Rude reminder of how dangerous driving can be!

[Boinky]

Well in many was i was very lucky last night. I've been driving for quite some time and have worked with all types of horses and this is a reminder that it can happen to anyone at any time! I went to hitch my ASPR pony. He's been staying at a neighbors with her large mare to keep her company because she wont stay in living alone. He's a stallion and has been being a brat for her and pretty "hot". I decided it was time to put him back to work. He has been driven off and on for the last year or two. he's still what i'd consider "green" but has never given me a problem yet. I caught him and long lined him for a bit and he seemed to be very responsive and listening well... so i took him out and hitched him up. I was going to put a kicking strap on him since i've decided i'm going to use them on ALL green horses i'm driving. better safe than sorry. Anyways the kicking strap wouldn't quite fit because it was made for a mini. I decided he seemed responsive enough to forego it.. YAH BIG MISTAKE! he walked along great while i was out of the cart so i decided to jump in. He apparently was just looking for an excuse to explode (not to mention his girlfriend was running around screaming to him and we were just about to leave her sight) . a minute or two after i got in, the cart bumped him lightly and he took off bucking and kicking like a bronc. He was kicking up over the dash and almost got me. after a few seconds he lurched forward and because i was leaning back to avoid the kicks it launched me out over backwards off the back..i apparently did a complete backflip because i scraped my knee's a bit and the only way i could have done that as to land on them...lol It really WAS a blessing in disquise. not only was he almost kicking me in the face to begin with he immediately went down over a very large embankment that he was headed for while he was bucking to get back to his girlfriend. I saw him (another reason i figured i must have back flipped..lol) and when he hit the bottom i thought he was going to summersault. I'm not sure if when he stumbled if the shafts hit and drove into the ground or what exactly happend but in the impact he snapped both shafts (which took quite a beating before breaking..lol) and then proceeded to take off galloping around then busted back into the fence with his girlfriend (at least he was safe there out of traffic ect). I took me a bit to catch him and i unharnessed him and tied him to the barn..then went to gather up harness parts and fix the fence he tore down. then i came back and picked up the harness to put back on him and he started wigging out..so of course at that point i was NOT going to not re-expose him to it.. He apparently needed it. I did end up getting him harnessed back up and long lining again. Unfortunatly i didn't have another cart to hook him right back up... guess that will be the next step.

Anyways all I came out with was a few minor scratches on my knee's from hitting the pavement when i flipped and he got a couple of good scratches on his legs but nothing at all serious. Even my harness didn't get any damage. VERY lucky! When i was growing up my mother was a stickler for me wearing a helmet at all times when i rode... now that i'm all grown up she's been nagging me for a year or two I should be wearing a helmet when driving and I have been laughing at her..but maybe it would be a good idea... at least with green horses! LOL it's a wonder i didn't crack my head when i went off backwards..LOL Dad also pointed out that having a rim around the back of the seat like many people have been requesting on our may have possibly broken my back when i flipped over (which he's probably correct). Just thought I should share for those of you who either don't know how dangerous it could be or have forgotten! It can also be such a fun thing when everything goes right... just never let your guard down and dont' "skip" steps or skip things you think you should maybe use/need!

 

[muffntuf]

I am very glad you are alright and he is not hurt much either! BUT omygosh! He sounds herd (girlfriend) sour! Please take care! But get him back on the cart soon.

 

[targetsmom]

Thanks for posting this as a reminder to all of us. Glad you didn't sustain any worse damage to you, horse, cart or harness. I always wear a riding helmet in the cart and I even wear it in the ring. At my age, I am more worried about accidents and less worried about how it looks.

 

[txminipinto]

Sorry about your accident! Wow, it sounded exciting.

That rim people have been requesting, actually, might have kept you in the cart where is where you need to be with an out of control horse. Having had severe spinal injuries from being thrown, I would doubt that flipping out of a cart backwards would break your back. It'd hurt for sure!

Glad you and your horse are ok!

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Oh, Boinky, OUCH!! I'm so glad both you and the stallion are okay and that you got him back in harness before you quit. It seems like the longer they have to sit and think about it the scarier it is for them the first time they go "back to work" after an accident.

Kick strap = goooood.

Helmet = gooooood.

I've got a question too. You said "the cart bumped him lightly;" did the basket touch his hind legs or was it the shafts or another part?

Glad no one was hurt! Accidents seem to be going around the last few days between you and ClickMini.

Leia

 

[Maxi'sMinis]

Well you have really given me an eye opener. So very glad you and the horse were not seriously hurt. I had both knees replaced this past year. I just bought a cart for my minis. I will be sure to have an enclosed area to train my horses for cart in. I can't afford an accident. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ponyarab]

Thanks for posting this as a reminder of how driving can be dangerous. I'm glad your ok and that your horse is ok also. It was probably the best thing that you went out of the cart with one that is kicking over the dashboard. I was watching Animal Planet last night and it showed a team of big horses hitched. One of the horses was a very solid driving horse the other was still somewhat green, the guy stopped the pair and then asked them to move on again and the green horse kicked up and when he did he kicked the guy in the side of the temple then when his head came down the back foot came down on his nose. The next kick the horse delivered was to the middle of the chest and what they said saved his life was that he jumped from the cart so sometimes staying in with a horse that is a bronc under cart is not always the best thing because if this guy would have stayed in they felt like he would have been killed. Thank goodness for the other horse who was very solid in driving as he prevented the other one from taking off. They said that after the incident they had to work with him for a year before he went back in cart but is now doing fantastic.

 

[Boinky]

In all honesty it was partially my fault because i usually use a cart that's a little tight fit for him because i haven't had time to make one a bit bigger for him. it was actually the circle bar that bumped his butt REALLY LIGHTLY ..LOL i thought it was the shaft length of the cart i usually drive him in which is a bit tight on him BUT it's always been ok..but i think it ended up being a shorter shafted cart..lol i had been watching it close when i was walking beside him and it didn't seem to be interefering with this legs at all..but apparently i didn't get my breeching quite tight enough because it just rolled ahead when he stopped quick just enough to bump/brush his butt and all heck broke loose..it wasn't even a BUMP that i'd call just brushed him..LOL as far as i could see the basket didn't even touch his legs at all when it all happend. I feel he really was looking for an excuse to freak though. He is that kind of pony... i'm honestly surprised this hasn't happend with him before now. I figured the first time i hitched him would be a problem but he's driven just as good as can be until this point. He's half hackney (which can say a lot..lol) and his shetland side is a bit spazzy too, I've met his sire who is a pretty hot little pony.

again it was partially my own fault i should have known better..LOL but you know how things go! I do suspect though that he'd have done it even in a cart that had longer shafts..he was just WAITING..lol

I do plan to get him in a cart as soon as i can find one to fit him. I may trailer him someplace new when i do it so that he's not in "familar" surroundings. that sometimes throws them of kilter enough so they'll focus on what they are doing..plus he wont be able to hear, see or get to his girlfriend!

I know better than to leave them after something like that..if i'd had a cart i'd have put it right back on him as soon as the dust had settled and i was long lining him again. if it hadn't been almost dark i'd have dragged a bunch of junk (like tires and stuff) to see what he'd do.... next best thing to a cart! but i didn't have all the stuff together to do it with and it was getting dark. I think just getting the harness back on him and long lining him left his mind in a better state though! He'd have been a mess if i'd just left him and didn't get the harness back on and long line him.

 

[hairicane]

Whew! So glad u are ok. And your bad boy too. I have been in several minor wrecks so far. I say minor because we alllived and were not hurt bad. But they are all scary.

 

[Boinky]

yeah! well i was telling my mom that it's probably a good thing i FELL off..because quite frankly sometimes in situations (even on horseback) you just dont' WANT to jump off..your body is telling you NO DON'T DO IT even though it may be the best. I was always taught you NEVER jump off.. lol.. and if you jump off a moving cart your horse is more likley to get hurt if your not "guiding it" even if it's in a panick and you can't STOP it you can often at least guide it some! i probably would have tried to stick with him... it all happens so fast..i'm not sure i even gave a thought to the big bank coming at us fast!!! I do feel i could have very easily had my face reconstructed by him though..his heels were THAT close....and being a bigger pony (than the minis) he's darned powerful... heck mini's are pretty powerful when they are really meaning to kick.

 

[whitney]

Can someone post pictures of a kick strap and how it is attached? I like to use EVERY safety feature know to man.

THANK YOU!

 

[Boinky]

a kick strap is just a strap..it actually looks like a wrap strap that goes under the belly. you wrap it around the shaft on one side then up over the rump (i put mine under the crupper strap as mine has no holes in it for breeching holders and it typically slides down by the tail but still works very effectivly). it basically keeps the horse's hind end from coming up off the ground so he can't get his feet up high enough to kick up and back.

 

[Charley]

I am so glad that you and your horse are ok.

Thanks for sharing this experience. We all need to be aware of things like this.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Thanks for the wake up call, even those of us who should know better forget or just plan get careless. Hopefully your story

(glad everyone is alright) will remind us to be careful and not cut corners. You may have saved someone else an even worse wreck by posting this.

 

[susanne]

Thank goodness you're both okay...on first read, your accident was bad enough, then I caught that you were on hard pavement -- YIKES!!

I second the motion about always wearing a helmet -- just like the safety bar in your shower, use it so that you don't NEED to use it!

 

[Sue_C.]

Holy smokes Hilary!!! Glad to hear you made it with only a few scrapes and scrathes...and him too...how lucky was that!?!

Perhaps you should have kept the cart I bought.

NOT!

{{{{Hugs}}}}

 

[Boinky]

LOL sue..well i've been joking with everyone for a couple years now when i hook up "questionable" horses that "geesh if i break it i can just make a new one"..LOL guess it's time to make a new one! LOL

Yeah..pavement.... not so pleasant when you fall or whatnot! lol back when i was in my teens i fell off my big mare. I was trotting down the soft sand shoulder of the road and she tripped when she did of course her head went down to catch herself and it yanked me right over her head. I apparently fell on my head.. my helmet was seriously road rashed. It was one of the heavy duty old style before the lighter "troxels" and such came out. I"m sure that my head would have been a MESS if not brain injury. anyways the helmet slid down and smacked my nose and broke that pretty badly..had to have surgery to fix that. my hands were SOOO roadrashed over my knuckles..every last one of them! I got back on and rode home..by the time i got home mom had to PRY my hands off the reins because they were frozen that way! lol i couldn't use my hands for a couple weeks because it was so bad..still have scaring from it.. lol i've always dreaded roadrash ever since! OUCH is all i can say.

 

[ruffian]

OK I'm going to kick into "Mom" mode

First, you are incredibly lucky to be alive! At an event at our fairground this weekend, a man fell out of a GOLF CART that was slowly making a turn and was killed. They kept him on life support for 24 hours so family could come and say good bye. Leaves a wife and kids.

Now for the mommy part!

Yep, definitely a helmet.

next, while it's always tempting to "make something fit" in this case the results were disastrous. In your words, the cart was a little tight, the breeching was a little snug. It may have been this that started the issues.

Then - since he was "green" and hasn't been driven for a while, and had been running with a mare, there absolutely should have been someone there to lend a hand.

I'm not sure how the cart would have "Brushed" his back end, but I'd bet it was more than a brush, especially with you in the cart. I've seen other horses, well broke, who went ballistic when a badly fit cart/harness caused it to bump them. One lady was thrown from her cart in this very same instance at a show because she had a new cart and harness and they didnt' fit. Instead of waiting, she decided to Make Do and had similar results.

OK - Off my mommy box, but with so many newbies and youth reading this forum, I'd rather get flamed for picking on someone that having to have another thread about someone losing their life.

Sorry - no LOL here!

 

[Boinky]

Yep that's exactly why i posted this.. that's what happens when your in a rush and "push" things a bit. That's why i really push the "get a trainer or knowlegeable person" to help you theme! I've been doing this a long time and it just goes to show it can happen to anyone.. even if everything had been "right" with cart and harness i still feel this probably would have happend just with his attitude just before all heck broke loose. just didnt' help matters at all. I did actually have a helper for once. she wasn't actually leading the horse but usually 98% of my training involves me, myself and I... no one else around to help. A few people i could get to help occationally but since horses need to get trained and worked daily i've just gotta do it!

I refuse to live my life in fear of dying though. Pain does suck and i pray i never get laid up from something..... If it's meant to happen it will though. As in the case of the guy falling out of the golf cart..who would have thought? If it was going slow ect THEORETICALLY no one should have gotten hurt... I'm sure people survive way worse every day... it's just a freak of nature.. Life happens unfortunately. I always joke that I'll probably fall down the stairs and die after all the dangerous stuff i've done throughout my life. I ride Event horses and most people would call me nuts for the jumps I've jumped and the cross country courses i've done. i've backed babies and retrained problem horses... I've white water kayaked, downhill skied, scuba dived and a few other sports classified as high risk my whole life and it will probably be something STUPIDLY simple that does me in (such as falling down the stairs or something).

 

[Kathy2m]

Can someone post pictures of a kick strap and how it is attached? I like to use EVERY safety feature know to man.

THANK YOU!

I have a kickstrap I got from Iowa Valley Carriage, very reasonable price. Bob Giles showed me how to put it on, he likes it to go through the rings on the breeching and then to the shafts. He said it works better that way.

I'm glad your O.K., and I just received my protective vest from ebay yesterday maybe that will be part of my regular driving equipment even when at home. Kathy