bad accident involving young rider from our barn

[vali]

A young rider from my barn was in an accident at Ram Tap horse trials this weekend. The horse and rider fell in show jumping warm-up in the BN division (ran before cross country). She did not have a trainer and the horse is a inexperienced young TB coming back from stifle surgery, but seems to be fine. She remains in a coma. Jingles please. See below:

http://caringbridge.org/visit/allisonangove/mystory

[ezmissg]

So sorry to hear this news.

I will keep her and her family in my prayers!

[caevent]

Oh my. This is so sad to hear. A couple riders that I know went to Ram Tap, but I hadn't heard this story.

Jingles to her and her family. I'll keep her in my thoughts.

[SparklePlenty]

Oh no!

{{Jingles and prayers}}}

[FlightCheck]

Dreadfully sorry...

[Jealoushe]

Jingleing :(

[Auburn]

My thoughts and prayers are with Allison and her family.

If the horse slipped and fell after the warm up jump, which is what it sounds like from her page, then it would not have mattered if she had a trainer or not? It sounds like it was a freak accident.

OP,
Were you watching when this happened? Could a trainer have done anything to change what happened?

The only reason that I am asking is because of the earlier implication. Shouldn't this be about well wishes for the young lady?

[CANTEREOIN]

Sending well wishes and prayers for a speedy and complete recovery! Based on the description of the accident... I wonder if the stifle collapsed on the turn... although why really isn't as important and seeing her recover.

[clivers]

Jingling for the best possible outcome! So sorry to hear this news :(

[LR1976]

Prayers from IA for Allison and her family!!!

[PhoenixFarm]

This accident happened directly in front of one of my students and Mr. PF who was warming her up. The horse was apparently being quite squirelly, and eventually reared and then either slipped or was pulled over or some combination thereof. The horse fell over on the girl and then rolled on her. A terrible thing. My student was very shaken.

The whole Phoenix Farm crew is praying for her recovery. :-(

[monstrpony]

*shudder* What a shame! Super jingles for a miraculous recovery!

[Perfect Pony]

Allison does train with several people, and takes multiple lessons a week. She has at least one dressage lesson a week, and at least one jumping lessons. She is just not "in training" right now with any one person.

She has ridden for many years, done pony club, and rides multiple horses a day. She is actually one of the best young riders I have seen in a long time. I have had the pleasure of riding with her, sometimes several days a week, and her spirit, intelligence, abilities and dedication has been inspiring to me. I have never seen Allison without a smile on her face and never heard a negative word out of her mouth. On a horse, she has a wonderful seat, and a truly special way with the horses.

I am absolutely heartbroken and devastated. I was so looking forward to long trail rides this summer in the surrounding regional parks. I dread walking into the barn this week and not seeing her smiling face.

[FoxChaser]

I hate to see it proved again that sometimes the worst accidents happen when we aren't really doing anything we consider "dangerous". Jingles from Kentucky!!

[webmistress32]

O-M-G everyone on the planet does not need a trainer holding their hand every minute. PLEASE!

prayers to the child and her family.

[Kap]

Very sad to read this. I'm crossing everything for her.

[EventFan]

Jingles and prayers for this young woman and her family.

[jumpsnake]

Jingles from KY!

Sounds like one of those freak things. Hoping for the best and sending positive vibes her way.

[Catalina]

:( Lots of good thoughts from MD for a full recovery.

[FLeckenAwesome]

Adding my jingles and prayers for her, her family and friends, her horse, and all involved.

[IFG]

This accident happened directly in front of one of my students and Mr. PF who was warming her up. The horse was apparently being quite squirelly, and eventually reared and then either slipped or was pulled over or some combination thereof. The horse fell over on the girl and then rolled on her. A terrible thing. My student was very shaken.

The whole Phoenix Farm crew is praying for her recovery. :-(

So sad, we lost a Pony Clubber to a similar accident several years ago. Unfortunately for her, she was riding Western, and the horn hit her when the horse fell on her.

Sending jingles for this poor girl.

[JumpWithPanache]

Many jingles from VA. And praying for a speedy recovery! I had a near miss this weekend with almost the same circumstances-horse tripped and fell coming around a corner. Nothing a ground person (trainer or not) could have prevented, probably in both cases. Blessings to her family too.

[mcm7780]

Jingles from VA (formerly from Area VI).

[ddashaq]

Jingles and healing thoughts from Kentucky!!

[Badger]

Adding my jingles for healing.

[ReSomething]

It just doesn't take much to make a bad accident in anything - best wishes for the young lady, her friends and family - jingling for a speedy and full recovery.

[CookiePony]

How devastating... jingling for her and her family.

[Jessi P]

Jingles and prayers for her and her family.

[rabicon]

Prayers for this young girl and family. So sorry to hear.:cry:

[JER]

Wishing and hoping for a full recovery for Allison.

I'm a little perplexed by the trainer (or lack thereof) comment. I'm curious why this is relevant to the incident and how vali the OP thinks a trainer's presence would have made a difference. From what I've read here, it sounds like the rider was doing something well within her capabilities.

I don't know why a reasonably experienced older teenager would/should need to have a trainer to warm-up a horse for SJ at BN.

Allison scored a 36.5 in dressage and was 8th of 20 which should indicate something about readiness and competence.

[vali]

*

[webmistress32]

VALI: I just question if this is the place (or the time) to air these concerns.

your observation is an invitation to debate and takes away from the central theme of the thread which is the poor child in a coma.

why not strike off a new thread to debate the topic? why use this child's unfortunate circumstance to air YOUR views on the issue?

it's in bad taste. just my $0.02 - take it for what it's worth.

[carrie_girl]

Jingles! I hope she is OK!

[trubandloki]

VALI: I just question if this is the place (or the time) to air these concerns.

your observation is an invitation to debate and takes away from the central theme of the thread which is the poor child in a coma.

why not strike off a new thread to debate the topic? why use this child's unfortunate circumstance to air YOUR views on the issue?

it's in bad taste. just my $0.02 - take it for what it's worth.

I have to agree!


Jingles for Allison.

[vali]

Fine, I have edited my responses. I was responding to JER, who wondered why it was relevant whether or not a trainer was present. I certainly would not want to say anything that might be in bad taste, but was trying to present a more complete picture of what happened. I also will not start another thread, but will address my concerns directly to the Safety committee.

[Lincoln]

Many jingles and prayers.

[RiverBendPol]

This is such a sad story. My heartfelt best wishes to Allison and her family.

The scary thing is that this kind of accident/injury can happen any time to any one of us. Let's be careful out there and let us not throw stones either.

[chestnutwithchrome]

I hope she wakes up soon! Jingles!

[Couture TB]

That is so sad.:no: It really does go to show that just the act of riding is dangerous. I hope that she has a speedy (as quick as you can from one of these things) recovery and wakes soon. I can only imagin the pain that her family is feeling:(

[maxxtrot]

jingles from florida, and prayers to her and her family. just goes to show that just working/riding a horse at sometime you will get hurt, it is just a matter of when and how bad.i really do hope allison wakes up soon, and all is fine with her and her horse

[cavalli]

Lots of jingles from NC

[horsegirl123]

Jingles from Virginia. Your family will be in my prayers.

[kookicat]

Sending jingles!

[HorsesinHaiti]

Praying for her from Haiti.

[PNWjumper]

Jingles for a full and speedy recovery

[La Gringa]

Jingles from VA. Let us know if there are any updates.

[willowoodstables]

Jingles for Allison.

[RiverBendPol]

Jingles for Allison.

To the OP...asking this great board for Jingles is wonderful..and I believe heartfelt from you....this board has amazing powers and I hope the COTH curb chains help Allison..


BUT..how dare you take it upon your self to come and ask for while mixing in innuendos or hereday...you should be shot! Who cares..I personally do not need your 2 cents worth..stop being a glory gossip hunter

Oh come on now, in this age of violence, NOBODY 'should be shot'. Settle down. Good grief.

[BaroquePony]

Originally posted by willowoodstables:

BUT..how dare you take it upon your self to come and ask for while mixing in innuendos or hereday...you should be shot! Who cares..I personally do not need your 2 cents worth..stop being a glory gossip hunter

Um, I find the above comment far more offensive than the OP's post and her edited post.

As an instructor I find knowing some of the details (provided in the OP's now edited post) leading up to these "accidents" to be very informative and beneficial in helping to possibly prevent this type of thing from happening again to another rider.

[Trixie]

BUT..how dare you take it upon your self to come and ask for while mixing in innuendos or hereday...you should be shot! Who cares..I personally do not need your 2 cents worth..stop being a glory gossip hunter

:eek: um... wow. A twee bit much, perhaps?

Best wishes to the young rider and her family for a speedy recovery.

[lcw579]

Prayers and positive thoughts from PA.

[Jessi P]

Tuesday jingles for Allison and her family.

[Perfect Pony]

The only thing Allison is guilty of, is being horse crazy like the rest of us, and putting all her heart, soul and trust in her partner.

A wonderful video has been posted on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWDKb3qbT6k

We're all rooting for you Allison, and pray every day that we will see you soon.

[LR1976]

The only thing Allison is guilty of, is being horse crazy like the rest of us, and putting all her heart, soul and trust in her partner.

A wonderful video has been posted on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWDKb3qbT6k

We're all rooting for you Allison, and pray every day that we will see you soon.

That is so awesome. Now I'm sitting here crying. Sending more prayers and jingles!!!

[Tivas_a_Diva]

Jingles for a speedy recovery.

[Quinn]

Sending my jingles and prayers for Allison, her family and friends.

http://community.webshots.com/user/ballyduff

[Hunter Mom]

Jingles and prayers to all impacted by this accident. How awful.

Is there an update? I checked CaringBridge, but nothing new.

[vali]

The hate mail does seem to be flying today, between this thread and the dangerous riding thread. Look, whenever there is a death of a horse or serious accident to a rider there is appropriately an investigation into the underlying circumstances, although in retrospect I should have realized that this is not the appropriate place to discuss such details. As a parent and long-time eventer I witnessed first hand things that were concerning to me in recent weeks. These were not innuendo or hearsay, so please stop saying I should be shot. Believe me, there is no glory in this situation for anyone, and there is a collective grief at our barn over what has happened. We are all hoping for a miracle.

[JER]

vali, I did get to see your response to my questions and I very much appreciate your answering me.

I understand your frustration and anguish in watching a situation unfold that we all wish could have been prevented.

IMO, we need to talk about these things openly if we're going to keep the sport healthy.

I hope Allison pulls through. Having been through the brain injury wringer a few times with people in my life, the one thing I can say for sure is there's no real certainty at these early stages. Just hope for one good day, then another one.

[Perfect Pony]

I second JER. We all want to find something or someone to blame when tragedies like this happen. The simply fact is, as horse people, we have ALL been in situations that very well could have killed us. I think sometimes we just want to feel like we have some sort of control, but we don't, and when we see things like this happen sometimes we want to lash out.

I have gone through so many emotions over this. I remember hacking out just weeks ago, laughing with Allison about all the stupid things I did as a teenager, she just reminded me of myself as a young person. The things I did (racing out on the trail, riding bareback in shorts, barefoot! I didn't even know what a helmet was!) should have killed me, but here I am. And yet this wonderful girl is in the hospital, her life changed in an instant.

[eventmom]

I second JER. We all want to find something or someone to blame when tragedies like this happen. The simply fact is, as horse people, we have ALL been in situations that very well could have killed us. I think sometimes we just want to feel like we have some sort of control, but we don't, and when we see things like this happen sometimes we want to lash out.

I have gone through so many emotions over this. I remember hacking out just weeks ago, laughing with Allison about all the stupid things I did as a teenager, she just reminded me of myself as a young person. The things I did (racing out on the trail, riding bareback in shorts, barefoot! I didn't even know what a helmet was!) should have killed me, but here I am. And yet this wonderful girl is in the hospital, her life changed in an instant.
Yes, well, the truth is that we all as human beings have been in situations that could have killed us. Either in a car, a plane, how about walking on the street, how about climbing a tree.
Life is dangerous. We all do what we can to do what we enjoy, and mitigate those risks as much as we can with education and wise choices.
I don't know this girl, and I don't know what choices she may, or may not have made. I am very sorry for her and her family. I hope and pray that she is ok.
But I also know any of us can be in the wrong place at any time and bad things can happen, horses or not.
I put my girls on horses every day. I do what I can to educate them the best I can. And I also know that my girls could sit around and watch tv every day, die of a heart attach at 50, and never have lived at all.

[GryffinLuvr4Evr]

That is a terrible thing to happen.

Thoughts and prayers for Allison and her family.

Keep us updated.

[vali]

It looks like there are some updates on her web page that indicating she is starting to respond and at least blinking in response to questions, which is very good news.

[LLDM]

It looks like there are some updates on her web page that indicating she is starting to respond and at least blinking in response to questions, which is very good news.

That IS good news! Jingles continue.

SCFarm

[JER]

It looks like there are some updates on her web page that indicating she is starting to respond and at least blinking in response to questions, which is very good news.

This is great, great news!

[horsegirl123]

This is great news!!! Continue prayers and support for her and her family.

[Jessi P]

Wednesday jingles and prayers for Allison and her family.

[WW_Queen]

Jingles to Allison from Toronto, Ontario.

[millwrightmomma]

Here's hoping that the medically induced coma, gave her body a chance to repair itself.
Lots of jingles from Ontario, Canada.

[wolfmare]

Jingles from Maine
Heartfelt.

[Jessi P]

Thursday jingles and prayers for Allison and her family.

[sadbuttrue]

This is such a sad story and thread, I feel very much for this girl and her family, this type of accident is a risk that we all take every time when got on a horse, whether we are jumping or not.
As a new member who is active in the bay area and in area VI I have to express my thoughts. I am only 23, I have been eventing for 10 years always with a coach. Accidents can happen to anyone, look at Darren, Mike Winter, Ralph Hill, all within the last few years (and all regular 4* riders). That being said, Allison's case is very much a part of the recent discussions on eventing safety. The USEA is working very hard to improve safety measures. To chastise Vali for mentioning that is absolutely thoughtless. As a young person I feel like I can relate to Allison's situation, money is tight and horses are very expensive. Training at home and and shows adds up painfully. But I am not blind. Even Olympians have coaches. In my opinion, any rider under 18 should have a coach (registered with the USEA, not necessarily ICP, but a member of USEA with ID number) at every competition.
I do not think what happened is Allison's fault, but there is a lesson to be learned from this. Where we have the option to be safer, we should take that route. I believe this because I make bad decisions sometimes too, and I am a good rider, with experience. I am too young for children, but you had better believe that if I had one of my own she would never be without a coach, one who values safety above "placings" and everything else.
My thoughts are will Allison and her family and anyone who has had an unfortunate accident.

[2horseowner]

I keep checking her Care page, and I haven't seen any updates?! Anyone know how she's doing? I pray for this girl and her family to come through this. So true that freak accidents happen.

[Harryson]

2horseowner - when you go on Allison's page click on "Journal" and you will get updates. Her parents post an update almost everyday.

[2horseowner]

Thank you Harryson for the info, I have read everything and will check back daily. What wonderful family she has.

[AKB]

Jingles and prayers for Allison and her family. I hope Allison regains consciousness very soon.

Why did her helmet did not protect her? Was the impact too great for the structure of the helmet? Do helmets need improved strength?

[vali]

No helmet can fully protect if a horse lands on the rider. On a more positive note, there is a fundraiser for Allison next weekend, and the link is attached. I should be there with my daughters and possibly a pony or two.

http://www.martinezhorsemens.com/alisonangove.htm

[Sillymoose]

Has anyone else been keeping up with Allison lately? I'm so excited and amazed at her recent progress. If you haven't been checking you definitely should. Here parents are posting videos just about everyday and it's absolutely incredible how much and how quickly she's progressing.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Has anyone else been keeping up with Allison lately? I'm so excited and amazed at her recent progress. If you haven't been checking you definitely should. Here parents are posting videos just about everyday and it's absolutely incredible how much and how quickly she's progressing.


I've been following her Care page as well. It is very exciting about her recent progress and really seems to have lifted the spirits of her family and those around her....she still has a long way to go! I'm still sending jingles and prayers that she makes a full recovery.

[Natalie A]

I don't event (way too chicken, lol) but I ride down the street from Allison and volunteer at a therapeutic riding center she was involved with and have been reading the updates for the last year - I hope she continues to make progress.

[LuvMyTB]

I have followed the CarePage as well since the first update. The improvements they are seeing the last weeks are AMAZING and I am so happy for her and her parents. Yes, she has a long road ahead, but this is a tremendous step in the right direction!