OT: 45 seconds of sheer terror

[KaiserUEO]

i thought it was going to be that you finally were getting lucky, but couldnt get the bra off, till you remembered sumbas post 45 seconds into an all out panic......

whats happened to this place??...

crazy story moqui.

my wife was a rider and we are debating getting our daughter into it this summer at 5. granted shes likely a year or 2 away from really getting it, but she likes riding ponys (swish, can i borrow yours?) and we want to get her used to it, but your story is the scary part of it.

 

[Dave85]

Among our horses is a Gypsy Cob, a draft horse that is the shortest on our ranch, but one of the broadest and probably the strongest horse we have. He is a very calm, stable horse - "bombproof" is the industry term, meaning he is safe and won't bolt even if a bomb were to go off. Also, as a draft horse, he is relatively slow and doesn't really have a gear beyond canter (the gaits from slow to fast are walk, trot, canter, gallop).

So, I'm riding this horse on a trail that connects to our property. Suddenly, a deer runs across the trail in front of us. The horse froze, I patted him and sat with him for a moment. He felt fine, so we continued on, and turned around about 30 feet down the trail. As soon as we turned around, he bolted and broke into a full gallop. He didn't respond to anything that I tried to stop him, or even slow him down. I tried to crank his head all the way around to one side (the emergency brake), but he is so strong he just pulled it back and barreled on ahead. "OK," I thought, "he's spooked, but he'll stop as soon as we hit the rocky ground around the bend."

Nope. He barreled on. "OK," I thought,"He'll stop as soon as he hits the road at the end of this trail."

Nope. Not only did he not stop, he didn't cross the road to the trail on the other side, he turned down the road and galloped on the pavement. Now, I've gone from scared to terrified because steel horsehoes on blacktop is a recipe for disaster. Horses slip on this kind of surface when they are walking, let alone galloping.

Just down the road away, there is a small bridge that crosses a ravine. Here, the horse finally stops short, nearly pitching me over his head as his back hooves fishtail on the blacktop. I jump off him immediately, and he is in a lather, wild eyed and nervous. Thankfully, he is exhausted and I manage to calm him down . . . I don't get back on, but lead him back to the ranch (about 2 miles).

The whole episode was less than a minute, but I have never been more afraid for my life. You always know when you get on a horse that, no matter how trained the horse is and how experienced you are, you aren't really in control if the worst should happen, but this was by far the closest call I've ever had. I'm just glad I was on the Cob and not the Lusitano or the Arabian.

I am glad you and the horse did not get injured!

 

[Dave85]

i thought it was going to be that you finally were getting lucky, but couldnt get the bra off, till you remembered sumbas post 45 seconds into an all out panic......

My wife sometimes gets spooked when I try to get her bra off. She goes crazy running around the house. She get's all lathered up, stops suddenly, I then try to calm her down and then I get off. Thank God neither us get injured! But it's not much different than Moqui's story.

 

[CusefanATL]

Glad youre ok i couldnt read the board without my buddy.

get a room you two. :rolling:

 

[Marsh01]

Holy crap. That is scary as hell. Glad to hear you were ok. Nothing like watching your life flash before your eyes. I can relate

Talk about a god is with you story...

Back in 1989 while I was at OCC I drove a Dodge Omni. I stopped for oil on Kasson Road (its now a Jreck Subs) because my car sucked and it leaked oil and I had to put a quart in every week. Well I didnt use a funnel and I spilled it all over the place. I mean everywhere. All of a sudden small flames started to appear and I had to grab a handful of snow and throw it on so the fire would go out. I figured I was good and closed the hood and proceeded to drive up Kasson Road to 173 on my way to an inter mural hoops game where I had to pick up 3 buddies who lived on South Ave.

Going up Kasson Road my car started to go faster and faster. I hit the brakes and I couldnt slow down or stop. Slowly but surely I was gaining speed and I didnt know why. I came to the light at the corner of Kasson and 173 and could only slow down to about 20 MPH. Honking my horn I blew through the light and made a left and headed on 173. I am now approaching cars which I am going to hit from behind so I start passing them on the left into oncoming traffic. Again how I didnt hit someone is a miracle. Now I am freaking out and I am basically brake pedal to the floor at all times.

I pass OCC, make the light again and head now past my kids school (Onondaga Hill Middle School) where I know that I could be in deep stuff because its a busy intersection. Again the light was green and now I go through that light (at this point I am probably going 45). I make a quick left onto South Ave (again going way too fast) and am heading down South Ave.

I fly by my buddies house and am heading down South Ave and am going like 50 and at this point both feet are on the brakes as hard as I can push them. I know if I get to the bottom of South Ave I am screwed as its just busy and I could kill someone. I am starting to think I need to hit a tree to stop the car or do something. I then see a parking lot of a restaurant on the left that used to have this big brick wall in front of it. I pull into the lot going 50 (fishtail bigtime) and head for this wall. 1984 Dodge Omnis didnt have air bags so I know I cant hit this thing head on. I maneuver the car so I will hit it on a glancing blow passenger side and hope that slows me down enough where I can then figure out what to do next.

I hit the wall and scrape my car to hell which slows me down but doesnt stop me and now I am heading out of the parking lot. I turn right and now and heading BACK up South Ave. At this point I am surprised I havent had a major heart attack yet. The blow from the wall pushed my front right fender into my tire so it slowed me down to about 20 MPH but I still couldnt stop. As I approached my buddies house I just threw it into park going 20 and it came to a dead stop.

My buddies came out and one of them looked at the car. Apparently I melted the accelerator wire when I spilled the oil (hence the fire) and that is why I couldnt stop. He then said to me "why didnt you just put it in neutral and turn the car off?"

I'm an idiot.

 

[CusefanATL]

Among our horses is a Gypsy Cob, a draft horse that is the shortest on our ranch, but one of the broadest and probably the strongest horse we have. He is a very calm, stable horse - "bombproof" is the industry term, meaning he is safe and won't bolt even if a bomb were to go off. Also, as a draft horse, he is relatively slow and doesn't really have a gear beyond canter (the gaits from slow to fast are walk, trot, canter, gallop).

So, I'm riding this horse on a trail that connects to our property. Suddenly, a deer runs across the trail in front of us. The horse froze, I patted him and sat with him for a moment. He felt fine, so we continued on, and turned around about 30 feet down the trail. As soon as we turned around, he bolted and broke into a full gallop. He didn't respond to anything that I tried to stop him, or even slow him down. I tried to crank his head all the way around to one side (the emergency brake), but he is so strong he just pulled it back and barreled on ahead. "OK," I thought, "he's spooked, but he'll stop as soon as we hit the rocky ground around the bend."

Nope. He barreled on. "OK," I thought,"He'll stop as soon as he hits the road at the end of this trail."

Nope. Not only did he not stop, he didn't cross the road to the trail on the other side, he turned down the road and galloped on the pavement. Now, I've gone from scared to terrified because steel horsehoes on blacktop is a recipe for disaster. Horses slip on this kind of surface when they are walking, let alone galloping.

Just down the road away, there is a small bridge that crosses a ravine. Here, the horse finally stops short, nearly pitching me over his head as his back hooves fishtail on the blacktop. I jump off him immediately, and he is in a lather, wild eyed and nervous. Thankfully, he is exhausted and I manage to calm him down . . . I don't get back on, but lead him back to the ranch (about 2 miles).

The whole episode was less than a minute, but I have never been more afraid for my life. You always know when you get on a horse that, no matter how trained the horse is and how experienced you are, you aren't really in control if the worst should happen, but this was by far the closest call I've ever had. I'm just glad I was on the Cob and not the Lusitano or the Arabian.

when i was young, my grandmother used to take me to horseback riding lessons after school once a week or month... loved it. i had my own helmet and boots. got to feed my horse and ride him in circles in the barn.

1 time the horse got spooked (for some reason i remember it being a spider, but cant be 100% sure im not making that up in me head) - he did the ole stallian stand up move and tossed me like a rag doll.

Last time I was ever on a horse... I don't think I'm scared of them, opportunity just never arose again. I may look into doing that when my son is old enough.

 

[KaiserUEO]

whoa marsh, thats crazy.

i was 'with' you the whole time...and never 1x was i wondering why you never put it in neutral. got to rememeber that if something funky like that ever happens.

i wouldve been doing what you did.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

whoa marsh, thats crazy.

i was 'with' you the whole time...and never 1x was i wondering why you never put it in neutral. got to rememeber that if something funky like that ever happens.

i wouldve been doing what you did.

Absolutely agree. Jesus. Know those roads as well and was sheeting my pants!

 

[Marsh01]

whoa marsh, thats crazy.

i was 'with' you the whole time...and never 1x was i wondering why you never put it in neutral. got to rememeber that if something funky like that ever happens.

i wouldve been doing what you did.

It was messed up. I remember screaming out loud "holy stuff" about 100 times as it was happening.

And I'm glad I am not the only one who didnt think of putting it in neutral. Never even crossed my mind.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

It was messed up. I remember screaming out loud "holy stuff" about 100 times as it was happening.

And I'm glad I am not the only one who didnt think of putting it in neutral. Never even crossed my mind.

Your mind doesn't always work in situations like that, tough to think clearly by any means

 

[moqui]

Did he catch a whiff of mountain lion perhaps?

No, pretty sure that it was just the deer ... I thought he was OK but he clearly was still spooked. The moment we turned around and his hind quarters were pointed in the direction he had last seen the deer, his flight response kicked in and we were off.

 

[albanycuse]

It was messed up. I remember screaming out loud "holy stuff" about 100 times as it was happening.

And I'm glad I am not the only one who didnt think of putting it in neutral. Never even crossed my mind.

That happened to me in a Time Warner work van when i used to work there. The brakes went out so i downshifted the automatic and threw into park after that.

Edit: this is one of many reasons i wont buy an american vehicle. Although theyve come a long way , i have no faith in their reliability and engineering. The dodge omni and aries were one of the biggest piles ever made.

 

[CusefanATL]

That happened to me in a Time Warner work van when i used to work there. The brakes went out so i downshifted the automatic and threw into park after that.

 

[Marsh01]

That happened to me in a Time Warner work van when i used to work there. The brakes went out so i downshifted the automatic and threw into park after that.

I guess I should have thought of it but I went into panic mode.

 

[albanycuse]

I guess I should have thought of it but I went into panic mode.

Yeah its definitely nerve wrecking when you cant stop lol.

 

[MSOrange]

I guess I should have thought of it but I went into panic mode.

It would have never even occurred to me either either. I am not exactly a "think logically when all hell is breaking loose and you're about to die" kind of guy. That story was just insane.