Max
05-04-2003, 01:55 PM
Horse injuries affect lives of many area residents
By Louis Hillary Park staff writer
May 4, 2003
Chris Brackston of Sebastian walks her big bay mare, LiLi, outside the stables at Vero Beach Polo and Saddle Club and talks about how she broke her jaw in five places while show jumping.
"When I was young, I would do almost anything," said Brackston, who also fox hunted in the Midlands of her native England. "I thought nothing of taking my horse over the fences of the countryside ...whether it was in a farmer's field or wherever."
Brackston, who moved to the United States 13 years ago, is one of about 30 million U.S. residents who regularly ride horses, according to the Hughston Sports Medicine Foundation. And with the emergence of equestrian-focused developments such as Windsor in Indian River County, Trailside in Martin County and several "ranchette" developments on the drawing board, ridership only will increase on the Treasure Coast.
When Brackston married a pilot and started a family, she put away her saddle. But now that her boys -- Adam, 10, and Edward, 7 -- both are in school, she is taking the reins again.
"My husband has his golf, and my children have their tae kwon do," said Brackston. "This is something I wanted to do for me."
But with her roles as a mom and wife to consider, Brackston isn't planning to take LiLi over the jumps. Instead, she's focusing on dressage, a form of competitive horse dancing that demands extensive training but does not require putting one's body at risk with the regularity that jumping, fox hunting, polo or rodeo sports do.
Polo, for instance, "is a very dangerous sport," said DeAnn Carroll, director of polo for Windsor. "It's second only to motorcar racing when it comes to danger."
Horseback riding put a face on spinal cord injury when "Superman" actor Christopher Reeve was thrown during a 1995 jumping competition in Virginia. He has been paralyzed from the neck down since.
Professional training riders and close friends Kate Rivers of Indiantown and Robin Cleary, a former winter resident of Stuart, were paralyzed when their mounts went down in separate incidents.
Beyond catastrophic spinal cord injuries, there is death, and that too can be a consequence when a 1,200-pound to 1,500-pound animal stumbles, kicks or goes tumbling on top of its rider.
Earlier this year, 17-year-old Meggan Morency of Parkland, Fla., was killed when her horse, Kovu, fell on her during a jumping competition in Wellington -- the equestrian-based West Palm Beach suburb that is the winter home to some of the world's top hunter/jumper, dressage and polo riders.
On that same February morning, paramedics were called to treat four other horse-related injuries in Wellington.
"If you are a rider, you will fall off," said Kris Bowman, director of the Vero Beach Polo and Saddle Club, and a polo instructor. She estimates that she's taken at least 150 tumbles in 30-plus years of riding. "If you aren't up for that, then horses probably aren't for you."
But not all serious injuries come when a rider is thrown.
Though an experienced rider and member of the U.S. Equestrian team, Jupiter Farms resident Jamie Wilder, 17, died in May 2002 after the horse she had been walking spooked and kicked her in the head.
In fact, horse-related injuries send more than 71,000 people to emergency rooms each year, with nearly 40 percent of those injuries serious enough to require admission, according to statistics gathered from horse industry sources.
About 20 percent of those patients are under 15, and most are girls.
Because head injuries account for about 60 percent of horse-related deaths, the American Medical Equestrian Association "strongly recommends" the use of properly fitted helmets during any equestrian activity.
Despite the dangers, "in the right setting, horses can be extremely safe," said Bowman, noting that there have been no serious injuries at her club in the three years it has been open -- even though the facility has active junior and adult polo programs.
"I attribute that to our safety policies and a knowledgeable staff," she said. "We're very safety conscious here. People are always complaining we have too many rules."
For instance, said Bowman, closed-toed shoes are required around the barn, and helmets are mandatory for anyone under 18.
Most accidents involving horses and amateur riders occur because of too little experience in the barn and a lack of respect for the animal's strength, she said -- for instance, walking too closely behind a horse.
"Kicking is natural to a horse. . . . He may not even be kicking at you, but if you're there and he hits you --" she said, shaking her head. "If you didn't grow up around horses, you may not understand the power of a 1,200-pound animal.
"It's not that horses are dangerous," said Bowman. "They're just reacting to the settings we put them in."
*Sources: American Medical Equestrian Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Hughston Sports Medicine Foundation, and the National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety.
- louis.park@scripps.com
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/living/article/0,1651,TCP_1043_1936536,00.html
By Louis Hillary Park staff writer
May 4, 2003
Chris Brackston of Sebastian walks her big bay mare, LiLi, outside the stables at Vero Beach Polo and Saddle Club and talks about how she broke her jaw in five places while show jumping.
"When I was young, I would do almost anything," said Brackston, who also fox hunted in the Midlands of her native England. "I thought nothing of taking my horse over the fences of the countryside ...whether it was in a farmer's field or wherever."
Brackston, who moved to the United States 13 years ago, is one of about 30 million U.S. residents who regularly ride horses, according to the Hughston Sports Medicine Foundation. And with the emergence of equestrian-focused developments such as Windsor in Indian River County, Trailside in Martin County and several "ranchette" developments on the drawing board, ridership only will increase on the Treasure Coast.
When Brackston married a pilot and started a family, she put away her saddle. But now that her boys -- Adam, 10, and Edward, 7 -- both are in school, she is taking the reins again.
"My husband has his golf, and my children have their tae kwon do," said Brackston. "This is something I wanted to do for me."
But with her roles as a mom and wife to consider, Brackston isn't planning to take LiLi over the jumps. Instead, she's focusing on dressage, a form of competitive horse dancing that demands extensive training but does not require putting one's body at risk with the regularity that jumping, fox hunting, polo or rodeo sports do.
Polo, for instance, "is a very dangerous sport," said DeAnn Carroll, director of polo for Windsor. "It's second only to motorcar racing when it comes to danger."
Horseback riding put a face on spinal cord injury when "Superman" actor Christopher Reeve was thrown during a 1995 jumping competition in Virginia. He has been paralyzed from the neck down since.
Professional training riders and close friends Kate Rivers of Indiantown and Robin Cleary, a former winter resident of Stuart, were paralyzed when their mounts went down in separate incidents.
Beyond catastrophic spinal cord injuries, there is death, and that too can be a consequence when a 1,200-pound to 1,500-pound animal stumbles, kicks or goes tumbling on top of its rider.
Earlier this year, 17-year-old Meggan Morency of Parkland, Fla., was killed when her horse, Kovu, fell on her during a jumping competition in Wellington -- the equestrian-based West Palm Beach suburb that is the winter home to some of the world's top hunter/jumper, dressage and polo riders.
On that same February morning, paramedics were called to treat four other horse-related injuries in Wellington.
"If you are a rider, you will fall off," said Kris Bowman, director of the Vero Beach Polo and Saddle Club, and a polo instructor. She estimates that she's taken at least 150 tumbles in 30-plus years of riding. "If you aren't up for that, then horses probably aren't for you."
But not all serious injuries come when a rider is thrown.
Though an experienced rider and member of the U.S. Equestrian team, Jupiter Farms resident Jamie Wilder, 17, died in May 2002 after the horse she had been walking spooked and kicked her in the head.
In fact, horse-related injuries send more than 71,000 people to emergency rooms each year, with nearly 40 percent of those injuries serious enough to require admission, according to statistics gathered from horse industry sources.
About 20 percent of those patients are under 15, and most are girls.
Because head injuries account for about 60 percent of horse-related deaths, the American Medical Equestrian Association "strongly recommends" the use of properly fitted helmets during any equestrian activity.
Despite the dangers, "in the right setting, horses can be extremely safe," said Bowman, noting that there have been no serious injuries at her club in the three years it has been open -- even though the facility has active junior and adult polo programs.
"I attribute that to our safety policies and a knowledgeable staff," she said. "We're very safety conscious here. People are always complaining we have too many rules."
For instance, said Bowman, closed-toed shoes are required around the barn, and helmets are mandatory for anyone under 18.
Most accidents involving horses and amateur riders occur because of too little experience in the barn and a lack of respect for the animal's strength, she said -- for instance, walking too closely behind a horse.
"Kicking is natural to a horse. . . . He may not even be kicking at you, but if you're there and he hits you --" she said, shaking her head. "If you didn't grow up around horses, you may not understand the power of a 1,200-pound animal.
"It's not that horses are dangerous," said Bowman. "They're just reacting to the settings we put them in."
*Sources: American Medical Equestrian Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Hughston Sports Medicine Foundation, and the National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety.
- louis.park@scripps.com
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/living/article/0,1651,TCP_1043_1936536,00.html