I had a scary moment yesterday riding Tanner (4yr old Quarter Horse). We were doing fine until at one point, while we were slow cantering, at about 12mph, when he tripped with his front feet. This is where it gets scary. Normally this is not a big deal at slower gaits and the trip is minor but, this was at a faster speed and he tripped bad. I thought for sure we were both going to go ass over teakettle with him breaking a leg and me landing in front of him and then him crashing down on top of me. This is how jockeys get severely hurt or killed and horses dying from broken legs while racing The only difference is they are going a lot faster. It took Tanner 30ft to valiantly recover from the trip without going down. I was able to stay tight in the middle of the saddle and not hinder him. I have never had a horse go to such heroic efforts to stay upright. In the end, he made it OK, and acted like nothing happened and walked it off to continue his lesson. Needless to say, I got an adrenaline rush off the charts and he got an extra helping of hay and grain. Happy but really scary ending for all.
OHH! That could have been bad.. Sounds like a situation that could go both ways.. Im glad it went the good way.. Say Hi to the heroic horse from me..
It is scary. The worst thing you can do in something like this is to interfere with the horse trying to save itself from going down. That means sit perfectly still as you can so you don't weight shift them and put slack in your reins so you don't pull on their head and pray to Saint George, patron saint of horse riders. It's one of those deals where you might need to change your underwear when it's over.
A carrot for Tanner and 3 fingers of something for you! I had a bad scare with a pack string in Colorado a few (well more than a few) years ago. It sure gets your motor going.I'm glad it worked out OK.
That is why I prefer mules. They seldom trip. Knew a guy that was thrown, horse was spooked by a train. Cracked his skull and he died two days later. Ya got to be careful when riding and have some luck also. Looks dorky, and I don't do it myself, but we should wear helmets when riding almost anything.
Ya, if I was going to do a lot of trail riding, I'd opt for a mule. You have to treat them a little differently than a horse though. They don't like to be bossed around. Kind of like a wife. Glad the pack string ordeal you had Jim turned out OK. If, I'm showing English or practice jumping then I use a helmet. I know I should use one whether I'm doing Western, English or whatever but, they are so hot. I'm more worried about my back, shoulder or hip. 225 lbs of s*** hitting the ground tends to leave a dent in the ground and damage to body parts.
