Re: RC: Regaining nerve

[Susan Young Silberman <ssilberman@bigfoot.com>]

Hi Karen,

> Next question, any hints for regaining nerve after a horse accident?  A good
> friend of mine was recently bashed thoroughly in the head by a horse she was
> unloading in the dark.  The horse was nervous about backing out of the
> trailer and lunged back in, hitting the woman in the head with her (the
> horse's) head, knocking my friend unconscious and giving her a concussion,
> loosened teeth, a number of goose-eggs on her head and a hematoma on her leg.
>  (Karen Chaton - didn't you do something similar last year?)  No she wasn't
> wearing a helmet, let's not start another helmet discussion/war <g>  It's
> been a month and she's still in a lot of pain - and is now very reluctant to
> go near any horses, including her own 14 & 16 year old dead-broke geldings
> she's had since they were born.  Horses have been her life up til now.  I
> don't know what to tell her except I think she'll work out of it, once
> everything stops hurting; she'll just be more cautious than she used to be.
> She's been hurt a lot around horses, but never on her head.  Any ideas for
> helpful and positive things to tell her?  Thanks...
>
> Karen Bratcher
> Hayden ID

I'm so sorry to hear of your friend's accident.  I'm in a bit of a similar
situation myself (having broken both shoulders 2 years ago in a freak horseback
riding accident)  The Physical Therapists I initially worked with broke both
shoulders worse than the original accident, and although the left one finally
healed spontaneously in June 1998, the right one needed surgical repair in July
1998 -- but the bone graft didn't "take" -- it dissolved into a fibrous
non-union, so I just had surgery AGAIN on Tues, Oct. 5 to do another bone graft
and insert a rod through the humeral head into the humerus to hold it all
together, with 6 screws added in "for good luck"

Anyway, the way I dealt with the situation is this:  First of all, I sold the
horse I had the accident with to a good home (my farrier).  It really wasn't her
fault that the accident happened, but she was such a part of the emotional trauma
added on to the physical trauma that I couldn't bear to ride her again (after the
initial getting on just to prove I could, with both arms still in slings)

Next, I bought a Peruvian Paso mare from my husband's cousin.  Peruvians are
silky smooth to ride, and very intelligent, and very sensible, and very devoted
to their humans -- much like I hear about Arabians, except they seem to be
somewhat steadier in nature and much smoother to ride than a trotting horse
(please no flames -- I love Arabians and loved riding them, but most of the ones
I had ridden were a bit spooky without any apparent good cause for it, so I
wasn't as inclined to trust them right away after having been so badly hurt).  I
was only able to ride my Peruvian mare about 4 times, and took some Peruvian Paso
riding lessons (riding them is a little different than any English or Western I
ever did), before my husband had a near-fatal heart attack and our world spun out
of control and I shipped Corista back to her breeder's for safekeeping while
working on helping to save my husband's life.

Long story short, I now have Corista and her best friend from Texas, Storyteller
(who I hope to make into a CTR/Endurance horse -- she's very tall and long-legged
for a Peruvian yet very smooth to ride) in our pasture.  I can't ride yet,
because of healing from the recent surgery (and muscle spasms before the surgery)
-- but I can go out and spend time with them and hug on them and be soothed by
their presence.  Just being around them helps a lot.  Grooming them, walking out
into pasture and having them come up to me, doing a lot of ground work, is all
helping me to regain my confidence slowly.

I'm still leary about getting back in the saddle, because of 2 years of constant
pain which is not yet over.  But the more time I spend with the horses on the
ground, the more comfortable I feel with them and the more my confidence grows as
a horseperson (and I've been riding since I was 2!)  I'm also working with a
therapist, who loves horses also (Arabians and Peruvians in particular), and we
are working our way through the emotional traumas and subconscious fears which
inevitably set up after such a long period of pain and no real riding.

My suggestion to your friend is to consider herself a beginner again, like I'm
doing, and just take her time and enjoy being around horses.  Then, as her
confidence builds, she can just begin to hug and love on some horses, and just
sit quietly watching them eat or graze or play.  Then as her confidence builds
further, she can groom and feed and walk around with them ... until she feels
emotionally ready to get back on and ride.  She'll need lots of patience and
loving support, and frequent invitations to pleasure ride (which she'll probably
refuse for awhile until her nerve comes up, but it helps to be included in the
invitations -- and please keep inviting her despite the refusals because
eventually she'll want to come too -- especially if y'all talk about how much fun
you had on each ride afterwards)

Since y'all live in northern Idaho, she might want to get in touch with Hidden
Creek Ranch in Harrison, Idaho (on the lake) for some Centered Riding instruction
... and there's an excellent Peruvian Paso breeder in southern Idaho named Mary
Donald who is a very nice person and a wonderful instructor and trail rider (and
breeds Peruvians with "legs of steel") -- maybe your friend would benefit from
spending some time down at Mary's place riding Peruvians for awhile -- they are
the "horse of choice" for therapeutic riding programs because of their very
sensible, caring nature.  They seem to sense when they have a child or injured
adult on their backs, and send this calming message through to the rider: "Don't
worry, I'll take very good care of you.  Just relax and enjoy the ride."  This is
part of the natural brio of the breed.  I watched a young breeding stallion stand
perfectly still and smoothly adjust himself underneath a very hyperactive
2-year-old boy who had never sat on a horse before -- this boy was talking a blue
streak, waving his arms around, squirming all over the place -- and would have
fallen off if Bullet hadn't continually adjusted himself underneath the boy to
smoothly keep him squarely centered on his back.  There's also an excellent
therapeutic riding program using Peruvian Pasos called Bellissimo Farms -- I can
get you contact information if you are interested.

It's just a thought, but your friend might want to at least check into these
options.  Mary Donald's ranch website is:  http://www.cyberhighway.net/~rbv/

Hidden Creek's website is http://www.hiddencreekranch.com

Good luck to your friend, and to you in helping her!  If I can be of any further
help, please just ask ...

Susan Young Silberman
Hawk's Haven Farm
Micanopy, Florida



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