A very good friend of my wife's had to bail off a young horse she was training because it was bucking out of control. She's a good rider, so wouldn't have bailed if there was any way to avoid getting chucked off.

The colt ended up landing both hind feet square on her back. She had surgery yesterday for crushed vertebrae.

Has feeling in her hands and feet, but is going to be incapacitated for 6 weeks and a back cast for at least 6 months and will probably never ride again.

When I was a kid we always had a horse or two. My father always told us he wished the horses would go due to the cost of feeding them. I found out years later he hated the horses and had to live with the fear of us getting hurt. We never got hurt and we did some spectacular stunts.

Four years ago a customer brought back a rented wood chipper to the equipment rental company I worked for. He'd plugged it up. Five of us went out to get it going. I was on my hands and knees replacing the v-belt when the blower chute fell off landing on my back. After 22 times under aenesthesia I'm considered permanently disabled due to pain.

Life is a crapshoot. On the good side, and I sincerely mean GOOD SIDE, she'll be able to walk again. I get up every day and think I could be on my back in a hospital bed with foam running out of my mouth wondering who'll wipe it off. Thinking of how I could have turned out has made me very religious thanking God every day. Life can be so much, MUCH worse!

TED

Sure horses can be dangerous, but like everything else, a dose of caution, a measure of common sense, a bucket of luck, and mainly a good nag.

Not an authority by any means but I've ridden horses that tripped over their own feet and landed on me, others that could seemly stay up no matter what you ran them over.
The're all different just like us.

I've had horses fall with me on them, luckily it didnt break my leg, and I fell off a time or two when I was a kid.
Riding horses does carry a certain amount of risk because you are dealing with a large animal and, even in the best of circumstances,
accidents can happen.
Which is why I cringe when a paying hunter wants to go horseback. It's not the horse I'm worried about it's the inexperience of the rider. But, accidents can happen to professional riders too.
Christopher Reeves was well accomplished as a rider and spent the last 10yrs of his life in a wheelchair.
Hope your friend recovers well.

One of my inlaws just died from a horse accident. It's quite a shame as both her husband and herself were doing quite well.

She broke here collar bone and died in the hospital from some infection after it would not heal.

Heck everything is dangerous.

quote:

Originally posted by Fischer:
A very good friend of my wife's had to bail off a young horse she was training because it was bucking out of control. She's a good rider, so wouldn't have bailed if there was any way to avoid getting chucked off.

The colt ended up landing both hind feet square on her back. She had surgery yesterday for crushed vertebrae.

Has feeling in her hands and feet, but is going to be incapacitated for 6 weeks and a back cast for at least 6 months and will probably never ride again.

My wife, who used to train Tenn Walking Horses, had her back injured similarly three different times. The last time she was told that she could not ride for at least six months. Two weeks later, she was showing her horses at the Breeders' Show in Syracuse.

Tell your wife's friend to get a gentle, well-trained, older Tennessee Walker gelding. She can ride that if she can walk!

Fischer;I hope your wifes friend comes out well.Last summer a young lady I work with ,who is as close as my daughters had a horse hit a badger hole as we were going out to gather.It pitched her in front of the horse we were going pretty fast.The horse went head over heels the saddle hit her perfectly at the hips but broke her pelvis in 4 places.The doctor thinks the way the horn and cantle landed saved her from worst enjuries.The doctor said she wouldnt be horseback for a year if ever,well she beat that but her confidence is not where it should be and a horse,can sense that.I agree with JAL horses are a mystery to a lot of people who think they know what they are doing to many people when breaking colts get on horses that are not ready to be ridden,I have made the same mistake when young,but have kind of figured it out as I get older.w/regards

quote:

Originally posted by Savage99:
One of my inlaws just died from a horse accident. It's quite a shame as both her husband and herself were doing quite well.

She broke here collar bone and died in the hospital from some infection after it would not heal.

Heck everything is dangerous.

Especially hospitals.

Horses or motorcycles - take your pick. I'll take horses - I ain't packed an elk out yet on a cycle! I have been lucky, and a bad horse is a death trap - I had one once. Couldn't stand up to save itself. It went down the road and I haven't had one fall with me yet since - but have been lucky a bit. A good one don't cost a damn bit more to feed than a plug or a bucker. Just know your limits and try to recognize the horse's! Keep shootin and keep a leg on each side!

If I lose a stirrup and am going to come off, I try to get off on my own terms rather than getting thrown or a horse on top of me. In this case it's somewhat like a motorcycle, either way you want to get away from the horse or bike. A lot of people get hurt severly by a saddle horn (with a horse on top of it) I've never had anything to prove by riding a bronc, I'll unload before getting unloaded, have broken a couple hundred with no broken bones, etc. I have taken a couple of monster hits to the head when a horse threw it's head or rared up while on the ground, however. I'm nearing 50 now, figure my good luck will end someday, I'm not breaking any more 2-year olds. That's for kids who are bulletproof, I may not be anymore.

Yeah, horses can be dangerous 'cause poopoo happens. I did peewee, high school, and some college rodeo and am still ambulatory, knock on wood. At least I never had a horse come after me the way rodeo bulls like to do. You can be on the wrong horse, the wrong place, and at the wrong time like Christopher Reeves. Hope she heals well and she probably hopes she won't gain too much weight! Not a real lot to do laid up in a body cast.

in any aspect of horse ownership its not IF,its WHEN and how bad is it going to hurt,hope everyone heals and is in the saddle again soon

But they can be good as in a recent story in this area. A sailor in WWII was blinded in one eye when hit above the eye by debris when his ship was bombed.This winter [he's in his eightys !]a horse butted him in the same spot and his sight returned !!!

My wife is one tough broad. they must have the equivalent of a whole filing cabinet on her in the local hospital. And she ain't no spring chicken. Two years ago she got dumped by a green colt in the backyard and broke six ribs. I offered to call the ambulance but she refused and dragged herself into the house. She lay down on the bed, decided she had to go to the bathroom and ended up laying on the floor, at which point I persuaded her an ambulance was required. She spent the next 4 weeks sleeping on a hospital bed we managed to get into the front room. Doctor said no riding for 6 to 8 weeks, but she was back at it after a month. Some people never learn , but she's much more careful now. Of course it was my fault, since I slammed the back door, while evicting the cat and spooked the colt. she beat breast cancer a few years ago and claims that if she's going to go, this is a better way.
Grizz

She bailed off because the horse was bucking? She probably should have tried to stay on, whats the difference in bailing off and getting bucked off the result is the same...One thing for sure she has no clue about what she is doing, and therein lies the problem with most spoiled or mean horses..

Most horses turn out pretty good in spite of humans...

Fivebigbores,
Are you sure thats not just town talk?

Sometimes that works and most of the time it doesn't... Whippen, spuring, and riding at the same time is easier talked about than done. We call it bar talk around here.