Has your horse ever fallen with you on it?

Question

So the other day we were out riding on the side of the road when we had to cross a little creek. My girl Morgan was going slowly down the slope to cross the creek (it had rained two days before) when she started slipping in the mudd. Then going back up the slope on the other side she almost tripped on a rock. Scared the holey bajjezza out of me. I know it happens, but I was wondering if anyone had ever had their horse fall with them?

Answer 1

Yes, the worst one was when I was riding out along a ravine when the edge of the ravine gave away with absolutely no warning. My gelding and I dropped straight down about 20 feet. Rocks and tree roots scraped us both up pretty bad. No long term damage tho. It happened so fast. It was really freaky!

Answer 2

ive had a horse roll with me..... but that was his choice.

Answer 3

My gelding has flipped head over heels with me on him, we were just loping down a straight path! He didn't have any shoes to catch on either. I jumped off to the side and he finished his flip, legs flailing like a cartoon and kept on running. He realized I was gone and came on back to the briar bush I had fallen in.

He has laid down in a lake, and in a creek with me on him, but I expected it and allowed him to go all the way down. He is all ways careful when he is with me.

He trips all of the time though, usually when we are doing something simple and he isn't paying all of his attention. Once I was riding bareback with a halter and lead rope tied to either side. He tossed his head at a wasp and popped the lead out of my hand. He caught his toe on the rope and pulled it around his crown. He continued to lope several strides on three legs before I could jump down and grab his hoof.

Answer 4

well one time i had a horse trip to both front knees (luckily in a sand arena!), he tripped over his own front legs because he wasn't paying attention and i just starting to learn so i didn't realise i had to get his focus, as he was doing what i asked.

I've also had another horse trip out from under me, onto his chest and slide a little, i managed to stay on and he got back up, after checking him over he was fine and we went on! during a lesson but not certain what made him trip that badly

One time i was being a complete idiot looking back at it now, we were going through a small show jumping course, too fast and i was on a big boy, we both took the corner leaning and his butt slid out from under him and he was leaning so far we nearly fell but he scrambled up and we kept going - completely my fault! i didn't check his speed or support him upright.

Had pleanty of little trip ups now and then, one of the more entertaining ones when look back was i was out on a trail ride with my instructor and we came up to a big icy hill slope but there was no way to go around. We get the horses to walk real slow and give them their head, my horse starts sliding and well there not that much either horse or i can do!

At the bottem there a little drain before the flat road so the horse plants her but backwards so she sitting down and we slid down the hill and she did a little pop over the drain and landed fine on the flat ground! scary at the time cause well there was nothing i could do! i'd just be either stressing her or annoying her by pulling on the reins when she was chosing to move and i obviously wasn't going to tell her to try and move her legs! lol

i have to say whats scares me is when you go for a combination when jumping and your horse trips a stride or two before the jump O_o

Answer 5

One time I was riding in an outdoor arena that was really sandy and dry.  My horse and I were doing warm up circles and he slipped on the sand.  Luckily he caught himself and went down on one knee only.  He saved my life because I was caught of guard and would have gone over his head and landed on my neck had he not kept calm.  When you have a good bond with a horse they will try their best to protect you!

Answer 6

I had almost the same situation, only I was alongside a busy road.  There was a longish embankment next to the road, and a path wide enough to ride on at the top'  My horse hit mud and fell on her side with my leg under her side and we slid down and ended up on the road.  It had rained and the whole embankment was mud.  I think the mud was soft enough that I wasn't injured, but it was pretty scary....fortunately a decent driver slowed and protected us from the traffic while we got back up to safety.

Answer 7

I've had a horse trip and go down on both front knees with me on her but we managed to correct ourselves without any further mishap. Other than that I have had to bail as a horse I was on was going down to have a roll, but I was lucky enough to get out of the way - just!!

Answer 8

Lol yes, my mare crashes and burnes all the time.

About two weeks ago i was coming out of a circle at a lope and she tripped over her own hoofs and fell right on her head. I manged to not flip out of the saddle but she landed on my leg pretty bad. It was kinda funny actually. She got up really fast looking around as if she thought someone took her out or something lol.

Answer 9

I was working with  a green broke 5 yr old appy that spazzed out and ended up falling with me. He freaked out over a "big scarry" water trough. He started to rear and then decided to try to turn sharp to the left while in the air. When he did, he lost if footing and fell over. It sprain my ankle, broke my big toe, and my leg as covered in bruises. The horse was fine, just a little shook up.

The second time that I had a horse fall on me, I had gone to Louisiana for a week to visit some friends and family. My aunt decided we needed to go riding. I was on her horse while she was on her husbands. We were riding though their pasture. It was cool and both of the horses were feeling their oats and acting up a little. No big deal at first. Then the horse my aunt was on, got the bit between his teeth and took off. I tried to catch up to them to help my aunt stop him. There was a ditch we had already jumped over earlier during our ride. The mare I was on, didn't make it over the ditch this second time, she landed about half way over it, and did this sideway and forward hop thing. My foot slipped though and got stuck so I couldn't bale off. She ended up rolling over me and brusing my ribs up. The mare was fine, she got up na dcame to check on me, lol. I think she was more morried that she had hurt me than anything else. I ended up walking her abck ot the barn where my aunt and the other horse were, lol.

I learned from both of those that if you are Ben(the appy) that water troughs are scary if you are not drinking from it. And that if you are ever riding with my aunt, just let the darn horse run off, lol.

Answer 10

No but I've seen it happen before. The best thing you can do is calm your horse down and get out from under them immdiatley. Once you're up help your horse up, get them back to the barn and check for injuries.

Answer 11

Yep.  My TWH mare, Fly, slipped on some pavement when a newbie rammed her horse into mine, and went down on her left side, on top of my leg.  I skinned my elbow up pretty bad, but was OK other than that.  She was a little bruised, so I loosened the saddle and walked her home.  The stirrup probably poked her pretty badly in the side, and since she wasn't at all at fault, I didn't want her thinking the pain was some kind of punishment.  She was OK, but I just felt it was kinder to not force her to carry me home in case she was hurt someplace I couldn't see.

Answer 12

My horse has never fallen on me, but I have seen my friends Arab trip and go down with her on it.  She was a little scratched up, but none the worse for wear. My mare lately has taken to rolling with me on her when we are coming home from a trail ride. Not fun! =( I cant get the thought out of my mind that one of these times I will get a leg stuck under her.

Answer 13

It has never happened to me, but my boyfriend and I were out on the trail and something started to spook the horses and his big gelding, 16+ hands reared up and fell back on him. Scariest thing I have ever seen. But, we still ride Jackson all the time and he is totally fine now. We have bobcats running around out here so we are pretty sure that is what was going on. Everything is fine now. It has happened to alot of people I ride with and they all are still riding the horses that flipped on them.  

Answer 14

Yeah it has happened twice with my thoroughbred once whne he slipped going around a muddy corner (bareback so he didnt land on me) and when i was leading my pony and he rammed into my horse my horse tried to jump out of the way but slipped, i was lucky to get out of it without any of them falling on me =S

Answer 15

Yeah, over the years I've had it happen a few times.  Last two most recent, horse was daydreaming, not paying attention, and tripped and somersaulted with me.  Not fun.  Had one that flipped over backwards with me, and one that got off of the textured entryway to a coliseum and wound up on the tile floor, her feet went out from under her and she fell on me.  It happens....

Answer 16

i have had a horse do a summersalt with me on him for most of it, when i was 13 yr old.  that horse was a bonehead.  few months later, i had the same horse rear up and and come over and land on me.

my horse i have now, our first trail ride was on a pretty hot, sunny day.  i kept us in the shade, but he was still really hot.  when we came up to a spring, i stopped us there, thinking it'd help cool him.  oh, yeah it did.  he decided to lay down in the cool water, with me on him.  knowing his personality, i should have expected it.

Answer 17

I was riding my 2000lb gelding, he is a very calm collected horse that performs in western pleasure classes on a regular basis. I was finishing up a ride,cooling him down before I put him in his stable.



It started sprinkling I wanted to finish so I dealt with the rain, something spooked my horse and he bolted into a canter turning so sharply that he slipped on the damp ground landed directly on my left foot. He quickly regained his footing and darted to the barn. I realized that I was about a 5 acre stretch from my house, my foot was numb at this point and I couldn't grasp what I was doing. My horse then ran back to where I was scaring me half to death because I thought that he was going to step on me again. He stood next to me I grabbed the stirrup trying to pull myself onto his back I still couldn't feel my foot so I put a little weight trying to test the injury. I then heard a crack and felt a throbbing pain. I had to grab the saddle horn and carefully pull myself onto the back of this 16.5 hand tall horse and he carried me back to my house by the time I made it house the foot would barely come out of the boot.

I had shattered my little toe as well as the mid section of my foot. It was the first and thankfully last bone I have broken.

Answer 18

It has happened a couple of times. The first time was when I was about 15 and we were riding down a grassy bank - the school horse just sort of folded under me and ended up lying on his stomach with his legs tucked in. It was weird.

Harvey has managed to fall half way, like a nose dive into the ground and he fell completely once when my daughter was riding him.

Falco went straight over on his side when my friend rode him - that was before I owned him and she still refuses to ride him in the field !

Answer 19

that is scary! I've had a horse try to roll while i was on him haha--nearly crushed my ankle. I've seen two instances though and both were terrifying. My friend was jumping and her horse tripped and went skidding into the jump and it was just a wooden box so it didn't move and the poll that was above it feel and got stuck between the horses leg and pinned him to the ground. The girl broke her arm and the horse scraped his knees up pretty bad but no serious injury. The other time was REALLY sad but kinda funny when you think about it. There was this little girl on trail with this REALLY old horse at my barn and the horse just like randomly had a heart attack and plopped down and rolled over the girl. She was okay, but the horse was dead.

Answer 20

Yep!  more than one.  

Had one slide down the side of a hill with me while we out gathering cattle.  I got clear & he rolled a few times.  He was a real laid  back horse, so he just stayed calm & relaxed & waited until he stopped.  Then he stood up & met me back at the trailer.

Just remember, when going down hill, lean back in the saddle.  When going up hill, lead forward or better yet stand in the stirrups & lean forward.  If the horse stumbles, give it's head.

Answer 21

OH YA!!!  I was taking my pony over a little 2' 3" fence and he some how got caught on it and couldn't bring his legs out to land.  He fell on his face and I fell on mine, then he rolled over my leg trying to get up.  It was scary, I would have gotten back on, but we took him inside to clean his cuts.  

Answer 22

ugh yes.  its SO scary.

I was riding my horse on the grass and the edge is slightly sloped and in a shadow so its always damper, and i was doing a collected canter with my horse when his back legs flew out from under him.. We fell, but managed to separate in mid air (my trainer was watching and said he twisted which "popped" me off.) and landed on the grass.  I got right up, since i was worried about him getting up and stepping on me, and he stayed down.  My trainer and I were thinking the worst, that he COULDN"T get up, but after a few moments he sat up and started eating grass!  So, i went over and nudged him and he got up and it was fine.  I don't think i got back on though, since we were worried about lameness but everything turned out perfectly okay.. but its still one of the scariest things that's ever happened to me on horseback.

Answer 23

Yes,  once when cleaning the pastures in the fall, trying to head off a cow that was running down a ravine, I tried running full tilt straight down the steep side...I figured we would just slide a bit if it got too steep...NOT!  We starting rolling and I actually thought, "This is the big one, the last one"...Naw, when we got to the bottom, I picked my self up and walked my horse around, she seemed ok so off we went to get that darned cow.  Another time, a horse reared up and went over backwards with me, I sort of went to the side just in time for the saddle horn to miss me, otherwise, it would have been pretty bad...the stupid horse just laid there while I pulled myself out from under him...broke the tree in my Martha Josey that I had gotten for Christmas, that was the worst part of it.

Answer 24

Yess.....I was practicing barrel racing when I was 12 with my old horse Cowboy and instead of going around the barrel he jumped over it and he fell on my leg and cracked it and I cracked my rip but nothing to harsh.....My dad said I got lucky that he didn't fall on top of my whole body or else I wouldve been really really hurt or dead.

Then he died about 2 1/2 years ago....=(((((

But like people say you ain't a real cowgirl till you have fallen off.

Answer 25

My personal horse, only three times. Riding rough stock, 5 or 6 times. When it happened on my horse I was able to kick out of the saddle so that I didn't get a broke leg or worse. Riding rough stock couple times I did get pinned under the horse. Yeah its something I would not recommend on a lazy after noon. One time it broke my leg, the downer the doc who put the cast on would not put a spur in the cast. I was kinda pissed. Haha. It is scary.  

Answer 26

yeah, just the other day actually. i was riding my crazy OTTB who is still learning the "rearing is not a good idea" lesson. she's been doing really well, and only does it once or twice when she gets really frustrated. anyway, i was riding her, and i could feel her thinking about rearing a little bit, so i started flexing her to both sides to keep her mind off of it. she got excited and decided that she wanted to trot off the to right, but i still had her head flexed to the left. i was working on getting her to straighten out and stop moving when she tangled her extrememly long forelegs and fell on her right shoulder. she slammed me into the ground pretty hard, and i blacked out. long story short, i had a severe concussion and couldnt ride for a week or two. that was two weeks ago and i'm starting to ride again. it hasnt made my confidence waver at all; it wasnt her fault and she didnt do it on purpose. i'm going to ride her tomorrow... wish me luck! :P

Answer 27

I have had a horse trip a little and go down about a foot but never all the way the ground or even close to the ground but i just acted like it was nothing and the horse just kept cantering I have never fallen off a horse either

Answer 28

i've had my horse fall on top of me while riding thru a field. but other then that nope. she had a tripping problem and i was letting her do what she wanted and she choose to start running and i just went with it, she tripped on uneven ground and we both fell in the mud, after that i just kept her to walks, she hated it but didnt want her to fall again.  

Answer 29

Oh my yes.

It seems that I'm the person that every horse wants to fall on ;p

My worst was probably when I was at a horse sale with my grandpa who told me to climb aboard a 17 hand horse who was supposively "kid safe". At the time I was about 11. Well I did climb up there and I was sitting on him, petting him. Just enjoying this lovely bay. Then the horse tied beside him layed down. He started to figit a little and then all of a sudden her reared up but was still tied the fence. He started pulling back violently and started getting the other horses freaked out that were tied around him. My foot was caught up in the stirrup and I couldn't get down. He managed to break the board off and since he was still pulling he started running backwards and rearing (basically walking backwards on his back legs) and then the board was freaking him out more so he ran into the other fence fell down on top of the fence with me still on him on the hard concrete. I luckily only broke a couple of ribs but the horse had to be put down because he broke his neck.

So my lesson to all you people who are reading this; have horse sense.

Just thought I'd give my two cents (: