So, I managed to fracture my right leg at the tibial plateau (if truth be known I wiped the joint out) falling off the horse while dismounting last November. The OS had to rebuild the joint, and told me I would be 4-6 mos in the wheelchair before I could expect something else. I think even he has been pleasantly surprised, as I seem to have healed quicker and managed more ROM than he expected. There have been other complications (lymphedema) but over all there has been steady progress (at least I think so). I started being able to walk (without cane) well enough to get to the barn this month, and I have told family and friends I am starting back to riding Memorial Day weekend. I don’t think I’ll have any fear getting on – my trail horse is rock solid and has a leg at each corner. I am worried that the plate on the medial side of the knee and the screws projecting from it will be difficult to deal with, but I am most worried about the dismount. Any suggestions?
I would have two people with you. One to hold the horse so you can just worry about yourself and one to aid you if you need it. Put your left foot in the stirrup and stand straight up. Hold yourself there for a minute or so then belly the horse. Take your foot out of the stirrup and slide back down. Have your spotter standing right behind you before you attempt this so you can throw your arm over their shoulder if necessary. In other words figure out if the dismount is going to be doable before you actually mount. If this goes well repeat except this time swing your leg over and sit on the horse. Repeat the dismount from this new position. Best of luck to you. Its not a race, don’t forget that.
Yes, get off onto the mounting block. I messed up my right shoulder and jumping off to dismount really hurt. I was worried about constantly injuring that area while trying to heal so I put my horse next to the mounting block and stepped off on to it. My shoulder wasn’t jarred and I was able to continue riding. It has taken seven months for that injury to heal.
I have a big wooden mounting block, this isn’t something I’d do on the little plastic ones.
Two helpers and use a big secure dis-mounting block.
I had a stroke and have some residual paralysis in my left leg. I hired a man to build me a mounting block/platform. It has 4 wide stairs and the top stair is especially wide. I have a railing on the left side only. I positioned it so the unrailed side was parallel to a fence. The opening was wide enough for the horse to walk through, but not so wide that he’d be tempted to side step away from me. My horses were wonderfully cooperative and quickly learned to stand absolutely still for me to mount and always return to the block so I could dismount. I found regular mounting blocks to be too small a target to aim for in dismounting away from home. If I didn’t have my platform, I would slowly slide off the right side making sure that my foot was free from the iron. The whole thing is made of wood and is balanced and counter balanced so that it wouldn’t tip in any direction. It is VERY heavy, so it wasn’t something I could throw in my truck for an away ride. I would use picnic tables at the parks and had good friends who would help me. I don’t know how to post a picture, but it looked like the wooden stairs that people use on mobile homes, but this only had one railing, and was very stabile standing by itself.
I just had my fix it guy build me one of those! I’ve climbed up it and walked down. I feel safe using it. Guess I just have this mental thing about trying to dismount – I did everything correctly last ride and ended up like this. (It was a freakish accident – 1/2 second either way and I’d have been fine.) I will have help, and I’m not going to be afraid to ask for lots of assistance. I think once I get on I’ll be ok – until I kick loose and start to slide down. I’m going to visualize a nice smooth landing many times between now and then!
I had mine built tall enough that I could stand on the top step and basically just swing my leg over the saddle to mount or dismount. When I needed to dismount away from my stairs, I was always nervous about that slide down. Frequently, if there wasn’t someone there to “spot” me, I would land on my butt. Then I would need to pull myself up using the horses leg to support me so I could reach the stirrup and stand. I had amazingly tolerant horses. I always felt they understood my problem, and took care of me. :yes:
I’m happy to post a pic if it would help! E mail me at neckamws at slu dot edu…that way, people could point out what works and what doesn’t for a given situation - I’m sure there are plenty of others out there who would like something similar!
