Anyone have a fall they don't remember?

[khall]

While I have had plenty of falls and even one that ended up landing me 6 days in ICU (got bucked off then stepped on my chest, ended up needing double chest tubes almost died, pulse was weak and thready by the time I got to the ER, fall happened on Saturday, ambulance ride to the local ER, thank God the doc went back and looked Monday could not believe I had no fractures and saw that I had blown to 2% of lungs, leaked air in my chest Sat-Mon, ended up 60% loss of both lungs by the time it was caught) I have never had a concussion or memory loss.

I did witness at my farm one of my boarders have a fall that completely knocked her out. It was 10 minutes or so before she came around and she was out of it for weeks with short term memory issues. One pupil was blown, the knocked damaged the eye and she had a mild brain bleed. She has no memory of the fall and not much of the time after in the hospital or even when she went home.

[Tyrus_Mom]

@x-halt-salute

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!

I assumed that there was certain protocol to follow if you had a concussion (don’t you wake someone up at night to check on them or something?) You would think the doctors would have told me that, right? Never got told… if those are the symptoms, perhaps you’re right. Maybe they asked me if I remembered what happened and I did up to the flying through the air part and they didn’t think to ask about the flying through the air and landing part…nor did I think to tell them I didn’t remember that part of the fall. I actually thought that was my body trying to protect me from the pain of it…sort of blacking that part out, like a shock reaction. You’re probably right on that though… interesting. Glad I was wearing a helmet!

[danacat]

Yep. Racehorse I was galloping (back in the day) on my training track spooked and tried to jump the outside rail (according to witnesses) – didn’t lift front legs enough and fell over the rail – sent me flying. I was knocked out for only a couple of seconds (helmet cracked in half) couldn’t remember the jump or fall, just the moment of spook.

[DoodlesMom]

@amb

Now I wonder if anybody’s had a concussion and actually does remember it.

I do!

My BFF and I were helping school a friend’s giant QH gelding over fences. He had no bascule when he jumped, just basically stayed completely flat and raised his legs. So we did a few gymnastics to help him use his body, and for some reason his owner didn’t want to ride him through them. So I hopped on, being young and fearless.

Long story short, we come at a brisk canter to the last jump, and he decides he’s finished for the day - sits down and sliiiides up to the jump, then backs up and spins. I had no chance. Straight over his head, cleared the jump, land directly on my head on the other side (destroyed the helmet). Rolled up, sat there for a while catching my breath, get back on, jump again, and ultimately ended up driving myself home. I remember all of it, including telling my roommate what happened, joking about brain bleeds, and then asking her to drive me to the hospital the next day because my neck was so swollen I looked like a body builder.

Turns out I had a concussion, and tore a bunch of crap in my neck. Had to wear a neck brace for weeks. Fun times, but I remember it all. Of course, now I’m wondering if I’ve had a fall that I don’t remember…

[MsM]

A long time ago. So long ago, there weren’t even approved helmets. Of course I wasn’t wearing one anyway (And with the old hunt caps nobody used any kind of chin straps, so the helmet likely wouldn’t stay on !)

I remember turning to adjust a stirrup and the horse exploding into a bucking fit. I vaguely remember being in the air. Next thing I remember is lying on the ground and people looking down at me. I had badly broken my arm and wrist, but I got up trying to hold the arm together. I dont remember actually hitting the ground, which was just as well - I basically telescoped my arm!I watched as someone lead my horse up and was showing the torn girth. Then I noticed big black splotches in my vision and thought “Oh good, it is a bad dream and I am waking up now.” Next I found myself lying on the ground again with a guy saying “Why didn’t you tell us you were going to do that!?!”

At the hospital I heard the guy in the ER on a phone saying “I need an ortho. I’ve got a girl and she broke everything in her arm. I cant handle this!” They put me under and set the arm reasonably well. The worst part was after they found out that I had passed out, they wouldn’t give me pain meds all night and people kept pointing flashlights in my eyes!

[Toblersmom]

I was riding one of the beginner-suitable school horses (I wasn’t really a rank beginner anymore at that point but we were working on something new so they had me on one of the steady Eddies). I gradually got back memories of breakfast and tacking up the horse, but nothing after that. The lesson hadn’t started yet, I was just walking out to the arena to walk around until the instructor and the other students arrived. Woke up on the ground trying to sit up with my instructor running toward me telling me to lie back down.

No long term consequences that I know of (although I wonder if it has something to do with the vertigo I have now). Good thing that came out of it is that I now very much have an “every horse, every ride” philosophy. If it can happen with a “bombproof” horse in a boring environment he’s been in for twenty years when he’s not being asked to do anything much, it can happen anywhere with any horse.

[Guilherme]

Yup. Don’t remember the fall. Next thing I do remember is one of my colleagues looking down at me asking me my name. I answered correctly. Then he asked me where I was. I said, “I’m laying on the ground.” “Where is that ground?” he then asked. “In Wyoming” was my correct answer. “You’re OK” he then said!!! I wasn’t and he was an experienced physician who knew I wasn’t but it was his way of providing a positive bedside manner!

Concussions are serious business and should be treated seriously.

G.

[newhorsemommy]

I don’t remember the actual falling part of my one and only fall. I remember hanging off the side of the horse (lesson horse gave a little buck the one and only time I thought it would be fun to try an English saddle) and thinking I needed to let go before he started going any faster. I knew enough to keep my hands up so I wouldn’t break my wrists. Then I was sitting up with the wind knocked out of me. To the best of my knowledge I didn’t hit my head or have a concussion, hopefully not since the lesson barn let me drive home and the idea didn’t occur to me at the time I’m told I did an amazing mid-air flip to land on my butt (again I didn’t want to break my wrists), lol.

As a new adult rider, however, the fall did such a number on me that I’ve had anxiety issues over riding ever since and it’s been over 10 years now. I was finally re-gaining confidence with my MFT gelding when he tore his meniscus and had to be retired.

The weirdest thing about the fall is that my brain remembers it occurring in the indoor arena which led me to be more nervous in indoor arenas, but I’m certain it was the outdoor since I have photos from the beginning of the lesson and we’re in the outdoor. Honestly the whole thing sucked even though I wasn’t badly injured, just black on my backside for weeks.

[amb]

@MsM

The worst part was after they found out that I had passed out, they wouldn’t give me pain meds all night and people kept pointing flashlights in my eyes!

Oh nooooo! Perhaps because I supposedly didn’t loose consciousness they filled me to the gills with morphine–it sure didn’t help mental clarity but it made everything else I busted at least vaguely bearable.

As far as the cat scans go, I think it’s SOP. Mine also all came back clear and I was definitely concussed, but when I made it to the ER I jumped a long line and was getting a CAT scan within a couple of minutes in case I had internal bleeding and needed to go straight to surgery. (Seriously, like, getting me pulled around the counter, lying down, and being wheeled down the hall for the scan pretty much without stopping, and somebody said something the next day about all the mud I’d left in the machine.)

It’s funny, bits of this thread recounting other people’s experiences are causing me to remember more. Yay for associative memory? (…and shared trauma, I suppose.)

[eqsiu]

I fell off jumping 2 feet. Not sure what happened, but I split my helmet in two from the back edge up to the button on top. I have a six day blackout in my memory from that fall.

Another fall I only lost about a day, but I can only remember setting jumps the night before, and my friends bringing me soup late that night.

There was another concussion in the mix during that time period, and it felt like I was always having to buy a new helmet! Memory loss with concussion is pretty normal, so I wouldn’t be too worried. Just rest, replace your helmet, and prosper!

[eqsiu]

@amb

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.

After the six day blackout concussion, I showed up at home 6 hours after I’d left and told my mom I didn’t know how I got home but I thought I must have fallen off a horse. I assumed it was my eventer, but it turned out to be the ex GP jumper broodmare my mom had (she was such a blast to ride). In the ER I knew my name, DOB, SSN, etc, but didn’t know the year, whether I was in school, or any time related things. Apparently I kept guessing on the questions I didn’t know and would sob because I was sure I was going to have permanent brain damage. I decided to repeatedly recite derivatives of trig functions to keep my brain exercised.

The crazy thing is the people I was riding with didn’t really notice anything. I’d just met them, and they thought my repetitive speech was just to make sure they knew where things were in the barn and how we did stuff.

[Red_Barn]

No fall I can’t remember, but there are definitely a couple of summers I’d just as soon forget.

[Cocorona]

@amb my worst fall ever I had a serious concussion (developed post traumatic epilepsy from it) and remember the entire thing- no loss of consciousness, no memory loss from the event. Still have the cracked helmet as a reminder to always wear one.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

I have one from about 25 yrs ago… it’s not just a function of it being a distant memory though. I’ve always had amnesia regarding this one. I qualified for Pony Club nationals in showjumping doing 3’6" - I remember being REALLY excited, and prepping that summer with my team leading up to nationals. Great memories. I remember trailering all the way up to Lexington. I remember several of my teammates’ rounds, and seeing other friends from clubs in Virginia (who I had clubbed with when I was younger prior to moving to a different state) in the barns. I remember my warmup, and first round in one ring… which was clear, but rough. My horse was pretty green - probably too green to be doing 3’6" at Nationals. We went from that first round right over to another ring, which was covered, to do the second round. I remember feeling shaky going in, and my horse was not forward enough… and at the third fence she got buried, stopped, and I know I went over her head and the whole thing came down on top of me. I remember waking up with my face sideways on the ground, seeing dust, and feeling rails on top of me, including pinning my head down. I remember feeling stunned because at one moment I was approaching that jump and clearly getting too deep and slowing down, and the next moment I was on the ground in the dirt, but not in any pain and everything was very quiet and silent. It’s a weird, very vivid memory of seeing the ground sideways at eye level, with dust in the air. Almost peaceful and dreamlike.

The weird thing is that I don’t remember anything else about Nationals. Just seeing the ground and the dust and the silence. Not standing up after the fall. Not how my team did. Don’t know if I did anymore rounds. Don’t remember trailering home. My Mom told me I also cracked ribs and went to the doctor when we got home because of ongoing pain. I don’t remember it at all. Don’t even remember riding that horse again that summer, though I must have.

I had already had one concussion prior to this at age 13 schooling cross country on a different horse. That one is a total blank… I went over a horse’s head down a drop. I had the helmet I cracked for years though - old school black velvet hunter style, and I cracked the brim in front and tore the velvet. Never had fear issues going down drops afterwards though… because I didn’t remember it at all. Very weird.

I’ve had 4 other concussions since those first two… two from car wrecks, two from horses. Two before age 20 (a total of 4 before age 20… not good). I remember everything about #3 and 4 though… and they were BAD. So the amnesia isn’t simply due to the concussions being so long ago. I also had one at age 24 (concussion #5) involving me without a seat belt on hitting a tree at 60 mph and breaking a windshield with my head. Bizarrely enough… no amnesia, and that was 15 yrs ago. No injuries other than crazy bruising and concussion… I was INSANELY lucky. I only had true amnesia with the first two concussions.

[McGurk]

I have had a bunch of minor concussions, what I call getting my bell rung, with a brief loss of consciousness but no retrograde amnesia, most from horses, one from a car wreck. I had one doozie of a fall with a major concussion (Spooking/bolting horse attempted to jump a pasture fence, hung a hind leg in the fence, rotational fall.) I remember everything up to the fall, including my decision to bail off, and about 15 minutes worth of scattered memories to account for the next 24 - 48 hours. I have always considered it to be a blessing that I don’t remember the actual fall and have no memories of fear or pain; it made riding again much easier. To this day I have no idea how long I was out or when I was found. I do remember coming to in the ambulance and asking what happened, multiple times, and some very brief snatches of the ER. I came to in the CT machine, which was pretty terrifying, but blacked out again pretty quickly.

It bothered me for a while after that wreck. I wanted to reconstruct the time I couldn’t remember.

Since then, I have come to believe wholeheartedly that not remembering that time was a great gift to me.

FWIW - I was wearing a helmet, the best available at the time. And I recovered completely from the head injury with no deficits, or at least none that anyone’s told me about.

[horsepoor]

I can’t recall (!) not having a memory of the actual fall, or at least what preceded it up til the point of departure. But immediately after the fall is a blank for at least three different occasions that I can think of. I kind of wish I didn’t remember the falls themselves!

[FourFaults]

Sure do! 8 years ago, I was in a lesson on a TB/Clyde mare. Picked up a trot on the long side and had to do a circle at one end. But, there was a jump standard in my circle. Being quite the beginner (and, in hindsight very over-horsed and under-taught), I didn’t know what to do. Mare decided for us; we went inside of the standard. I lost my seat, fought to get it back, next thing I know I’m on the ground and my horse is being held by the barn manager on the other side of the ring. First thing I said was “Oh man! I thought I stayed on!!”

Ah no. I sort of stepped off right into the boards so I t-boned where it starts to slant down. I waited for a bit and then told my coach I’d get up, go home and see how I was in the morning. I made it to my knees before I realized I was really hurt. EMS was called (all I remember seeing were their boots b/c I wasn’t allowed to move from lying down lol) and off to the ER I went. I do recall answering all the questions they ask to ensure you know what is going on. My name, address, year and so on. When they asked my age, I answered “I really don’t think that has any bearing on today’s activities!” They laughed. Her head is fine.

Spent a week in the hospital (I was “that” girl who fell from her horse - it seems we are a revered patient group lol!), off work for 6 months, and off my horse for almost a year. Possible concussion, broken hand, and 7 broken ribs. Good times.

It took a long time to be comfortable going close to anything - the rail, poles, and if any arena smells like the one I fell in my brain tries to tell me scary stuff is going to happen. An equally as long road that I still struggle with today to deal with the fear and anxiety my fall caused (I’d only been riding a year when it happened). Thankfully, I have a great coach now and a horse suited for me so it’s been a really fun year with them both!!

I’m also glad I don’t remember the actual fall…I bet hearing all those bones break was gawd awful!!

[lifeishorsesarelove]

Not remembering the events immediately before and after a concussion event is pretty normal.

I got kicked in the head this spring (on the ground, no helmet) hard enough to have a cracked skull and a severe concussion. To give you an idea how bad I was, I hurt mid-April and wasn’t able to so much as watch 20 minutes of TV without vomiting until SEPTEMBER. I can remember the day of the event and hitting the ground, grabbing the side of my head and coming away covered in blood, going to the ER and being stitched up. But the next 6 or 8 weeks are pretty well blank. I broke up with my fiance and I moved out of our farmhouse, but I don’t remember any of it. I know it happened, obviously, but every box I open from my storage unit has been a surprise. I don’t remember the actual event of dumping my ex, and I don’t remember packing my house up.

[Frosty_M]

I don’t have any lurid descriptions of what happened because I’ve never remembered it, but I was unconscious in the hospital with 161 stitches in my face for eight days. I sort of came to the night before I got sent home. I was watching a show on tv about horses- I was still in school but it was Christmas vacation so I had a couple of weeks off- was fine then and still horse-crazy as ever. Never had any plastic surgery on my face but luckily my DH liked my scar. He said it made me look dangerous!

We are all incredibly blessed to have recovered as well as we have. I had a friend who had several serious mental issue from an injury and all she did was trip opening a door and hit her head on the brick wall.

[BigMama1]

I remember all of mine quite clearly, even the ones the resulted in concussions. However I do have a friend who remembers going to the barn to tack up her horse and nothing after that until she woke up in hospital the next day. Her parents arrived home to find the fully tacked horse running loose and my friend lying unconscious on a trail some distance from their home. Amazingly she had a complete recovery with no ill effects.