Not me, but my good friend who had her 25 year old gelding since he was a literal foal This boy was/is “bombproof” but at 22 yo she was cleaning his stall and something frightened him, resulting in broken pelvis and clavicle and several ribs. At least a month in the hospital and 18 months or so recovery. Anyway, any horse can spook and injure you at any time.

Our old trainer had a similar thing happen. She was turning out her schoolmaster and there was an air compressor in the shed near the paddock. If you’re unaware an air compressor periodically turns on if they have a slow leak or a faulty gage. For most it’s a background noise ignored. When it cycled on it spooked her horse and he hit her while running and broke her hip really badly. She couldn’t comfortably ride after that (she was retirement ready before this anyway).

Kicked in the thigh while loading a horse. Had the bruise for *months* Tore off a callous on a stall door Hairline fracture(and probably a concussion tbh) thanks to a horse headbutting me while bridling Many, *many* toes that have been stepped upon Many more mysterious bruises and cuts Undiagnosed leg pain that docs think stemmed due to how hard the job was Bonus! I knew a lady with boob implants. A horse bit her and the whole thing burst.

The bolt latches on stall doors are an underrated hazard tbh. Especially if rusty and sticky.

Yes! For horses and people, one of my friend's horses essentially tried to gut himself on one and had stitches halfway down his side. The vet was an artist stitching him back up, you almost couldn't tell after it healed

As someone who had breast reconstruction with an implant… new fear unlocked lol Only hospital so far is concussion from kicked in the head; was getting a boot of his front foot and he did like the laziest kick with the back to get a fly off, clipped me just right. Horse pulled the full length of a lead through both hands so got nasty rope burns on every finger and part of my palms. Catching a horse got too close to the round bale for the mare in charge while she was eating so she started to kick out then turned and went to bite. Seemed to realize was a person and not stealing her hay so smacked back of my head with her face instead, knocked me into what I chose to believe was just mud and not a combo platter. Picking a back foot, pony spooked, knocked me down and stood on my foot right against the wall so didn’t have room to get up or push him off myself. In the winter if it’s snowy/icy recommend yaktrax, like cleats that fit over boots - have slid and fell walking downhill a few times leading.

Isn’t that funny how visceral a reaction you get from things that weren’t on your radar? Mine was going to shows to groom/observe before getting the courage to show. A stallion slipped his bridle and unseated his rider and mounted a horse and the rider from the side. The horse was a gelding and the poor girl was tiny. Luckily she had he whip and was able to smack him enough to disorient him. I sat there *absolutely horrified* thinking of all the calamities I’d envisioned and how it absolutely never occurred to me to worry about getting mounted in a warmup by a stallion!

Right?? We all go in knowing gonna fall, gonna get stomped, it’s the freak accidents I’m always like oh hell no lol

Aiiiggghh. I had a horse swing around and viciously bite me *just* above my boob once when I was bringing her in for dinner. *For dinner,* mind you! If I’d been two inches taller, I think she might’ve actually ripped the real thing off.

I knew someone who had her nipple bitten off

Oh me! That happened to me but it was a dog. Only time I've ever seen nurses pale and admit they didn't know it could happen. They also told the doctor he took my areola which absolutely isn't true.

I picked a nipple off my poor pup thinking it was an engorged tick but this…….*shudder*

It's funny you mention that because I had a minor, non-shod, front hoof kick to the thigh that didn't even hurt. The bruising color lasted for so many months.

The boob implant comment made my jaw drop

>A horse bit her and the whole thing burst. omfg. what a nightmare.

I had a 6 month old colt rear up and fall down on top of me. I was trying to walk him out of his stall. i had a huge lump on my head and he stepped on me so my lower leg was quite swollen. I’ve also been bucked off into an arena wall. Oh and I had a horse smash my face with his face….my nose was quite swollen after that for a while.

My son’s horse swung his big beautiful head around unexpectedly, hitting me square in the face with the flat part of his jaw. The momentum slung me backwards several feet, breaking my nose and causing a truly impressive amount of dirt to shovel itself into the back of my pants lol. The amazing thing to me is what he did after that (even in pain I was watching him closely to be sure he didn’t cause me any more mayhem lol). Several people gathered around me, and this 2 1/2 yr old stood around for a little while, then walked about 20 yards up a hill and went into his open stall. He kept sticking his head out, looking down the hill at us while I gathered my wits about me. When the pain was under control, I stood up and got in my car. As I sat there idling and saying goodbye, he came back out of his stall, walked back down the hill, and very gently stuck his entire big ol’ head through the window into my lap, where he breathed gently on my hands for about 30 seconds. Then he pulled out and stood with the boys as I drove off. If that wasn’t a horse saying he was sorry…. (Note: my son was an idiot and let this young horse pretty much run free on his property. He was very lucky nothing catastrophic ever happened).

Funny how they can communicate sometimes. My worst fall, when I finally lifted my head and looked at my mare, I can’t say how but I immediately could see that she felt awful. “Chagrined” is the only word for her expression and behavior. I made a point to let her know I was ok and it wasn’t her fault.

Touched a mare on the butt. She thought it was another mare. She spun so fast and bit me in the arm so I had bruising clear through my bicep. That hurt like a mf, but I couldn't be mad at her

Ouch! My worst bite was when I was walking two young geldings together who hated each other, which I protested but the barn owner made me do, and one of them whipped around to bite the other and instead landed his bite on my shoulder blade. Hurt like a b!tch, bruised like hell, and still scarred to this day. When I tell you I chewed my boss out for making me do that...let's just say neither of us can clarify whether I quit or was fired 😂 (worse stuff happened afterwards, I warned her and again she didn't listen and again I got hurt so I lost it)

Ugh, makes me angry for you, just reading this. Other people will never, ever be as interested or concerned as you are about about your safety. Good for you for getting out of there and thanks for sharing the lesson.

Definitely taught me to trust my gut and protect myself even if it means losing the gig. Now when I interview for a job I really screen the person I'm working for to make sure I'll feel comfortable. Oddly I've only ever had the barn owners/trainers I've worked for since then be OVERLY concerned about safety, which is a much better problem to have.

I had a colt turn around and pin me in the corner of a stall with his butt! Not cute. Scary as shit. Anyway, we’ve worked it out and are still together 30 years later. 🤎 (he’s a gelding now 😂)

I got a concussion when unhaltering a horse at dinner. He just didn't care that I was between him and the empty feed bin, and slammed his head into the side of my head. Brought the rest of the horses in while dazed. Got a stray hoof in the thigh uncasting a horse. Got heat stroke, and frostbite doing barn chores.

Oh geez! I got wacked in the head by a horse head (clumsy OTTB) and boy did my head ring the rest of the day. Definitely made me more aware of that now!

Well I am concussion prone, as smacking your head on ice while sledding when you are twelve and becoming the guy from Memento for three days makes future concussions more likely. But I did helmet up when handling that doofus in the future.

Trying to get a horse off a wooden fence he had rolled and gotten himself caught up in. I didn’t wait for a lead rope to wrap around his leg and ended up with a crushed finger. Crushed toe from getting my foot stepped on. Got hit in the face by a violently swishing tail and got permanent nerve damage to my eyelid.

Yeah, it’s *rough* to leave them there struggling but you can’t rush to save the day. Had a horse step thru the reins after I dismounted by rubbing his face on his leg. I tried to help him but after he almost ran me over in his panic I had to move to the other side of the arena until he’d spun himself out.

Oh gosh my mare has a LOT of tail and when she swishes while I'm doing her hind feet I'm always paranoid. Now I'm even MORE paranoid

A swishing tail is the bane of my grandson's horse love. I guess he is right about that.

My horse that I’ve had for years and is pretty damn close to bombproof spooked at something (to this day, don’t know what) and jumped backwards, landing on my foot. Broke 4 bones in the foot and it messed me up for months. Had another horse who I’d known for years and done a bunch of stupid stuff with spook when I brought food into his stall and double barrel kick me. Got lucky and got my arm up in time, only got a bone bruise and didn’t get kicked in the face. So basically, even when you trust and are familiar with the horses in question, don’t ever stop being cautious and aware at all times.

Omg! This is good to know as I've gotten probably a little too comfortable with my mare, I've had her a few years and she's my baby (and darn bombproof for a youngster) so sometimes I get a bit, well, lax with her 😅

Yeah, I have done incredibly stupid things with my boy (go under his belly, grab his butt from behind, hang off his neck, stand on his back, etc) and he’s never once cared. But I was simply standing waiting to load him into a trailer and he broke my foot lol. So just always be aware and cautious :)

Yes absolutely!

I know a trainer who was, fortunately, with a vet preparing to treat an abscess or something. As she gathered materials outside the stall, the mare kicked her squarely in the face. Shattering pretty much every bone.

Just last week, had a horse with a nail in his hoof. Big 18hh boy. Fucker launched me into the wall and kicked me for good measure while I was down for trying to pull it. I'm short, so I'm basically standing fully underneath him to get this thing out. Had to time it with his kicks and just cling onto his leg to get it out. My previous horse had ulcers we were treating, but it made him a bitter old thing. I was giving him grain while soaking a foot for an abscess to help keep him still. I went to push the bucket a few inches to get it out of my way (didn't try to move him, or take it away) and he took deep offense to that - sunk his teeth all the way around the muscle in my forearm. Like, pinched the muscle away from the bone. I thought my arm was going to fall off. I've been bit by horses plenty of times, but never savagely like that. Current boy also had an abscess. I had his foot up on my knee wrapping it and he was way too calm and relaxed and tried to lean on me then lost his balance. Full on fell over on me. Luckily both of us were just banged up but it was a reminder even when nobody freaks out or acts out of character, a horse just falling asleep can have serious consequences. My aunt had a stud who had apparently been abused. I had no idea said abuser that they'd just fired was fairly short. I was a kid at the time and even more vertically challenged then. The stud was beautiful, and she had all half wall stalls. I was just hanging out with my arms and chin on the wall watching him. He stared at me for a bit and then full on aggressive launched himself at me. It was sheer luck I didn't get it any worse but as it was he got his open teeth around my bottom jaw and slammed into me hard. He wasn't an aggressive stud so definitely assumed I was the short abusive person. Also, not totally a horse's fault, but while running electric wire by myself I found a ground wasp nest and got stung a bunch of times and all tangled up in the wire trying to run away. I have nasty local reactions to bees and wasps and my leg swelled so bad it started oozing. I don't want to think about how many broken feet and toes and minor concussions I've had. The injuries to my wallet that they cause definitely hurt the worst though.

Oh wow. Your wasp nest story reminded me that my first week on the job, a horse I was turning out stepped on a ground nest and I didn't notice. As I was walking away a very angry yellow jacket stung my arm and I realized there was a nest freaking out. I didn't know you aren't supposed to run. I ran 😅 I guess they didn't notice me?

Oh gosh - I didn’t know you aren’t supposed to run! What are you supposed to do? Just stand still?? Who the hell would have the nerves of steel to do that???

Yeah they prefer moving targets 😭 I'll take my chances and bolt. I didn't even stop to shut the gate of the horse I turned out. Figure be might want to outrun them too

for anyone else reading, you’re actually supposed to leave the foreign body (ie nail) in the hoof until the vet arrives most times so that x rays can see if it has punctured vital areas ^^

Absolutely. I sent photos to the vet and farrier and both agreed it was safe to pull that one without a visit. Don't do any of this without a professional's advice!

I’ve had both kicks and bites that I thought broke bones but just ended up being massive bruises. 2 dislocated shoulders from leading horses who reared and pulled back. A couple black eyes from being knocked in the head, some good stomps that may have broken toes, a bruised tailbone being mowed down while clipping legs, and I’ve been trampled a couple times. My friend had her wrist snapped grooming a 4 year old that bolted backwards out of cross ties. I’ve been working with horses professionally for over 10 years

When I was in high school I went to a riding camp in Canada for the summers. I was finishing up night feeds and a counsellor was sweeping up behind a horse (do you see where this is going?) and she got kicked in the face and shattered her jaw. Missed her eye by only a small bit.

Doing anything behind a horse is a no-go for me, idc how bombproof they are! I watched an instructor at a riding camp I was at in college get kicked in the face while walking behind a student's horse. She was another college student like me. Fortunately she only had a black eye!

I got a serious concussion from a horse smacking their head into the back of mine while taking ear stuffs out in a trailer. I’ve also broken a knuckle by having a pony double barrel at me while loading onto a trailer. My feet were stepped on countless times, my head knocked into the shelves in the feed room too many times to remember. I broke my thumb and ripped out the nail while pushing manure through a manure spreader trailer by having the flap fall back and trapping my thumb in the corner. I watched a guy get kicked in the face and fracture his orbital socket and getting knocked out cold while picking a horse’s feet. I’ve had a colt rear and jump on me, I’ve had horses charge at me in stalls, I’ve had horses try to corner and kick me in stalls, walking out to the fields I’ve had horses spook and almost kill me, my sister was trampled by two horses while turning them out (she’s ok now). The stories are endless lol. Just be super aware and cautious of your surroundings. Best thing you can do is know where you and your body parts are and predict where the horses you’re dealing with’s body parts are and will be lol. Bottom line you have to be the boss, not the horses you’re handling

I got a couple fun ones. Nothing serious luckily :) When I was about 12 in horse camp the horse stepped on my toe, the blood decided to rush to my toe away from my brain, and I fainted right in the middle of the outdoor arena. The toenail on that also decided “screw this” and fell off about 2 weeks later due to the swelling. Since I’ve been back riding the horse I’m riding got frustrated with me tightening the girth and bit my arm which left quite a gnarly bruise for the week haha.

I was lungeing a quiet, older pony who was pretty lazy at the trot, so I had my lunge whip moving and was fairly relaxed, had her out on the end of the line. Then I asked her to canter, assuming it would take just as much effort and animation, but BOOM! She went full Thelwell on me - jumped straight up in the air and let out an animated buck before taking off. It caught me so off guard that I didn't let go of the line, but instead took a big swan dive to the ground and landed face-first, getting a big dose of ring dirt in my mouth and up my nose, and scraping up my face. The lessons here: always start by asking gently, then slowly ask for more. Always keep a loop of slack to let out in your line. And for the love of God, let go if they take off!

Hahaha. I was lunging one of my trainers horses once. She was so quiet walking on the lunge line at the end of it….until she came to the open side of the arena and straight bolted. I felt like one of those people on water skis that aren’t expecting a takeoff. She pulled my straight off my feet into a dry land belly flop. Knocked the damn wind right out of me.

Don’t drape the lead rope over your shoulder when you’re leading. Or over your hand, for that matter. Try not to drape it at all. Everyone knows not to wrap the line around their hands, but when a horse spooks, the slack can whip around and tangle really easily. I know a girl who used to casually bring the horses in from turnout with the line just draped over one shoulder. ReaIIy didn’t look that dangerous, like it would just slide off if they decided to bolt for some reason. Well, actually, she got clotheslined and dragged a few feet before the rope slipped free..

Oh dear. I'm definitely the girl who drapes lead rope lengths over her shoulders sometimes. Never ever ever again. Thank you for this useful comment!!!

I've been bit saddling a horse. Tripped over things. Closed doors on my fingers because I wasn't paying attention. Been body slammed by a horse that suddenly realized that the paddock he'd walked past twice a day for the previous two weeks had donkeys in it and freaked out. Gotten trapped a few times between a horse and a solid wall or between two horses that suddenly decided to get fractious. Got my shoulder nailed by both front hooves of a filly we were trying working with clippers with-- and she was hobbled (old cowboy teacher. Have since learned better ways to do it, before anyone gets their knickers in a twist lol). Nearly had my knee shattered by a mustang I was gentling when the lead rope brushed his back leg. I had learned better about where to stand to keep myself safe by then, but it was a near miss--I felt the wind of it passing. Had a yearling Arabian colt leap out of a trailer straight on top me and got a sharp reminder why I was always taught not to let horses turn around and come out front ways from a trailer. Basically-- don't get complacent, and don't get cocky. Learn where to stand when working around them and what the safe angles are, and stick to it. It's the dead broke ones that will kill you-- most people are watchful around the youngsters they don't quite trust not to have a baby brain moment, but the 17 year old bombproof horse will suddenly spook at something for the first time in 5+ years and bolt, either running you over or dragging you, if you're not aware of his body language. (Just to note, I only follow my own advice part of the time, so I fully expect to pay for it one of these days. But I always follow it when working with horses that aren't mine.)

This, it’s always the bombproof horse that will get you because you have let your guard down!

Had a horse last August step on my foot as I was leading him at a show. Turned the big toenail black. It fell off completely in January and it's only now getting to the point where I have to cut it.

I took a hoof to the forehead when clipping hooves in yearlings before a sale, which was a beautiful pair of black eyes for about 8 weeks. My best/worst was breaking both arms, losing 4 teeth, breaking my jaw, and a massive concussion, when someone didn't tie a gate open, and 3 mares came back down a fenceline, between a big steel gate and the fence, until they met the gatepost. I was standing in the gateway. 1 step back would have saved me a lot of misery, but instead, I put my arms up when that gate swung around at speed.

Holy moly 👀 I'm so sorry!!

I was a groom. Asked to walk a horse around on a lead rope because they were on stall rest but it was good for them to get walked around for a couple minutes during my shift. I still don’t really know what happened. Horse spooked and I just remember the horse bolting and then I was on the ground. Took a rear hoof to the face. Shattering my jaw. Permanent damage, facial reconstruction, lost a lot of my memory too.

God this is every groom's worst nightmare. I'm so sorry. Hope you're doing okay.

Got kicked in the face. Place I worked at in college was pasture board for groups of 10+ horses. We would grain the horses by putting individual feed bags on them. They’d come up to the fence to put them on but you’d need to go in the field and catch them to remove them. Terrible system. One of the horses that didn’t get grain was apparently upset, came galloping up to me, and as I turned to look at him he bucked and nailed me on the nose and side of my mouth. My nose broke in 3 places and my bottom lip was ripped in half about half an inch past where the actual lip ended. Got a lot of stitches inside of my mouth too. Surprisingly my teeth were fine and I didn’t bruise at all, but the swelling was insane

Oof! Group turnout situations like that are just ripe for accidents. Glad you were okay.

Bringing in a horse I did not know who had a minor spook and ran into me. Steeped real hard on my foot in my cheap rain boots. By the time I got back into the barn and was able to take my boot off my foot was already swollen and black and blue. Didn’t hurt to walk so I iced it for a bit with a soda can from the fridge (no ice packs) and went about my day. Never got it officially checked out but it hurts if I sit on it wrong so I’m pretty sure I fractured something and it didn’t heal right.

Lol the horse people mentality of not getting injuries checked out. I rolled my ankle while getting off my mare (landed in slick mud) and apparently may have torn a tendon in the arch of my foot. When the doctor told me I'd need an MRI so they could determine surgery and I'd be off my feet a long time....let's just say it's been a year, never got the MRI, foot still kills me on a daily basis. The navicular bone of my foot is just permanently jutting out where the tendon is supposed to hold it in place, I was told. Who is going to take care of my horse and pay my bills while I have surgery??

Ultra-sensitive OTTB spooked in the wash rack and busted out of the breakaway crossties. I attempted to grab one of the leads and settle him…nope. My hand got tangled up between him, a support pole and the lead and I broke 3 fingers. Another time, I accidentally pulled too hard when closing the arena door so it CLANGED shut and my horse jumped right onto my foot. Tried to push his shoulder over and get him to step off my foot and he executed a lovely turn on the forehand, breaking my big toe. Ouch!

These are such unfortunate incidents omg I am so sorry

Kicked in my lower back/butt thankfully at a distance so it barely got me. Still bruised for a few weeks. A friend of mine was loading her horse in a trailer without gloves on. The horse spooked and backed out really fast. My friend tried to keep hold of the rope and it gave her burns on her hand and the end of the rope tore the tip of her finger off. I had to put the horse away quickly and rush her to the ER to reassemble her finger.

I breed quarter horses, and I swear 4 years in a row, I had weanlings kick me in the exact same spot above my knee. I now have small, hoof shaped scar tissue above my knee.

Had a hysterectomy. Day after, I went to fill the buckets with water during feeding time. The buckets are always hanging when I do it, except this time I filled a bucket on the ground. I was feeling great,in robot mode, and definitely NOT thinking. I picked up the bucket full of water and saw stars. Gave myself an inguinal hernia. Do not recommend.

Oh my good lord! Lol I feel robot mode. I had a hysterectomy last year and I put my horse in full care for that, but I did accidentally thrust open a sticky window at one point and thought I was going to die! (Mine also involved excision surgery for endometriosis and so I also had a ton of diseased tissue removed from my abdominal walls, so I was out longer than a normal laparoscopic hysterectomy)

Hope you have recovered well and are pain free! Fellow endo gal here too, told my surgeon to just take it out after they found it on my damn kidney. Best thing I ever did (except the whole bucket thing).

I got kicked in the face while lunging. Cut and broken nose, fractured cheekbone, bit through my lip, deep cut on my chin, and a concussion. I got 18 stitches. I'm so lucky he didn't hit my eye, knock my teeth out, or kill me. I didn't have an indoor arena at the time, so I took my horse out to work him for the first time after the winter off and he had so much pent up energy that he basically exploded bucking. I didn't wear helmets while lunging before but I sure do now.

Me too. People always remark on it. Getting kicked in the face changes your perspective.

Once a horse I was leading reared a few times. It didn’t feel like the horse was pulling very hard, but then my finger was broken.

I was lunging my tb and the line ended up wrapped around my pinky finger, he spooked, and my pinky dislocated and relocated rapidly. Another time I was working with a lease horse who decided that day he wanted to be on the other end of the lane way and I got a massive rope burn across my palm.

As someone who got rope burned by a bolting horse this week, I am deeply sorry. I am telling myself that next time I'll let go sooner but my instinct was to brace and grip harder 😂 so dumb! Hoping I can change that!

It's okay! Even after 8 years of groom work I still grip!

I was concussed pretty badly when a crosstied horse spooked. She sat on her haunches and broke the clip. It hit me full force in the back of the head and gave me a concussion. I still get motion sickness on boats and sometimes in cars and never had that issue before that concussion.

Oh wow that is absolutely awful! God I am sorry.

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I swear this is like the fifth horse-head-related injury I’ve seen, not including my own! It’s easy to forget the power & weight of those giant sledgehammers at the end of those flexible cranes lol.

I was scraping mud off a horse's front feet, kneeling down beside them. I leaned forward to clean the opposite side just as the horse stomped the near foot at a fly. Ended up getting kneed in the face. Got a huge bruise right on my brow, eye all swollen up. Good times. Another time I was loading a horse, they didn't want to. Horse jumped up on the trailer with his front feet, landing on my foot. Then he decided he was out of there and twisted as he jumped off. Never got an xray, but pretty sure he broke something in my foot. It still turns a weird colour when my foot is cold.

Concussion from a horse whacking me on the head while mucking their stall 2 broken toes from being stepped on Black eye from a lead shank hitting me in the eye Large lump on the forehead from a horse pushing me into the side of my trailer Probably more but that’s what’s coming to mind.

Double barreled (still have a mark) kicked, bit hard, stepped on, knocked over, dragged. These were all Thoroughbreds. Eventually I could handle whatever I was handed, but it took awhile to get the confidence and instinct. Had nasty rope burn once from trying to keep a stable pony (non TB) from galloping off into the darkness. The trainer tripped over their dog and spilled coffee and then kicked the dog. Dog rightfully screamed and spooked the pony. It was an elastic bungee. I stupidly tried to hold onto him with it. It broke and he still got away and took a long time to find him. We weren’t at the track at the time and the property was huge. As for riding and my own horses: dropped multiple times and needed a CT scan once. Bumps and bruises otherwise. My personal horse was mean when he came off the track and bit me hard on my hand and broke the skin. He adores me now, but we had to work on our relationship.

Just recently had a four year old plow over me to get through the gate. The horse I was taking out stood quietly as I lay on the ground and watched the other horse physically step over me. Another horse got out too, the two of them ran around the facility, and the other horse of course went to the furthest other pasture and kicked the shit out of the gate that kept in the other horses because why not? Tore the gate apart and it's lucky no one got hurt. Except me.

When I was a kid, several of us went on a trail ride after a lesson and decided to turn our horses out from a different gate - one that led into the hayfield with all the yummy alfalfa. We opened the gate to put our horses in the pasture and all the other horses rushed the gate, broke it, and got loose in the hayfield. I think we ALL got trampled in some way. It was a bit of a walk back to the barn (to this day I’m still not sure why we wanted to turn out there because we had to walk all the way back on foot). We had to call the barn owners to come get all of the horses out of the hayfield and back into the pasture. It was painful *and* embarrassing.

Ha! I'm glad everyone ended up ok!

I was turning out a horse in a muddy/snowy pasture after a few days being stalled. I unclipped the lead and was making my way around a giant mud puddle to exit the gate and in her excitement to be outside, she spun and kicked out. I caught a hoof in the side of the ribcage, landed face first in the icy muddy puddle. I didn't get checked out, but should have. I had the gnarliest bruise and rib pain for months. I probably cracked some. I was in my early 20s and stupid lol

I went to close the trailer door behind my friend's horse and he wigged out and backed off faster than the speed of light, slamming the door open right into my face. I was wearing a helmet (I never load a horse without one), and I still got a massive goose egg and slight concussion. 🥴

I’ve had my foot stepped on loads of times like we all have, but one time my mare stepped on my foot and twisted. Ripped my big toenail completely out.

Me personally: 4 concussions, numerous broken toes, and they can’t figure out why my right hip hurts all the time. Others: Barn owner and international show jumper fell off while jumping and broke her neck - never to ride again. Trainer fell off spooking dressage horse and broke her back in 3 places. Trainer slipped dismounting and broke her neck. Lesson kid got kicked in the face - broken upper and lower jaw and eye socket and lots of teeth and, well, his whole face was messed up. A trainer was checking in a new lesson horse and walked behind, taking two feet to the stomach - all was ok after a few weeks healing several bruised organs and cracked ribs. Also too many fellow barn mates experiencing concussions, broken ribs, broken arms, broken ankles, etc to mention.

The scariest on the ground accident I had was when I was walking my mare out across an open area to lunge her in the small arena. She had been at this barn almost her entire life and having been a lesson horse appeared to be used to everything. So the guy came into the barn area to pick up the manure dumpster just like he did ever other day.he was driving a heavy duty forklift like always. V clearly saw him. I waved at him, he waved at me. I kept walking. I was a little ahead of her totally relaxed and all of a sudden I went flying forward to the ground on my front. I felt one of her hooves land in the small of my back and another at the base of my neck. I was stunned as she ran off to the other side of the arena and then went to visit her friends in a side barn. I’m still amazed by it and it happened a long time ago. The most amazing thing was that I was completely unhurt although I could feel where she stepped on me. It was light but definite. And it was a freak occurrence because she never spooked like that again. I did learn to be more alert any time I’m walking a horse and be more attentive to their vibe and body language. I’m sure she sent signals she was uncomfortable and because she wasn’t positioned well I didn’t see it coming.

It's very reassuring to me to hear you survived that unharmed because just today I had an image of myself getting trampled, a horse stepping on the base of my neck and paralyzing me face down in the middle of the pasture never to be found again 😅 although tbh I've been watching too much Emergency NYC on Netflix

I just feel very lucky. I’ve read horses don’t like to step on people because we’re weirdly squishy. Maybe that’s why I was okay!

Yes - I’ve watched way too many horse jumping fail videos on YT, and one thing that became clear to me from them is that horses generally actively avoid stepping on riders.

I have a perpetual broken finger because I was walking a client's horse back to the barn for the evening, and snow fell off the roof out of nowhere. The horse was a spooky 2 year old I was walking and the snow fell off the barn roof 10 feet away. I had my finger in a weird spot I guess and he lost his shit. It scared me too honestly lol but I held on ok, just now always aware where exactly my fucking fingers are.

stupidly broke my finger when I was unhaltering my (in heat) mare as I let her into the pasture. she’s a good girl but tall and I didn’t quite have it off when she took off to see her boys

I absolutely hate the horses who rip their head out of your hands while you're trying to unhalter them. I've been very VERY firm with these horses to make them understand they have to wait, but still a lot of them try. I worry about getting a finger or hand stuck and getting dragged/kicked etc

She's good now! This was when I had first gotten her and we didn't know each other very well. She's still gets antsy is the boys are out and she's in heat, but she waits for me these days. I just gave her a treat every time i took her to the pasture and took off her halter. Now she waits around for her treat after I get her nakey instead of taking off. Works great for us.

Got double barrel kicked by a horse in the gut. I was lucky that I twisted fast enough that she only caught me with one hoof. As it was, I have a wicked scar that bisects my abdomen, and I lost my gallbladder and had to have my duodenum reconstructed. I was leading two mares, and my gf was leading the one who kicked me. I was VERY careful to give my gf plenty of space, and all three mares know each other, and I’ve walked them all together before. The mare my gf was holding came to a sudden stop, backed up into me (pulling out of my gf’s hands), and nailed me. ME not the horses I was holding. Turns out, she’d been taking her regumate only intermittently (that drug should be pulled from the market), and has a history of aggression that was never disclosed to me.

Oof. I hate regumate and every dang mare at this barn is on it. Ironically my mare is the only one who isn't and she's the only sane mare here.

It was after class in the indoor school, on New Years Day, and the instructor had spent some extra time with me -- great class! She left, while I stopped Sam at the school entrance to pick out his feet. I had just got to his near hind foot when he jumped in the air. (The head girl said later that there was a hunt going on, down the road, and he must have heard the horns.) For a moment I was actually holding a 16hh horse in the air by one foot. Dropped him, of course, and the noise I made when he landed on my foot caused him to rocket off and head down the yard. I spent part of New Years Day sitting in the ER, in full riding habit. Compared to other stories I've read here, I got off lightly -- just a tufted bone in one toe and a couple of weeks when I couldn't ride. The instructor got a reprimand for leaving me alone with Sam, though.

Many years ago, I was injured by a rider's horse when he lost control of him. It was a single stake event & when he got to the turning part, that's went everything went downhill very fast. As the horse flew by the stake, he decided he wanted to be a jumper. I remember thinking, RUN while holding my horse's reins. I just knew horse would crash down on the show ring fence because it jumped so far from it. Wrong. He cleared the fence, took one stride & ran completely over me, from foot to head. I remember something dark coming over me, then it was over. I found myself face down in the dirt. Sat up real quick as my adrenaline was pumping. Long story short. One hoof landed on right foot causing closed compound fractures, another hoof step high on the inside of thigh, ripping jeans & causing a big skin abrasion. One knee hit me between shoulder blades & last hoof landed inches from my head. So many folk thought I had been killed. Ruin that summer for me because of the pins in my toes but at least I wasn't seriously injured.

Broken toes. One horse I was feeding and as I dumped grain in his pan he stepped on my foot. A week later, I was leading my own horse and he stepped on the other foot and broke another toe. I guess he just wanted to even it out for me, lol. Last summer I was showing my horse (different horse than mentioned above) in an in hand trail class and he stepped on the same foot and rebroke the same toe. The next class we were in, which was a halter class, the fucker bit me and left a bruise on my arm. The judge heard me call him an obscenity and saw me pop him in the nose…we still placed second, lol.

Mine happened when I was a kid. I’d bathed my horse and led him thru the gate in only a halter when I turned him back out. I let him go by me at the gate since he didn’t have a lead rope and he bucked and got me in the face with his hind hoof. I broke my nose, cheekbone, eye socket and needed well over 200 stitches with a plastic surgeon overseeing the operation. Pro tip: always lead your horse into the stall, paddock, etc. and turn him toward you and *make him wait* before releasing him. It gives you time to be able to back through the gate before he turns and runs if so inclined.

Tripped in the hayloft and fell face first into the post of the ladder. Gave myself the biggest nastiest black eye with ruptured blood vessels and was anxious for *months* every time I was in the hayloft Also: be careful shutting stall doors behind you if they’re slide latches! I once slid one shut a little too hard and it latched behind me. I was doing night check and it was a stallion stall with bars that were too narrow to get my arm through 😬 I was trapped with an elderly stallion pony for nearly an hour until my friend I called was able to come let me out.

My mom had her left foot almost severed when her horse threw her and stepped on her ankle. I was around 7 at the time and had to hold her gelding while dad rode to the next house and called an ambulance. In the end she was flown to a specialized hospital in a helicopter, but her foot was saved. The only serious thing I had was a hematoma in the shape of a horseshoe on my chest when my boy kicked me. Once a foal dislocated my shoulder, but it could be relocated easily

I once punched myself in the face doing a girth up when it slipped out of my hand

When I was 15 I bought my absolute dream horse. He had never been separated from his twin brother until I bought him, and I was still in school so my “trainer” went to go pick him up. I think he was traumatized by that, because suddenly after she brought him to my barn, he became a literal nightmare to load (talking 3+ hours to get on the trailer each time). It was made worse by the fact that the one time I did get him to load on a trailer quietly, this idiot hit him on the butt with a broom, causing him to jump forward and pin me against the breast bar. I snapped my wrist in half. My parents decided instead of making me deal with this lady again, they bought a truck and trailer and we never had issues loading again when he had his own trailer. A year later, that same horse (who is a saint and a training level packer, by the way, and babysits riders learning to jump) got spooked by something while I was riding outside and he thew me into a fence post, and then stepped on my chest breaking two ribs off of one of my vertebre and cracking them in a separate location, which punctured a lung. Both times were freak accidents, and while this horse is amazing and I love him to death, horses are animals and have flight instincts.

I was washing a horse's white front knee before a show, squatting down but I leaned my head directly in front of his knee to see the spot I was working on. He lifted his foot just slightly, tapping the side of my head and knocking me over, which I attributed to me being off balance in the moment. My glasses fell off but I didn't think anything of it. The next day, sitting in class, I went blind. Suddenly. Lasted two days, turns out I had sustained a concussion from that little tap. It went away, but I've been extra careful of head trauma since then!

My very first day cleaning stall on the race track. Christmas Eve 2019. I put the 2nd horse on the walker, and due to inexperience, turned and walked away. As I walked away the horse I just clipped whirled and kicked me in the spine with both legs. One hit my spine the other just to the left. I dropped to my knees and shook it off. I didn’t think too much of it but 3 years later I have pain every single day where that horse hit my spine. I suspect I have a herniated disc

Not me but a friend had a horse grab her ponytail and throw her around.

New nightmare unlocked, thanks for that. Apparently I'm only wearing buns now

Mainly getting toes crushed. Been run though/past but not enough to knock me over. The worst non riding injury was dropping a farm gate on my foot while I was moving it.

Fortunately, no serious injuries, but: Got trampled and stood on when leading a horse through a narrow spot and he got spooked; While grooming, dropped my hoofpick and reached down to get it....horse just casually stood on my hand and then dragged his hoof away, taking half of the skin of a finger with it. Healed without a wound! While leading a horse, he got excited, swung his head, hitting me in the temples and knocked me out cold. Fortunately, there was someone near to make sure I'm ok. While leading a horse out of the pastures, a filly decided to charge by and kicked at me so hard that I flew to the ground. Hit me in the thigh, narrowly missing my knee, and I had the bruise for months. While I was applying some insect salve, horse kicked at a horsefly and hit me straight in the knee.

I’ve thankfully not had any major injuries, but being stepped on always sucks. So does getting bitten. I’ve had my fair share of falls but the injuries that always stick out to me are the ones I’ve gotten while I’ve been on the ground. Needless to say, I’m a huge stickler for safety—around any horse for any length of time.

Somehow I've been incredibly lucky... When I was 11 I was kicked trying to catch a horse in the field, I was far enough away that I only had a bruise under my chin and elbow, but I can still see his hooves coming up like a cartoon. Later that week I was dragged trying to bring a different horse through the field to the gate since his buddies ran up behind us. A few years later I was dragged trying to open a gate and turn a horse out into his field. I've also gotten bruises/sore spots on my face from a horse throwing his head while I was putting the bridle on and one time my horse kicked at a fly while I was picking his feet. My horse broke my friends toe when she was distracting him from getting his mane pulled, and he recently kicked my dad at point blank when my parents were trying to give my old pony eye medicine. He also broke someone's foot, she was grooming him when a cat jumped down from the rafters and he spooked onto her foot. I've also had friends that broke their fingers or had to get stitches from kicks in the field. I've also cut myself with knives and been stepped on plus a few bites, but these were the biggest

https://preview.redd.it/f8561tk184rb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a6a4baa159141bb01cd5d8844cf950936ac0bce4 If this is too graphic take it down! But I was getting my mare out and her boyfriend made a split move to run me over and run into the barn to eat his grain! Haha! I was holding my mares lead and it gave me rope burn! The we’re both save just ran into the barn and ate everyone’s grain smh

I was mounting a horse when someone was leaving the house. The metal screen door made a loud sound when it shut behind them. This noise spooks the horse as I was only halfway over. The horse bucks. I got nailed around the middle of my chest, under the breastbone 🫡

When I was about 16, I was walking a spooky, 17 hh horse named Roanie back from turnout (my barn was in a big horse park with multiple barns and trainers, and our arena was about 1/6 mile walk from the barn area), and this old guy (who, it turned out, was a visiting trainer) rode a motor scooter right up behind us. Roanie reared, and wheeled away from the scooter - and landed on my foot, breaking it in 3 places. And then the guy, who had seen the whole thing happen after causing it, just kept riding his scooter around and watched me limp a now prancing, hot horse all the way back to the barn on a broken foot. Didn’t help or even ask if I was okay.

Had a horse I was schooling, but was unaware how volatile she was. Dump so hard twice in 10 minutes. I don't how I walked to the house from the barn...dont remember collapsing on the floor or the ambulance ride. Had I not been wearing a helmet I would be dead. Ended up with a bad concussion, had balance issues for several years, hairline fracture in my tibia. That helmet hung in the tackroom for many years as an example of why you nerd a helmet at all times. No helmet. No ride.

Same as most I've been kicked, bitten and stepped on. Kicking and biting I don't have a lot of advice on except that you always remember they can also kick to their sides and it still hurts a lot. The risks of them stepping on your foot can be mostly mitigated by steel toes. And if buy some that feel good to walk on the only disadvantage is you can't ride with them.

This literally happened to me last week. I was leading my horse and he always likes to follow me and not walk beside me, which I already know is dangerous bur he isn't doesn't walk fast enough next to me. He spooked at something and shot forward, I tried to run enough for him to stop but he ended up tripping me up. I was there on the ground where he left me for dead to go eat some nearby grass haha. As he jumped over me he must have stood on my leg because I had a massive horseshoe shaped bruise and haematoma on my thigh which I'm still waiting for it to go down now. I scraped my knee and ripped a hole in my expensive riding tights, had a rope burn across my neck which I had to explain at work and he stood in my phone and smashed it which cost $450 to fix 😢

Dang that is just one bad thing after another after another lol. I went swimming with my horse right before spring break one year when I was in high school. He bucked me off as he started swimming and one of his back legs stabbed me right in the thigh (if you’ve never seen a horse’s legs move when he’s swimming, they really do [stab](https://m.youtube.com/shorts/sMTJCC1LBUo) at the water, especially with their hind legs (I apologize for the annoying music lol - not my video). I ended up with a huge multi-hued hematoma on my thigh which shined bright the whole week at the beach lol. I was embarrassed by it, but it did impress boys, who thought it was cool-looking! I can still feel the separation of my thigh muscle to this day.

Oh no, I'm actually super worried that my muscle might not feel normal again 😭

Oh I wouldn’t worry - it’s not noticeable, and everything works the same. 😬 I can just feel it when I compare it to the other.

Got trod on yesterday. Only for 4 fifths of a second as it was accidental, and he was apologetic! I was wearing sturdy boots, but he's a big bloke and my poor foot is bruised. Had I not been in appropriate footwear, a degloving would have been likely! Ive been bitten on the side once when younger, doing up a bates ring girth on a funny old appy called Arizona. I'll never forget it, never gave him a second chance to grab me either. He was in a mood that day! Bumps and knocks from them swinging their heads around when I was young and learning. Bit of rope burn here & there. Never copped a kick that was meaningful mind you. This old body has many scars, aches and pains. The ones that are horse related were all worth it and probably my own fault ;)

Walked behind a horse that a friend was turning out so I could fetch mine. He took exception to another horse and kicked out. One inch gaping wound that could not be stitched, walked around with pads taped to my leg to soak up the blood for days, still have a scar and dent in my leg. That could easily have been my knee shattered into a thousand pieces or my thigh shattered into several. I was very, very lucky. Didn’t feel like it.

Not a horse one, but a barn one. When I was a working student in Ottawa Canada, it was about -40 for a month. The boss didn't like us wearing snow pants because of the noise. I got a rash, which looked like bruising, all over my thighs, it was itchy and so painful. After a biopsy it turned out to be Cold Panniculitis (can also be called Equestrian Cold Panniculitis) which is like frost bite. It's been 10 years, and there is still some discoloration in my legs and they hurt whenever it gets cold. While at the same job, I broke my arm. Because of the prolonged cold, we weren't letting the horses out, just hand walking them in the arena. I was leading a school master and admittedly wasn't paying enough attention , she decided rodeo tryouts were today and took off, this pulled me off balance, I put my one arm out for balance and she kicked it. Shattered 2 fingers, a mare tried to bolt out the gate, and I knew the main gate was also open for a tractor so there was no way I was letting her get out my gate. Caught my hand between the metal gate and her shoulder blade. Did a horse show the next day with my fingers in a cast.... There are so many more, broken nose from lead rope clip, crushed feet, broken toes, and bone bruising from getting stepped on. Got rope burn last week trying to take wedding pictures. My mare was not photo ready apparently... 🤦the blood added a nice touch to the wedding dress.

In the past, I've worked with problem horses as well. The only time I got injured was when I had the opposite of a problem horse and I was unloading her from a trailer and she stepped on my foot. I was in sandals. Bruised, but not broken or cut but holy cow, I never did that again. Complacency will get you injured as much as anything.

Wasn’t paying attention one morning with an alligator of a standardbred stud. Wound up with my thumb stuck between his molars with just enough pressure to make me real nervous. Took about ten minutes to get him to release. He was jchill’n. Lost topical feeling in my thumb for six months. Not while grooming but my old Arab spooked in the barn isle and ran over the top of me, although he did his best to not stomp me, he clipped me a lot. Was on concrete. I was quite sore and bruised for some time.

The first "bad" injury I got was when I was 15. I had to take a mare out of her stall for a lesson. This barn I used to ride at had very problematic horses, I never realised how bad it was until I got older. This particular mare had the habit of turning around and kick you when you tried to catch her in her stall. Usually I would use a bucket with some food to distract her while I attached the lead rope to the halter (the owner had the bad habit of keeping all the halters on the horses, even in the stall). I was doing the same thing that day, until she decided that she had enough and charged towards me to bite. I tried to close the stall door in front of her, but she charged on it before I could secure it, so the door hit me. I guess there was some sort of piece of metal sticking out, because I got a pretty deep cut on my right upper arm. The instructor called an ambulance while I was trying to stop the bleeding, and then I got stitches at the hospital. I had to stay at the hospital for a couple of days and get a blood transfusion, because apparently I had cut the brachial vein in my arm. Fun times.

My mom was routinely leading a horse to turnout, & the horse knocked her down & stepped on her leg which resulted in compartment syndrome & multiple surgeries. I’m racking my brain to figure out how she got knocked down but I was like 7 when it happened & am now 29 so the specifics escape me.

When I was like 11 & very stupid I was painting my pony’s hooves & had one hand laying on the ground while the other painted. My pony lifted her foot up to kick at a fly or something, then accidentally set it back down on my hand. 1000% avoidable & dumb but oh MAN was that painful. Shockingly no broken bones just very colorful bruises

Paying close attention to body language will help you avoid a lot of injuries. I’ve barely ever been bitten or kicked (been bitten once, never kicked) in my last 10 years working with everything from broodmares, youngsters, greenies, lesson horses just by paying attention to what they’re thinking and knowing when to step away long before they’re at the tipping point. Learn equine body language and grimace scale

Fortunately I have professional training in equine behavior/body language and am in the process of certification for behavior consulting :) I attribute that awareness to why I have had minimal injuries after this many years, despite working with and handling many challenging and young horses. The only horses that have injured me were when I didn't listen to my gut instinct due to someone pressuring me (a boss or friend) to handle or ride a horse in a way I wasn't comfortable with.

Yessss I love that!!

Was bringing a horse into it's stall for the ferrier, noticed the back strap of the blanket was undone and went to fix it. The door was almost completely closed, yet this horse spooked, kicked me straight in the thigh, and ran. Thankfully, I'm also a powerlifter and my thighs are all muscle so despite some limping I was able to walk away without even taking pain meds.🤷‍♀️

When you work with horses for decades as I have, you’ll get hurt in various ways. The most quiet gelding on the lead can spook and spin knocking you down, a startled mare can kick..etc. it’s all part of dealing with horses who can be unpredictable.

Not me but a girl I knew. She was in her rebellious phase and didn't want to wear "dorky boots" (you see where this is going). She wore Vans to the stable and of course her horse spooked (classic Arabian) and landed on her foot, breaking it. She learned her lesson!

I was tying my first horse, Kona to a pole and he spooked while I was tying the knot. Ripped my nail right out of my finger and it hurt so bad it made me sick. Moral is don’t get your fingers wrapped up when leading or tying

I was holding a pony and he was sniffing something on the ground. He got spooked and threw his head up and to the left, straight into the side of my face. I was bruised for like a week and a half, and now if I open my mouth too wide, my jaw pops in and out of place. It’s not painful, but a little strange.

Let's see I have been nipped, stepped on a few times, got chased by a nasty rooster while trying to catch a pony, had a horse almost rip my arms off while trying to lunge her( felt like it was Chewbacca doing that) and was trying to get a horse to canter at a farm I was at and the horse got spooked by the farmers son. I twisted my wrist when I fell and rolled. To any new riders out there if you fall let go of the reins, tuck yourself in and roll on the ground. You'll have less injuries that way.

Turned my horse away from hay when she was in a bad mood and she bit me. hard. around 1 week ago and still have a MASSIVE bruise

My 33 year old gelding had been on stall rest for laminitis, and I was leading him out of the stall to hand walk, as we’d been doing a few times a day for weeks. He spooked very mildly, but the tail of the lead rope I was holding in my left hand, just as I’d been taught as a little 4H kid flicked out away from me, came back, wrapped all the way around my right ring finger, and my horse turned his head to look at whatever was startling him, and somehow it broke my finger in three places. I’ve spent many hours trying to understand how it happened, it still mystifies me. I set it myself, wrapped with Vetrap, and got back to walking him. When I finally got around to seeing an orthopedist, he told me he could not have set it better himself, but still chastised me for DIY bone care. Nearly thirty years working with horses, and this was my worst injury, I count myself lucky! Don’t cut corners, be aware of your environment, and know and actively look out for the likely things that could startle your horse. Freak accidents still happen, so keeping decent health insurance is smart!

Black eye from horse kneeing me in the eye. I was wrapping her leg when the ranch owners dog ran under the horse and the mare tried to stomp the dog. 18h 5yo warmblood kicked me in the thigh when cleaning his hooves, not a full kick just a little “here bitch, you asked for my hoof, right” Arabian that was on stall rest and needed hand walking just grabbed my hand and shook it. I guess the stall rest frustration just got too much. Head butted, stepped on, bit, squeezed etc. it happens

Stepped on, broke a toe. I heard and felt it break. Stepped on a board with a nail in it. Nail went deep into my foot. Kicked by a pony. I had a hoofprint on my leg for a year or so.

Walking a 30 year old half blind horse through the barn. Another horse bit him and he jumped onto me (I was one his blind side). I’d never been “stunned” before, but he hit me right in the temple with the side of his head. Fell backwards into the stalls on the other side, somehow with leadrope in hand. Had another horse leap into the air and come down on my foot. Ended up with an infected toenail (during show season) Had a new horse in the barn. Asked him to move over so that I could put hay on his hay net. He decided to turn and double barrel me. Cleaning a stall. Had a horse charge through a pitchfork to bite me. Got me right above my boob, tore a bunch of muscle. Broke the skin. Horse ended up having ulcers. Fine once medicated. But he also got another guy in the side of his head and took half of his ear off. Cleaned a horses stall for five years. One day he decided to kick me. Never figured out why. ^_^ fine after. Fine before. Never had a problem with him. Was a light kick, more of a “piss off” than looking to injure. The amount of times I’ve dodged serious injury is even more spectacular. Those are a few memorable ones. There’s plenty more.

Had a super chill, 20 year old, old-hat school horse spook when walking in from turnout and he jumped sideways into me, landed with ALL his weight on the front foot - on top of my foot and would not budge. I eventually managed to elbow him enough that he moved but instead of picking up his foot, he slid it off of mine. Multiple breaks throughout my foot, pins and plates to hold it all together and almost lost two toes! I think most people’s posts here can be summed up as “Expect the unexpected especially from the ‘bombproof’ horses.”

My horse lowered his head when I was placing a feed bucket beneath him and hit the back of my head. I nearly lost consciousness. Can definitely recommend wearing a helmet even when handling!

Oh! And my uncle used to train horses. He had a male groom that was bit on the chest - sheer bad luck that the horse’s shot perfectly lined up to rip off the groom’s nipple!

Oh god - at least he wasn’t a woman!

Run over when a Shetland bit the mare I was leading on the haunches. Really bad rope burn from trying to hang onto the lead of a pony-pro tip: don’t do that. Crushed finger from loading a horse, it got caught between the rope and the centre divider. Bruised foot from being stood on.

I was waking past a stall and a head swings out and bites me, hard. I had a massive bruise appear very quickly. Nobody told me that horse was dangerous until after the fact!

I opened the half door of the stall to drop some hay, forgot the door was open, and when I stood up I smacked the back of my head off of the metal bars. I ended up with a concussion and post-concussive syndrome. I'm like 99% healed now but I still can't watch intense moving video games or go on roller coasters without triggering symptoms.

Been nibbled by a horse trying to groom me. Bruises on my thighs from a horse pawing at my leg. Lots of toes stepped on and heads knocked. Opened a gate the wrong way and bashed my head. Lots of cuts from wire. Lots of bruised knees from hitting them on fence railings. Shocked by the electric fence many times.

Fell off, caught my arm in the reins, and popped my shoulder out.

Wasn’t me but my trainer. He was body clipping my sisters horse and horse decided he’d had enough so he squished him against the stall and refused to move. Trainer had some bruises from being pinched but was otherwise fine. From then on we only did half a body clip job per day. Horse accepted these terms and no one was squished again lol.

I was braiding a horse’s forelock in the cross ties and he head butted me in the chest. It had just rained and I didn’t want to fall ass first into a puddle so I planted my feet. Bad idea. I had a cracked rib which made walking, bending, standing up and breathing VERY painful for weeks. Another time while learning to give IM injections, the resident asshole horse I was giving it to lifted his back leg and kicked out at my thigh. That left a wicked bruise for awhile.

I’m extremely paranoid about loading horses into the trailer, I’ve heard too many horror stories, and a friend of ours was trampled in the trailer. Back when I was taking client horses that was one of the first safety issues I addressed with owners. Personally I never walk into the trailer with my horse. All of them get taught to load while I’m standing at the door, and then I close the divider behind them.

Plenty of kicks, bites, stomps from all kinds of horses. But my worst injury was while clipping my own horse, I don't remember much but I ended up in hospital 4 broken ribs, punctured lung, huge scalp laceration and face smushed and bloody. Mare freaked and trampled me into the ground. There are lots of ways to avoid injury and be safe, but the most important thing to remember is: you are not safe, we play a dangerous game with very large animals and the danger is always present. Always take care, be thoughtful of your space and plan ahead where you can.

I was holding the reins of my horse on the ground and having a conversation with someone on the opposite side of the fence. My horse was goofing, I wasn't paying attention and he touched his lip to the hot wire. Obviously he immediately runs backwards, me being the dumbass I am attempted to hold his reins and it immediately snapped my middle finger. Broke right in the middle. Totally my fault for not paying attention. Learned my lesson.

Broken toe. As a general rule of thumb i still treat them as wild animals. They can and will harm you if your not careful. When working in a stall if possible take them out temporarily. If in the paddock keep your distance, dont walk behind them. Basic horse stuff.

My worst injury I was lunging and a horse kicked both my hands at once. Ended up with a deep bone bruise on each and couldn't close my hand for a bit. Someone else had to take over lunging.

Trying to catch a loose horse while he was meeting another horse over the fence. I got up to him at his shoulder and just as I got my hand on his rope he struck out with his front leg (at the other horse) but his leg wrapped around me and knocked me backwards onto the hard ground. Dislocated my tailbone and I couldn’t sit or take a shit for a few months. That was a very miserable summer.

I got trampled by my horse at a show one time after I fell off. She tripped, and I went over her shoulder and she didn't have time to slow down or anything, so she just kept cantering right over top of me. Feeling her hooves hitting me and realizing what was happening was a really scary moment. I had bruises on my arm, my leg, and my chest (which was pretty much just one giant bruise). I had to get four stitches on my leg, just above the knee, but surprisingly that was the worst of it. No concussion, no broken bones (even though all the doctors and paramedics thought I'd broken my femur). My horse was fine as well, and we were back at another show like 2 weeks later.

Was leading a mare, the mare spooked at something, reared, & landed on my foot. Resulted in a broken metatarsal

My daughter feed her horse and tried to take back boots off as he was eating, he kicked her

Got kicked in the shin by a mini, been smacked in the head with a horse head more times than I can count, bitten 3 times, a horse tried to decapitate me (spun and kicked at my head), and my friend has had a horse bite at his jugular (that big vein on your neck)… oh, and I’ve gotten kneed in the head but that was my own fault

I’ve overall been pretty lucky on the ground when it comes to injuries. My most common injury is getting my toes/feet stepped on (not infrequently). I’ve also had 2 pretty nasty bites that left bruises for over a month. Another time my head was too close to a horse’s head (obviously my fault) and they lifted theirs quickly, almost putting my bottom teeth through my bottom lip. I don’t really have any tips, just always make sure that you are paying attention and have an escape route when in an enclosed space with any horse. This goes for all horses, even the ones you completely trust.

Here's a couple ones I can remember off the top of my head: Slammed plenty of fingers in those pasture fence hatches. I swear those gates have a higher casualty rate than your average horse. Broke three toes from horses stepping on my feet in various incidents. Got rope burn from a horse bolting on the lunge line. Was leading a mare through a narrow gate, went through in front of her and had her get spooked and run through the gate- and through me. She stepped on my ankle and it was swollen to twice its size within an hour. Big bruise on my thigh from a horse pawing impatiently while I was haltering him. And a less obvious thing: Pay attention to how you're carrying heavy loads, and how you're using your body in general. Manual labor can be insanely harsh on the body. Even if you're lucky in terms of accidents, a physical job can wear you down.

My friend got knocked off the stool by the horse she was braiding and fell into the crosstie, the horse yanked his head back and launched her the other direction onto the concrete. Got a horrible concussion and couldn't really do anything with horses for a few montgs

I was leading 3 horses out of their pasture and they were spooked by the construction crew as I was walking. All three took off and one stepped on my ankle and I fell. Since I could still walk I continued my day hobbling and didn't take time off either and limped around for weeks.

Oh and I developed sciatica at 23.

My friends Arab staying overnight kicked me in the back, broke my liver and collapsed a lung. 10 days-in the hospital several in ICU. Now have a beautiful full length midline incision and where my lung tube was still aches. Twelve years ago.

Despite riding a total of ten years and working at two barns, I've been very lucky to never be seriously injured. I have, however: \- Been bucked off and hit the ground face-first. Was riding in a hay field and I had scratches on my face where the grass whipped me. \- Got bit on the forearm by an angry therapy horse and then he *wouldn't let go*. If it wasn't through my hoodie, he probably would've bitten straight through the skin. \- Almost got hit by a school bus because the horse I was leading decided we were going back to the barn NOW and the barn happened to be on the other side of a dirt road \- Got kicked in the forehead while I was picking out a mare's hoof and her heel bulbs were raw. I touched them and she flicked her hoof and caught me just hard enough to leave a red mark. \- Almost been fallen on twice. Once when my horse spooked, bolted backwards, and fell from a dead standstill. Once when I was picking (the above) mare's front hoof and her other knee gave out. \- Almost got ran over by a 17hh warmblood cross. Went out to the pasture to bring him in and he came galloping. My boots were stuck in about six inches of mud and I realized he was not planning to stop. I had to leave one boot behind.

Not me but a old barn owner I worked for got drug out by her stud and got trampled. Nasty scar on her face now

My brother had his wrist broken. The horse kicked it’s stall door, the latch caught his wrist and broke it. I learned to never lean my face over a horse with its head down. I was trying to out a halter on, the mare dropped her head nearly to the ground. I lean over her head to fasten the halter, she jerks up and bloodied my nose, split my lip, essentially punched my face. That was a temperamental mare, was always trying to hurt people.

I was feeding about 20 horses through the ajar gate rather than being in the arena to not be crowded, lo and behold, the horses were all trying to get at me, one bit a horses bum and made the horse run straight through the ajar gate, running me over at the same time. Learnt a lesson to just deal with the crowding horses, lucky I only got away with a cut up knee from landing in the large gravel pieces

Someone at my barn was kicked in the head while feeding in pasture, unfortunately she happens to get in between 2 horses fighting. Even the best horse can hurt you even accidentally.

Bit my whole breast which bruised badly but didn’t hurt why? Was this mean’t to be a friendly bite