August 28th I fell for the first time while cantering and broke my ankle also had a minor concussion (was wearing a helmet) the thing that still bothers me to this day is I can’t remember the fall! I remember just starting to canter and then waking up winded on the ground halfway down the field with a throbbing ankle and my boot off. It bothers me since I still don’t know WHY I fell. Anyone else have a fall they can’t remember?
Yup. I don’t remember any falls that I’ve had a concussion.
Yep, one minute I was cantering into a grid and then I was waking up in the shower trying to dig mud out of my ear. (I was maybe 13 or 14-ish)
According to my mom a dog chased a cat under the fence right into the grid line, my horse spooked (who can blame him?) took a flying leap over the 2nd jump, stumbled and ended up having a rotational fall onto the next jump with me right under him. there may have been a rock paper scissors game on if I was dead and who had to check (not really but I can totally see that happening) 
Knocked my bean pretty loose, whiplash, concussion and to this day my head sits just a fraction of a degree crooked.
It totally freaked out my last chiropractor.
And that is why I will never get on a horse without a helmet. :winkgrin:
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Yes, I had a fall where I was also dragged by my left food. My helmet was FLAT on the left side.
I lost that entire day as well as the day before and after. Still don’t remember any of it at all. It does bother me that I don’t know why/how it happened.
However, I think it may be a blessing. If I did remember I'm SURE I would have had issues with being afraid to get back on.
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I did not have a concussion, I did get knocked out, I was wearing a helmet, but I can’t remember either sailing through the air or the impact of the fall itself. I know what happened before (right pully rein got caught up in his endless mane, had to let go and pully rein into the rail for a dead stop that I knew I wouldn’t be able to sit through — it all happened so fast)— and what happened when I woke up - and it had to be at least a minute or two of being out cold, since I woke to someone standing above me that would have had to run across a large area to get to me. I assumed it was the body protecting me in route to a big hurt. Weird thing… people asking me if I got knocked out when I woke up and I said “I don’t know.” I had to think about it and then rationalize that there had to be a space of time where I was unconscious. Perhaps the knockout removed the few seconds of memory before and after I hit the ground?
Yes. The fall of my first year at university must have been pretty epic, because I can’t remember it at all…
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Yup, me too, many MANY years ago - took my prelim horse to a local circuit show to do a couple of jumper classes.
I remember asking a friend at the ingate to grab my polo wraps, next thing I looked to my right and saw the sign at the entrance to our local hospital.
I know what happened, (because friends said the horse threw an enormous random buck about half way through the course and I landed head first) (sorry no video!) but I have no memory of it. I was seemingly awake after only a few moments -walking and talking. No memory of that, either! One friend is an RN and she loaded me in her car and took me to the ER. No obvious lasting effects, was back at work Monday. I lost about 30 min., used to bother me, but now, eh.
Yes, came of a really big spook and bolt, did have a concussion but only knew the sequence of events because other were in the arena and could tel me what happened
@Tyrus’ Mom loss of consciousness and amnesia are symptoms of concussion. Are you sure you didn’t have a concussion?
I had a fall once that I don’t remember (and nobody witnessed it, unfortunately). My helmet was hardly scratched, but I had a pretty severe concussion, and can’t really remember the ride or anything that happened for about 24hrs afterward. Sometimes head trauma doesn’t seem as significant at the time as it turns out to be…
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Now I wonder if anybody’s had a concussion and actually does remember it.
I took a dive late this past summer and am told that I didn’t lose consciousness, but bits of the ride are only recently coming back and I may have one tiny snippet of things going badly, badly wrong while still on the horse, but for the actual fall and afterwords I got nothing. Bits have been coming back and I hope I get more, but who’s to say?
I also had zero short-term memory on the way to the ER and after my arrival, which led to conversations like “Do you know where you are or what happened?” “Well, your badge says Beverly Hospital and I’m wearing breeches and covered with mud, so I’m going to go with ‘I was riding a horse over in South Hamilton and it didn’t go well.’” Apparently the wiseass part of my brain still worked.
I can remember not remembering things, too, and trying to manage around it. Brains are weird and interesting. I do not however wish to repeat this field experiment.
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I went to the hospital that afternoon for a CT scan and they said everything was fine, so I assume I didn’t. I did have a cracked shoulder bone though, banged up my previously broken ankle enough so I had to use crutches for the first day and some really lovely sinus headaches for a few days. I felt very lucky that’s all it was.
I had a bad fall with no helmet (the very last time I ever rode without a helmet–I don’t know why it took a catastrophe for me to wise up). I remember starting to come off, and had flashbacks of my horse’s spots traveling past my eyes at great speed (he was an Appy cross). Then the next thing I remember is sitting up, and the horse is nowhere in sight. The worst of it was the next day. I gave a talk to about a hundred people, and have no memory of doing so. I asked my team mate when she thought my turn would come, and she said “Honey, you already did yours.” That scared me, because it was over 24 hours after the fall.
The next time that horse and I abruptly parted company, I was wearing a helmet and had no concussion, never blacked out, and had no holes in my memory. Instead, I dislocated my shoulder. I prefer just about any other injury to a head injury.
What really made me doubt my sanity on the bad helmet decision up until that bad fall, is that I never, ever get on my bike without a helmet–not then and not now. I realized that I was taking a far greater risk on a horse–falling from a height, at greater speed, and being on a creature that thinks for itself and might make a decision that is not beneficial to my health. I don’t know why that was such a hard concept for me, at least until it got literally pounded into my head.
I know my avatar picture has me driving my Hackney without a helmet, but that was just for the photos my daughter took that day. I wore a helmet driving.
Rebecca
44 years ago I came off a 3yo when he bucked off-balance at the canter. One minute we’re taking off at canter, the next I’m off and on the ground. I remember being driven to my friend’s house (a doctor) and then I don’t remember much else till the next day. To this day I have neck problems and when I saw a chiropractor years later he thought I’d been in a really bad car wreck.
About 20 years ago I was leading my horse out of his stall into the yard and the next thing I knew I was lying on the ground halfway under him. Witnesses said he spooked. I landed on my side apparently and all these years later that hip still bothers me sometime.
My neck’s been X-rayed a couple of times but never that hip. Oh, well. I can still walk!
Ouch! That sounds painful.
I though CT was used to rule out more serious TBI (or bleeding, swelling that could lead to more serious damage) and doesn’t usually show anything abnormal with a “garden variety” concussion … loss of memory and headaches for a few days sounds a whole lot like a mild concussion, based on my experiences (which are unfortunately not limited to my one riding-related concussion, thanks to an interest in other helmet-required activities)! Glad it all ended up ok!
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I also fell off my horse on Aug.28th at the canter and have a concussion. I remember my fall though and I wish I didn’t as it is definitely impacting my mental state while riding…I think it’s a good thing in some ways if you can’t remember.
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I had a pile of health account spending money I needed to get rid of one year (change in plans - use it or lose it). so I went to this super highly regarded sports therapy chiropractor who worked on several pro football players as well as the state college team. We did the whole xray, weight distribution, measure the legs get to know you stuff.
He told me that I looked like some of his retired football payers.:eek: It was really interesting to walk thru the xrays and to see exactly how the bones were out of wack - did the this is normal/this is you comparison.
He was able to fix or help fix so much stuff - other stuff was not so much fixing but how not to further aggravate.
/sigh/ and now his office is 900 miles away. :grief:
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To elaborate on mine.
My first concussion I sort of remember the morning, I was 11 so this might be because people told me what happened leading up to falling off. The first true memory I know that is mine is waking up in a bright room with my dad and coach looking down at me. Then I don’t have consecutive memories until late that night/early morning in the hospital room with my mom, washing the puke out of my hair. I had to be admitted because it was more than a concussion.
My second one, I lost my whole day. I fell off mid afternoon. I knew I was at a show, but that’s it. The first thing I remember is again, waking up under bright lights and a emerg doc looking down at me. Then my mom helping get dressed to go home.
My falls were witnessed, so while I don’t have my memory of them I know what happened from everyone else’s perspective.
Twice.
Once, the last thing I remembered was thinking that I was going off and that it was really going to hurt. Next thing I remembered was some stupid doctor in the hospital, the next day, asking me if I know what day it was and who the president was. Everything in between was a total blank. I was knocked unconscious for some time, but then, according to my Mom, I was up and walking around and followed directions to get in the car to be taken to the ER while complaining that I felt funny.
The second time I swore up and down at the ER that I hadn’t hit my head (I was wearing a helmet) and witnesses said that I didn’t appear to lose consciousness, but I had a several second gap in my memory between the moment the horse spooked and started to spin and finding myself laying on the ground making that “I’ve had the wind knocked out of me” honking sea lion noise.
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I was cantering along a trail, alone, when I was about 18 or 19… my horse slipped and went down fast and hard on top of me. I only assume he slipped because I saw the marks in the mud afterwards.
I remember cantering around the bend… then I remember “coming to” in the darkness, completely confused about the pain and weight I was feeling as my horse struggled to get up while on top of me. However we fell, most of me, including my face, ended up underneath of him, which is why I think he struggled so much trying to get up. It couldn’t determine what was happening until he actually got up, which made for a terrifying moment of disorientation.
Being young and “invincible,” I didn’t have either of us checked out afterwards. I can’t even remember if I had a helmet on. Now I just look back on moments like these and count my blessings.
Schooling show on Mother’s Day, 2013. My Morgan gelding was having issues with his right lead, so he’d take it by pretty much launching up and into it.
Typically I would have been wearing just my show hunt cap, but I’d gotten a new schooling helmet that fit well and was comfy, so I rode in that instead. First class, hunt seat eq. I remember the first direction, the change of direction, the asking for the canter, and then I remember being on Aries and brushing the dirt off my shoulder, trying to figure out why I’d have dirt on me. I don’t remember getting up or catching or getting back on him, as well as the two classes I ride in after that. Apparently, that leap into the right lead was worthy of a Lippizaner, and I lost my stirrup and couldn’t regain my balance. The fall wasn’t bad, but he caught me in the head with a hoof on the way by. There was a lovely imprint on the helmet to show exactly where he hit.
I don’t remember the fall (tho I know I had a pretty decent concussion), but my brain does and I still have issues with him English on the right lead. Getting better, but it’s taken a long, long time.
