Some rather painful lessons learned - please read and don't make the same mistake!

Bronya

New Member
Jan 17, 2006
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NEVER
- ride a horse in an English Hackamore that just might, even if it is unlikely, buck.
- assume that you don't need personal accident insurance just because in 20+ years you never have - when you need it, you'll regret not having it.
- let yourself run out of deep heat/ralgex or painkillers. When you really need them, there won't be any there!

So, what happened? I rode little miss donkey around the field. Fine. She's been out loads of times round that field led, and has been out ridden quite happily, in a halter and the hackamore - not a sign of a buck, beautiful behaviour. So there was me pootling along. We opened the gate, wandered through, negotiated the second gate, and wandered around the field. It was a little windy but nothing too alarming.

As we headed for home, she bunched up a little, so I loosened the rein and asked her to walk on. She walked on nicely, and I relaxed just a little. Suddenly, whoosh, head on floor, proper bronco bucks - her head was nowhere in sight, all feet together. I think I stayed on for four, and remember being quite impressed at that, before losing my balance and bailing out over her right shoulder. I shot off slightly in front of her with the force of the buck, and she cantered past me, kicking me in the mouth as she went.

So I am now minus half a front tooth, my hip is absolutely killing me, and one little madam went to bed without her tea. I was not inclined to make it after that!

Tomorrow, the little **** can have the pelham in if that's how she's going to behave, and I'll be off to the tack shop to discuss other options (am wondering about a 3 ring gag to get that head up). I know she is prone to occasionally bucking when over excited (cross country, sponsored rides, jumping in the school) but not out on a hack, walking!

It was probably at least partly because she's desperate to be cantering about the place again, and I have not let her go faster than a walk. She quite blatantly wanted mummy off so she could have a good canter and she knew I wouldn't let her. For a little while, 'till she's fit enough again to be able to let off that energy in a controlled manner, methinks we'll up the bit just a little for safety's sake!

ETA: The damage, which will cost me ££££!!
 
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Thanks SJ wanabe, seriously wishing I'd decided not to bother riding today!!
 
Oh my gosh.
How awful:(
I really do hope you feel better soon. Does your tooth hurt at all? I broke my tooth off after falling on kitchen tiles, it had to be filled to make it look more toothlike, I had to have a root filling and Im now sporting a temporary cap. Im under 16 so of course had all that free on the NHS, but I can see that costing you a bomb, private OR NHS. Oh dear.
And with your hip causing sever pain, it looks like a tack shop trip, dentist trip AND a hospital trip.
Best wishes,
 
OUCH!!!

hope your ok, thats sounds like an awful experience (i avoid fields at all costs from fear of something like that!!)

how about getting a daisy rein?

amz x
 
ouch hope you feel better soon my tooth looked like that after i got a golf ball to the moth last july
 
Sorry to hear about your problms. Hope you're feeling better soon.
I used to ride my Tb x Hanovarian round Hyde Park in an English Hackamore and had no trouble whatsoever. She had previously been ridden in a Pelham. She was a very strong horse but seemed to respond to this. I think like all pieces of 'control tack' they suit some and not others.​
 
:eek: Iccccck!!!!!:eek:

Stop it with the broken teeth chat!!!! You are giving me the hee-bee-gee-bees!!! (I have a paranoid fear of doing some such damage!!)

Seriously, hope you're feeling better soon though. (No more pics, please!!:p )
 
hope you feel better soon, I ride Amber in an english hackamore and she has bucked a couple of times but never puts her head down - half hearted lazy mareish bucks if you get what I mean!

However, I know exactly what its like to get kicked in the face so big hugs for your pain (((())))

Plenty of rock salt in your bath should help too!
 
Eeeeek! Don't envy you the dentist bill.......hope you're ok, and confidence not too dented! Sorry, no helpful suggestions tho........ Sending healing vibes........
 
I ride my horse in a Hackamore and there was a time I went riding with some other horses at my yard, it was a long time since we'd been out so she was a bit strong. However, we went really far and I thought she mustn't have any energy left so we thought 'lets have one last canter'. We let my sister go first and her just galloped off with her ( luckly she stayed on and you have to stop at end as you come to a gate). Any way I decided to go next and because Willow had seen Lisa run off she decided to buck with me from one end of the field to the other :eek: I droped one rien which I thought would be worse but she didn't have a bit to lean on so she couldn't put in really big bucks ( shes not strong enough!) I managed to make it to the end still on her but I wouldn't have stopped if we hadn't reached the gate. To make it worse I turned around to see my two friends just cantering really steadily, being little angels and the people just laughing!
I'm glad I didn't come off as I think I'd end up with injuries like yours ( though not as bad as shes small) but I hope your horse learns to behave itself and I hope you get better soon. It wierd how these sudden bucking fits come from nowhere .................... Vez xx
 
Ouch!! If i was you id probably not ride tomorrow, and give yourself a day of rest. Also time to cool down...i find if i ride the day after an accident im still angry and tense which passes to the horse

Hope you find a solution soon :)
 
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