If it weren't for my helmet....

[Auventera Two]

Yesterday my biggest trail riding fear came true. We were moving down the trail in a big forward, powerful trot and the next thing I knew, the horse was going down and I was going up and over her head. Landed on my head, mild concussion and the typical abrasions and bruises, and a badly banged up helmet. Some little varmit had dug a den under the trail and when her front foot came down, the whole thing just caved in. It's a long, sandy flat trail and you can see a hole coming for a long ways. I've ridden this trail frequently and have not encountered a problem. I saw a tiny little hole - like a snake hole but after I recovered and went back to look, the little snake sized hole was now the size of a watermellon and was about a foot deep. :( The horse has a cut heel bulb but otherwise is okay.

So even if you have a perfectly sane and well trained horse, you just never know. I can't imagine the damage had I NOT had that helmet on.

[ChocoMare]

Holy Crap :eek: :(

Sooooo, glad to hear you are, relatively, ok - God bless our brain buckets! :yes:

Ice, Aleve and Sore-No-More are your friends for the next few days.

[Minerva Louise]

Good thing you had your helmet on! I've had multiple helmet life saving events, two horse related and one motorcycle related. Good gear is worth its weight in gold - if you have it on. You just never know what could happen, no matter how good your horse is.

Hope you aren't too sore and that your horse's heel heals quickly.

[Diamond Jake]

I am with you- those invisible holes are my worst fear, too.

But now you get to go buy a new helmet!

GLAD you are okay!

[matryoshka]

Glad you are okay!!!

[Shadow14]

Glad you hear you are OK Vickey. I go down at least once a year and sometimes alot more. those unforseen holes are a bugger running out. I have even gone down trotting along the highway when he stepped on his own foot. I am suprised that more don't experience a horse going down like that. Shadow did a complete summersault going right over the saddle and me pushing off to the side to pervent being squashed.
Again glad you were not seriously hurt.

[Auventera Two]

Thanks everyone, I think that was the scariest thing ever. :cry: I've been bucked off, I've ridden out some nasty shenanigans and rears, spooks, bolts, you name it. But the trail caving in and the whole horse going down like that was just nuts. I wish saddles had seat belts! :lol:

[sublimequine]

Glad to hear you're okay. It's those freak accident, doesn't matter WHAT horse you're riding, accidents that just make me want to shake the living daylights out of non-helmet-users. :lol:

I had a similar incident happen to me, was riding a 16.3hh Saddlebred on trail (he's now retired, my beloved old man :sadsmile: ).. and he slipped/tripped? on some slick grass going down a slope. It's TERRIFYING just going along on a trail.. and all of a sudden the horse just DROPS out from under you! :eek:

How's the girl feeling today? Hopefully she didn't twist/torque anything on the way down.

[twofatponies]

Scary! I hate holes more than anything. We passed a freaky one on the edge of a big field the other day - we could see a normal gopher-type hole up ahead, and moved to go around it, but as we got closer it looked to me like the ground for three feet all around was sagging towards the hole - like something had washed out underneath and it would all give way. We made a very wide detour, though that meant picking our way through newly planted corn - arg. Will have to find a better route.

My DH had a horse fall on him once when it managed to put both feet in the same hole (at a walk!!). Klutzy horse, perhaps, but the hole was very well hidden by grass growing sideways. He got a bad ankle injury when the horse thrashed around trying to get up, with DH's leg trapped underneath. Horse got a slightly bloody nose and a scraped knee. Could have been much worse!

Glad you are not hurt worse! Get well soon!

[Sithly]

It's a good thing saddles don't have seatbelts, seeing as they don't have roll cages, either. :lol:

Once I was riding through a creek when the horse I was on hit some bad footing and went down. He freaked and leaped forward, but tripped again, this time with much more momentum, and did a complete flip, end-over-end, landing on his back in the muddy water.

I had been right there on top of him -- until the front end went out from under me. Then the saddle hit me in the back and catapulted me off. I did a flip, too, and landed headfirst in the water (thankfully, or I'd have broken my neck).

I'm still kind of amazed that I wasn't crushed, drowned, or otherwise inconvenienced by that incident. I'm certainly glad I wasn't still in that saddle when he landed on it. I was picking mud out of my saddle flaps for days.

Anyway, glad you were relatively unscathed.

[Skydog Artist]

Thank goodness you and your horse are relatively ok! And thank goodness you had that helmet on, I'm VERY pro helmet but I see no need to preach here! You've once again told the story that is oh, so too true with horses, crap happens we have NO control over.

If you're looking to replace your helmet, I found out Long Riders Gear is having a close out sale on last year's model of the Tipperary sportage. I need to order a new one for myself, as my helmet is almost five years old now.

Again, take it easy with a concussion (been there myself), glad you're ok otherwise! :)

[Auventera Two]

It looks as if its a torn rotator cuff also. :dead:

[Minerva Louise]

It looks as if its a torn rotator cuff also. :dead:

Oh dear. So sorry to hear that. I hope you are able to recover quickly.

[Skydog Artist]

UGH! Torn rotator cuffs are no fun and take a while to heal. Painful suckers too! Personal experience talking.....

Horseback riding can sure remind you of how mortal one really is. Then we recover, go back to having fun with horses until the next reminder comes along :eek: !

[matryoshka]

Are you going to be able to continue trimming hroses? Whenever I get hurt, that's almost my first thought, after, "How long is this going to take to heal?"

[decorum]

My mom had a helmet denting experience soon after we decided to wear helmets, now we always have them on!

What kind are you going to buy to replace the old one? :D

I have torn both of my rotator cuffs but not awful, I worked through both since it only hurt really bad when I tried to lift my arms. Took a year for each to feel ok, they aren't right but I can ignore them. It is a definite bonus to work bent over in this respect although I was shoeing when I tore them and could still weild a 3 lb hammer. Just not well.

Ann Szolas

[JellyBeanQueen]

Wow, good thing you had your helmet on. I wear my helmet religiously as well as my son.

About 2 years ago I was trotting Danner down a straight way when he suddenly tripped and fell to his knees. I went over his head and hit the ground on my back but the bounce back of my head would have knocked me our royaly if it wasnt for my helmet.

My son wears his helmet or he doesnt ride. He's going to go through another growth spurt soon and I think I will need to get him a bigger helmet.

[mscris]

Did you know that most helmet makers will only charge you cost for a replacement. They take your helmet in trade, since they will study the damage and look how they can improve the product.

[pines4equines]

I've passed this thread along to a friend. I still can not understand why some people don't wear helmets. You just never know when you'll need them! Good luck with the arm!