This time...it was Me and Washashe that went down...... Debra and April before .....The hill down to the creek is steep and narrow and really uneven going.....not at all what I like to ride on with a not-so-nimble mare like mine. I get off for the decent, the last bit, and remount for the creek and then dismount again for the bog area. I had done this and we were going to try for the bog after we watered the horses in the creek..my mare would have none of it and jumped out..up a steep embankment ,though I was waving her away from it..she would have none of my advise.
It had been a day like THAT today..she was uppity with a new mare to ride with though the mare stayed way away from her, not crouding her at all....she kept her eye upon her. She was balking at some places too..not normal for her..but she does hate some of our passages and today...she told me so!
We actually were on the way back..forgetting the bog today..I mounted and headed for the trail up...she does okay with walking it up, but she wanted to trot it and I was in two point to stay with her...THEN=she tripped, and since I was already in forward position, I whipped over her shoulder to the left bank and as she came to her feet, I was still holding the reins , and the tension pulled me under her...OH-MY- FREAKING -STARS!!! Life flashed before me as I looked up at her belly and hind legs.... she fortunately-jumped over me and headed for the top of the hill!
Man...so close and such a blessing once again..to have God's mercy!
I started up the hill and my friend rode behind me...she kept trying to get me to get on behind her , on her mare April and I finally did at one point and that is when i felt my back ache..ooou.
I did not last long..but I did last to see some walkers on the trail ahead and they actually had been called by a nearby Nurse that watched my mare WHIZZZZ on by= with out a rider aboard.
I thought that was sooo awesome that some one would have come looking for me!
Apparently, he had been "rolled" over on by his horse last year and had to ride back hurt..so he sympathised getting the call about me and brought a little motorized thing along to carry me back to home, if needed. I thanked him profusely so and we kept right on going..I was nervous about my mare crossing streets(she probably did it in a "single bound" though, knowing her)..then there is the clear cut area right before the house..Oh..I was thinking of her falling into a root wake or empailing herself. I had to get off that mare..it hurt to badly to ride behind the saddle..and I mad emuch better time on foot!
She was there! Washashe made the (?) miles trek home crossing two streets and making various turns in the trails to get there...and she was not even hot...jsut standing near the other horses ,in the yard.
WHEW! Not a scratch! I am so amazed with the GPS system this mare has!..Well, there are some places I dare not even ride again..I will be on foot with her!
As I drove home..I went on over to the property owners house that had called to find me help. She is a horse owner and the building I ride by every time I go out, is an ARENA! A nice one too..they will board horses this winter and I am already going to do the gals hair soon and it was such a cool meeting..I really wanted to thank her for caring enough to send someone ointo the woods for me!
I miss Pantz! She was so sure footed!
PS..Got a question for you all.....
Be honest now....if you came off your steed out and about on the trails...would he or she stick with you? Or bolt as the horse in the last post did ..and now unfortunately- mine too. ???
I hope that you are ok!
ReplyDeleteAm very very sore indeed tonight...more Arnica and more advil!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Thankgoodness you didn't get hurt. I have not gone off yet, and am not looking foward to it. I will try not to think about it!
ReplyDeleteWhat an adventure! I am glad you are okay, and how scary to be under your horse's belly! I haven't come off My Boy yet. He's pretty surefooted but I know at some point, something is bound to happen! I hope your aches and pains are okay.
ReplyDeleteI think my horse would run off for a bit, but not too far if we were with other horses. He'd probably stop and eat nearby! :) If I was on him alone and close to home, I think he might just head on home. He has an amazing GPS, too! I can give him a loose rein and he'll head straight home through the neighborhood!
*GASP*
ReplyDeleteWhew! I'm so glad to read that you and Wa are both ok. So many things could have gone wrong.
So scary looking up at your mare's belly and hind legs. gah!
I hope you are feeling ok today, my friend.
You know what my independant mare did when I fell off...she bolted back for the barn. Thankfully there were no roads to cross and she wasn't hurt, but I still felt rather abandoned. lol!
(((HUGS)))
~Lisa
good question. i've tested this many, many times, and i can say with assuredness that 100% of the time, baasha will leave me lying there and run off. *sigh* really there's no need for me to keep testing this, but hrmph.
ReplyDeletewhat a story! so glad god protected you from those hooves as she went over you! i have a horse-shoe shaped mark on my arm permanently from baasha tripping and falling on me. he actually used my arm to stand up on. nice.
thankfully my friends were there, they took my coat and made a sling for my arm, i finally stopped wimpering and walked my way down the mountain alone to where someone would pick me up and take me to the hospital. i remember it vividly, the weirdness of leaving my horse with them.
and i had this water bottle with me, but since my arm was in a sling, i couldn't open it. i was hobbling along, hot, thirsty, with this big bottle of water. finally i found a biker and he said "did you lose your horse?" cuz i still had my helmet on. i said "he's gone. i mean, he's ok. can you open this please!??!?!" and i finally got a drink.
worst thing is when they fall on you, huh?
so glad you're fine!!! you and i, we're alwasy getting off when it looks unsafe, but sometimes we just can't predict it.
~lytha
Thank heavens you and the mare are both OK - how scary! In my experience, unless they're with other horses, or they're exceptionally calm and there are good eats nearby, horses will run for safety when they're scared (and having a rider come off is a scary thing for them, too) and head for a familiar place. I have had horses check on me to see if I was still alive (at least that's what it felt like) before heading for the hills.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm so sorry for you! After my 2004 riding accident, I got bucked off a horse in Sweden and had to ride back injured. I'm sure he would have raced back home, but I have a tendency, just like you did, to always hold on to the reins.
ReplyDeleteI was holding the reins when I had the 2004 accident, when Arwen dragged an unconscious me through the sand. Eventually, I must have let go, and she ran back to the governor's home, where we had just dropped off the stallion.
I've only fallen off Arwen twice, but both time, she ran off. She gets into some kind of shock mode and starts walking, then picks up her pace. Last time, she went down and I just slid over her neck. Watching my mare all confused was painful, and I was sure she would stay with the flock. But no, she didn't. Sahara no the other hand has a tendency of standing up and waiting. I think the less in shock they are, the more likely they are to stay.
Kac--I'm glad that you are OK!!!! ARGH! Have you fallen off 7 times yet? There is some kind of saying that you are an official rider once you have fallen off 7 times. I say HOOEY to that! (Although over the years I have done some service to numbers quite higher than 7 I must say!) Anyway, sounds scary but it came out OK! I almost went off over a spook the other day and had forgotten MY HELMET!!! I NEVER forget my helmet!! God provided on that one and we turned around and went back to get it!!! I will blog on my tree crash since ya'll wanna hear about what a bad rider I am...it was totally my fault! My broken shoulder story is pretty darn good too.... I have had Jackson wait once I fall and I have had him totally freak and run. The time he took off my friend took her barrel racer off after him and tried to catch him while I was lying on the ground saying, "NO, don't chase him, he won't take off!" Well, she couldn't hear me and Jacks can run faster than ANY QH!!! So I do think it depends on his spook level too. (And whether or not someone lays chase on another horse...) Glad it was OK and hope aren't too sore hun!
ReplyDelete--Mindy
Wow, what an adventure. Glad you are both ok.
ReplyDeleteI think Promise would stick with me. She never really took off any of the times she dumped me in arenas, usually stopped and looked at me like, oh, crap, I lost her again.
Oh, Kacy!!! Glad you and Wa aren't hurt; well you are but not badly? I don't like doing down slick or steep trails, I will get off and walk. Have never fallen off like you did but Gilly has dumped me when he was younger and ran off. Ran up in the woods and stepped on his reins and stopped himself, my neighbor caught him. Would he run off now that he is older, I don't know and I don't want to fall off to find out either!
ReplyDeleteHope your back gets better soon, did you go to a doctor?
~Jane and Gilly~
Oh wow I know how you feel, things like that have happened to me before however i wasn't so lucky.
ReplyDeleteI once came off my Arabian on a trail, a sideways spook + goind downhill + mud had her falling sideways and I ended up underneath her. Thankfully she's a petie little thing but she used my head to stand up, no serious damage but i did have a nide bruise for quite some time and I wouldn't walk straight, or ride in a straight line.
I know if I hadn't kept a hold on the reins she would have trotted miles before she stopped.
On the other hand my fat QH mare is the opposite, a similat thing happened there she got bogged down in mud, panicked and fell over with me on a trail ride and "freaked out", trotting a few yards before stopping to eat and look back and nicker at me.
That's quite the unwanted adventure. I worry about getting separated from my horse a lot, and wonder if he/she would try to head for home or at least the trailer in the parking lot. If you ride a horse out from its stable, I can see how it can find its way back. But if you trailer a horse for many miles and unload it at the trailer head, I'm not so sure it could find its way home. How is you back now?
ReplyDeleteDusty well please don;ty test any therories for me and do stay ON!
ReplyDeletePonygirl Too much of one for me...I will be getting off and walking that trail next time!
Just stay on My Boy!
Lisa I was scared..in the second or two I had to think about my body being trampled..and after is much worse!Arnica! Ice-heat- ice.Advil and Epsom salts! All my friends!
Lytha OH MAN!!! Oh..I will be a predicter from now on...I have NO-PROB getting off and on again for safety!
YEA...today there is a large portion of trail I will be walking along on the ground now!! Bassha..Oh thought he'd stay as I posed this question! Well I'll be...yes do stop testing him on it! Tee hee!Your story brought tears to my eyes...the water that you could not have..sop glad a fellow trail goer came along for you!
Kate WOW, amazing that the horse checked on you before exit!...Wa could'nt check in the tight spot..and she HATES that hill so she ran from it all the way back! IOn times in the arena..she has come on back to see me in the dirt!
Esther I thought after to get some longer reins ! But in that situation...to no-avail..there truley was No Room for her to manuver...and she just may have fallen down the cliffy hill had I hung on longer. Yea..Wa was scared too i bet..but she was wanting to head for home the entire ride yesterday ...so she finally did, at breakneck speeds probably!
Mindy DANG...2 more falls to go according to the riders-chart you describe. '-' Please do blog on =yours... I am fine..but very sore
Promise thanks for the well wishes! And the info on Promise...so far..all would leave..darn those steeds!
Jane LOVE your bareback Profile pic! Um..no doctor..just bad bruises so far..got some "Tiger Balm on it this Am and I need to go out to the horses and feed and muck(and ride).
Catitlyn Intersting differances between horses!WOW..so gald you got over the head injury..you walkin' straight yet..riding?
Nuzz Oh..boy did not think of that scenrio..of not being close to home..but I imagine someone would catch the mare in that case...since we'd be around others.
ReplyDeleteI am okay today thanks~
Dang girl!!! No offense, but you should stay away from the trick riding...lol!!! Seriously though, I am glad that you are ALL okay.
ReplyDeleteI have been in your situation many-a-time (when I was younger and more robust) and it is not something that I want to happen now that I am ...ahem...older.
My old horse used to go all rodeo bronc on me, and then come back to whatever area he deposited me at. How gentlemanly of him, eh (insert sarcasm).
Bo??? I am almost positive that he would hightail it for home if I came off. Waska? He would probably stay.
Take care my Intrepid friend!!! :)
geezzzz!! 2 scary incidents, one after another! Glad Wa and you were ok.
ReplyDeleteMy old Mare SiuoxZee, and Fawkes both have taken off and bolted for home when I have come off them on trail. Amazing to me that they always make it back to the barn even when being on new trails.
I am very relieved to hear that both you and Wa are ok, Kac.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're ok!
ReplyDeleteOnce she tripped and I went over her shoulder and she SLAMMED on the brakes, took a step back, and stood there and waited for me to get up. The other time we were cantering and I was riding bareback and she slipped in a muddy patch and just folded her legs underneath her and I rolled off. She stayed down and waited for me to get up and go over to her and tell her to get up! *SIGH* I love that girl!
In reply to doin' ok today, yes all is fine now. The incident was actually a year or so ago with my arabian and miraculously enough the next day besides a giant, well ok small hoofprint on my head i was ok back in the saddle with no dizzyness at all. That incident taught me to wear a helmet more often though.
ReplyDeleteAnswering the question: will your horse stay or will s/he go?
ReplyDeleteStory: would do her best to not let a rider fall off, would stand absolutely rock-still if you persisted in still going down, and check you over with her nose (feet still not moving) to assess damage.
Toad: so outta there. doesn't have to outrun the monster, just gotta outrun the rider. later, gator.
Fiddle: not sure. The one time she dumped me, it was MY fault, and she was so surprised she stood still. I hope that's the way it will always be....
Wow, what an adventure. Glas that you are mostly OK.
ReplyDeleteTonka: doesn't move if he doesn't have to, so would stand stock still if he lost me. I think that I would have to be very drunk to fall off Tonka.
Raven: doesn't stand still if she doesn't have to, so she would be gone. It hasn't happened yet, and maybe never will.
Oh my, Kac, I'm so glad too that you or Wa was not hurt bad! I got dragged when I was younger (foot caught in stirrup) and pretty banged up but was O.K., missed school the next day, had a bunch of gravel in my shoulder! LOL! Funny thing now, my Chiropractor just asked me what trama I had to my spine as a youth? I think it had to be that fall.....no my parents didn't take me to the doctor either! I appeared to be fine. Be careful girl, if you screw your back up now, it comes back to get ya later on in life! Sounds like you had a couple of the KING'S Angels there to cushion the fall a bit! Praising Him! Luanne
ReplyDeleteHey girl!! Me thinks you are having a little too much drama and excitement with your jaunts on horseback lately. *sigh* So very happy that you weren't seriously injured and that the protection of our Father was without a doubt, with you! Always good to be under the grace huh?? Happy happy!!
ReplyDeleteI too, have looked at the underbelly and the hooves flying overhead--not a good feeling. Thankfully your mare did not step on you, and glad to hear that she was not hurt either. Be careful!!
As to your question, I haven't been dumped (thankfully)by any of the horses that I'm riding now, but if they were scared, I think they would head for home or camp - but you never know. My old mare Flex, she didn't run home, but kept just far enough in front so I had to walk home. grrr
I always thought that is how she kept me humbled and I knew who was really in charge. :)
I'm glad you are both okay! What a crappy couple of days for riding!
ReplyDeleteI know Chief will stay put if a rider comes off. He just doesn't leave. If even feels Kayleigh starting to lose her balance he stops and stands stock still until she cues him to walk on. If she comes off, he stops and stands exactly where she fell and waits. He's such a good old man.
Calypso has both stayed and run off, depending on whether it was a stupid fall or a bad spook. She has no loyalty!
I have no idea what Gabe would do but I think at this point in our relationship, he'd leave me eating dirt and walking home.
My old mare Star, never, ever ran off. Ever. Even the time we both went down and catapulted down an embankment. She popped back up, trotted off a few strides and stopped to wait for me while grabbing a few bites to eat.
Hi
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you are both okay !
Now for the honest answer.
Over the years my Dad had horses we only had two that left the rider behind.
So it does happen.
Just not something anyone wants to happen.
I do hope you are taking care of yourself.
Have a blessed weekend.
Hugs
What a heart-stopper! Thank heavens it all worked out okay in the end. Having recently gone through that moment of panic (tangled in the longe line) with a horse racing away, I can sympathize. Aren't horse folks the best, though? I hope you took a long, hot soak in the tub at your earliest opportunity after all of that.
ReplyDeleteMy mare always hung around after losing me. One time when someone went racing past us while we were strolling in a field, my mare popped me out of the saddle and then side-stepped out from under me. I landed on the ground with my hands in position and heels down -- all I lacked was the horse, saddle and bridle!