got kicked?

Question

i was laying on my back on this horse that ive been training and i was there for about 5 minutes and all of a sudden she started bucking. i flipped off backwards and while i was in the air, i got kicked on the underside of my left arm and on the side of my left hip. 2 days later, there's a perfect imprint of the hoof on my arm and a cut and bruise on my hip. ive never been kicked before and for the first time in 10 years i'm kinda reluctant to go out to the barn and work even my own horse (because of nerves and soreness). should i take a couple days off or is it important to go back right away so the problem doesn't get worse?

i know the horse didn't mean it. she was a rescue horse and was real jittery about everything a couple months ago when i first started working with her, and i worked with her about everyday and just recently she started coming up to me during her freetime in the arena and standing by me and letting me swing the lounge rope around her and stuff, so i know we've got this trust thing going. i think i just trusted her too soon to be like my own horse (i dangle off her neck, slide off her butt, sit by her feet and lean against her legs, run under her belly, etc.) and i guess i learned the hard way. im not really nervous about her or my own horse, its just, i think i remembered how powerful they are.

she's about 7. the only history we know about her is that she was one of those...i cant remember the name but they kept her in a really tight space and bred her to use the hormone in her urine. and she was on her way to slaughter before some woman rescued her and kept her in a tight space for about 3 years. and the past couple of months has been the only time shes had to learn how to trust and relax and gallop and stuff.
she's actually extremely bomb-proof. she walks slow on the lead rope but can trot next to a car. however, she's really whip-shy and jumps when i toss the reins to readjust (i like bridge-reins and occasionally have to toss them to tighten them), but ive been working consistently with her and shes becoming really tolerant of them. im convinced she was just wasn't used to having someone lay on her.
im considering buying her from the owner whos leaving on the first.

also, right afterwords, i went and stood in the shade while my friend held her, and i waited until i wasn't so dizzy anymore, and i got back on and did a couple circles of trot and then got off because i wasn't sure if i was concussed or not. so i DID get back on.

Answer 1

Well, it sounds like you learned a valuable lesson, and I am glad you weren't hurt worse. Getting in a scrape with a horse un-nerves all of us. From the sounds of things you were engaging in unsafe behavior - it was not something you expected from the horse, obvouisly, or you would have been more on guard. You never can tell when a horse will come unglued - may have been stung by a bee or a kitten came around the edge of the barn chasing a mouse - who knows. Something triggered her "escape from the saber-toothed tiger response" and you were in a compromised position. I doubt if she will hold it against you. I am not a psychiatrist, but it never hurts to take a day off if you are sore. Use the time to watch training videos - you probably have a few old favorites lying around - or read up on some horse aspect that interests you. If you have videos of yourself riding, watch them. If you are training a horse, you have proabably had some successes. Celebrate them, and try to remember that every time we break a safety rule, which all horsemen do every day, we put ourselves statistically closer to the time it bites us back. My feelings are to head back down to the barn and do some housekeeping and tidying in the feed or tack room. Get an old favorite up out of the pasture and give them a bath or good grooming. Clean up tack and check for wear. If you find anything weak, head to town to pick up what you need to fix it. When you are ready to get back in the saddle, ride a few others before you get back on the mare that blew. I'd about bet it was nothing you did that cause the bucking. Do a few days of ground work with her, a refresher course which won't hurt either of you. Then get on walk around a bit and get off. If this does not set you back to right, slow down and go back to the point where you started getting uncomfortable and gradually push yoursefl past it a bit at a time. I know "the old school" says get back up there and get over it, but the old school has been proven wrong a lot in modern days. Good luck, and we are all cheering for you to get back in the saddle, but all in due time!

Answer 2

There is a big difference between training a horse to not do something, and having a horse react to the environment and you getting damaged.

If the horse appeared agitated before the bucking by you being on his back, you should keep riding it to get it past the notion of thinking he can 'escape' being ridden. However, it sounds like this horse was already accustomed to being rode, so more than likely something spooked it. At that point, you falling off was a side effect of the horse trying to defend/run away. Only when the horse makes a correlation between its action and your reaction does it become a problem as far as training. Possibly, it was a bee sting or something like that, that took the horse by utter surprise and hurt (they get really riled by stings; I had a horse, 15 years kid-broke, threw a kid because it got stung on the nose).

Let yourself heal, so you can continue with training at full health. It's a hard lesson, but in this case, the horse was probably not trying to teach it to you. Just be cautious the first couple of times you are riding it that there are not any excitable things in the environment (dogs, other horses, etc) that might get it nervous. Watch the ears, and keep the riding light until you feel up for more.

Answer 3

My specialty as a trainer was helping people with confidence issues after injuries. I do not always agree with the get back on right away theory. If you are hurt, get well first. Physically feeling better can help confidence rather than being in pain and remembering the experience that got you in that pain. Work with the horse on the ground first. Re-instilling confidence thru control is always best. I would avoid laying on the horses back as you did that's for sure. I have a rescue that I would never take those types of liberties with. He is just too explosive. Horse only react to stimulus, either fear, pain, whatever. They don't think in terms of "if I do this, I will not have to do this" My rescue bucked you off when he thought he was going to get beaten. Simple as that. It didn't matter that I'd never laid a hand on him since I got him. The behavior was well ingrained...make a mistake, get beaten. This turned into, oh, oh...I think I made a mistake, here it comes, get the rider off so I can escape...nothing personal..it just was what it was. Once you are feeling better, then get back on the horse with someone there with you. Take a nice walk around the arena or do simple things that you know the horse is comfortable with. The horse doesn't really have any lasting impression of that one time. She just reacted, you came off. Like I said...nothing personal. If you go back and work as always, she'll work as always. Your confidence will return quickly I suspect if you don't push it.

Answer 4

If there is nobody else willing to take care of the horse until you get back on your feet, then, even though you might not want to, you HAVE to get your behind out there and take care of that horse. A good riding instructor of mine once told me "Every great rider has a great fall". Also, it is an old horseman's adage that "If you fall off a horse, and don't get back on right away, you never will". I'm rooting for you to get out there, and try it again. After you're feeling better, I would say, try to figure out what may have happened to make her spook like that. If she's at the point where she follows you around, then she more than likely didn't do it out of spite, unless she's in heat. Maybe a plastic shopping bag flew by in the wind, or a coyote or other animal went past the paddock and scared her.

Answer 5

Be sure that you are OK physically before you try going back out to work. If you are spooked about going back out, it is just your common sense in disguise telling you that this place is dangerous....But life is dangerous. I have been kicked twice in over 25 years of working with horses. I am always a little more wary about going back afterwards, but this is similiar to someone who just fell of their bike....They ride all textbooky perfect until their nerves calm down.
As for your accident, welcome to the wonderful world of equines who can revert back to their state of wild immediatley. Todays problems becomes tommorrows funny stories. Take a picture of your arm for the scrapbbok, know that you 'll probably be "on guard" the first few days back at the barn, and go on with life. However, if you are still nervous to the point of freezing up or the nervousness lasts more that the next few visits....Get a trainer, explain what happened and tell them you have lost your nerve and get that person out there to help you.

Best wishes

Answer 6

It is never fun getting kicked!!!!!!!

For the nerves portion, I would not take time off. One that works with horses as a profession, needs to get over that nervousness right away!
For the soreness portion, I would not stay away from the barn. At least go and spend time with the horses and as soon as you are physically up to it, get back on the one that bucked and work with her again.

I use to work for a horse carriage company and one particular horse would turn her butt at the guys if they entered her stall and she would attempt to kick them. Well one guy said no way! He went all the way into her stall and started catching her on a daily basis. She eventuallly stopped turnning her rear to him to kick and started greeting him at the gate instead.
Out of all of the different horses and people that I have worked with, I have noticed that the one's that show nervousness have a tougher time than the one's that do not show neverousness. Therefore, get back out there with your confidence!

Answer 7

I shouldn't try and do to much until you are sure that the damage has healed, there's no point in trying to be a hero here, that's how you get hurt again. BUT you shouldn't stay away either, with you own horse who you trust, just go talk to her and play with her, groom her if you're not to sure. The other one, I would want to have somebody around while I was talking to her, just in case, or I would have her in her stable and be talking to her over the door. I do think it's important to be out there, the longer you stay away, the bigger problems can become in your mind, but don't put yourself in the position that you have to react quickly physically, or you could damage yourself more.

Answer 8

Go back and work with your horses after you feel better. I've been been kicked lots of times by our horse Ginger and other other horses as well. I have a question for you how old is the horse? Also it's posible that you or something spooked the horse. While it does hurt to get kicked I always go back and pet them.

Answer 9

I have never got kicked but i almost went rodeoing. My mother tells me to get back up and try again. I would not lay on the horse but if it is broke work with the horse. if it bites you while you are working with it you have three seconds to make the horse think its going to die. But all in all try again just dont lay on the horse again. Never give up on a horse other wise it could get worse. Good luck!

Answer 10

i don't want to be mean, but considering that you were not really exercising a ton of horse sense when this episode happened, it was kind of your fault that you got kicked. Its not a big deal, the cuts and bruises and hoof imprints will all go away, trust me. Because you did get shaken, you need to work at your own pace to get your confidence back, but you need to keep in mind that this horse didn't do this out of spite and didn't mean to hurt you. Maybe this episode will remind you to keep more tuned in to this horse when you are on his/her back