Your most unusual fall off a horse?

Question

I'm not looking for "I got bucked off"s here-- I want some strange, unusual, or downright scary fall stories. Share away!

Answer 1

Well i told my instructer that I want to start jumping. so she said that we were going to have to get my leg muscles up, before i start. The exercise she told me to do, was to post the trot with one foot in the sturrip and one foot out.

So I went around the arena a couple of times. Each time I went around, I would swich feet so that if my right foot was out, I would put my left foot out.

Then, I had my inside leg out of the sturrip, and for some reason, I felt like i was tipping. I paid very little attention to it, and tried as hard as i could to push with my outside foot, that was in the sturrip, to pull my self back up, (all the time the horse is trotting) I tried to no avail to push myslef up, and instead of getting back in position, I was leaning more and more twards the outside.

Finaly, I looked down and realised what was wrong. The saddle was slipping off the horse back!! The even bigger problem, was that it was tipping twards the inside, which was the only side i had my foot in the sturrip! So I'm pushing on my foot to get me up, but all im doing is pushing the saddle more and more down the barrel of the horse. When finaly, the horse side stepped (thankfuly at a walk) I fell of the side of the horse!

Answer 2

Like a dumbass, running in front of the herd as a kid, I tripped and fell and was trampled.  

No major injuries...just my pride.  I did have some unique hoof shaped bruises on my thighs and butt.

Not really a fall OFF a horse, but certainly under several.

Answer 3

I've had a bunch that were pretty scary like when my mare fell on top of me ( resulted in just some minor whiplash) but i have had a few that were just hilarious. i had only been jumping my tb gelding for a short time and we were having trouble with the last jump of the combination. he kept ducking to the right so i came at it again with all the determination i could muster. of course he ducked out to the right again and unseated me just slightly. i would have been ok except that he immediately jumped an invisible jump and right as he landed he took of bucking. needless to say i came sailing off to the sound of my trainer and sister laughing uncontrollably. luckily my sister got that one on camera. the funniest one was probably when i had stopped my gelding to adjust my stirrup. I was adjusting the right one and as i pulled it up my whip got tangled in the leathers and dropped to the ground. no reaction from my horse so while i was still leaned over i looked behind me to ask my sister to pick up the whip. well at that same time he finally noticed what happened (he's often in his own little world or was either just to terrified to move at first) and jumped foreward while i sumersaulted backwards. fortunately it was in a really deep part of the arena so no harm done but it was so funny. to bad my sis didn't get that one on film.

Answer 4

I was riding my mare a couple years ago and I started cantering.I lost my reins and my pony swerved inward and ended up jumping over a large coop and throwing me off.She almost stepped on me,and to top  that off, I couldn't find my bright pink glasses for 45 minutes!

Answer 5

well i have two, though one was not exactly a fall, but it could have been.

I was riding my mare who was still pretty green, and I was loping her around the corner of the arena.  The sand was deep there I guess because they had just built the arena and they hadn't spread the sand evenly yet,and she tripped.  She tried to catch herself but fell onto her knees.  Instead of jumping up she just laid down, and I stepped off of her.  It's a good thing she didn't jump up because she would have caught my leg on the side of the fence and done some serious damage.  I got her up and she was fine, though.  I thought she might have hurt herself since she didn't get up right away.

The other story...I was riding a friend's 16+hh horse and something scared him, and he reared up.  I don't remember anything because it happened so fast, but next thing I know I was standing next to him, holding one of the reins in my hand still.  I have no idea how I landed like that.

Answer 6

My mom and I were out on a trail ride and at the time I was about 9 or 10. It was a common trail for hikers and bikers but we'd never had problems but then some idiot on a bike came up behind us and skidded trying to stop and my pony leaped forward bucking. I fell off and got drug for a few feet before I got loose. Gravel rash all down my back side and the guy on the bike, when he finally stopped, was in front of my ponies tracks where he had been when he saw us. He would've plowed right into us, ugh. An didnt even get over for us to walk past him. At the time it scared me so bad but thankfully not enough to detour me from riding :)

Answer 7

I have had my share of nasty falls, but I won't relate those here.

   My most unusual- I have a 17.2 draft horse (think- a keg sized barrel), and was riding her around bareback. She  spooked, spun and took off cantering, I fell off to the side. She slammed on the breaks (I have a good seat normally, btw), and cranked her head around to stare at me. I had one foot around her whithers, one hand in her mane, and the other foot dangling still 2 feet from the ground. By this point, everyone was laughing at me. My horse just keep looking back at me, trying to figure out what was going on, and why I was hanging off of her. Since she is so round, I couldn't hoist myself back up on her, and dismounted. Well, my foot caught, and I ended up just sliding to the ground completely underneath her. Now she was staring at me with her head between her legs, trying to reach my treat pocket without moving her hooves, and I  (and the girls I was riding with) couldn't stop laughing.

Answer 8

My two most unique meetings with the ground were these:

#1 My 16.3 hand appendix quarter and I were out trail riding alone. (i know, bad idea)  He dislikes water, but on this occasion I had his front feet down a 6" "bank" into about 2 inches of water.  The stream was about 18" wide, so we aren't talking about the Mississippi here!!  One moment he was standing quietly sipping water, me leaning back slightly to keep balance on the bank as his rear feet were still higher, and then the next moment I am laying on his rear end, watching  my feet pass over my head!!  Other than a bump to the head (with helmet) I broke my arm and had sticks jammed into my face.  On my husbands birthday no less!!

#2 Same horse.....  Jumping lesson....... three jumps set up to ride as a two stride to a one stride.  We jump the first fence straight, jump the second fence crooked to the left.  I hang in to correct him and it seems to be working...... that is until his front feet leave the ground to take off for the jump, but he changes is mind and goes left of the standard instead.  The standard caught my right thigh and spun me off the left side.  Now instead of hitting the ground then, I hang on like a fool and end up with my arms and legs wrapped around his neck as he canters quietly away!!  Just as my arms slip loose, he broke down to a trot so I let loose with my legs (now in dirt right in front of the moving horse) and push off of his chest to keep him from stomping me.  I roll backwards away from him, and the pressure on his chest stopped him from coming forward anymore.  I had sand down my underwear, and seriously trembling knees but no other ill effects!!!

Answer 9

One time I was riding a strange horse at a pony club rating.  He refused at a jump.  I started to fall off head first over his shoulder.  Somehow I landed on my feet.  I must have done a complete flip.

Answer 10

it was the oddest thing ever. i was riding down a little half street thingy (my suburban terminology is awesome) and i'm going past a yellow house and then all of the sudden a balloon just floats out of the window and straight toward my horse, well she doesnt like balloons (she's not one for parties) and proceeded to snort (it felt as if she was inflating herself) then she went at the balloon rearing up and striking well of course i was dislodged from my already precarious position up on this lofty maniac of a beast. i was thrown through the air and over the fence into the origin of said balloon and landed (i kid you not) in their pool. this would have been ok if the pool wasn't one foot deep and filled with hard childrens toys. then the horse stopped attacking once the balloon had continued on it's ascent and walked over to the green lawn and started grazing. while i was taken to hospital with a dislocated hip.

Answer 11

I was riding at the school. Big black ex event horse, she was lovely ( I used to ride her a lot ) and she almost never refused a jump. This day we were jumping in the field and some of the jumps were a bit weird - one was made out of bunches of cut brushwood so it looked a bit hedgey ( it was about 2ft ) and she cantered up to it no problem then stopped dead and dropped her head to examine it. I catapulted straight over and landed on my back with the bridle all over me - she just stood there looking at me and chewing the brush !

Answer 12

Well I never have gotten bucked off though that does not mean that my horse has never bucked but that is another story for another time. lol. Ok I also like another story didn't tighten my cinch enough and we were trotting and she decided to go one way and well...I went the other. The cinch was so loose that the saddle slid and I flew off. I landed right next to a huge tree. Not very fun.

Answer 13

this isnt about me but its pretty scary.   I knoe someone who was on a trail by herself, pretty far from her house.  the horse was just walking but near some tall grass, a dear jumped out, right UNDER the horse. he started flipping out. the girl fell off and the horse ran away and somehow found its way to a neighbors house. the neighbor had to search for the girl. she had a broken leg

as for me.. its not really bad, but i had fallen off 4 times in one week, 2 in one day preparing for a show.  i felt so horrible lol

Answer 14

I was riding in an arena with a friend of mine and his horse spooked and he refused to fall off and he had slipped one foot out of the stirrup already and was leaning his foot on the saddle and standing in the other stirrup. Then the horse got a bit upset at his position and he took the other foot out of the stirrup and stood on top of the saddle for a moment and then jumped off the horse and landed on his feet. The strangest fall I've ever seen, it wasn't dangerous though

Answer 15

One time i was riding in a lesson and one girl must not of tightened the girth enough b/c her saddle slipped right around and she was hanging under her horse! Luckly, all he did was stop and look at her hanging there!lol

Answer 16

ive fallen off countless times, but i remember my worst fall was several years ago, before i had my own horse. i was in my riding lesson riding my favourite horse who everyone else hated because he always used to spook really badly at the same place in the school. well one day i was riding him and he didnt spook at that spot for some reason, so my guard was down the next time we went past it. it used to be a gap in the school arena (it was an indoor arena) and horses outside used to ride past the gap, which was what used to spook him. anyway, the horse just in front of us spooked at it and took off and because i wasnt ready, we followed!! he bolted to one side throwing in several massive bucks, and i somersaulted off the side, landing on my head underneath him. he jumped over me and bucked out afterwards, kicking me straight in the head. he knocked me unconscious but i came round not long after and just suffered some concussion. i am soo grateful that i had my hat on though, otherwise he would have killed me outright

Answer 17

i have 4 horses that i've had for over 8 years

i've fallen off of 3, but not the fourth, whom i use the most

the fourth one, monster, is kind of clumsy, i asked for a flyign change, and he flipped over ontop of me. i was ok and so was he. about 3 months later, i went over a one stride combination (only 18 inches, too, after jumping 3' earlier that day) and his knees gave out and he flipped on me again, that time i broke my collar bone, but i was back riding 4 days later.

also, i was riding lily bareback and cantered her into the bond. there's kind of a drop off under water and when her front legs hit that, she dead stopped and i flipped into the water. good thing i was in a swimsuit!

i also was jumping a combination jump, the horse had an awkward jump, i ended up on her neck as we jumped the sencond jump before sliding off.

Answer 18

Most of the times I've come off are pretty unusual. Never typical! Once I was swimming a young horse in a pond for her first time and I was impressed how good she was being. The pond and a steep bank on one side and a very shallow bank on the other side. Of course this mare started paddling as fast as she could for the steep bank and despite my best efforts to turn her around she did a huge leap onto the very steep bank. At that angle with all the water it was like a hairy water slide and I flew off backwards. Unfortunately I missed the water and landed on a pile of rocks..... I saw stars for a couple minutes but I was fine. Then of course the mare ran about a mile back to the barn and I had to walk.... Made people watching laugh!

Answer 19

i was schooling for a show and coming up to a diagonal jump my horse had refused twice before. everything was going great, and then, a stride out from the jump, a (experienced) rider and her pony turned right in front of the jump i was coming to. i didnt have time to react, my horse went over the jump, came down, and then, because we had no room to move, attempted to jump over the pony in front of us....i fell off, my horse fell over, and pony , after being hit hard by a big thoroughbred, was lame for weeks........it hurt really bad

Answer 20

Well, I was riding bareback and I went side saddle. Vinnie was trotting along, as happy as can be, *Boof* I SLIPPED OFF! "MUM!" "I FELL OFF"

"How did you do that?"

"I was trotting bareback and I slipped off"

"Oh, ok get back on"

"Ok"

trot trot trot trot

*Oof*

"MUM, I FELL OFF AGAIN"

"OK, GET BACK ON"

Like it?

I have more

Answer 21

lol I grew up with some feisty horses, so I do have one story that gave my dad a total heart attack!

I was trying to break a filly, and after she was used to the saddle, I let her off lead, alone, and I started to try to ride her.  For some reason she started bucking like crazy, and I lost the reins and just held on.  Well, I was barely clinging to the saddle, when the cinch suddenly slipped and I flipped under her stomach!  Of course she really started freaking out, and after almost getting my brains mashed in by flailing hooves( I was too scared to let go of the saddle, STILL!)  The cinch snapped off of the saddle and landed right underneath the horse, on top of me!  Praise God, she never stepped on me, but that was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me.  My dad saw the whole thing, horrified, from the window, and by the time he ran outside it was all over.  

Cant wait to see all the other stories on here.

Answer 22

Oh Boy! I got one! It was many years ago but what a fall!

some kids came up behind my horse and rammed the bike front wheels into his back legs! Thank Heavens he didn't kick them but!  we were coming to an intersection in the road and I wanted him to go straight across and he decide at the last minute to turn left and he hit the road gravel and we both went down him on top of me. needless to say both of us had road rash the worst I have ever had! OUCH! he was like a piece of hamburger his whole right side ! my jeans wear torn and my right leg and right arm were just a bloody mess!  Never did find the kids who pulled that stunt! good thing or they would have gotten a piece of my mind!  and I was thankful there was no cars coming at the time!  if it taught me nothing else It taught me to be more aware of my surroundings especially behind me!

We both lived through it though! it hurt like the devil getting the dirt and gravel  out though!

Answer 23

Well i was coming out of a jump and i pulled my inside rein, i guess a little too hard and my horse turned a dime. She went to the right and i kept going forward. But i was determined not to fall, so I held on. I held on for about 2 minutes or so, while my instructor was killing her self laughing. This wasn't a scary fall, just an unusual one ;)

Answer 24

Well, this isn't really unusual, but I’d been leasing my horse for a few months never falling off, then the day I bought him I fell off 3 times, we were doing bounces... and Beau was doing great... but I was falling off all over the place!

Then, EXACTLY one year later, I was doing a nice collected canter in the dressage ring, when one of the horses in turnout decided to "follow" Beau (never leaving his turnout …).  Beau of course, didn't like it so he goes from nice collected canter (and honestly I wasn't paying attention... I ride my horse bareback on the buckle all the time, I figured I could zone out a little in a collected canter.) to full out racehorse GALLOP without any warning signs, just gone...  I, as expected, fell off, but not until I fell sideways, on/over his neck, and then since I was so close to the ground didn't have time to "tuck" so I landed on my head (you could see the dirt on my helmet) then flipped over REALLY slow onto my shoulder and then back, It was one of those weird falls when EVERYTING goes slow, and you just KNOW that you're coming off the horse, but you never have enough time to save yourself. .....I couldn't move for 2 days... horrible whiplash and gravel burn, missed school for 3 days since I couldn’t walk/go up stairs, sit for more then 30 min.

But, as smart as I am, I sat in shock for a few seconds, and then went chasing after Beau! who was galloping around the paddocks whit stirrups and reins flying all over the place (thank god for running martingales!) then I got back on and beat him up because bolting was an old problem for him, and he didn't have an excuse.  I didn't start hurting until I got home and sat down.

Answer 25

Well this fall was totally my fault, not my boy. My sister and I were riding down in a awesome valley with a good size river splitting the property. We had rode down into the river and were trying to find a safe place to get out, as the banks were a couple feet high and soft footing. My gelding seemed confident that exiting in this certain place was something he could do. Well our first attempt panicked my horse as the footing sucked, he started lunging and leaping to get up and out. I lost my balance and started to go off towards one side, at this point everything slows down and it seems a lifetime till you hit the ground, especially when you know you cant save yourself from the inevitable fall. The only scary part of this story is as I land on my back, I turn my head to see Ive landed in this area with a ton of 6 to 8 inch high spikes coming out of the ground from broken off sapling trees and nearly skewered myself in the back, would have been dead, no doubt. My horse was fine and once clear stood there looking at me like "what ya doing down there?" look on his face.

Answer 26

I've only come off of a horse 5 times in 21 years of riding. Once was a normal buck. Once my horse was spooked by a ground squirell. She jumped sideways, putting me off balance. She jumped sideways again when it ran out at her and I sort of toppled over off of her. Another time a horse I was riding who likes water, layed down in a stream we were standing in while waiting for some one to clear vines off of the opposite bank. On that same ride, the horse didn't want to go through some deep mud, so we went down a small bank into what appeared to be a dry ditch. Turns out that instead of being a dry ditch it was 3 feet of mud. The horse went down, I came off and had to roll away to avoid getting stomped when he came out of the mud. The scariest time I came off of a horse was when I was around 12 and several things happened that caused my horse to take his bit between his teeth and run off with me. I was trying to get him under control and he went under a wire for a zip line I didn't see and it took me off by the neck. I hit my head on a root slamming my teeth together chipping a permanent tooth. It took 11 needles in the neck to to keep my throat from swelling closed. I was back up on a horse as soon as I could though.

Answer 27

A few years ago I was starting to run the barrel pattern at a local horse show with my older mare. There had been many other runs before so the sand wasn't worked up, we were running to the first barrel and suddenly my horse trips and starts to flip head first into the ground. I flew forward and got a mouth full of sand, my mare flipped completely over onto her back but luckily she wasn't injured. Needless to say they worked up the arena before we got a second run.

Answer 28

This for me was funny.

   As usual I was tacking my soon 8 yr old gelding (he's 17hh) I get on him and I always walk him out of the isle of barn.  One of my aunts goats accidentally head butted Aesop and he took off...long story short the doorway in isle way to open land wasn't tall enough and I went head first with a pole.   Idk how i survived that one

the same day I was in the ring and right as I get him into a canter a huge deer fly bit him on the neck and he jumped making me fly into his neck. He freaked out again and next thing I know I did a 360 over his head and first landed hard on my feet then landed on my butt....in process landed in poison ivy since the ring was still in process of getting fence built.  

  Aesop apologized by l*****g my face and then waited until my aunt got down to me (also horse rider and medical person)  besides poison ivy broken foot and broken nose, I still laugh at that day.

Answer 29

my best friend was riding i don't think her girth was tight enough but after jumping she ended up hanging around the horses neck upside down in canter with a scared horse and her legs and arms wrapped around it's neck

she tried to get off 'fall' but she let go of her arms first so was hanging from her legs then felll onto her head

ouch

Answer 30

Okay when I was younger about 6 or 7 I was jumping and the pony put in an extra stide so he head butted me and i swang round his neck and i was just hanging there ! my mum came and picked me up cos i was to scared to let go of his neck !

Answer 31

I was trail riding with 2 stable mates when my horse jumped  & off I came.   My  whole saddle came off (  like an idiot, I didnt check it before I left the barn)..... So my saddle fell off the right side & I fell with it  , just rolled right off.....  I hit the ground on my left side & hit so hard the shock absorbed to the  right side.... I thought I was paralyzed from the waist down.   I laid there as  if I had been in  military combat begging  for mercy.  I  could'nt walk straight for the next 2 weeks