How dangerous is this hobby??

H

henmuffin

New Member
Aug 22, 2008
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South Oxfordshire.
I am new to riding and enjoy reading through the messages on this forum. However I find myself wondering how dangerous is it. I read stories of people falling off, being bucked off, kicked etc:eek:
I guess all hobbies carry risks unless they are really sedentary ( reading = paper cuts!!) but how many people get really injured compared to the odd bump. I am not really worried but would like to know what people think and whether I should increase my life insurance:D
 
its as dangerous as you make it- you buy a sedate old knackered cob with 3 legs and put it in an arena with nothing spooky and stay stood still thats 'safe' but boring IMO :D

you buy a fizzy 5 year old tb just of the track, feed it oats and barley etc then point it in a big field with a tractor behind you, riding bareback with a headcollar thats asking for trouble :D

i have never been injured (few bruises) and have been riding since i was tiny and am now 16- always been around welsh cob stallions (read other posts, the most 'dangerous' breed around lol :p) and have ridden without a hat on the road (only in walk trot up to the field, bareback with headcollar)

i dont own a body protector either..
 
Echo loopylozza really - at the end of the day they're living animals with a strong flight instinct and it all depends on the situation you put yourself in :) and now I've got the second image in my head, loopylozza :D! And in 11 years i've had bumps and bruises - most of which have been my fault - but so have all of my rugby playing mates (my stepcousin has a pin in his shoulder and he's only 18 because he's dislocated it so many times it won't hld itself in properly anymore), my gymnastics friends, my dancing friend - i guess everything carries risk but riding is just so much more fun than anything else :D!
 
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I have ridden for 6 years and have only been kicked once (it was an accident as the horse kicked out at flies or sanother horse and I happened to get in the way). It didn't hurt at all!
I have been given a deep, purple bite, been bolted and bucked with, fallen off many times and know people who have been in serious accidents involving horses (a family friend is paralysed as a result and another was killed) but, to be honest, all you can do is be sensible and try to do all you can to keep yourself in one piece. I've never been worse than bruised, though the effect of negative experiences on your mind can be greater than that on your body.
In my opinion you can drift through life flinching from any potential danger, but when you look back what can you say about it? What will you have achieved, dared, sorted, braves and risked for anyone or anything? You can try to keep yourself safe; i.e. always wearing a hat and BP, not putting yourself in any situation you know you can't deal with etc. But you can still have loads of fun.
All you can do is try to enjoy it as much as you can, or else what is the point?

x
 
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there are plenty of ways to minimise risk. get informed beforehand, choose instructor and school carefully, progress at your own pace and don't try to rush into things you're not ready for.
for a bit of comparison, i've been riding for 25 years. i've done it professionally, i've worked rehabbing abused or 'dangerous' horses, and i've had only had one fall that actually injured me more than superficially. most of the time you falll off, you go 'oof' and you get back up again, the ones that injure you are rare.
 
I have a cob 15 and a percheron 6 - my hubby learnt to ride on little cob so we bought and backed big baby. we both fall off little old cob and only david has fallen off big baby!

Little cob has put me in hospital, old owners in hospital - oddly enough all my aches and pains with getting old are from stable jobs!!

Enjoy there are plenty of crazy horses to avoid and a few gems ...

Its a wounderful hobby but people do die - be safe and think about whats going on!
 
Like everyone says - riding is as dangerous as you make it.
In 30+ years round horses I have broken both wrists in a fluke accident I was bucked off - the school had out me on green horse (had ridden him before fine) He scared himslef clipping a trotting pole.

My worst accidents were off the horse- fell off a gate lead to major knee surgery and I tripped over my riding boot on the stairs and broke my toe!
 
I've had a fair few falls from riding school and loan horses and been injured but nothing permanent.

Since buying my own quiet cob (6 yrs old at the time but very sensible for her age) I've not had a single injury. I have had a couple of falls but nothing painful.

I think you have to accept that you will come off at some point but you can minimise the risk.
 
I have had two bad falls off horses, both put me in hospital.... but i wouldnt change it for the world.. I bounced... well, perhaps that "boucned" is the wrong word, lol back, and still ride.... nuts maybe, but deffo in love!!
 
I agree with everyone else's sentiments, really. If you think you're better than you are, you've got to accept that you're probably going to get hurt or at least run the risk of getting hurt. But then, I guess, you have to test/push yourself to become a better rider so it's kinda catch 22.

I worked with racehorses for eight years and saw some real loony tunes, believe me! :D But I only fell off once: the horse was scared by a tiny yorkshire terrier yapping and tanked off with me through a sleepy little Staffordshire village - Sunday morning, everyone going to church and there was me, ploughing through them on a bleedin' great big beast! :eek: I could hear the stable jockey shouting me but I had no control over the horse and couldn't stop him. He took the corner too quickly, I couldn't balance myself and I went out the side door, my head narrowly missing one of those old, heavy steel milk churn things. I was petrified but knew I had to get back on or I'd lose my bottle completely. I had only bumps and bruises and a massive great big cut on my shoulder blade but nothing broken - quite lucky really!

Earlier this year, I fell off a very sensible ploddy cob in a riding lesson. She is completely round and no saddles seem to fit her well. I got on, was cantering a 20m circle, then was trying to ask for extended canter down the long side when the saddle slipped and I went out the side door again. I did quite a spectacular little manoeuvre, falling off to the right, hitting the right side of my head on the fence post, twisted round then hit my left shoulder on the fence post and hit the ground, slumped over one of the railway sleepers (keeping the sand in the school).

I love it though!
 
Are ou ok Lisa?? that sounds quite a tumble!!

My last bad accident was on a ex polo pony, i was riding in the school, in canter and I too asked him to extend down the long side of the school, I momentarily forgot what he was, and he took the aid as a signal to open up.. we hit the corner too fast, and he tripped, throwing me off forwards.. i did a half turn and landed on my back, he followed, somersaulted and landed on top of me. I was lucky, I got away with a broken hip, been disabeled ever since, started riding again a year later, and had a total hip replacement 14yrs later.... and still I ride!!
 
Julz said:
Are ou ok Lisa?? that sounds quite a tumble!! QUOTE]

Yeah, I'm fine, thanks, sorry should have said that - I had a big bruise on my shoulder, a nasty headache for a few hours, a bad neck for about a week and a sore shoulder for about two weeks. I went to A&E to be checked out (best to be safe) but nothing broken or torn, just felt a little battered! Funnily enough, when I got up from my fall (and my instructor stopped swearing like a trooper!) I got straight back on and did some of the best jumping I've ever done! Weird how that happens isn't it?!:D

Sounds like a really nasty fall you had, Julz. I really admire you for getting back to it though, well done. Must have been very painful - both physically and also mentally for not being able to ride for that year? Do you still have the pony? Have you dared to do extended canter on him since?
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I think it could be easy to get a warped view from fora like this too, because people are much more likely to post when they fall off & neds get sick or lame one lame than when they stay on again and their horse is still healthy!

Yes its a risk sport, there will be the occasional broken bone or worse, and once in a blue moon someone falls off a horse and dies. But, millions of people ride every day without getting hurt, and you could get runover by a bus tomorrow and crossing the road is a lot less fun than riding :)
 
Molly, I agree. It's the same with people's phobia's about flying - millions of planes take off and land safely every day which is why it's such big news when there's a crash. I've ridden pretty much every day for the last six weeks and haven't had a fall - although a few near misses when my little madam spun me round a couple of times in the middle of the road and when she got frightened by a flock of birds flying out of a hedge! :eek:

Riding can be dangerous if you ignore your instincts, think you're better than you are/overestimate your capabilities or are just plain stooooopid but my god, it's so much fun. I would gladly (OK, maybe not gladly) fall off once a week if it meant I kept on having so much pleasure from riding and just being round my horse :)
 
I didnt own the horse, but he was sold to my friendsoon after.. I did ride him again, for the sheer hell of it, but no cantering! I saw him often after that, and we remained friends, it wasnt totally his or my fault, there wee a lot of other things involved... it was just bad timing. He died a few years later having gotten over Strangles, and it was while recuperating that something else took him. He was a really sweet guy... I'll never forget him.. He literally changed my life... LOL (and because of those events, it led me to meeting the horse I shared for 11years)
 
I really don't think it's as bad as we make it sound.

Safety equipment helps and sensible decision making. I've never had anything bad happen to me in 17 years. I've fallen off yes, but as someone else said - you go 'oof' and you get back up, few bruises for a couple of days but I've had worse falls of a bicycle to be honest.
 
Ditto Molly34! I know I tend to post when bad things happen, such as when his lordship is sick or injured, or when I've fallen off. "Good" threads come up when I have new photos, or if we achieved a particular goal, but I don't post each evening to say "Rode and had no accidents! Yay!" Although I might because it sounds cheery! :D
I've been on and around horses since I was a toddler, and whilst I am sure I had many falls as a kid, none of them were particularly serious, apart from one incident in which I was dragged by a panicking pony. In perspective, I rode nearly every week and that was one nasty fall out of ten or eleven years. In my adult years, I've had two bad falls, both from my own horse, but only one was particularly serious, only because it involved another horse and rider. In my years of horse riding, I have (*touch wood*) never broken a bone.
Serious injuries seem to be few and far between, and seem to be often as the result of a bad combination of horse and rider, or an external factor which has scared the horse. All we can do to reduce the risk is to not take any unnecessary risks, expose our horses to as many scary things under controlled situations, and take sensible steps to protect ourselves (such as wearing a hard hat and sensible boots, and always ensuring that someone either knows where you are riding, or that you have a phone on you in case of an accident).

I think I know more skiiers who have been badly injured than horse riders!
 
I have never hurt myself when i have falling off :pBut you got to remember that all horses can be spooky at some time .And some repond worst or better to different things. I know someone (my mum) who fell of a horse while out on a hack the horse went one way and my mum went the other and sadly wont ever ride again :eek: (but i wont go into what happened ) i think any sport in the world is a risk you might not hurt yourself badly playing football but might hurt yourself badly in riding or you might not i think in situations like that its how you act while your riding and in everyday life :)
 
*Sez* said:
I think I know more skiiers who have been badly injured than horse riders!
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And riders who've injured themselves worse skiing than anywhere near horses! :o

I've been riding 'properly' as an adult and skiing (annual trips + occasional dry slope visits) for about the same time.
Riding = 8 (?) falls and no serious injuries except a black eye.
Skiing = 20+ falls, 2 trips down a black run on my back, bruises on every part of my body, 1 concussion and a b*ggered knee..... :rolleyes:
 
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I do understand the sentiments made here - I snapped my tendon just by getting out the BATH for god's sake, so you can injure yourself very badly doing the most mundane things....:rolleyes:

However, - there is no getting away from it, riding IS a high risk sport. For insurance purposes it is classed with motor-racing and sky-diving for heavens sake! Putting it bluntly, you are sitting on a live animal - not a car - with a mind of its own - lets also not forget said animal is a prey animal so if scared will bolt - regardless of who is sat on his back at any given time!

I am a firm believer that you can do much to reduce the risks associated with riding by taking steps such as not over-horsing yourself, being aware of your own riding abilities and not putting yourself in overly risky situations, such as hacking out on majorly busy roads on a green horse!

I have had my horse for seven years and have fallen off him twice - both times were as a result of me being stupid and revving him up far too much - so I only have myself to blame.:o
 
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