It is fine!
That is the problem with acronyms and abbreviations.
Glad I could explain this one.
I am frequently the person asking what something means.
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Thank you for clarifying! Yes, to be clear there were an unusually number of rider falls. I did not hear about a single rotational fall during the day, but doesnât mean there werenât any. The ones I know of personally were not rotational.
@Bogey2 Her fall was at the ditch.
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Shocking that this happened at the BN level. A Rider fall could foreseeably result in a broken arm or a concussion.
Yes, I know ⊠horses ⊠freak accidents happen.
But at BN, a fall resulting in a fatal injury, seems particularly tragic.
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Initially they seemed to think she would recover, so itâs possible that another medical event happened secondary to the fall. Particularly with older adults it isnât that uncommon-- my coworkerâs healthy and independent mom had a fall and broke a couple of ribs, caught pneumonia, and went into kidney failure and died within two weeks despite being hospitalized.
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I saw the photo too. Apparently she was in good spirits and asked someone to take the photo. Something dire must have happened after that.
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Not applicable here, and feels like a gross and speculative thing to say under the circumstances.
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You have seen 3 horses, as in the hj jump was solid enough when the horse hit with its chest or upper forelegs to somersault onto its back- as a true rotational fall?
And you were in sight the 3 times to see this very unusal occurence in hj?
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Shocking if true - Iâd love to know what they were jumping to cause these, cause Iâm skeptical.
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It can happen when a horse gets a pole between its legs or even if the pole doesnât come out of deep cups (usually an oxer which is why flat cups are required for the back rail). But it shouldnât be common.
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Iâve seen a rotation from a horse ill suited to hunters (think big slow moving AQHA congress mare, with small feet and overweight) over a 2 foot vertical. I was in the other ring when I saw the mare stumble and fully rotate over my friend.
I rushed over, handed my horse to someone freaking out, and had to physically stop the trainer from helping my friend up. She had a very obvious break to her collar bone and a clear head injury (repeating the same 5 statements over and over). The hunter coach had zero idea of how to handle the situation and was mostly worried about insurance and reputation if we called an ambulance.
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Jeez these stories are scary!
Yeah Iâm not saying it CANNOT happen, just that they are less common in HJ. To say a hunter barn (that the poster does not board at or attend, but is simply neighbors/close by) has had 3 rotationals, while schooling at home, seems like a statistical improbability.
There are scary riders in every discipline, Iâll give you that.
Edited for rambling
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Rotation falls over âh/jâ fences most typically happen when the horse tries to crash through the back rail of an oxer. That is why breakaway cups are required on the back rails of oxers.
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I had a not quite rotational fall years ago that fit that scenario pretty closely. It was 100% my fault, I buried my poor little mare to an oxer and she jumped straight up, coming down on the back rail and flipping it between her front legs. She was about half cat and managed to get a front foot on the ground which prevented a full forward rotation, but she had enough momentum that she rolled over me sideways when we hit the ground.
She was uninjured but I limped around for weeks and didnât find out until years later during an x-ray that I had more than likely fractured my pubic rami. It could have been so much worse, but it took me years before I could jump more than a xrail without seeing it in my head.
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Do we know what happened? I find this quite terrifyingâŠ
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I have no idea.
Amazing video of horse trying to jump side wall. Brave, willing horse and rider having a temper tantrum.
A horse crashing through a fence and falling and a true rotational fall arenât the same thing though right? I think that is what the poster is questioning. I had a riding accident where my horse caught a pole in his legs and fell onto his shoulder and I thankfully landed clear that someone who didnât know what they were looking at probably would have called ârotationalâ and I have witnessed at a BN horse trial a similar incident in which a horse caught a solid XC fence and also landed on his shoulder. Many people at the fence also called it rotational but it was not, by the definition. The TD was very specific in their questions regarding what exactly happened as well.
I think itâs fairly improbable that a hunter barn would have 3 true rotational falls.
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I quite agree. The vast majority of âcrashing through the fence and fallingâ are NOT rotational falls.
But the small number of true rotational falls over h/j jumps are mostly related to âcrashing through the back rail of an oxerâ.
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Once seen, a rotational fall is not forgotten. The horse does a summersault, tail over head, with the rider likely still attached as all forward momentum comes to a very abrupt halt. The reason for frangible technology, as I understand, is to drop the pole and allow forward momentum to disperse the force. Iâm open to correction.
It is important to be precise in reporting falls because not all falls are equally serious.
A bit like âMy horse bolted and threw me off!!â v âThe rider slipped slowly over the shoulder of her stationary horseâ.
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