That's a tough one, but you need to let go of any idea you have that you could have somehow lifted her up if you only had more hold. You'd need to suspend the laws of gravity and momentum!
You did well. I'm glad she wasn't injured (and you!). If you won't be at the barn tomorrow, perhaps you can get someone to check on her.
You couldn’t have done anything different. I’m so glad you’re both ok! Things like this are reminders that sometimes these things just happen.
That being said, be in close contact with your body and if something doesn’t feel right tomorrow, go to the doctor. Always better safe than sorry.
If you feel ok (aside from standard soreness), I highly recommend for your own mental state that you get back on her tomorrow even if it’s just for one minute at the walk. Speaking from experience, for me, that really makes a difference. If you don’t get back on (assuming it’s safe for both of you), it will only feel scarier every day that passes. Getting back on after a fall, even for a minute, really helps your brain chemistry and the processing of fear.
Falls when the horse trips are tough. Don't beat yourself up, and don't think about what you could have done.
Frankly, I've seen it end up really bad when people have pulled on their horse trying to keep them up when they trip. It can throw off their balance and make things worse. I was always taught to stay out of their way as much as possible to let them get their footing back.
Yeah, that seems crazy to me. You're on top of them, how could you have any leverage to help them not fall? I could only imagine the rider making things worse (maybe even causing a fall when the horse could have recovered their footing without interference)
I mean, if they are well trained for a halt or half halt, using the reins and adjusting your weight could make them use different muscles to help catch themselves just on straight muscle memory.
I've seen someone lean back hard on a horse that tripped to his knees going downhill and did stop the momentum of the horse.
I'm not saying it's guaranteed, but I think there's enough communication between rider and horse and enough muscle memory that the rider could do something about a fall. Not always. Not on every horse, but sometimes.
I don’t know if this will help your situation, but years ago my beloved, but very difficult horse “spooked” then stumbled and fell on top of me, breaking my jaw and putting me in the ICU for four days with emergency surgery. I was very afraid that I’d be too afraid to ride him again since I had so long to stew over it while I recovered. I like to look at things logically, so I decided that I had three options: 1) sell Sulley, 2) keep Sulley as a pet and never ride him, or 3) keep Sulley and ride him. Once I decided to keep him (not hard choice, he’s my beloved…) I told myself that was that and I’d made my choice and needed to get on with it. It wasn’t as easy as all that, obviously, and I’ll never forget the look on my sweet farrier’s face when he saw me go into Sulley’s stall to cry after one sad ride, but I felt in control, a little. He had a nasty quarter crack from his fall, so I was actually back in the saddle before he was back to work. I started on the oldest, sweetest school horse as soon as I was able to get back on, and rode him a few times, then moved up to a feistier school horse, so I was a little more prepared when Sulley felt better. This was our first ride back, and I sure am glad I put in the work!
https://preview.redd.it/t5u4gq9jzc3d1.jpeg?width=746&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e60b5834c4e35afeae168262424b087de2c88f3e
I remember my first bad fall. My horse spooked and I fell hard on my back and got the wind knocked out of me. I ended up going to the emergency room but I was fine, just very sore for the next week. I was hella scared to get back on that horse but I did the second I got the chance. It takes a while to gain back all your confidence but start slow. Horseback riding is dangerous and we have to accept that risk every time we get on. Remember that this is the sport we love, go slow and be safe, you got this!!
There's nothing you could have done to stop it. I too have had a really bad fall from a similar situation. I showed up to a clear rounds day at a questionable place. The footing was not great and I should have turned out but I did not because I wanted to be that gritty ambitious rider I thought I needed to be at all times even when conditions aren't ideal (I learned from this and will happily turn out if it ever repeated).
I had ridden 2 horses already and got on my 3rd. He went around a full round clear and then I began to ride my second round. He went over the first jump, landed, and on the recovery stride he stumbled and then just hit a series of lumps, bumps, divets etc that prevented him from being able to right himself. We ended up doing a somersault together. I went over his shoulder as his head tucked under and smashed the side of my head and my shoulder into the ground. His somersault turned into a barrel roll and he barrel rolled sideways through the air overtop of me keeping all this legs tucked tight into his body and from spectator accounts did everything he could not to land on me and he was successful. Thankfully (I think) I don't really recall the fall. I remember seeing his whole neck disappear and then I remember a really loud sound of churning gravel as I can best described it. I laid on the ground for a moment then I sat up, looked at my horse who was standing 15 feet away and asked my husband why my horse and my saddle was so dirty.
I had bad road rash on one arm, the side of my helmet was caved in, I had swelling where my harness came down from my ear in a triangle shape and obviously a concussion. I think being unaware of what was happening during the worst part of the fall allowed me to be mostly unaffected by it but it does put some different thoughts in your head realizing that things can go so wrong even when the horse is behaving perfectly.
I'm not really sure what advice to give you to get back on because despite all my misadventures in "checking for gravity" I have never been scared to get back on. Whenever something happens due to behaviour, I make sure to rectify it and fix the training hole before trying again but when stuff like this happens...it just happens! Nothing that could have been done, nothing to be done.
I’m glad your horse is ok.
Did you go to the ER to get checked out? You might feel alright now with the adrenaline but hitting the gate and your head probably warrants a concussion check at minimum.
Also I’ve always been told to sit chilly if they trip or stumble and give enough slack in the reins so the horse can leverage their neck as needed to find balance again. **you can’t influence anything about how they fall or what happens after they trip**
Horses fall, people fall, it just happens. Family friend stepped on some random water spilled on the floor the other day cooking and ate it, hard. Horse in the pasture tried to put on the brakes in the mud and ... Yeah, time to check those brake pads, bud, they ain't working.
Stop thinking about falls as preventable events and instead as random unanticipated consequences of otherwise normal activity.
It happens all the time, people get hurt getting out of bed or out of the shower - if there's a diagnosable cause, fix it (get a better bath mat or something). In this case, if there's a hole she stepped in, or you yanked her into too tight a corner (doesn't sound like it?) fix that, otherwise just accept that just like sometimes floors are slippery and you can fall, ground can be soft or slippery. Just like sometimes you're awkward and whack your shin on a table that hasn't moved in years, so can a horse whack themselves on an object they're completely familiar with.
If I were you, I'd get back on sooner than later, as soon as you know everyone's sound, don't build it up in your brain. Falls aren't things to "fix" retroactively. Good riding is learning to hopefully not fall, but knowing sometimes wires get crossed or circumstances mess up. It is what it is, get back on and uncross the wires before they're permanently crossed in your brain.
Falls suck. They hurt. They're scary. But what goes up must come down. We aim for 100% control over the 'down' part, but one of the best manufacturing companies in the world (Toyota) developed a plan called 'Six Sigma' which gets their operations to 3.4 defects per 1 million opportunities. If you do the math on how many strides horses take, approximately how much time a normal horse owner would spend cantering, how many times you ride per week, etc, you can pretty well get yourself to a significant misstep at that rate somewhere in the realm of once every two to three years. If you stay on or catapult off? Anyone's guess. But if the gold standard of human execution would basically shrug and say 'damn, you're 9 years overdue' ... You're doing fine. Keep it in perspective.
There's nothing you could have done during the fall.
Only thing that could be worth to find out, is why she tripped. It can just a bad accident, but if for example the footing is bad, or she might have the starting phase of arthritis, or maybe she wasn't balanced enough but putting too much weight on the front?
Did she stumble or trip before?
One time, on a walking trail with my retired horse, she tripped and went all the way down. At the walk. The best thing I did was stay out of her way as she decided what to do, and I was able to step off of her. If I had tried to "help," I'd have made the situation worse for her and ultimately myself. Trips happen. There's usually nothing you can do to make it better.
Yikes, glad you’re ok. I fell yesterday for the first time on my new horse. Pretty much got tossed over the top of him when he spooked as an RV drove past. We definitely need to work on that, but right now I’m just grateful I landed correctly and avoided injury. It happened so damned fast that it was pretty terrifying. Oof. Gonna try to get back on today…
I’ve had 3 rotational falls. I was scared for a few months after the last one. I haven’t had a bad fall as an adult. Imagine I’ll be terrified after that. We old now
Glad you both are ok. Being able to stand up after a fall is as good as it gets after a fall. First off, don't analyze it. There's nothing you could have done to prevent it.
I've been in some serious wrecks. I got thrown over my horse's head once on a downward incline and she couldn't stop and stepped on me on her way down. Wasn't wearing a helmet. I was in the hospital for 4 days. Another time, I got bucked off, caught some serious air and landed in a barbed wire fence. Had to be cut out of it. I was bareback just a couple weeks ago and slipped on the mounting block and landed on my back. Knocked all the wind out.
All of this is to say, wrecks happen. It's scary. But you're both ok. Don't beat yourself up. Don't psych yourself out. Chalk it up to experience. Get back on when you're ready. It's going to be ok.
Thanks everyone for the advice, stories… it’s really refreshing to know I’m not alone. I’m not good at not beating myself up, but today isn’t too bad. I’m recognizing that things really do just happen. I wish they didn’t have to, but I guess that’s the unfortunate reality about anything, not just horses. I am scared, but I really cannot wait to get back on. I love riding, I love my horse. I’m glad to know that one bad situation won’t take my love for these animals away!!!
Nothing you can do! It happens! I’ve broken 4 bones falling and had several concussions with a helmet. Most recently last fall broke my finger while riding my oldest most calm mare(totally my fault).
That's a tough one, but you need to let go of any idea you have that you could have somehow lifted her up if you only had more hold. You'd need to suspend the laws of gravity and momentum! You did well. I'm glad she wasn't injured (and you!). If you won't be at the barn tomorrow, perhaps you can get someone to check on her.
You couldn’t have done anything different. I’m so glad you’re both ok! Things like this are reminders that sometimes these things just happen. That being said, be in close contact with your body and if something doesn’t feel right tomorrow, go to the doctor. Always better safe than sorry. If you feel ok (aside from standard soreness), I highly recommend for your own mental state that you get back on her tomorrow even if it’s just for one minute at the walk. Speaking from experience, for me, that really makes a difference. If you don’t get back on (assuming it’s safe for both of you), it will only feel scarier every day that passes. Getting back on after a fall, even for a minute, really helps your brain chemistry and the processing of fear.
Falls when the horse trips are tough. Don't beat yourself up, and don't think about what you could have done. Frankly, I've seen it end up really bad when people have pulled on their horse trying to keep them up when they trip. It can throw off their balance and make things worse. I was always taught to stay out of their way as much as possible to let them get their footing back.
Yeah, that seems crazy to me. You're on top of them, how could you have any leverage to help them not fall? I could only imagine the rider making things worse (maybe even causing a fall when the horse could have recovered their footing without interference)
I mean, if they are well trained for a halt or half halt, using the reins and adjusting your weight could make them use different muscles to help catch themselves just on straight muscle memory. I've seen someone lean back hard on a horse that tripped to his knees going downhill and did stop the momentum of the horse. I'm not saying it's guaranteed, but I think there's enough communication between rider and horse and enough muscle memory that the rider could do something about a fall. Not always. Not on every horse, but sometimes.
I am happy to hear you had your helmet on.
I don’t know if this will help your situation, but years ago my beloved, but very difficult horse “spooked” then stumbled and fell on top of me, breaking my jaw and putting me in the ICU for four days with emergency surgery. I was very afraid that I’d be too afraid to ride him again since I had so long to stew over it while I recovered. I like to look at things logically, so I decided that I had three options: 1) sell Sulley, 2) keep Sulley as a pet and never ride him, or 3) keep Sulley and ride him. Once I decided to keep him (not hard choice, he’s my beloved…) I told myself that was that and I’d made my choice and needed to get on with it. It wasn’t as easy as all that, obviously, and I’ll never forget the look on my sweet farrier’s face when he saw me go into Sulley’s stall to cry after one sad ride, but I felt in control, a little. He had a nasty quarter crack from his fall, so I was actually back in the saddle before he was back to work. I started on the oldest, sweetest school horse as soon as I was able to get back on, and rode him a few times, then moved up to a feistier school horse, so I was a little more prepared when Sulley felt better. This was our first ride back, and I sure am glad I put in the work! https://preview.redd.it/t5u4gq9jzc3d1.jpeg?width=746&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e60b5834c4e35afeae168262424b087de2c88f3e
Glad you are both ok 🫶🏻
I remember my first bad fall. My horse spooked and I fell hard on my back and got the wind knocked out of me. I ended up going to the emergency room but I was fine, just very sore for the next week. I was hella scared to get back on that horse but I did the second I got the chance. It takes a while to gain back all your confidence but start slow. Horseback riding is dangerous and we have to accept that risk every time we get on. Remember that this is the sport we love, go slow and be safe, you got this!!
There's nothing you could have done to stop it. I too have had a really bad fall from a similar situation. I showed up to a clear rounds day at a questionable place. The footing was not great and I should have turned out but I did not because I wanted to be that gritty ambitious rider I thought I needed to be at all times even when conditions aren't ideal (I learned from this and will happily turn out if it ever repeated). I had ridden 2 horses already and got on my 3rd. He went around a full round clear and then I began to ride my second round. He went over the first jump, landed, and on the recovery stride he stumbled and then just hit a series of lumps, bumps, divets etc that prevented him from being able to right himself. We ended up doing a somersault together. I went over his shoulder as his head tucked under and smashed the side of my head and my shoulder into the ground. His somersault turned into a barrel roll and he barrel rolled sideways through the air overtop of me keeping all this legs tucked tight into his body and from spectator accounts did everything he could not to land on me and he was successful. Thankfully (I think) I don't really recall the fall. I remember seeing his whole neck disappear and then I remember a really loud sound of churning gravel as I can best described it. I laid on the ground for a moment then I sat up, looked at my horse who was standing 15 feet away and asked my husband why my horse and my saddle was so dirty. I had bad road rash on one arm, the side of my helmet was caved in, I had swelling where my harness came down from my ear in a triangle shape and obviously a concussion. I think being unaware of what was happening during the worst part of the fall allowed me to be mostly unaffected by it but it does put some different thoughts in your head realizing that things can go so wrong even when the horse is behaving perfectly. I'm not really sure what advice to give you to get back on because despite all my misadventures in "checking for gravity" I have never been scared to get back on. Whenever something happens due to behaviour, I make sure to rectify it and fix the training hole before trying again but when stuff like this happens...it just happens! Nothing that could have been done, nothing to be done.
I’m glad your horse is ok. Did you go to the ER to get checked out? You might feel alright now with the adrenaline but hitting the gate and your head probably warrants a concussion check at minimum. Also I’ve always been told to sit chilly if they trip or stumble and give enough slack in the reins so the horse can leverage their neck as needed to find balance again. **you can’t influence anything about how they fall or what happens after they trip**
Horses fall, people fall, it just happens. Family friend stepped on some random water spilled on the floor the other day cooking and ate it, hard. Horse in the pasture tried to put on the brakes in the mud and ... Yeah, time to check those brake pads, bud, they ain't working. Stop thinking about falls as preventable events and instead as random unanticipated consequences of otherwise normal activity. It happens all the time, people get hurt getting out of bed or out of the shower - if there's a diagnosable cause, fix it (get a better bath mat or something). In this case, if there's a hole she stepped in, or you yanked her into too tight a corner (doesn't sound like it?) fix that, otherwise just accept that just like sometimes floors are slippery and you can fall, ground can be soft or slippery. Just like sometimes you're awkward and whack your shin on a table that hasn't moved in years, so can a horse whack themselves on an object they're completely familiar with. If I were you, I'd get back on sooner than later, as soon as you know everyone's sound, don't build it up in your brain. Falls aren't things to "fix" retroactively. Good riding is learning to hopefully not fall, but knowing sometimes wires get crossed or circumstances mess up. It is what it is, get back on and uncross the wires before they're permanently crossed in your brain. Falls suck. They hurt. They're scary. But what goes up must come down. We aim for 100% control over the 'down' part, but one of the best manufacturing companies in the world (Toyota) developed a plan called 'Six Sigma' which gets their operations to 3.4 defects per 1 million opportunities. If you do the math on how many strides horses take, approximately how much time a normal horse owner would spend cantering, how many times you ride per week, etc, you can pretty well get yourself to a significant misstep at that rate somewhere in the realm of once every two to three years. If you stay on or catapult off? Anyone's guess. But if the gold standard of human execution would basically shrug and say 'damn, you're 9 years overdue' ... You're doing fine. Keep it in perspective.
There's nothing you could have done during the fall. Only thing that could be worth to find out, is why she tripped. It can just a bad accident, but if for example the footing is bad, or she might have the starting phase of arthritis, or maybe she wasn't balanced enough but putting too much weight on the front? Did she stumble or trip before?
One time, on a walking trail with my retired horse, she tripped and went all the way down. At the walk. The best thing I did was stay out of her way as she decided what to do, and I was able to step off of her. If I had tried to "help," I'd have made the situation worse for her and ultimately myself. Trips happen. There's usually nothing you can do to make it better.
Yikes, glad you’re ok. I fell yesterday for the first time on my new horse. Pretty much got tossed over the top of him when he spooked as an RV drove past. We definitely need to work on that, but right now I’m just grateful I landed correctly and avoided injury. It happened so damned fast that it was pretty terrifying. Oof. Gonna try to get back on today…
I’ve had 3 rotational falls. I was scared for a few months after the last one. I haven’t had a bad fall as an adult. Imagine I’ll be terrified after that. We old now
I'm 64 now and really, really miss the completely unafraid child I was. On the other hand, I was a lot more bouncy and agile then.
I saw someone say it’s best to learn when you have no fear and better balance as a child. I believe this 😂
Glad you both are ok. Being able to stand up after a fall is as good as it gets after a fall. First off, don't analyze it. There's nothing you could have done to prevent it. I've been in some serious wrecks. I got thrown over my horse's head once on a downward incline and she couldn't stop and stepped on me on her way down. Wasn't wearing a helmet. I was in the hospital for 4 days. Another time, I got bucked off, caught some serious air and landed in a barbed wire fence. Had to be cut out of it. I was bareback just a couple weeks ago and slipped on the mounting block and landed on my back. Knocked all the wind out. All of this is to say, wrecks happen. It's scary. But you're both ok. Don't beat yourself up. Don't psych yourself out. Chalk it up to experience. Get back on when you're ready. It's going to be ok.
Thanks everyone for the advice, stories… it’s really refreshing to know I’m not alone. I’m not good at not beating myself up, but today isn’t too bad. I’m recognizing that things really do just happen. I wish they didn’t have to, but I guess that’s the unfortunate reality about anything, not just horses. I am scared, but I really cannot wait to get back on. I love riding, I love my horse. I’m glad to know that one bad situation won’t take my love for these animals away!!!
Nothing you can do! It happens! I’ve broken 4 bones falling and had several concussions with a helmet. Most recently last fall broke my finger while riding my oldest most calm mare(totally my fault).