What was the biggest horse/riding mistake you've ever made?

I think most horse people at some point have messed up and done something wrong or dangerous when it comes to riding or caring for horses - through ignorance, not malice. Like the kid in Black Beauty%26quot; who watered a hot, sweaty horse and left him unblanketed overnight because the thought the horse would be more comfortable that way.





I think ignorance on a rider%26#039;s or caretaker%26#039;s part is the biggest problem any horse can face, since it%26#039;s a lot more prevalent than outright abuse or cruelty. I want to ask this question here so that perhaps we can learn from our own mistakes AND others%26#039; mistakes too.





...Not to mention that it%26#039;s good to admit every once in a while that no, you%26#039;re not right ALL the time! :)





My biggest mistake was leaving Sports Medicine Boots on a horse overnight. I was far too little to have been left in charge of leg wraps, and misunderstood the purpose and implications of the boots. After that, I never touched a piece of equipment I didn%26#039;t understand 100% again.

What was the biggest horse/riding mistake you%26#039;ve ever made?
One time when I was trailer training my mare I thought it would be a good idea to tie her into the -unhitched- trailer before I had gotten the door closed. Didn%26#039;t work as planned. She decided to leave before I could close the door, and panicked because, of course, I had tied her with a nylon leadrope and she couldn%26#039;t get loose. Finally the snap on the lead broke, and she flipped over. I was so terrified that she broke her back or something. Yeah, thank god I%26#039;ll never be 14 again. You don%26#039;t realize how dumb you are until your frontal lobe is fully developed and you can look back and be like %26#039;wow, I was STUPID, I%26#039;m so lucky I didn%26#039;t KILL my poor horse all those times.%26#039;





And another time (age 15) I decided it would be a wonderful idea to wrap my filly%26#039;s tail with vet wrap. She has a tendancy of scratching her butt on things in the winter when she%26#039;s out of food and bored. So apparently I wrapped it WAY too tight, and it cut off the circulation to her tail. That was a genious idea on my part.





Another time I decided to tie my mare up with her bridle on. Fabulous idea. I should win some type of award for most stupid kid mistakes EVER. Well of course it was RAINING and thundering, and my mare freaked out. And somehow she mangaged to BREAK the bit, IN her mouth. Omg. I don%26#039;t even want to think about it. I was SUCH an idiot.





What else? For some reason when I was 14 I thought it would be a great idea to let my dad ride my mare. The same mare, this poor, poor animal. I couldn%26#039;t get her to move and so my dad decided to %26#039;teach her a lesson.%26#039; I don%26#039;t exactly remember what happened, but somehow they both managed to tumble head over heels while he was still on her back, and while she was pregnant. For the record we didn%26#039;t know she was pregnant. But that doesn%26#039;t make it any less stupid.





Another time, in the storm AGAIN, I tied her up in the MUD with a nylon leadrope. Lovely idea. Well of course she got one look at that lightning and decided she wasn%26#039;t going to stay tied. But she slipped in the mud and almost choked to death on her wonderful nylon halter.





Learn from my stupid mistakes people. And parents, learn that no matter HOW responsible your child is... they%26#039;re NOT responsible enough for a horse. I wish my parents had made me wait until my brain was fully functioning before they put me in charge of the lives of a couple of large animals.





Another mistake was just my filly. I%26#039;m just going to leave it at that. All the things you can do to possibly eff up an arab, pony dominant mare... I did them.
Reply:Well I think one time I might have accidentally let one of my riding stables horse loose (and it took two hours to get him back!) but I admitted it after we caught him.LOL.





(he was a horse worth about 100,000!)
Reply:My biggest mistake was turning down a great job on a showjumping yard!


I could have travelled the world with international horses and had great training from a top UK showjumper.
Reply:one of the worse riding mistakes i made was getting on my 5 yr old that i JUST got who hasn%26#039;t been riden in forever and i got up on her quick not thinking and just as i was getting my leg over the saddle she took off bucked and i came off of her and she ran over me and her hooves hit the side of my head apparently she tried to jump over me and i scared her more then the frikken dog did she hates dogs for some reason so as i was getting up i guess brooke the dog ran by and it scared her so I learned to get up on her easy and check for dogs lol i still love her like crazy and im not scared of her one bit.
Reply:Hmm...this is a tough one, because I%26#039;m usually very careful around the horses. The biggest mistake I made was probably...turning out this one pony. She was in a paddock full of mean, nasty horses that would chase and try to hurt anybody going into the paddock. Therefore, I needed my trainer to turn out the pony. But I thought I could handle her myself, so I brought her out to the paddock to turn her out, walked straight into the paddock, and began to unhook the lead rope. My trainer comes running, yelling at me to get out of there, so I ran out to get lectured. I didnt%26#039; know it, but these horses could have really hurt me, and I was thankful my trainer told me to get out just in time. What I learned?? Always ask the trainer before going into a paddock with foreign horses if they are safe to be around.
Reply:this is the stupidest thing ive done on horseback-





i was riding, my horse bolts,i fall to the side. mind you im still hanging on, half off my saddle, but i was determand to stay on. soo next thing you know i hear screaming, there was another horse in the direction we were heading for, so stupid me instead of letting go (since it wasnt far from the ground) i hung on and we got into a huge %26quot;horse crash%26quot; almost died, it was scary.
Reply:My friend and I were 11 years old and there was a sulky propped up against the wall at the stables where she boarded her horses. We had seen the sulky for weeks and one day got the idea to hitch her pony to it. We didn%26#039;t have a proper harness so we tied the sulky to the western saddle on the pony. Of course the pony wasn%26#039;t broke to drive either and absolutely freaked out when the sulky followed him. Well he got away from us and crashed through a couple of fences before someone caught him. We didn%26#039;t sit down for a while after that incident. We got tanned but good when her father found out what we did. We were also on restriction for four weeks and weren%26#039;t allowed to ride. That was the worst punishment of all. In hindsight and with the distance of over 35 years I still blame a lack of parental supervision. Her father would drop us off at the stable in the morning and come back and get us in the late afternoon. We didn%26#039;t mind at the time of course but we were on our own without adult supervision all that time.
Reply:I can%26#039;t remember any, accept....when I was tacking up I forgot to put on my helmet, my horse was standing there like im an idiot.....while i was trying to reach my helmet....there was nobody else there. My friend is stupid on a horse. The three of us were riding together, then the first gurl was riding(fine) and then i was riding behind her! not enough room for another horse) and then she desided to hop in front of me!!! Then I had to stop, she could have just waited for me to go then she could have gone!!!! LOL Some of these stories are really funny!
Reply:Trusting my friend and getting on the horse in the first place....:)
Reply:i have made quite a few mistakes when i was learning to ride!Lol, hence i have fallen off quite a few times, thankfully my instructer was quick to point out that it was never the horses fault and made me do it again until it was right!


i worst riding mistake was proberbly heading to a jump and trying to check my horse a couple of strides before, instead of letting him judge it, and he suddenly stopped sending me over the fence head first in to the sand!
Reply:The biggest mistake I ever made nearly got me killed. I was sitting cross legged (indian style) on the ground in front of my horse with the reins (roping reins) looped around my arm and my arms in my lap. something spooked the horses he jerked backward at an incredible speed dragging me along like a kite! now he is really freaked and drug me for what seemed eternity until my sister was able to catch him. I was bruised from end to end but learned a lesson from it.
Reply:I%26#039;ve been riding for years and KNEW BETTER. Everyone knows you never ride faster on a trail going toward home, especially on a horse you don%26#039;t know well.





We were out on a trail and the guide knew I was a fairly competent rider so I got to have a nice gallop on the beach (going away from the break in the trees that led home) after we%26#039;d ridden about an hour to get there. I was hesitant about that first gallop seeing as I had just met the horse but I figured I%26#039;d run him into the water if things went south. It was fun, it was great, horse listened and slowed when I asked. Then the guide suggested I go one last time as %26quot;he (the horse) doesn%26#039;t get to do this much.%26quot;





My instinct said not to, but I believed the guide. Did the horse slow when we got to the end of the beach? Of course not! he headed right home as fast as he could go.





That end of the beach had a lot of rocks and seaweed so I didn%26#039;t want him to hurt himself going toward the water (which is what I would have done to stop him otherwise). I bailed and he took off.





Yep, got in trouble for that one and I still feel stupid about it.





I knew better than to gallop a strange horse toward home ,but I did it anyway. I%26#039;ll never do that again.
Reply:My biggest mistake ..... was going on a trail ride %26amp; not properly checking my saddle which resulted in my falling %26amp; hurting myself really bad
Reply:my biggest mistake was when i was a novice. i%26#039;m an intermediate rider now.. but about a year or so ago i was horse searching (i still am!) and i only searched for the cheaper horses... thinking i could handle a green broke because they were young, full of life, and CHEAP! and i think most novices get big headed and thnk just cuz they can sit a saddle they can finish out a green horse... so i think most novices have this problem lol





well i found a gorgeous half arabian mare... i rode her and she bucked 7 time in a row! luckilly i didn%26#039;t fall off.. but ya she was well broke.. i just didn%26#039;t know how to control her and she knew it.. so to all you begginers!!! DON%26quot;T EVER think you can handle a green horse!





worst experience ever..


i%26#039;ve become a better rider.. but i won%26#039;t even look into buying a green horse for a couple more years =) (like 10 years! haha)





the experience didn%26#039;t make me sacared of horses.. just more wise in finding a horse to fit my needs
Reply:Well I think the worse was at a horse show my good fuzzy girth had somehow shrunk or Lena had somehow gotten bigger (someone else used my girth because there were no lockers or anything so everything was just siting out, and this was way before I got my OWN tack, it was the barns) so anyway I had to use a leather one with no fleece. It fit sure but no one told me to pull her legs forward so after the lesson (a day before the show at the grounds) she hada HUGE red sore on her girth area. Poor baby, and she performed like an angel too.


Oh and NEVER EVER let someone else tighten your girth! Ya well a %26quot;horse mom%26quot; offered to tighten my girth. I let her and hopped on. I start trotting after a while and notice what is that flapping sound?! and my friend Lucy points at my saddle and I look back, the pad and riser had sliped out underneath my saddle just flapping around. Jeeze, I sure was embarrsed!!!!
Reply:My biggest mistake was riding a horse on a windy day (I knew this horse spooked easily) and got bucked off and almost ran over (Thank God I didn%26#039;t) after he spooke at a little trash bag. I never ride any horse on a windy day except my 3 that I trust.
Reply:I have tons of silly things I got up to throughout my life with horses so far and still will make more unfortunatly its the only way we all learn, but there are a couple Im willing to share which I think people need to be reminded of! I was 11 when I got my first pony unfortunatly my parents werent and still arent rich so they had made arrangments to pay for my pony on a monthly payment scheme with the owner as well as the cost of her keep etc, at first it was great as I had her on loan then they told me we were buying her! over the moon for months after begging and giving all explanations to why i should own my own pony (to non-horsey parents), I%26#039;d been riding since I was three and love them to bits (horses that is) well as everyone knows you get what you pay for and mum and dad budgeted had got me my pony a dream one to! I rode her and groomed her and loved everything about her. until i made friends with other horsey owners. i then wanted to compete and join in with the fun! my pony was a nervous mare and didnt enjoy shows. my parents also didnt want to go to shows every weekend either. so i pushed and pushed until they took her off me =( they never bought me anoughter pony or horse and got stuck back to helping for rides and one lesson a week! i misss that pony now and relise she was so much fun and ruined it for myself! so guys appreciate your horse!





luckly im now 21 and have bought my ponys myself i have two and would never not appreciate them for what they are!





I also say the grass is always greener on the other side!





I have made many mistakes and anouther one was with my newest pony i wanted everything to be perfect so bought all new tack! I paid alot of money for a saddle brand new when i could have got a second hand good condition one fitted by a saddler for cheaper which i ended up doing so doubled my budget for the saddle!
Reply:The best story I have is not about me, but my brother. Now, he is not an animal person and does not ride. We were at the family reunion (week on the beach) and the older cousins want to go for a beach trail ride. So, we go and my brother gets this horse named Peanut - the horse was the color of peanut butter.





About halfway through the trail ride, his horse makes a left turn and just goes walking off in some other direction. My brother just lets the horse wander off. Next thing you know, the trail guide is yelling to the guide in the back to go get that guy and Peanut realizes the rest of the herd is going away. There is my brother, holding onto the horn and attempting to stay on as Peanut comes trotting back.





I asked him why he let the horse do that and he said he thought the horse knew a quicker way home - and who is he to argue?





EDIT: Pokey reminded me of one - I had been in training for the Air Force Reserves for five months and just got back. I was anxious to take my mare on a trail ride - this requires trailering her to the park. So I load her up in my stock trailer and head off. Almost at the park, I make a wrong turn and turn around in a field. I hear a loud bang and get out to check it out. There is my mare staring at me through the open people door that I forgot to latch.
Reply:Oh oops the biggest mistake I ever made was driving to town and forgetting to lock the trailer hitch on.
Reply:Lets see I have a lot of bad mistakes. I%26#039;ll mention a few.


I was a at a show. It was time for trail and english was next. well at this show they never give you a 10 min. tack change so I decided to show english in trail. (its legal in my area) Well I forgot my good grith at home but I had a really cheap one in the trailer. Instead of asking someone if I could borrow a girth, I decided to use this one. Well you can never keep it tight. I thought I had it tight enough to show in. I went in the ring, after crossing the logs that pattern required me to canter Left lead. Well I asked the horse to canter, 1st stride a canter, I was like sweet. I was happy until, we had to make a curve like at a canter, I started to turn him sharp to impress the judge and remember the girth? It was loose and it started to slide to the right. I tried to stand in my irons to counteract it but it was too late. When i realized my stupid mistake I cussed (very loud) and went sailing. I don%26#039;t remember the rest but what everyone told me, the horse reared trying to push me in the saddle, well he tried to lean to catch me at the same time. I went sailing it the wall of the arena (indoor) with my right hip and landed smack hard on my right hip. I came to the sound of people yelling can you get up? I couldn%26#039;t. Thankfull a parent was a doctor and the ring steward was a nurse. They said I tried to go into Shock. The ambulance came and I was rushed to the hospital. Once there they determined my hip wasen%26#039;t broke. Another stupid mistake. I had to use the restroom bad. I jumped out of the hospital bed and nearly fell if it hadn%26#039;t been for my dad catching me. If he wouldn%26#039;t have catched me I would have broken it. I was on crutches for about 3 weeks but I%26#039;m fine now.





2. Thinking its ok to go swimming in a water tank. haha this ones more on the funny side. It was really hot during the summer. Anyway my friend and I took off our boots, rolled up our shorts and jumped in the tank. Well one of the horses (grey AQH) thought he could get in with us. He tried to get in and we tried to beat him away. To find a solution, we got a water hose and we sprayed him while we were in the tank.
Reply:Sooooo many...mostly from when I was young.





Scariest dumb-dumb move...decided to take the neighbor%26#039;s ranch horse swimming in the pond...let me clarify that...STOCK POND. Two feet or more of silty mud. Fully, western tacked horse...including tie-down!! Didn%26#039;t know a horse couldn%26#039;t keep it%26#039;s head above water with a tie down on!


Poor horse! He was okay...but he was not happy!!





Forgetting to lock the hitch down...done that too!





Bought my first horse...before I even owned a halter...much less a bridle or saddle. And thought I could train her like the Indians did...in all those books and movies!!! DO NOT DO THIS!!!!! IT IS STUPID!!!
Reply:What was the biggest horse/riding mistake you%26#039;ve ever made?





I must say it would be that I haven%26#039;t taken the time to ride lately. I have my horses at home now, and thought that it would be easier to ride here, but I keep finding other things to do instead of. Mind you keeping up a farm is a big job and there certainly is work to do before we get to play!





But I must say that I miss riding, and spending more time with the horses. I am trying to get better organized so that I can take time out to ride and horse around. It is just something that I must take time for - for me and them too.





There you have it! Great question.
Reply:Buying a Hanoverian.... she%26#039;s a great horse, but GAWD this mare is a drama queen!!!!!!!! I first named her Avalon, but now it%26#039;s %26quot;She Who Must Be Obeyed!!%26quot;





My worst serious mistake was doing the blanket tail straps on one of my mares too tight, and it really caused her circulation problems. I would have SWORE those things were loose enough! Now I leave them so loose they might as well not be there.
Reply:i left a summer blanket on a horse that i used to cool out the horse on accident.. he almost got pnemona.(sp?) note this was during the winter
Reply:worst mistake - throwing myself off in bronko mode





worst choice - thinking that throwing myself off was the easiest option rather than fighting for control and then thinking that i could get straight back on after i had broken my shoulder!





you gotta love them!
Reply:my biggest mistake was trusting a trainer i thought was good. my horse woouldnt put her head down into a proper frame under saddle and my trainer thought the horse was just being orniry (sp???) and put the horses reins under the stirup leathers and made her go round like that for bout 20 mins in the arena. so her head was forsed into a frame. i didnt know any better - i was young and she was supposed to be a good trainer./ later i gfound out that trainer was bipolar and wasnt taking her pills all the time and thats why she got angery like that...





now i know that nice frames are the result of a horse being balances, not being %26quot;good%26quot;! i wish i could apolioguze to that horse for me not knowing any better... :-(
Reply:The biggest mistake I ever made was wearing a wig when I went riding. My horse jumped over a small gully and my wig went flying !! UMMMM I don%26#039;t ride too much.
Reply:all i can think of.. is when i was saddling a girthy arabian. and he was VERY girthy.. so if you didnt leave the girth extremely loose (to wear you could lift it up and have like 3 inches in space) then he would cringe up and freak out. so i knew he was girthy, but didnt know he was that bad. so i saddled him up to wear it was snug, you could pull it out about an inch. and left to help bridle another horse, then my trianer yelled %26quot;WHO TACKED UP CB?!%26quot; so i was like, i did. and she was like %26quot;LOOK AT HIM, HE%26#039;S CRINGED UP, YOU DID THE GIRTH WAY TO TIGHT!%26quot;


after that.. i always left his girth loose, and never left him unless it was to get MY bridle.
Reply:when I was a kid I lover swimming with my horses one day I took my dumb horse Prince (percheron) swimming well when he got a ways out he decided he was going to stand up only he forgot about the no bottom thing he scared himself and flipped backwards on me! That was the last time I took that idiot swiming he was such a dumb horse he and my friends where trail ridding on a path that was big enough to have four horses side by side and at the end of the trail their was a tree any normal horse would have walked around the tree no not price he walked head first into the tree and scared himself so bad he took off through the trees. he had no sight probems he was just dumb I was 13 at the time needless to say we sold prince soon after!!



FISH