to his blood vessles with my fingers inside his leg. At the same time calling the vet on my mobile and having to insist that this really couldn't wait while again trying not to freak the kids out. I honestly thought there was no hope, and told the vet to make sure he had 'it' with him (again, kids freak out far too easily
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) but in the end we stitched him back up and casted him, and he was fine (although the smell that came out of the cast a couple of days later was definitly my 'grossest' horse moment, luckily we caught it in time and he was fine long term)

Best - there are lots, and I guess that is why we keep on doing it!
 
I have two "worsts" but one is all in the "scary" bracket:

1. Being run away with on a horse with a mouth like a block of concrete. She jumped a cattle grid and went straight across a very busy, main, trunk road - I really thought we would be killed or, at the very least, badly injured, but managed not to get hit by anything. I was petrified and when I finally stopped her, I got off and didn't get on a horse again for 8 years. It completely broke my nerve and I "freeze" now if the horse looks like it's going to do more than trot!! I'm not much into riding now and much prefer bringing up youngsters. I'm quite happy to back them but people who ride much better than me can then get on with schooling.

2. Having to have my beautiful, bred-in-the-purple 2 year old warmblood filly put down because of an infected tendon sheath.

The best, so far, was the day I actually bought my first horse having wanted one for 40 years . . . . but I am hoping that the best is yet to come when my mare foals for the first time - due in just over 3 weeks . . . . that will be a very emotional moment!
 
My worst was having Freddy put down in December 05. Wasn't my horse - I looked after him for someone who moved away, and had him for around 9 months. He broke my heart.

The best - well there are so many of them. But I think probably up to now it was finding out that AmyMay - my beautiful girl - was in foal.
 
Worst moments are when I was a kid being thrown from my mare at a show into a barbed wire fence my back was cut to shreds, 2nd is while I was working for a showjumper one of his mares went ballistic (sp) going into a horsebox and got stuck on the partition which stupidley had'nt been secured properly. So clever clogs me threw myself in front of her to try and push her backwards and ended up with a broken jaw, 3/4 of a front tooth missing, a slit in my chin, all my bottom teeth pushed back under my tounge, and she climbed up the back of my leg with grass studs in. It took 6 months for everything to heal this happened about 5 yrs ago and I still go for physio on my leg!!!!!
But my best moment are coming first in my very first SJ comp.
 
One thing which was pretty scary that I remember: I was 9 and my pony (who had only just been cut as a 6yo.....) bolted flat out across a field, through an open gate way onto a main road where he promptly slipped straight over onto his side. We both slid down the road a little way. The falling over bit wasnt so bad, it was the fact that the road was on a bend and as we approached the gate I had no idea if a car was coming or not.

Otherwise, most of my scariest times have been out hacking. Once, was when I was hacking with a friend - Id gotten off to do something so my friend was holding onto my one, a pheasant flew out making both horses bolt. They went right along the track onto a small country road and just kept going. I have never run so fast in my life! They must have bolted about 3/4 of a mile. Eventually I caught up with them after she'd managed to calm them down. Other time was when my horse who's scared of cows began freaking out. I got off him but as I did, he spun round and bolted down the (luckily quiet) main road. The panic was awful - I kept thinking "that's it, he's dead" because the road was so twisty. Luckily a neighbour stopped him in time. Another time, one of my horses spooked and stepped sideways. She stepped clean off a large embankment! We fell from the very top sideways landing in a heap at the bottom tangled in rusty wire....... She ended up with a horrid nose bleed and a massive gash to her leg which took about 6 months to heal. Have also had a few nasty incidents with barbed wire and fence posts....... ending in stitches and many bruises. Needless to say, I dont hack any longer!
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Good times - well Ive had loads of those! Too many to list! I always love when my horses try their very hardest for me or help me out in some way.
 
Scariest was being bolted with up a major road, on the wrong side of the road, racing against a bus.

Worst was bursting into tears and thinking that I would never get Nile sorted (it was exceptionally difficult) and that I had failed to achieve what I set out to do and would have to sell him.

Best was probably either when I got Bow or when I finally managed to find stabling for Nile and eventually got him tame and grooming me back!
 
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