Ashley McBryde is taking some time off of touring to keep on the road of recovery following an unnerving horseback riding incident.
The “Martha Devine” singer let fans know the sad news on Facebook, writing a letter about the accident and how she had to come to the decision to postpone some shows.
“A few of us went to ride horses on a ranch in Montana before the scheduled show on Wednesday. I’m not an inexperienced horseman by any means, I grew up riding a fair amount. The horses we were on are ridden and cared for each day. Very good horses. The older mare I was riding was determined to go faster than the pack. Eventually I swapped onto a younger mare named Jenny. We got along famously. We crossed a suspended bridge without any problems. We stayed with the others. We crossed a river that was chest deep to her with no problems. Even up the embankment with no unexpected jumps. On our last little journey back to their barn, something spooked her. This wouldn’t have been a problem apart from my right foot slipping just outside the stirrup. I tried to correct that with no luck, and she was loping at a pretty good pace. We passed the ranch owner to whom I yelled ‘I lose the stirrup I may go over.,’ and I did,” McBryde explained in her extensive social media letter.
She then went on to describe the severity of her injuries, and how the team determined she could not carry on with her on-stage obligations.
“Jenny wasn’t trying to throw me at all,” McBryde reassured later on in the post. “But she was moving faster than I could stay on with one stirrup and loss of center balance. When I landed, I had assumed I hit my shoulder as did the rest of the party. Sadly I had landed on my head. After a trip to the ER staples to close my scalp up, the cat scan revealed a pretty harsh concussion.”
While the traumatizing chain of events may sound discouraging, McBryde was nothing but optimistic about her recovery process and can’t wait to be back where she belongs–playing shows for the fans.
“You know me, I wouldn’t postpone a show for bumps and bruises. But at the moment I am not able to walk without assistance. We are in contact with my doctors and following everything they say seriously. And as soon as I am able to walk across a stage again, that is exactly where you’ll find me,” McBryde wrote with confidence.
According to her website, McBryde is scheduled to be back on stage with shows on the West Coast lined up as the opener for Luke Combs. She’ll be busy on tour throughout the rest of the year and even has shows set in the States, as well as abroad, in 2022. Fans can find updates on the status of McBryde’s tour appearances on her official website.