I got launched off in a bucking spree this weekend, and broke my tailbone in 2 places. Holy hell, I’ve never felt so much pain, and never had to endure more humiliation in the ER (the spinal check “down there” and catheter were my personal favorites!).
I know I’ll be incapacitated for a while, but I’m wondering how long it’s taken others with broken asses to get back in the saddle. 4-6 weeks? More? I’m not going to try and rush it, but I know that I’ll be going crazy after a while!!
Not broken, but bruised. It was two weeks before my first rated show with Mare, so I refused to stay off. I didn’t, however, do any sitting trots & spent a lot of time in two point 
I would probably follow the advice of your doctor. Speaking as someone who has had four back surgeries and is looking at a fifth, it’s not something you want to take a chance with. Even though there’s not a lot they do for a broken tailbone, pushing it too soon can lead to arthritis in the future, which you don’t want. Horse will still be there when you’re ready to come back - take the time to heal.
Mine wasn’t broken (that I know of, I never got it checked), but it’s been about 7 weeks since it happened, and it will sometimes ache if I sit still for a long time, and I can definitely feel it when I ride in my jump saddle. Strangely, in my dressage saddle, I feel it much less.
I unintentionally got in the middle of a spat and got nailed by a kick full on in the middle of my butt. Staggered off thinking major damage had been done, but after I walked it off, it wasn’t so bad. So I figure it was just bruised pretty good.
For most of the time after I got kicked, the weather was too awful to ride, so I don’t know how it would have felt to get on right away.
OUCH, OUCH, OUCH!!! Brings back awful memories - I went to try out a horse that was for sale. He was a young stallion but I figured I’d geld him and he hadn’t been bred yet. So I’m going along in the arena everything is fine when a mare yells at him and he reared straight up. I went off and landed in a V on my butt. I saw stars for awhile. Then the owner told me she had bred a mare in the morning before I got there. I could hardly walk and had to drive a stick shift 60 miles home; cried the entire way. I was on my stomach for 6 weeks but the best advice is get a foam donut to sit on; helped so much. I used ice packs at first then went to a heating pad. I agree with everyone don’t push it or it may cause problems down the road. Good luck, hope you heal fast!
I smashed mine to smitherines - even had to have parts of it removed that would not heal because i would not follow DR’s orders. So BEWARE & Take heed!
It was 2 years from the date of the injury to when I could ride for more than 45 mins w/o pain. I have every gel pad and seat saver known to mankind. Even made my own doughnut style pad. I hate gel pads!
It still aches some days - 7 years later. Naprosyn/Aleve is my constant companion.
That sucks 
I hurt mine (broken?? never went to check - google scared me off ;)) in August. As per usual injury timing it was right before a planned vacation away from the horse :mad:. It took me about 4 weeks before I could spend more than 10 minutes in the saddle - walk and trot were fine but it took several more weeks before I could canter. It also resulted in me temporarily developing a bit of a perch to protect my backside that had to be fixed.
With every stupid injury that I ride through I look back and think “Why did I continue to ride even though I was in pain?” I wish I would take my own advice - take the 6-8 weeks off and get better (search for the broken bones thread - lots of good advice). There is no use prolonging\intensifying your pain by rushing back to riding (makes logical sense but … horses are a difficult habit…)
[QUOTE=Donkey;4702718]
With every stupid injury that I ride through I look back and think “Why did I continue to ride even though I was in pain?” I wish I would take my own advice - take the 6-8 weeks off and get better (search for the broken bones thread - lots of good advice). There is no use prolonging\intensifying your pain by rushing back to riding (makes logical sense but … horses are a difficult habit…)[/QUOTE]
AGREED!!! If I had quit trying to be the heroine I think I would be MUCH healthier now!!! Sadly I can not undo the damage I did by coming back too soon so many times. I am facing 50 this year with a broken down horse trainer’s body - take the time to heal properly - TRUST ME!!! I sure wish I had!
Absolutely! Dislocated kneecap coming off a horse. Was supposed to be on crutches 4 weeks… I put me back on a horse in 2. :rolleyes: Dislocated it again, then did the other one and on and on. At 17 - 19 years old I was way smarter then the doctors. Have had problems with my knees the rest of my life… they hurt like hell now.
Came off a horse and landed wrong on the road. Cracked my tailbone and compressed two discs. Because of the multiple injuries I coouldn’t even think of getting back on a horse for about 4 months. The tailbone healed properly - it rarely gives me trouble and when it does it’s minor, but 12 years of back pain until I got it treated with laser. It’s not bad now but the stupidity of the years has caught up! :yes: Take care of yourself!
In November of 2008, I broke my tailbone and my ankle at the same time, it was 10 weeks before I was back in the saddle. I couldn’t sit or two point, I was screwed! Both were still quite painful, and my second ride back I nearly fell off and was hanging onto mare’s mane for dear life saying “don’t fall off, it will really HURT”
I feel for you, my tailbone still hurts at times now. I can’t drive my dad’s Corvette, the angle of the seats will make my tailbone hurt. I can’t sit on the floor. Movie seats were actually the best place to sit, we went to a lot of movies!
Sitting down wasn’t the worst part for me, it was getting UP. And getting in and out of the car.
At the time I was lucky to have two friends to keep my mare ridden for me. My gelding who did the offending bucking actually ended up having major wither problems due to getting cast, he went to vet, chiropractor, spent lots of time getting accupuncture and electrostim therapy on the area. I didn’t get back on him until I was 100%, at 12 weeks or so my friend who is also a trainer got back on him and with the pain gone, he no longer felt the need to buck, luckily.
Jingles for you!
I got launched a couple of years ago too, into gravel. Oddly it did not hurt to ride. But no sleep and painful to sit for very long for a couple of months. Suffer through what your doctor orders now, so you can have a pain free next 40 years! Mine was a simple fracture/chip.
I think it might actually depend on the type of fracture. I got bucked off and fractured my sacrum (higher than coccyx) in September 2008. Doctor told me no riding for at least 8 weeks even though it felt OK (I could sit without a donut pillow) after 6. He told me the major risk was redamaging it before totally healed. There are so many vessels and nerves in that area of the body I was told that if I came off and landed on my butt before it healed I could end up with more serious problems like incontinence. Yikes! I waited the 8 weeks. I have no pain issues today with the exceptional of occaisonal achiness in damp weather.
In 2005, I severely bruised my tail bone and jarred an older tail bone injury. I was out of the saddle for 4 weeks; I probably should have waited 6. It still hurts when I sit on anything for longer than a couple of hours. Get a donut because it will help and don’t push yourself back into the saddle. Let it heal.
My daughter cracked her tailbone in a fall last October. She rode for the first time, 2 days last week and had considerable discomfort that lasted troughout the day.
By this time it should my daughter’s back should be well healed but as with most injuries a body needs to adjust to the stress.
Good luck to you.
Cracked mine long time ago when I was 13. It was Fri night, the start of Christmas vacation and I was riding bareback (normal for me) and ran the barrels on my horse. As we were coming home, I was thinking curve right and stop, he turned left, I flew off landing hard on my back, had the wind knocked out of me. My friend was sitting on her horse, talking to me, but I couldn’t talk or breathe. She thought I was dead!
I got my wind back and started crawling - she wanted to go get my parents, but I stubbornly caught my horse and jumped back on in tons of pain. Rode about 30 more minutes, then went home.
We went to the emergency room and I had cracked the tailbone and bruised my jaw - Dr said don’t ride for 2 weeks - longest 2 weeks of my life to that point.
It was sore, but hard to remember much about it, but the Dr said not to ride for 2 weeks, which I did. I seem to remember it being sore for awhile, but I haven’t had any lasting effects from it. Other later injuries have pained me much more - broken ribs, punctured lung (chest tube ick!) & class 3 shoulder separation, etc
I broke mine twice, as a kid falling off a bicycle and 25 years ago a horse bucked me off the highest one ever did and I landed right on my tailbone.
We were working cattle, in the middle of nowhere, so I had to get back on, but could not sit, had to lean forward.
We got the cattle penned and shipped the next day, but I could hardly walk, ride or sleep for a week.
I called a neighbor to help ship the next morning and she kept laughing at me barely walking around with short steps and could not get on my horse without a mounting block.:no:
My bottom clear to my hips was black and blue and down my left leg.
Went to the Dr a week later and he came back laughing and saying I broke my tail bone, he could not cast it and just let it heal.:rolleyes:
He wanted me to come back in six weeks and start to do therapy, but I never went back.
It was a few weeks before I could sit comfortably, but was riding right along, starting colts and exercising race horses, where you don’t just have to sit back and never again had any trouble from that broken tailbone.
I hope yours heals as well.
Thanks for the jingles everyone. At this point I can’t even THINK about riding, every little movement hurts! At this point, I can sit on the lovely donut for short periods of time before my right foot falls asleep, and I’m spending lots of time on my stomach, ugh! I’m more concerned about missing classes (I’m in law school) than riding at this point, but I know that after a few weeks when I’m feeling a bit better I’ll start to go crazy. I guess it could be worse and could have happened right in the middle of show season…
I broke my tailbone in a fall from a horse. It was four weeks before I dared to ride, and that was uncomfortable but manageable. After about two months it didn’t hurt anymore. From others’ stories it sounds like I was lucky!
Broke my tailbone “skiing” down the stairs on my feet and tailbone. Once it was only a bruise; regular activities were manageable within about 4-6 weeks, and the pain continued for a total of 9 months. This skiing time, it broke, and I couldn’t sit on it directly for 11 months, however I had to spend all day every day in the operating room sitting on one of those freezing cold metal stools, and alternately getting down on myhands and knees under the patient on the surgical table, so i never gave the injury any time to heal, and still exprienced pain at a year and a half. At about 11 months i was able to do anything I wanted, just had pain with it. Pain free after two years.
This is to point out to you that you can’t be told how long it will take. It depends on the severity of your injury, and how much healing you allow it to do before using it again.
Not broke, but bruised my tailbone once, OMG the pain. Dont do anything until your pain free because it is not worth it, situps rolling, hell laying on your back and thinking about getting up. It took months to be completly pain free. but its best not to push the issue in general.
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