After horseback riding accident, Richmond teen ready to ride again

Eager to ride her horse again, Emma Tolman, 16, heard from her doctor early last week that she must wear her neck brace for an additional month. The brace is needed because of an injury Tolman suffered riding her horse Lola in early October. Tolman misses her daily rides with her horses, which play an important part in her mental health and routine.

Eager to ride her horse again, Emma Tolman, 16, heard from her doctor early last week that she must wear her neck brace for an additional month. The brace is needed because of an injury Tolman suffered riding her horse Lola in early October. Tolman misses her daily rides with her horses, which play an important part in her mental health and routine. HANNAH SCHROEDER / Keene Sentinel

Emma Tolman went for a routine after-school ride with her friend, on her horse Lola, pictured here, at the beginning of October and suffered injuries falling off her horse after Lola was spooked by turkeys at the edge of the field. “When something spooks them and I fall off, I can’t blame her. It’s her instincts. I asked and signed up for [the possibility of that] when I got on her,” Tolman explained at her barn Wednesday afternoon.

Emma Tolman went for a routine after-school ride with her friend, on her horse Lola, pictured here, at the beginning of October and suffered injuries falling off her horse after Lola was spooked by turkeys at the edge of the field. “When something spooks them and I fall off, I can’t blame her. It’s her instincts. I asked and signed up for [the possibility of that] when I got on her,” Tolman explained at her barn Wednesday afternoon. HANNAH SCHROEDER—Keene Sentinel staff photo

A red bucket marks the spot where Emma Tolman, 16, wrapped around a rock after falling off and being dragged by her horse Lola through her field in Richmond in October. The site is shown here on Wednesday afternoon.

A red bucket marks the spot where Emma Tolman, 16, wrapped around a rock after falling off and being dragged by her horse Lola through her field in Richmond in October. The site is shown here on Wednesday afternoon. HANNAH SCHROEDER—Keene Sentinel staff photo

By SOPHIA KESHMIRI

The Keene Sentinel

Published: 11-11-2024 5:05 PM

About a month after her horseback riding accident, Emma Tolman, 16, is itching to get back in the saddle.

Tolman, of Richmond, suffered several injuries, including broken vertebrae, broken ribs and a serious neck injury after her horse Lola spooked at the sight of wild turkeys near Athol Road on the afternoon of Oct. 3.

The Monadnock High junior, who has been riding since she was 4, recently said she wants nothing more than to get back on her horse, which won’t be possible for at least another month.

“But I like to walk around the property and say hi to the ponies,” she added. “And I have been taking the ponies out, obviously not riding, but doing groundwork and just enjoying their company.”

Tolman and her horse have some healing to do first. Tolman is up and walking, but her injuries are still causing pain and a slight limp. Not as much as right after the accident, though, which left her couch-ridden for a short bit. She was recently able to return to school.

Even while in the hospital, her mom, Adria French, said Tolman spoke about riding again.

“The biggest challenge has been trying to help her be patient with herself while she heals,” French said of helping her daughter through the recovery process.

Lola wasn’t injured in the incident, but Tolman said her horse was shaken by the experience.

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“I find me being around her, she’s worried. I think she knows she broke me physically, I’m sure she can sense that.”

After the fall, Lola wanted to stay by Tolman’s side. “She came right over … my friend who was with me, she had to lead her away because she didn’t want to leave.”

“And she was very apologetic … I think she was trying to get me out of a, well, in her eyes, a dangerous situation. But, yeah, turkeys aren’t dangerous.”

The fall was the worst she’s ever taken, she said, and led to her getting caught by a stirrup and dragged across a rocky portion of a pasture.

“That was terrifying, because a lot of people in the sport die from dragging, and … that struck fear,” Tolman said.

“Luckily, [Lola] turned. I think she knew I was stuck and was trying to get away or get me loose; either way, she turned, and that’s when I came loose” — a moment of relief, Tolman said.

“But when I thought I was just gonna roll and be OK, I ended up wrapping around a rock, which did all the damage, I think.”

Tolman’s injuries were serious enough that she had to be airlifted to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, where she spent three days.

The horse has always been skittish, according to Tolman, and she wants to help Lola build back confidence after the fall.

“It took a lot of work to get her where she was, and it’s interesting and frustrating, and all the big emotions when something like that happens, and you’re back at square one.”

The teenager said she doesn’t blame Lola for the accident. And when the time comes, Tolman believes she’ll be able to ride without fear.

“I won’t find out until I get on,” she said. “But I personally, right now, I don’t think I would be phased by it at all. I think I’d be able to hop right on and do all my normal business.”