Accidents on Horseback
By Jabo
@jaboUK (64361)
United Kingdom
February 7, 2021 4:24pm CST
Racehorses are very highly-strung and most of my accidents have been when they have taken fright at some small thing. Anyone who rides almost daily for 50-plus years is bound to have a few mishaps.
The first bad accident I had was when I was 15. I fell off when my horse shied and my foot got caught in the stirrup. I was dragged at speed for about 30 yards on a hard road before I was free. Fortunately I didn't get entangled with the flailing hooves, but my elbows resembled meat.
Then there was the time when I was riding in a field and a hare started up right at my horse's feet. He reared up and fell over backwards right on top of me. I was lucky that the ground was quite soft so I was only bruised and winded.
Then there was the incident where we were approaching a fence at a canter with the intention of jumping it. Horse said no, stopped dead but my momentum carried me on a collision course with his up-flung head, breaking my nose..
One time a dog ran out and barked at us, and the startled horse veered into the road and slammed against the side of an oncoming truck. Seconds earlier and we would have been underneath it. My knee was permanently mis-shapen after that.
Another time when riding with a friend her horse took a dislike to mine, turned it's back on us and let rip with both steel-clad hooves. Unfortunately my leg took the full force of this and I sustained a huge gash. I dripped blood all the way back to the stables, then my friend drove me to the hospital to have it stitched.
The only time that I needed an ambulance was when my horse was spooked by something, tripped over the grass verge and slammed into a tree with me sandwiched between. The tree had barbed wire around it so that wasn't very pleasant. That one put me on crutches for a couple of weeks.
These were all different horses by the way, and spread over 50 years it's not a bad record.
I continued to enjoy riding well into my later years.
Photo is of me many years ago.
48 people like this
46 responses
@CarolDM (203452)
• Nashville, Tennessee
7 Feb 21
Wow, those are scary incidents. You are lucky you were not hurt worse than you were. Love the photo by the way.
I rode bareback with cousins growing up. The horse got spooked, took off, and guess who was on the back. Yes, I was.
I was the smallest and I was holding on to the underside of the horse before I fell. Nothing broken but I respect horses now.
8 people like this
@allknowing (130064)
• India
8 Feb 21
One accident after another and yet they did not deter you from continuing to ride. That says a lot about your courage and conviction that accidents yes but you will get over them all. 
3 people like this
@allknowing (130064)
• India
8 Feb 21
@jaboUK I know what you mean. They were not one after the other but sometimes a single accident and people call it a day. I did that with my swimming. I was learning and I got choked and there ended my swimming dream (lol)
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
8 Feb 21
@allknowing I can understand how choking would discourage you.
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (57710)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
7 Feb 21
I have to say, I'm lucky nothing serious has happened to me. I also don't really ride, and I've only riden a handful of times over my life. Good thing you're okay.
2 people like this
@kaylachan (57710)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
7 Feb 21
In my opinion, that's pretty serious. Two weeks is a paycheck for most people, and we need those things to pay bills.@jaboUK
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
8 Feb 21
@kaylachan i had a husband who was earning so it was no great problem.
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@JudyEv (325815)
• Rockingham, Australia
8 Feb 21
@jaboUK No, that's true. It amazes me how many fall off during the endurance rides. Most of them aren't that young either. Those that do the longer distances average 10-15 kph (6-9 mph) so much of the time they're doing a fast trot or cantering. A sudden stop or shy, or tripping on some of the rough tracks, accounts for most falls.
2 people like this
@Happyflowerlady (31)
• Huntsville, Alabama
11 Feb 21
I have also had several falls, and scary horse-riding accidents; but only one really serious one. It was a new horse that was green broke when I got her, and for some reason she must have been having a bad day that morning.
When I went to get on her, she spooked and then started bucking really hard. I decided that getting off would be smarter than getting on, so I stepped back down.
Just as I did, her hind food came crashing down on my lower leg, and completely broke the bones, even though my cowboy boots.
I spent over a week in the hospital, and my doctor said it was the worst break that he had seen outside of the military. Since the bones were broken and shattered, and through the flesh, they could not use a cast, because they had to be able to treat the wound.
Once that healed up, then a cast for another six months; so it was a long time before I could even walk again, let alone ride a horse.
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
11 Feb 21
@Happyflowerlady It's been a long time since I wore high heels! Just age stopped me. I can understand you not wanting to ride that particilar horse again.
@Happyflowerlady (31)
• Huntsville, Alabama
11 Feb 21
@jaboUK , My right leg is several inches shorter than my left leg (and it was my short leg anyway), and since the bones were shattered, it is back together a little bit crooked, which messes with my balance. I can only wear pretty flat shoes, no more high heels, or anything that needs good balance.
It could have been a lot worse, and it was definitely a learning experience for me. I sent the horse to a trainer while I was recuperating, but ended up selling her again, because I would never have felt comfortable riding her after that.
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (157555)
• United States
7 Feb 21
Ooh I cringed with pain reading this. I am glad you feel like it was not a bad record. Our wonderful long term sub was injured in a horseback riding incident and has had surgeries to help her back. She had a second surgery this summer and it completely failed.
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
7 Feb 21
Sorry about your friend - I had a friend who was completely paralysed after a fall from a horse. But you can't stop doiing something just because something awful has happened to someone else. If you did that you'd never cross a road again or travel in car etc. etc.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
8 Feb 21
@Fleura She was 31 when she had her accident and lived until she was 54, dying of complications due to pneumonia. She had to rely on 24 hour care but she concentrated on what she COULD do, not what she couldn't. She wrote 4 books and I travelled with her when she wanted to go abroad.
@RebeccasFarm (86764)
• United States
8 Feb 21
Look at you, what a beauty Jabo
Thank you for sharing that photo with us.
I had rode a few times in life, but am no pro.
Once my then fiance took me to Wales and we got some horses.
I was not able for the horse that I had. He was a mighty black stallion and he took me to near edge of a cliff
I do not think the people that were renting us the horses should have let me ride that one do you?
Thank you for sharing that photo with us.
I had rode a few times in life, but am no pro.
Once my then fiance took me to Wales and we got some horses.
I was not able for the horse that I had. He was a mighty black stallion and he took me to near edge of a cliff I do not think the people that were renting us the horses should have let me ride that one do you?2 people like this
@RebeccasFarm (86764)
• United States
8 Feb 21
@jaboUK Yes I was blessed indeed not to have been injured.
It was thrilling though and I am glad to have had the experience.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
8 Feb 21
Yikes that sounds like a lot to me. I have only risen a few times and luv it sustained any injuries. But I live riding so see the appeal.
2 people like this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
10 Feb 21
@jaboUK Al hates horseback riding he never could get into the rhythm and ended up with a sore butt every time we went lol But some to think of it, he can't clap he has no rhythm so I guess it is all related lol
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38659)
• Midland, Michigan
8 Feb 21
It might not be a bad record but one can see you loved riding otherwise you would have quit much sooner.
Non of those mishaps sounds like fun especially the tree with the barbed wire and the truck you ran into. I can't even begin to imagine any of those.
2 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38659)
• Midland, Michigan
8 Feb 21
@jaboUK it didn't seem that way for some that you shared. Especially the one that caused you to walk differently.
2 people like this
@sunrisefan (28524)
• Philippines
8 Feb 21
I admire your passion for horse riding that, despite all those accidents and aches, you still persevered into riding again. Just like the saying "a winner never gives up" :)
2 people like this
@LowRiderX (22907)
• Serbia
8 Feb 21
@jaboUK Beautiful photo! Believe it or not, I only rode a horse a couple of times. My grandparents in the village did not have horses, so that is probably the reason. And here in the city I have no opportunity. Only when I go to an ethnic village or to the mountains, there has to rent there
2 people like this
@LowRiderX (22907)
• Serbia
8 Feb 21
@jaboUK Oh well of course, you were close to a horse as a child, that says it all I just talked to my father about it, on one occasion I asked him a couple of years ago why my grandparents never had horses. He told me that no one in the village had horses, it's just that horses are not kept in that part of my country
I just talked to my father about it, on one occasion I asked him a couple of years ago why my grandparents never had horses. He told me that no one in the village had horses, it's just that horses are not kept in that part of my country1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (40529)
• United States
7 Feb 21
That's an awful lot of accidents! You must love riding more than you fear an accident.
2 people like this
@1creekgirl (40529)
• United States
8 Feb 21
@jaboUK It's good you weren't hurt worse than you were. My sister and our daughter always loved horses, but not me..
2 people like this
@Dena91 (15860)
• United States
8 Feb 21
I grew up with friends who had horses and a step mom who owned one. When I rode with my friend, I never had an accident however when brushing her down after a ride she shifted and stepped on my foot. That is about as bad as it ever was for me.
Glad you made it through all your accidents when riding. Beautiful picture.
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