Until 6 weeks ago I had never had a bad fall however that changed when my arab horse bolted whilst we were out on a trail ride. He tore off through the woods, smacking my face with the overhanging braches in the process and I finally came out the side door. I hit my head rather hard on some rocks, splitting my helmet and I am now recovering from a broken neck. I have to say that under the circumstances there was no time to even think of falling safely and I am just glad that my injuries were not worse. In the future I plan on wearing a body protector with airbag technology for inflating the neck protection should I fall again. I learnt that I just don't bounce as well as I did when I was younger and I am thankful I was wearing a helmet (there is no doubt I would have suffered serious brain injuries if I hadn't been wearing it).

I have been taught how to fall but would say that those lessons are good for a controlled environment like an arena but not so much use on a terrified horse.

 I am happy to say my boy was safe and unharmed.

 I've never had a bad fall,off a horse, but I've gotten injured off the ground. I was bathing my horse Paris, when she spooked and knocked me to the ground. She started rearing, and trampled me, pretty badly. I was not wearing a helmet, but I thankfully managed to cover my head. Yhe other people at the barn thought I was dead. (and did'nt understand how I got back upand came and rode again the next day.) I, thank god, walked away with 2 bruised ribs, a severly bruised arm and leg, a limp, and the knowledge of how horses are extremly unpredictable and dangerous. I mean I always knew that, but this made me realise that safety counts, and how you can NEVER predict what they are going to do next.

I've had three pretty bad falls.  The first one was after a less serious fall (longer story short...my horse was kind of crazy when I first got her).  Anyways, I was working in the roundpen with my trainer.  After going through a lot of groundwork I felt ready to get on so once I mounted my trainer led me around a little bit, but my horse spooked and took off.  I landed on my back and slammed my ankled into the roundpen (metal hurts!).  The second time was about a year later as I was getting ready to go on a trail ride.  As I was mounting my horse once again spooked while I was in midair and I went flying, almost hit a tree and landed on my back and hit my head, no serious injuries just a bad headache and sore for a while.  The third time was the worst and about another year after this had happened.  While on a trailride my horse took off as we were entering a field.  By this time I had learned a lot and my riding had improved significantly, but about half way across the field as I was trying to pull her into a turn, she sharply turned the other direction and I fell.  This time I had a concussion so I don't remember to much.  I do remember be confused about why I was riding another horse (one of the easy going horses that my trainer happened to be riding) and he was on mine. 

This is a story of a bad fall, but also a cautionary tale from a first time horse owner. I purchased a beautiful black 5 year old warmblood gelding that was very green. Big Misake. I have heard people say "Green rider and green horse equals black and blue". So True! I was swindle by a trainer that took my money, but did no training. She was just sedating my horse for the few scheduled rides I had on him while at her stable. I thought he was safe! After two months of "training" which was actually just a couple of months of being turned out to eat grass 24/7, I moved the horse into a stable closer to my house for continued training. After a couple weeks of adjusting to the new stabe, I decided to saddle him up for a little walk/trot  (which we had been doing), I tacked him up (which was a huge ordeal since he had no ground manners), stood up on the mounting block, mounted (as he was trying to walk away), sat in the saddle and the rodeo began! He bucked so hard and tossed me off at an angle so  I hit the wall of the riding arena and landed on my left hip. The horse ran off and I lay there screaming for someone to help, but there was no one around. (Another lesson is: DO NOT ride a green horse ALONE). I managed to get myself up, get the horse untacked and back into the stall and drive myself home 10 miles. By the time I got home I could not walk and I sat in the driveway honking the horn until my husband came outside and drove me to the E-room. It turned out that my pelvis was fractured. But, the story does have a happy ending. It turns out that my horse was not mean, just scared because he didn't know anything. I had a reputable trainer work with him (and me) for 10 months and now he is great horse. It has been just over a year since the accident and now I trust my horse completely. He has great ground manners and we even go for extensive trail rides. With the right combination of training and consistency he has become a great horse. I don't expect to ever be bucked off of him like that again, but in the event that he spooked or something else happened I think I would try to ride it out instead of falling. When your horse is well over 16 hands, it is a long way down prepared or not. The advice I would offer is to get a horse that corresponds to your level of experience and if you feel like your horse is forming nasty habits or your training is not effective, seek the help of a reputable professional trainer before problems escalate into a dangerous situation. So, Always wear your helmet, never ride a new horse alone, research your trainers, and give your horse a second chance. They may just turn out to be a great horse.               (The truth about the original trainer came out when other people who I worked with came forward with their horror stories about "training" that was suppose to be going on. One person said that they had a horse "trained" by her and then sold to a young girl who was bucked off and seriously injured. The horse was subsequently euthanized as result. Anyone can claim to be a trainer, but just research who you chose for your horse)