Pony bolted :'( daughter in hospital

[LoobyLou2709]

Ok, I'm sat here stressed as hell wondering where I go from here and after some advise! .. please be kind as I'm feeling terrible, helpless, guilty and sick in my stomach of what could have happened!
Brief back story!.. new pony purchased October for my 10 year old daughter, pony ticked all the boxes a proper first ridden, safe as houses, had references, loads of videos of pony ridden by very novice girls, viewed twice, had 5 stage vetting, he wasn't cheap! I'm experienced but admit I've been out of the buying market for a while! my daughter is a polite neat little rider and is keen but not brave, so stressed it had to be a very safe more woah than go type etc, we have been gradually getting to know him over the last 3 months, and apart from a few annoying things that we have managed to deal with, he's been ok. today riding in the field, (was told he's amazing in open spaces, saw videos etc) he full on bolted with her, flat out there was not a hope in hell he was going to slow down or stop! It was like a switch went off in his head, My daughter managed to stay on (I don't know how!) and he came back to a walk, I then walked slowly over to him and he fuc*ed off again before I got there, sending my daughter flying in to a post and rail fence and landing on her head knocking her unconscious for a few seconds. 6 hours, lots of bruising and a CT scan later they are keeping her in hospital for obs, I'm distraught, I feel likes it's my fault and kicking myself thinking what I could have done to prevent it happening, I feel physically sick to think how much worse it could have been. I don't know what I'm asking really, just wanted to vent, my first thing is to get his teeth and back etc checked to rule out pain but I honestly don't think I'm going to let my daughter get back on him, would you contact the previous owner? I know she'll just deny it happed with them, I'm just feeling numb and helpless right now :'(

Whether I have children or not is totally irrelevant.

but it explains yours and PP post very very very clearly.

ie look at this completely logically and rationally OP. Your DD is engaging in a higher than average injury occurring sports, so you should be philosophical about this.

Whereas those of us with children - well, would never bloom post this mansplaining kind of “logical” post.

Nothing do with children or "mansplaining" just logic.

Yes, it's horrible when the horse spooks and your child falls off and nobody is saying it isn't - but it is one of the risks of horse riding and it's why lots of people don't allow their children to participate.

I'm not being unsympathetic- just trying to get across that you can do absolutely everything "right" and still end up injured on the floor.

I don't think it's that dangerous. Mine have had worse injuries from playing football and they've been riding at home since they were tiny. We've had several ponies over the years and none of them have bolted or reared. The odd buck and spook yes. They have very well fitted hats and body protectors, and air jackets for cross country.

Yes…. The “logic”

as I say, you don’t have children. Logic and this scenario really isn’t relevant.

had the op been asking whether her child should start horse riding or not, then yes… your post would be relevant.

but the op is posting after her child sustained injury and was beside herself. So “logic” doesn’t really have any place

And I dispute your “logic” anyway! 😂

@Whatislove82 you don't know whether I have children or not as I haven't said either way. You're just making assumptions to back up your argument.

And logic does have a place - to calm her down and to reassure her that what happened to her daughter isn't necessarily down to anything she/they did wrong.

Even the safest, ploddiest, calmest horse can have a "moment" and behave irrationally - it's not necessarily the fault of the rider or the instructor - it's just one of those things.

In other words, it's one of those things - yes it's scary and horrible and nobody is saying otherwise, but it's a risk you take working with animals. Even the best riders fall off occasionally.

Horseriding is dangerous. I hope she makes a speedy recovery

Even the safest, ploddiest, calmest horse can have a "moment" and behave irrationally

Most of them don't actually. I think you are minimising a bit.

I never said they all do it - just that it's always a possibility.

No matter how safe you think your horse is, they can have undiagnosed pain and react irrationally as a result. Often the first sign of an issue is the rider ending up on the floor after being bucked off.

Animals aren't bomb-proof. Even working horses can react and bolt off - I believe it happened to a police horse not long ago.

No matter how safe you think your horse is, they can have undiagnosed pain and react irrationally as a result. Often the first sign of an issue is the rider ending up on the floor after being bucked off

Well yes, but if you thought like this you'd probably never go near a horse again, or your lack of confidence would transfer to the horse and then you might end up in difficulty. Most well behaved horses don't randomly buck their riders off.

Of course they generally don't do it - but the point is they can and it's a risk you take every time you choose to get on.

Most of us think the benefits of riding outweigh the risks - which is why we keep doing it, but the risks are still there and very much real.

When I fell, my instructor was right there next to me. I did nothing wrong, my horse just lost his footing and couldn't right himself afterwards. He was a calm, steady riding school horse - the kind that can be trusted with toddlers on his back, but he still managed to fall and roll me off.

It hasn't put me off and I still ride him but I don't pretend it's not a risk.

We have had my sons pony 18 months and will be looking to sell/loan him soon as my son has shot up in height. Kids grow quickly

I'd say as this is out of character for him definitely get a full vet check, tack check and physio. Then if al is fine I'd get someone more experienced like an older kid or small adult to ride the pony for a while to see what he does. That's if your daughter wanted to ride him again. Fingers crossed it's just a one off but you just can't be too careful. Hope your daughter is ok.

You don’t. No way would someone post this in this scenario if they did

I am pretty sure the OP knows that horses are big animals that can cause Injury

But you wanted to make sure that she really was aware that horses are big and powerful

Horses don't randomly fall down either. If they trip, then usually a good rider will sit it.

Horses don't randomly fall down either. If they trip, then usually a good rider will sit it.

The key word being usually. I couldn't sit it because he'd fallen at such an angle that he couldn't right himself with me still on him so we both ended up on the floor!

Well yes - to try and reassure her that it probably wasn't her fault 🤷🏻‍♀️

Usually I walk without tripping

very very rarely, I trip over something

I hope your daughter is ok. I agree all the checks are sensible. If he's funny or fussy with his head/bridle I'd maybe start with his teeth/head. You never know. My horse had his wolf teeth out in Ireland. Turns out the root was still in there 12 months later!! My vet missed it despite doing his teeth under sedation. Equine Dentist managed to flick it out!!! 🤯😱 Perhaps if it is teeth your daughter pulled rein, caught a tooth and that set him off.
You've had him 4 months, he seems like a nice chap. He's been good otherwise. Previous home as far as you know were fond of him. Perhaps give him the benefit of the doubt. My cob is an absolute sweetheart..... unless he's in pain and then he's an utter twat. At least he tells me loud and clear something is wrong.🙄🙄🙄
Is there also a chance something stung him or frightened him?? The fact he was on high alert after he bolted suggests he was quite upset so to me makes me think either fright or a sudden intense pain. Most fat ponies would just get on with stuffing their face. It sounds like a big field with hedges, badger? Wasp nest?
Hope you get to the bottom of it.

Poor you and poor dd.

I would suspect (once pain been checked out) that he is feeling the grass. We've had a funny old winter and apart from the odd cold snap, fairly mild. The grass is still definitely growing here and it's spring grass. I've had to put muzzles on both of mine. My mare is as steady as they come, and she has spooked a couple of times at things she would not normally even acknowledge. She only ever does that after spring grass! And the rest of the horses on the yard are being knobs as well.

Plus if he's gone from a keen jumping home to a leisure twice a week type home he's probably feeling a bit energetic. I also would definitely have stuff checked, he might have lost a bit of muscle through his back and his saddle might be pinching. The fact he 'bolted' twice suggests it wasn't a true bolt, more a whoo I fancy a whizz or ouchy that's a bit sore type of thing. Don't underestimate how fit a little jumping pony will have been.

I'd lunge his arse off a few days a week in-between riding, keep him honest. Set some jumps up and pop him over them on the lunge/free school as well. And see if you can get an older jock on him to assess.

Hugs to both of you, bolts are awful.
Lots of good advice here, I would also recommend your dd learns to do an emergency stop should this happen again (with any horse).
Ive ridden for 30 years and only just been taught how to do them after a couple of horrible bolts and it’s helped a lot xx

Hi! I know this post is older but im
wondering if there is an update from the OP? I am in a similar position after 2 horrid bolts (one at a show out of the arena). I have had everything checked, saddle, teeth, physio. Think she might need work on her poll so chiro coming out, but even after any pain sorted, im
not sure my daughter will be confident to get on her again and I’m wondering if yours did. Our pony is 14.1 so not tiny.