Jockey Clings To Side Of Horse After Stirrup Breaks During Race

A jockey in Illinois had an experience Sunday that was both unsettling and “unsaddling.”

Abel Lezcano was riding a horse called Christmas Present during the third race at Hawthorne Race Course in Cicero when the right stirrup broke around the point of the first turn.

As a result, the Panamanian-born jockey was pitched over the side of the horse, and it seemed as if he was going to fall off and hit the ground, according to the Mirror new site in Britain.

Lezcano told the Paulick Report that he knew he had problems when he heard a loud snap and discovered that his right foot was suddenly without a stirrup.

Even worse: The stirrup was only recently purchased.

Amazingly, Lozcano managed to stay on the horse and in the race by clinging to the horse’s neck.

“I started falling and knew I had only three options,” Lezcano told BloodHorse.com. “If I let go of the horse and fall, it will go on without me, but it could hurt other jockeys and horses behind me. Possibly the horse could get hurt if I let go; he could fall while he was loose. The second option was that if I fell with the horse, it could be bad for me and the horse. The third option was to hold on for dear life and pray that God would give me the strength to pull myself back on.”

Video shows Lozcano practically sideways on the horse, which confused race announcer Peter Galassi, who wasn’t sure if Lezcano had been thrown from the mount.

He then told the crowd that “the rider is out of the saddle but is still with the horse… a little confusing there, didn’t see him. Thought he was off, but he was on. … Just a tremendous job by Abel Lezcano to keep aboard that horse.”

Lozcano’s incredible ride went viral after Jim Miller, Hawthorne’s director of racing, posted the clip on social media.

Lozcano responded to the video by mentioning that he is sore but “glad he didn’t fall or hurt anybody.”

In fact, Lozcano proceeded to ride in the next four races and even won the seventh, according to Blood Horse.