i signed my daughter up for horseback riding lessons at a local barn. i don’t ride and am not very familiar with horses so although i was confused about a few things i saw happening there, i chalked it up to my own ignorance and just kept bringing her back… but i also kept a close eye on her while she rode. after a few weeks i became concerned when, for the second week in a row, an experience rider was thrown from her horse during a lesson. i grew even more concerned when the owner of the stable showed neither sympathy for the rider nor discernible worry about possible concussion and spinal cord damage to her disoriented, head injured student, and instead blamed the victim, calling it “rider error”, and apparently dismissing the incident from her mind. meanwhile, the student sat in a chair in the barn, coatless and shivering (whether from shock or the 20 degree temperatures could not be determined), unable to drive herself home.
in the spirit of “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, here is a safety link: http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00058
what would you have done if you witnessed a similar situation?
Karen Creamer Author, Coach, Speaker 
Not having the medical expertise that you have, I think I would probably have called 911, and waited with her until they came. But….that probably wouldn’t have gone over to well with the owner, and probably not the parent either if they don’t have the insurance to cover it. Regardless, I’d be bringing my daughter elsewhere. Are you still going there?
Susan
i am NOT still going there. this is what happened: i gave her my cell phone and told her to call her mother, which she did. in the meantime i gave her my jacket and got a blanket from my trunk and wrapped her up in it. her mother arrived and the girl told her what happened (what she could remember at least; she didn’t remember the actual incident, a definite flag to be evaluated!). then she took her to the ER. the barn owner was NOT happy. it was the right thing to do though.