How do you get back in the saddle after a major fall with your horse and you have permanent damage from serious injuries? If you fall again you could be paralyzed, but, you still have the desire, need, and will to get on your horse. How do you conquer that fear knowing what you know but wanting to get the joy back in your life and resume your passion for riding?

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Hi Carey
Sounds like you have been through some pretty tough times, to put it mildly. I wonder if you have considered hypnotherapy as a way of helping you to manage your pain and also to deal with the fear? It sounds like you are very lucky to have Cliff and it sounds like he will help you. Fear of falling off and injuring yourself further sounds quite reasonable, given what you have experienced, but the fact that you were able to keep riding without any fear until a couple of years ago makes me wonder if the fear isn't actually connected to the riding. Still... I'm not here to give therapy, but just to offer a suggestion!

Be kind to yourself and I hope you find what works.

Fiona
You know, it's anyone's best guess. I think I felt so secure riding where I used to live. I will be posting more photos of Cliff and me when we were riding and you can see the area I rode in but not the trails. this new community just isn't so friendly and I was not given a very warm welcome when we arrived. No one had really delt with anyone from Palm Beach or a dressage background or even a Hanoverian warmblood and immediately started unkind rumors about me and Cliff. So,not having anyone to go out on the trails with here stilted my riding due to dangerous wildlife of the sort we were not accustomed to, ie. panthers, large herds of running wild hogs (huge) etc. Normally that wouldn't bother us but not knowing my way around here and the possibilities of a fall with no one around just didn't help at all.
I think if I take all of the suggestions from all of your wonderful ideas and put them together and just get on here at home first, and proceed from there I should be ok. Hypnotherapy?
I've been regressed once, hard to get me under Type A control freak here. Going to get acupuncture to release some of the spasms, that should help stress also. Great ideas, thanks!
Glad to hear you are going to give acupuncture a try. Were you able to get someone with good references?
I do VERY well with acupuncture! It's just really good for me. My body just seems to know it's in for some relief as soon as the practitioner starts putting the needles in. I very quickly start to relax and often get really sleepy while laying on the table.Everyone's experiences are different. I tend to run really hot these days, I joke about my own little furnace but it can be quite draining. But when I get a treatment done I usually start to cool within 10 minutes and then I just get calmer as I lay there and let the treatment sooth me.
I hope you get some really good results too.
Hi Shirley, yes I had some great references to a woman in Sebastian near me that I can go to. She comes highly recommended. I just have to schedule an appointment. I had a horse friend who was going through a bad divorce and she went in for a treatment and she was so stressed out that the needles actually flew out of her body. The therapist said she'd seen that before when someone was in extreme stress. I'm looking forward to having it done! I bought some MSM for my horse yesterday from a recommendation here and found out it had sulphur in it, so I could not take the human brand. I'm trying the vegan alternative that uses turmeric, ginger root and some other natural ingredients. My horse, Cliff was not too happy with the electrolytes,MSM and garlic I added to conquer his arthritis, hot weather sweats and flies. Garlic is also a great natural wormer to add to your worming schedule. It does keep the flies away, not completely but there is a difference. Thanks for your input. Enjoy hearing from everyone with all the diverse ideas I can use.
Carey I think you are right on when you say fear crept in as the pain increased over time. I can relate from my injuries as well. Especially if I am sedantary. When that happens and I go out to work with the horses I do have a little fear, but I push past it. Of course my injuries have never been as severe as yours but anytime arthritus sets in we slow down almost to a halt because of the pain and we have to really push ourselves past that. I must have shares in Ibuprofen by now because sometimes that's the only way I can move. This effects me every winter because in northern B.C. it is long so I have to push myself to stay active. From what you say you are determined and miss riding very much. You can ride again! You will ride again!
Hi Cindy,
I don't know if this would help you, but my mother in law has very bad arthritis in her knee and couldn't even look at a flight of stairs, let alone go up or down. I recommended MSM right off the shelf at the drugstore and she says she is a new person! I thought of it, because years ago I had a horse with bursitis in his shoulder and it literally fixed him in one day. It was a shocking improvement for him and it seems to be doing wonders for my mother in law! Just another great thing I learned at the barn!! :)
I'm going out to the Feed Store right now and get some for Cliff and for myself. I completely forgot about that stuff. I used to bute him occasionally to give him relief for a short time, but he doesn't walk like anything's wrong..now me..well that's another story.
Can't eat aspirin, motrin,tylenol,ibuprofen and all the rest...have asthma since baby..so, natural remedies are the best for me. As long as there is no shellfish in there I'm ok.
Thanks for reminding me!! YAY..maybe that will help the pain and my knees!! I could actually get up on that 3 step mount and get up on that big boy!!
Yeah, I think the arthritis that sets in on top of the injuries adds fuel to the raging fire. Same thing happens to me when I am sedentary..gotta keep moving. And yes..I WILL RIDE AGAIN. Now if this Florida summer could just cool down and the raging thunderstorms every afternoon would stop flooding everything and breeding major mosquitos and flies I just MIGHT have an opportunity to do something soon! Thanks for your input. All ideas are welcome!!
Carey -- you might want to have the farrier check his feet/shoes if he's tripping a lot --- I have a 16 yr old TH - Gelding that trips periodically although since I moved him to a new barn and a new farrier he's tripping less....he now has had an abscess for 6 wks ---- we're almost back to riding I hope. I also have a major fear so much so that I won't go out on the trail with others --- he'd probably be fine --- it 's me as that's where I had a major out of control fear ride on a mare that spooked at a deer --- it was not fun and I keep remembering that like it was yesterday even though it was about 6 yrs ago --- I went through EMDR therapy which was very helpful --- then I had some major trauma's in my life afterwards and I'm now back to being fearful every time I'm around him (which, of course, we all know, he picks up on!); I'm going to return to EMDR when I get a chance --- I barely have time for riding right now with the economy and my job.....so you might look at the rest of your life and see if any major upheavals have occurred and/or talk with a Mental Health Therapist to sort some of the fears out (preferably one that rides like I do --- I work mostly with Mental Health issues with 2-10 yr olds) Good luck!
Hi Margaret
Thanks for the information. Jackie Cochran mentioned the same thing about the feet getting trimmed earlier. I'd forgotten about it from when we were both younger and out yahooing it on the trail and schooling 4 times a week in dressage. The brain damage caused memory loss so I have some blips in there somewhere. (they can be a blessing in disguise as well!) I used to be fearless, and get on any horse and wrangle it quietly into beautiful movement. I've even ridden the Budweiser Clydesdales bareback in an open field with some friends when they were on R&R in Delray Beach, FL. I jumped horses for owners who were afraid of them. I've ridden next to alligators, been struck at by cottonmouth snakes and chased by wild boar on the trail. Even an angry guy behind the wheel of a large truck chasing me and my friends down the road didnt' spook Cliff or me. (oh yes, it's true) I think the vertigo and on the ground balance issues pop in mostly although I am most balanced and do best on horseback! There are always traumas in life, it isn't perfect for anyone but my focus on my horse and our relationship outweighs any other thoughts when I am with him. I hope you're guy gets better from the abscess. I remember the days of soaking feet and all the work involved. Thank God Cliff is low maintenance now. A friend of mine who used to manage the barn I was in (at her house) would always say no when I asked to come on a trail ride with me. She had been paralyzed for a time after a bad riding accident. The thought of herself going through that again literally paralyzed her mentally from getting on. I talked her into it once. And it was a day when my horse was very spunky shall we say. He bucked about 8 times while I stood up in the saddle and let him have his fun. She freaked out and almost went back home. I had to promise to just walk on the trail with her. I think that if you have a friend who you trust will obey trail manners for you and do whatever you want and is calm with a calm horse you can get over that incident. Cliff would spook at trucks on the road, especially UPS trucks and we'd be off into the shrubs all tangled up in the woods until a friend could rip them off from around his legs since I couldn't get off to do it myself being stuck in the thick of it. I made a point of staying off the road as much as possible even though my friends said I had to desensitize him (sp?). At 18 H and being so powerful especially younger there was no way I was going to go through that. I dealt with the trail spooks just fine and we did great. I was the one people that only rode in a ring came to, to go out on the trail for the first time. Cliff was a great leader and was better when he thought he had others to watch out for, especially mares! Have you ever gone back to the spot it happened at? I did it and did just fine. Maybe because Cliff didn't do anything on purpose, never has. That would be a whole different story I think. Thanks again for your help. All thoughts are welcome. I am getting so many great ideas to use to help me do this correctly I am forever grateful to everyone.
As an older rider I don't know that you can ever get back there totally after a serious injury.
However, here is my 2 cents worth as someone who has been there, done that.
First, deal with your own injuries and make sure that you are healed and health before returning to riding. Often you have to retrain your muscle memory and redevelop your core muscles.
Second, ride a horse that you have complete confidence in.
Third, develop a positive image of you riding - too often developing a mental image of being tossed off
Fourth, establish small bite sized goals


Hope this helps
Thanks Carol. You really hit the nail on the head with your thoughts and advice. It is exactly what I need to do. I always got the best results after watching the Olympic riders at Wellington during the Winter Equestrian Festival because I was visualizing their positions,etc. And yes, I would definitely have to retrain muscle memory and redevelop core muscles. I never thought that I might be picturing myself at the accident, yet after you mentioned it I have this slow motion video in my head of me sitting on Cliff just before the dive off and then the burning pain down my neck and collarbone and then all the events and then looking up at the sky from on my back. I'm going to list the things you suggested. Thanks again for helping!

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