She's lucky. Chris Reeve was an accomplished horseman and broke his neck.
Sounds like she's a fairly new rider.
Get well, Madonna.
True enough.... accomplished or not, riding will always be dangerous.
That was so sad. Patrick Swayze, also an experienced horseman, had a nearly identical accident about three years after Reeve's. He was doing his own stunt in a move, riding a horse at top speed through a wooded area, when the horse suddenly turned (it's amazing how agile they are).
Like Reeve, Swayze's hands became tangled in the reins as he shot over the horse's head. But unlike Reeve, he managed to grab a handful of mane, which flipped him so that he went feet-first, instead of head-first, into a tree trunk. He broke both of his femurs, and was laid up for quite a while.
Why do you think she is a new rider?
Becky
Christopher Reeves was not an accomplished horseman. I saw the tape and he was not that great a rider. The horse was balking towards the jump (only a trained eye would know this) He stood up more in his stirrups and leaned forward more. When, if he would have planted his arse down and drove the horse forward with butt and thigh the horse would have taken the fence. Also, the horse was too small for Reeves. Reeves sucked. Madonna probably sucks too as an equestrian.
John Gibson on FNC today talked about this accident and about how he had a worse fall from a horse when he was 10 years older than Madonna is now, which broke his pelvis. He was very fortunate that his injuries were not much worse.