Discouraged

Last post 07-08-2012 4:15 PM by FloridaHorseman. 13 replies.
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  • 06-30-2012 4:34 AM

    Discouraged

    Hello,

    I haven't posted in a while.  I am 40 and I own an 8 year old Appendix QH who is normally quiet and has never bucked under saddle.  I was ill this winter with a vestibular disorder and we both had the whole winter off.  I got better and we started getting in shape together.  In the meantime I was helping my friend with her pony and got bucked off, breaking 2 ribs.  That happened in late March.  

    Two nights ago while riding my mare, she spooked at the canter, started bucking and I fell breaking my left arm.  So now I have broken bones twice in 3 months and thoughts of gving up horses.  It would break my heart to stop riding, but I cant keep this up either.  My work isnt too thrilled with me and my family is worried.

    Any thoughts or has anyone been through something like this?

     

    http://vashtihorse.blogspot.com/
  • 06-30-2012 8:47 AM In reply to

    Re: Discouraged

     That, my friend is a serious string of bad luck!  I feel your pain -- I fell off one of my geldings last year and tore the PLC in my knee.  Surgeon said it could be ok for the next 10 years.  Sinc field season has begun at work (I'm a freshwater biologist), it has tanked and I am looking at surgery this winter with a 12 month rehab, while I have a young horse I am bringing along.  Timing.....

    I won't even mention the other unmentionably horrible things that are going on, but know that you aren't alone and it can be worse.  I'd be concerned about so much bone breaking though -- have you had problems with bone density in the past?  It is a very common problem for women and often people are unaware until things start breaking.



    Solaris -- 16 hh Appendix Quarter Horse = MY DREAM COME TRUE!
    We Are Flying Solo
  • 06-30-2012 9:24 AM In reply to

    Re: Discouraged

    Do not give up the riding that you love. Instead, improve the relationship between you and your horse, so that the spooking and bucking will not happen again. If a horse is well-connected to you, she will look at you for reassurance and not spook if you're not spooking yourself. If the horse does not see your as a source of her protection, she will see that she must be her own protector, a situation virtually every horse dislikes.

    Find a competent NH trainer in your area and take some lessons with your horse about improving the relationship with her. Those lessons will start on the ground, as all lessons should: the horse can pay much more attention if it's not dealing with a rider's weight on its back. In addition, the horse handler loses about 50% of her leadership the minute she climbs onto the saddle. As far as the horse is concerned, when you're in the saddle you have disappeared. 

    With the spooking and bucking, I suspect that the horse had plenty of pent-up energy left over from having the whole winter off. If a horse is actually scared enough to spook, they're not going to take the time to throw in a buck or two. They are going to be high-tailing it in the opposite direction. The fact that your horse spooked THEN bucked makes me think that both were brought on by the hi-jinks of a healthy, frisky horse who wants to run off a winter's worth of pep.

    Hindsight is always 20/20, but I'd say that getting on a horse who'd spent all winter doing nothing might have had some impact in the spook-and-buck maneuver. For future reference, it would be wise to work such a horse in-hand--longeing or long-reining--for some time until the energy has dissipated some and the horse is back in the groove of working again.

    But just working off the energy is not going to solve the spooking. Until the horse feels safe with its handler/rider, it will spook if threatened. That's where the human/horse connection comes in, and improving it makes a vast difference in everything you do with it.

    There is also a chance that the buck-after-a-spook was due to pain with saddle fit. If the horse has spent all winter doing nothing, her body could have changed enough to make his saddle fit poorly. Check on that before you get on her again. If she was stalled rather than turned out all winter, the change could be even greater, and the pent-up energy greater, too. I hope she got plenty of turnout during her rest,

    Anyway, you have a few things to work on before your next ride. There's no reason to quit riding, just do it smarter. There is no way to make horses completely risk-free--they are living beings with their own thoughts--but you can stack the cards in your favor. Good luck. 
    Megan


    "The horse you get off is not the horse you got on. It is your job as a rider to ensure that as often as possible, the change is for the better."

    Anonymous




  • 06-30-2012 11:04 AM In reply to

    Re: Discouraged

    I agree you need to get a trainer involved. But not so much to teach you how to work with this mare but to keep her for at least 30 days of riding and evaluation. You need time to heal physically and emotionally. You can work on getting your confidence back after someone knowledgeable has worked the horse on your behalf. I also tend to agree you got hurt riding a horse that was too fresh from a long layoff and wasn't exercised long enough or hard enough before riding. A spooked horse bolts. It usually doesn't spook AND buck unless it's still very green. A horse with too much freshness will often buck with each increase in gait, like a bad transmission that jolts between gears. But the bucking doesn't have to occur right at the point of change. The horse starts getting excited about going faster and the bucking is how she says "Weeeee! This is fun!" I think that's more likely what happened. And since it caught you unaware you interpreted it as a spook event. Helping your friend with her pony was just a good idea with bad consequences. Strange horse, strange rider... and "ponies" are notoriously rude to begin with.

    Anyone who spends significant time on or around horses will eventually get hurt. Since you have a job you should keep in mind your horse is a hobby. It may even be a passionate hobby. But you have obligations to your family and employer that cannot be ignored. So you're right to be concerned with recent events. I still think letting the horse work alone with a trainer for 30 days and then work with the two of you after you're healed physically will get you past this bump in the road (no pun intended).

    Give it some time before you make any rash decisions. I think you're still too close to the wreck to be clear-headed about what to do.  

    Get better soon. ~FH
  • 06-30-2012 11:15 AM In reply to

    Re: Discouraged

    FluffyD:
    Any thoughts or has anyone been through something like this?
     

    Oh I'm so sorry about your accidents! I know how you feel though. This last year I became VERY familiar with the local doctors to the point that the receptionist at the desk at our office now knows me by name. Basically, since January I've had one accident after another. I sprained my ankle in February and couldn't ride until April, than a week after I got back onto a horse I had another accident. The horse I was riding was being naughty and not listening to my ques to keep to the right of a barrel, and at the last second jumped over it. Well, my saddle slipped to the left because I was trying out a new pad, and she started to buck. I fell off and landed on my head, and injured my shoulder and neck. Couple weeks later, when I felt better enough to ride, I got really sick. When I got better, two weeks later I get bucked off a seventeen hand high horse who supposedly didn't know how to buck. Needless to say I've had enough accidents to last me the year.

    So in short, you're not alone! Don't feel too discouraged, I know it's hard not to be somewhat scared of getting back on, and you sometimes feel like a failure. Believe me, I sometimes feel like a failure a lot, especially since I'm the QUEEN of falling off at my barn. But think of it this way-you're always seeing how far you can go, and you're not afraid to try new things. Hope that helps you out and keep on riding! :)

    -GC

    "We were ninety-nine percent trouble and one percent innocent...What could we say? We were adventurers!" -The I Can! Cowgirls

    "I'm not a horse trainer, I'm a horseman. What’s the difference? A horse trainer trains horses; a horseman trains himself." – Chris Cox

    "How do you gain your horse's respect? By moving his feet forwards, backwards, left and right and always rewarding the slightest try." -Clinton Anderson

    “It’s the way you ride the trail that counts.” -Roy Rodgers

    "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - Will Rogers
  • 06-30-2012 4:33 PM In reply to

    Re: Discouraged

    Wow - I'm sorry to hear about your accidents and broken bones.  

    You said it yourself -- it would break your heart to give up riding.  You'd be miserable if you gave it up.

    Expand on the ground work that you do. Working her in the round pen will help get the fresh out, while at the same time reinforcing the idea that you are the leader of your little herd. It will also give you a chance to observe her reactions and evaluate whether she's in a spooky sort of mood before you saddle up and get on.

    Working with an NH trainer is a great idea, as others have suggested and will give you lots of other things to work on with her and help stengthen the bond between you and decrease the spookiness.

    Best of luck to you.  Get well soon.  

  • 07-02-2012 10:27 PM In reply to

    Re: Discouraged

    i feel for you.  my horse tore a tendon in february and after a few months the therapy was to start at 20 min walking each day.  the vet said i could probably ride him for the 20 min but he is an ex race horse and i have always made sure he has been working out well (lungeing, etc) before i would ride him.  he is a bit of a handful to take fresh out of the field.

    when i walk him he is spooky and goofy.  he stepped on me twice today during our walk.  but, i would rather be stepped on then thrown off.

    so, make sure your horse doesn't have too much freshness before you ride.  and, yup horses are not the safest sport around.  

    you can be conscious of what you do to be safe, but, there's always a chance of falling or getting trampled or knocked over by the big lugs.

    you can only decide for yourself whether it's worth it.  and although you had a run of bad luck, probably you won't keep up the bad luck at that pace.  you may have gotten your bad luck out and have no problems for the next ten years!!

    personally i am thinking about getting a cart and harness.  it's just so much closer to the ground falling out of a cart (and i have never fallen out of a cart, though i have seen some scary moments driving too)

     

    Gailforce -- Another old lady rediscovering her inner cowgirl.
  • 07-05-2012 4:44 AM In reply to

    Re: Discouraged

      Thanks all for the kind words!  Solaris, I follow your blog too - but I didnt realize you were looking at surgery.  48 anf FHM  I appreciate your advice - We had been riding 40 min when this all happened.  The spook didn't phase me, but you're right about the bolting vs bucking thing.  I am having her worked while I'm hurt and looking into lessons for when I return as a start.  Jayne, thanks for the kind words.  You are all active forum members whom I look up to - thank you for replying.

    http://vashtihorse.blogspot.com/
  • 07-08-2012 5:58 AM In reply to

    Re: Discouraged

     Quick update:  had someone ride her, they had ridden her several times  before.  She did not do well and I placed a call to the vet.  Probable cause: Lyme.  She is being treated, I am slowing healing and we're going to press forward.  Thank you all.

     

    P.S  Solo, I didn't realize how far behind I was on your blog!  I'm going to treat myself today to catching up on your adventures.

    http://vashtihorse.blogspot.com/
  • 07-08-2012 7:31 AM In reply to

    Re: Discouraged

    Wow - that's a bit of a shocker.  I didn't even think about something like that.  I was just putting it down to a behavioral issue.  Well it's a good thing it was diagnosed and is being treated.  The two of you can heal and get better at the same time.  Hang in there, and good luck.

  • 07-08-2012 8:37 AM In reply to

    Re: Discouraged

    FluffyD:
     ...Probable cause: Lyme...
    Did the vet do a blood test to verify Lyme Disease? That would be a very good explanation of what happened on your ride. Lyme has about the same pain threshold as fibromyalgia in humans, so a cranky or irritated horse would be suspect to the behavioral issues. After the antibiotics don't forget PRO-biotics to replace the gut flora. And monitor her hooves (temperature) for possible laminitis as a result of shedding bodily toxins from the antibiotics.

    Good luck! ~FH
  • 07-08-2012 9:03 AM In reply to

    Re: Discouraged

    Sorry to disagree, Skip, but my vet says recent studies show that pro-biotics do little for horses. They work fine for dogs and humans but not equines. She recommends PRE-biotics for replenishing gut flora. Juno had a round of Yea-sacc 1026 from SmartPak after her surgery to encourage the good flora, which the medications had trampled. Kate also had the Yea-sacc to help her regain weight she lost while fretting over Juno's 13 day absence. Both mares did well with the Yea-sacc and ate it readily.
    Megan


    "The horse you get off is not the horse you got on. It is your job as a rider to ensure that as often as possible, the change is for the better."

    Anonymous




  • 07-08-2012 2:02 PM In reply to

    Re: Discouraged

     oooo - thanks for tips FH.  Will do.

    http://vashtihorse.blogspot.com/
  • 07-08-2012 4:15 PM In reply to

    Re: Discouraged

    48northfarm:
    ...my vet says recent studies show that pro-biotics do little for horses. They work fine for dogs and humans but not equines. She recommends PRE-biotics for replenishing gut flora...
    Good to know. Thanks, Megan. ~FH


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