MOUNTING UP—THis is the story sent to the LA Times about our experience there at Sunset Ranch Hollywood... Names have been changed
Kate: I thought it would be a fun idea to take 10 friends from work horseback riding on a Friday after work. We decided to go to the Sunset Ranch in Hollywood. I arrived extra early (at 4:00PM) because I wanted to make sure that I got a beginners horse. When asked to fill out the form and select experience level, I checked "beginning, " and even wrote "Very Beginning." I specifically asked for a slow, calm horse. They put me on the biggest horse there, but I assumed it was a calm horse because I had made my riding level very clear. The ride to the restaurant was fine for me, it took us about 2 hours to get there. My horses name was Mustard.
Vicki: At the beginning of the ride, I was given an intermediate horse named Gus. I have ridden horses for years and I'm not a rookie in most riding situations. I noticed that Simon, one of the guide's horses was acting very nervous and skittish. I asked him if he knew why she seemed jumpy, and he said that she was a new horse and had never done a trail ride before. I wondered how he thought he would be able to possibly help the other 15 people on the ride who had barely ever ridden if at all, if he was on a horse that was so nervous. "Oh well", I thought, "I suppose nothing will happen, I'm sure we'll be fine..." famous last words. My ride up to the restaurant was fairly uneventful, but my horse made it crystal clear that he liked to be in front, and would react to another horse getting too close to him by throwing up his back legs and biting the offending horse. He was not a misery who enjoyed company, but he was at least controllable as if he was kept away from other horses.
HEADING HOME:
Kate: When leaving the restaurant ALL of the horses were anxious to run & get back to the ranch. Everyone's horse seemed to want to gallop home as fast as possible, and everyone had a hard time keeping their horses still while waiting for the rest of the group to saddle back up. The horses nervous actions and anxiousness made everyone, including the guides, cranky, and also anxious to get back. Most of the riders in our group were extremely inexperienced, and when they had a problem with their horse, they were advised to Give the horse some slack and calm down because the horse could sense their nervousness. I thought this was poor advice to give to a rider whose animal clearly had no intention on calming down without some sort of tranquilizer.
Vicki: On the trip back it was completely dark, there were no lights on the trail at all, and we were told that we would now have to really hold our horses back for the next hour and a half, from wanting to run home. Now they tell us. During that ride I came to the conclusion that my horse Gus must have been stolen from the Kentucky Derby. He kept trying to run home, I was constantly holding him back and trying to settle him down. Gus began bucking and acting up even worse now when other horses came anywhere near him, and repeatedly tried to throw me without ever actually rearing all the way up. This would not have been such a problem if Simon, the nearest guide, had told the other riders, as I repeatedly asked him to, to keep other horses further back from my horse so that he would behave. He was astute enough to address only 2 of the riders on the trip, the rest let their horses practically walk into my horse without any notice at all to how my horse was reacting. Finally, Gus had enough. He reared up, already just inches away from the gorge, and took off running full speed. I almost fell off the saddle head first into the deep canyon below.
RUNAWAYS
Kate: 30 minutes into the ride back, my horse Mustard shot off running up hill, reared all the way up, and bucked until he bucked me off. I fell very hard and rolled even harder down the hill. The last thing to pound the ground was my head. It was pitch dark but I could feel my leg was bleeding profusely. Dutch, the nicer of the 2 trail guides, looked at my injuries with a small flashlight. The most immediately visible wound was a puncture wound, the diameter of a dime, and deep enough to be showing my leg bone. Blood was gushing out like a fountain. I tried to put pressure on the wound by placing my hand over it but the blood flow was so intense and strong that it would just spurt out around my hand.
Vicki: I have to stop here and clarify that I have been on a few jumpy and spooked horses in my day, even runaways, and although it is always frightening, I have never been on a runaway horse who seemed intent on running at mach 10 just inches away from the canyon of death. I was half afraid that my horse would leap straight into the canyon, and half afraid that I wouldn't even know if we were heading that direction, because I couldn't see anything anyways. I could not stop this horse by myself. My horse was to far ahead of the other horses, including the guides, so I was on my own. I had no idea what had happened to Kate.
ON THE GROUND:
Kate: I was then told by the Trail Guide, Simon to get back on the horse right away. I explained that there was absolutely no way that I was getting back on that animal, and that I was afraid I could bleed to death unless I got help. My back hurt, my head was throbbing and I was gushing blood so badly that my pant leg was completely soaked with red blood. I thought that I had landed in a puddle of water somewhere until I realized that I had a puddle of blood building up in my shoe and under my leg. Unassisted by my Guide I tried stumbling down the road by myself. Simon sat on his horse SMOKING and demanded that I get back on the horse. Dutch eventually came all the way from the front of the line to help calm me and help me up onto the horse. He said it was too far to walk, and even though I had to use my injured left leg in the stirrup to mount the horse, he at least attempted to help me.
Vicki: The nice guide, Dutch, was finally able to gallop & catch up with my horse and grabbed the rope, held it firm and began to slow my horse down. Thankfully, Gus responded to the company of my guide's horse well, and even though I was shaken, Dutch was very nice to me and helped me by holding onto my horse up front and keeping other riders away from us. He was very nice to me but eventually had to move down the line and leave me to deal with Gus on my own when Christine got thrown at the back of the line.
BLACKOUT:
Kate: Dutch made his way back to me and ponied my horse & me. My leg would not stop gushing blood and I was feeling very weak. I remember wondering why these guides didn't have a First Aid kit, a cell phone or most importantly an emergency procedure in place for accidents?
After about 30 minutes I started to lose consciousness. I was afraid that if I fainted and fell off the horse again it might trample me, or worse. I told Dutch that I was going to blackout. He stopped and told Simon that he was taking me off the horse. Simon yelled back for him to keep going and not stop. Thank God, Dutch didn't listen and stopped anyway and helped me off the horse. He sent the rest of the group back to the ranch with Simon. Right before almost blacking out, I wondered if I would get to see my kids again.
Vicki: With Dutch gone, I was left with a bunch of anxious horses behind me who kept bumping into my horse to get home, and he was acting up even worse without Dutch there. I asked Simon to please hold onto my horses rope the way Dutch had to calm him down, and even though he did, he could barely control his own horse, who was jumping and skirting all over the road. His horse kept pushing my horse closer and closer towards the canyon, & Simon seemed unconcerned. I decided that maybe the horses knew what they were doing and asked him I'm sure this is a stupid question, but, no one has ever been thrown from a horse into the canyon right? I sat for a good minute while he thought about that, and finally responded with Well, I don't think it was any of these horses. I did not ask any more questions for the ride back, even though the most pressing question in my mind was truly, whether I would I actually make is home in one piece.
RESCUE:
Kate: Dutch didn't have a radio or cell phone. I tried my cell phone several times and FINALLY got through to 911. I explained to the dispatch where I was. Dutch said that there was no way that the Paramedics could get to where we were; the roads were too small and too dangerous for vehicles. I explained this to the 911 dispatch who then connected me to the LA Fire Department so that I could explain everything to them. They said that they would be sending a helicopter. 5 minutes later the helicopter circled and the paramedics arrived with the Park Rangers via the Fire Road. At the very same time another guy in a cowboy hat from the ranch showed up, and I thought he came to help. Little did I know. He took one look at the helicopters approaching and said, "If you think I'm going to stay here while these f*&%#@! Helicopters scare my horses, you're crazy. You have a small cut, it's not a big deal." I was finally taken out of the canyon with the paramedics lead by the park rangers. I was taken to ER, where the doctor said that she had not seen that much trauma to a leg in a very long time. My entire leg looked as if the entire pack of horses had tramples over it. Every inch was black, blue, or purple from distress and bruises. The hospital confirmed that I would be in a lot more trouble if I had tried to make it all the way down the hill myself or on the horse instead of keeping still pressure on my leg because of the blood I was losing. I spent the next 5 days in and out of the hospital and took a week off work. I do not recall if I left a tip or not.
Vicki: Well my horse did not actually jump into or get pushed off of the canyon, as I suspected would happen about every 3 steps or so by my guides horse. I could not believe that only 2 guides were expected to take care of 15 almost totally brand new riders, one on a horse that had never been on the trail itself. They did not seem to have anything available for a situation like this, which, from what I understand, is not only not uncommon, but is the exact reason everyone must sign a liability waiver before riding. No one else seemed to have the same problems with their horses; they had an ok time, but when it's you on that crazy horse, it's hardly consoling.
TODAY:
Kate: Today nearly 10 days later my leg is NOT getting better. My left leg is 4 times the size of my right leg, my ankle is so swollen that my entire foot is BLUE. Everyone at work says it looks that it worse than if I was in the war in IRAQ. I will have permanent discoloration due to the infections, skin damage, and treatments that are needed for my leg, and gangrene is a constant threat at this stage. Accidents happenI get that. The fact that the guides at Sunset Ranch were not prepared or willing to deal with an emergency is totally unacceptable. Anyone that is considering taking this ride should re-consider UNTIL Sunset Ranch had a medical emergency procedure in place, more staff, new horses, and a fence around the canyon.
Vicki: I would've preferred a friendly root canal to this experience. I will get back up on a horse someday, but not within 50 miles of this place. Their lack of preparation and TOTAL inconsideration for others safety was outrageous. I was still shaking when I finally dismounted my horse, just glad to be away from the steep drop offs and back on solid ground. We had no word about how Kate was then, my boyfriend and I left in a hurry. I do not recall if we left a tip either.
Since then I have asked other riders about their experience here, and they are frightingly similar—BEWARE!!!
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