Horse sports take in a wide range of disciplines. If you look at racing and high end eventing there’s a level of risk not present for most of us. I also suspect that beginners are sometimes put in situations beyond their skill level in a way that wouldn’t happen so much in skiing or rock climbing or skydiving.
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Very much agreed. Eventing gets my heart rate up just watching it on TV or online. The beginner comment is very true as well, and I have seen many people think they can take on more horse than they should, with not so great results too.
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Part of the reason that kids pick up riding easier than adults is that they just go do it. They don’t have all the cautionary voices that adults develop after a lifetime of figurative life-administered smackdowns and reality checks and don’t hobble themselves by picturing gruesome “what ifs”. Even when they get hurt, they don’t usually carry long-term baggage from it.
If it’s true that fear is learned, then parents who are so phobic about preventing every single bad/scary ride and experience for their kids do them a disservice because that fear is always something the kids pick up on and react to. And not in a good way. And once any rider is thinking about crashes and injuries when they are on a horse, they tense up, make their horse tense and actually ensure that their fear of a bad experience becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Say all you want about kids not knowing about these crippling fears of their parents, they know—either consciously or subconsciously. And it’s a burden that will often hurt them in the end.
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I was one of those kids who was VERY unathletic as a child who loved horses, read every horse book, but gave it up because it was frustrating I couldn’t do what I wanted to do with my body.
As an adult, after getting in better shape, I took it up again after years of yearning and following the sport. I was an idiot, and the very first barn I picked had a cool name and looked pretty from the outside. The woman who ran it specialized in OTTBs, which is fantastic, but the second ride I had since riding as a child was on a horse that had probably only just been restarted from the track as a saddle horse, just because she had no one else to put me on for a lesson that day and needed the income.
Nothing bad happened, but I remember the horse LOOKING AT EVERYTHING and snorting quite literally the entire ride like WOO LIFE IS STRANGE AND EXCITING RIGHT NOW. Also, although I’d been able to post on the first horse I rode at the barn (who had much longer time being restarted) his trot was literally UP AND DOWN and almost impossible to post to for me.
However, other than that, he was a very good boy. Probably became a very nice horse for someone, at some point. Still, although nothing dramatic happened, I really didn’t learn much, because the horse didn’t quite know how to steer, nor did I know how to balance his trot (and I was very nervous, since he was very nervous). Nor did he learn much, I fear.
One of my worst falls (my entire body was black and blue) occurred when a horse I knew relatively well spooked HARD at something no one heard, probably some creaking of the arena walls in the wind, dumping me onto some rock-hard footing.
However, that being said, I do try to mitigate risk as much as I can. I ride horses within my realm of ability, and I don’t have the ambition or talent to push myself beyond a certain risk threshold. I do agree, sadly, it’s partially due to overprotective parents at a young age, and once again, it’s one reason why having a trainer you trust to assess a rider’s ability and risk threshold is important, even if risk can’t be eliminated. There’s also no shame in picking a less risky discipline, if that’s your jam.
The need for a trainer who is competent (and parents who know when to say yes and no) is another factor in risk in the sport. A bad track coach can give a kid an overuse injury, but a bad riding coach can far more easily cripple or kill a horse or child with over-facing.
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Also most other high risk sports are more controlled and monitored. You could easily die skiing (and folks do around here) but mostly the adults will keep beginners on the bunny hill. Gymnastics is very dangerous but has a lot of safety built in so you don’t break your neck. No one sends a 10 year alone in a kayak down Class 5 rapids. Horse world is less structured.
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As a retired pharmacist working in a level 2 trauma center, I think riding ATV’s is more dangerous than horses. Of course, Idaho is a more rural/wilderness state and they are all over. Those things have a high center of gravity and go over on people so easily. Don’t get me started on all the kids that came in with ATV injuries 
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Susan
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Yes. You have figured out the deeper concern. Myself, along with others who have ridden there in the past have concern about this barn the the high-risk way they run their lesson and sales program.
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Now that you know your safety goals don’t align with their practices you can avoid them, and quietly advise your friends to do the same. But unfortunately there’s not much beyond that as there is no licensing body or oversight for horse trainers. Just count your blessings you got out without long term injury.
There is a huge grey area in horses where nothing happens quite bad enough to be negligence and damages, or horse abuse, or outright fraud, etc. And yet bad stuff adds up in their vicinity even when they aren’t technically at fault. Learn to note these people and avoid.
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I will put in my 2 cents about safety and kids since I have a kid that rides.
There are a lot of precautions you can take besides having skill appropriate horses and a good trainer. MIPS helmets, safety vests, safety stirrups for example can all reduce injuries. Not prevent, but reduce. They of course come with hefty price tags.
The thing I haven’t seen mentioned- keeping in good physical shape, taking quality lessons (and not once a month but twice a week lessons- attend camps, clinics, ect), riding often. Riding often may make you more likely to have a bad event happen because more time spent with horses, but it also gives you the skills to handle the unexpected. Again, I’m not saying these things will keep you from having accidents, but it will reduce.
Many riders can feel the behavior before it happens and avoid the buck or bolt or rear in their horse. A good trainer can often see it before it happens too. This has helped my kid a lot.
What’s the most common question you get from parents and kids after they 've been riding a few months- when are they going to jump. Kids want to jump their first lesson. Parents have no understanding why the kid isn’t allowed to jump. Some will switch barns trying to find a place where they can jump. Riders have to be patient and realize their own limitations.
There are a lot of things that can be done to reduce accidents and injuries. It doesn’t mean it will stop them all together but clearly the kid in the OP could have had the adults present looking out for them. I didn’t see if they were wearing a vest or a helmet. A vest may have really helped in that situation. I would recommend one when trying horses.
I had a bad fall before. I ride a pony now. I feel more secure with the ground be closer. He also is the least spooky horse I’ve ever met. This works for me.
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This was why I went the Fjord route, granted I did get him as a 3yo which was not without risk. Even still, his steady and reasonable demeanor fooled a great many people about his age. It still does! He is 5 now, and when riding trails with others with older and less confident horses, we still get “If The Baby can do this so can you” 
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My pony is the go to to lead other horses into water or any questionable situations. Small but mighty.
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It’s very frustrating because many people that I speak with stay there for the convenience even thought they know of concerns. Even adults that simply board there have moved on due to things they have seen, etc… The sales program and lesson program overlap too much. Horses that are not know fully, tried and true lesson horses are used for lessons. And that is just one complaint of how things are run. From the observations of many. It is very frustrating and hard to watch many new riders begin there because it is convenient and even some veteran riders stay even after concerns or somehow have a blind eye to these things.
I try hard to just live and let live. But when a bigger incident such as the one that started this post comes up, it is hard to move past. So I go to my “horse friends” on this forum where I am somewhat anonymous to help give me perspective.
Thank you all!
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I am NOT that kindof parent. Yes it was exciting when she did her first cross rails I have video from that lesson. But after dd’s buckle fracture I learned a lot. And at the new barn I asked them to PLEASE take it slow. Help her get a very balanced seat and become a STRONG rider. There is a running joke that she has a Velcro butt. Because the horse she rode often would spook every now and then. DD knows how and is strong enough to stay on now. I look at a video of her first cross rails and am completely SHOCKED at her riding and think WHY IN GODS NAME did they let her do that. She was all over the place and I can see now tht she was not strong and balanced in her seat. (This was at the barn this whole thread is about when she first started riding).
I can see that some barns and parents rush kids thru to jumping to keep them interested and motivated. But I also see that is not the safest way and those who do that are not being safe. Parents of otherwise.
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“What’s the most common question you get from parents and kids after they 've been riding a few months- when are they going to jump. Kids want to jump their first lesson. Parents have no understanding why the kid isn’t allowed to jump. Some will switch barns trying to find a place where they can jump. Riders have to be patient and realize their own limitations.”
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Oh I totally get needing to vent about a bad situation that you know from the inside out. I also agree this sounds like a place to avoid. Just don’t get to the point where you feel responsible for changing things or warning everyone. You can’t. And people don’t listen until it affects them personally.
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Can’t answer for rock climbing or skydiving, but have seen beginner skiers and snowboarders led into situations that were beyond stupid. More experienced friends/family may not realize their limitations.
And sometimes beginners are exploring trails on their own and just don’t understand how to read the mountain map they are handed, or they don’t have a map, or they just don’t understand that letting your skis/board drift along while you talk to friends is going to lead you down the steepest slope. They don’t understand generally that skiing/boarding forward to peek down a steeper slope for a better look is hard to reverse when they have to get back up the slope to a more gentle trail.
These unwise or misled beginners keep the mountain ER’s in business.
And even the surgical hospitals. And the medivac flights to get them to truly qualified doctors in larger cities.
Between skiing/boarding accidents and horse accidents, having known some of both, I could not say which is most likely to be worse. They both have potential risks that not every enthusiast understands.
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This is a worthy discussion, and it has nothing to do with legal liability, which is rarely helpful in these situations. As I know you know, this is due to laws that exempt horse professionals from all liability except godawful gross negligence, which is usually almost impossible to prove.
Had a flash when first reading this post “dang I think I know exactly which trainer you are talking about !!!”
But I don’t, because there is a high-risk trainer in every area and you probably live in a different part of the country, completely different trainer from the one that sprang to mind. For some reason there has to be something toxic in every human mix. It isn’t just a string of misadventures, it’s a personality trait.
I rode for a few years at a barn that had a staggering accident rate. I knew enough to protect myself. But it took some time to realize that these constant ER visits and hospital stays, missed work and missed school, weird and traumatic horse incidents that damaged the rider but rarely ever the horse (a sign that rider weakness might be the issue), were not one-offs They were far too common. But it took some time before I was thinking “again ???”
A trainer with sometimes inappropriate expectations and little common sense, AND a barn owner with no common sense for horse behavior. Several accidents happened due to the oblivious actions of the barn owner.
But riders and parents didn’t add up just how frequently these accidents were occurring. For reasons I still cannot comprehend they didn’t seem to think that their child being seriously injured with weeks of recovery was a big deal.
And all of the riders of all ages, junior to 50+, were just accepting of everything that went on at that barn. No one questioned.
They had other choices not far from this barn. The other trainers/barns were not having these regular catastrophes. But our barn riders just didn’t comprehend the situation.
Eventually I decided that I did not want to be part of this barn program any more. I can’t think of another time that I’ve ever left a barn for that reason.
I had been together with that small-ish group for about 4 years at that point, had seen the kids go from early middle school to high school. We were all friends, adult riders, parents, junior riders. But interestingly not one of them asked me why I was moving to a barn & trainer down the road.
I realized later that I wasn’t the first to make this transition, just the first in a few years. From the moment I gave notice (“this is just a better choice for me right now”), the BO began lobbying her boarders with the great upgrades she would be making (and did make). That’s all they thought about from that point on.
Had any of them (including the BO and the trainer) asked for more explanation of why I had decided to move barns and trainers, I would have spoken with them frankly about it. But even though I was following a path that two others had taken a few years earlier (some of them knew that), no one asked.
I don’t know why some people have such complacency in dangerous situations. Even dangerous to their children. I will never ever understand that. But it is so common, it enables the risk-taker leaders to lead others into repeated disasters. Sadly, I don’t know that everyone at risk can be saved. It comes down their own choices.
This is so very very true in the horse community. In every horse community, in every discipline.
It isn’t always just trainers and barns. There are high-risk riders who have a string of bad crashes in their history. They can be the nicest, most genuine people. But be careful about being friends if you care about your friends. Every time they have a post-horse-crash hospital stay you’ll think “now they’ve learned, they won’t do that again”. But they do it again, sometimes before they are fully healed from the last one.
I do not know how to keep high-risk people out of risk sports. I don’t know how to keep others who aren’t comprehending the difference more aware of their own at-risk situation. That they might change if they understood.
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Apparently there is research suggesting the cognitive effects of one TBI including loss of impulse control and executive function lead to increased risk of future injury and TBI.
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That is how my wreck came about.
Sheilah
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Much cheaper than medical bills and lost income.
MIPS helmets and safety stirrups are not the cheapest helmets and stirrups you can buy, but they are not the most expensive either. I see plenty of people who have spent even more on a brand name item that doesn’t have any safety features.
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