America v UK

[Orangehorse]

Another post about the differences, but I thought this was quite interesting.

I was recently discussing a book on a Facebook group and said that the phrase "the horse threw me" was very annoying, as in the UK I have never heard anyone say that - "I fell off," "we parted company" etc. because it is never the horse's fault (even if it is) as the rider is supposed to be able to ride and stay on.

However, a reader from the USA said that "the horse threw me" is quite a common thing to say - so in the USA it is the horse's fault that the rider falls off?

I can understand that if a horse bronks really badly then indeed a rider will fall off, ge thrown off indeed, but did the horse deliberately throw the rider, or is it just reacting to the circumstances it finds itself.

(And I have seen those pictures where pones are able to unship their riders at will ..................)

 

[ArklePig]

I'm Irish and would say the horse threw me off if he did throw me, but I'd say I fell off if it was my fault/ failure to stay on board. My last fall I sat a number of bucks until the horse stopped, and then gave an almighty buck and took off. I'd call that getting thrown off to be honest. Interesting difference to think about because I'd say I've only been thrown off a few times but I've fallen off numerous times.

 

[Orangehorse]

I have fallen off my horse several times, but he has never thrown me off!

 

[EllenJay]

I'm in the UK, and have often heard "the horse threw me ..". Also have heard "I fell off/got thrown off", or "dismounted quickly".

I don't think that blame is being given to the horse - it's just a statement of fact

 

[teddypops]

That’s not a U.K./ US thing. It’s just describing what has happened. You can be thrown off or you can fall off. My pony most definitely threw me off the other day when a pheasant spooked her and she started broncing. She didn’t stop until she had me off.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I knew someone who always said that their horse dropped them when they fell off.

EG 'we were going really well until we got to the water jump where he dropped me in the water'.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

"so in the USA it is the horse's fault that the rider falls off?"

? no

I love these broad sweeps/generalizations about America sometimes (I've lived there), they entertain me.

Not everyone in the USA thinks or says this. In fact the stable where I rode in the USA was very adamant that it's "never the horses fault" and were strict on this belief.

Sure some people believe it is the horses fault. You get this in the USA, UK, DE, IRE, etc. You might see it more in the USA as there is simply a larger sample size, so to speak.

Or if you're following a somewhat satirical page page as shitedressageunited or one of those, you might see that phrase in jest or in a form of dramatic humor.

I've said before "when he spooked/jumped hard to the left he threw me off balance" or something like that, because he did. Might not have been his intention or plan, but physics and all that. Or, he threw me when he spooked at a bird. Doesn't mean it was his fault or that he's a terrible horse. I suppose people are just casually saying it (or using it as a shortened phrase/summary), but might mean "he threw me...and I lost my balance, therefore I met the dirt" I don't look into it so much or take it so seriously.

But no, it is not in USA "it is the horses fault" as a definitive statement.

 

[Caol Ila]

Over-analyzing and overgeneralizing. N=1 is not data, and it's you jumping to the conclusion that "the horse threw me" means everyone "blames" the horse. It's just a turn of phrase or idiom which describes being chucked off with some force, and an old one at that. You find it used in English-language literature going back to the Middle Ages, from Britain as well as (later, obviously) the US.

 

[Tiddlypom]

The late chestnut git definitely used to throw me . He just kept broncing til I was off. His intention was to remove me. Luckily he only did it once a year.

Most times with other horses I simply fell off.

 

[millikins]

I use it for emphasis I think, not blame. I/he/she fell off can describe anything minor or serious but saying "thrown" implies force i.e. a bad fall.

 

[cauda equina]

I've never been thrown off
Bucked off, or spooked off yes, but usually I've just fallen off

 

[Alibear]

I go with unscheduled dismount, no blame apportioned to either party

 

[Annagain]

I took a friend to A&E after a fall and she was was asked "did you fall or were you thrown off?" (the answer was somewhere between the two) .The A&E nurse said there is a big difference in injuries. Falling is usually more minor and either concussion or some sort of arm injury but being thrown off is usually where you get the spinal injures from hitting the ground with force, often head first and rolling over.

 

[Rowreach]

My last horse was masterful at dropping me. Without notice.

I like those horses that do impressive saves, and stop you from hitting the deck. More like throwing on than off.

 

[criso]

I would use both depending on the situation. I usually fall off or part company, have also had the situation where horse fell and I came off where I would say we fell. Can think of one situation where my old horse properly bronced, not an overexcited kick heels in the air and I said F bucked me off.

I also had one where a spin put me on the neck and the horse gently lowered his head and put me on the floor.

I get what CC and CI are saying about it just being a phrase with no blame intended but I do think language can shape what we think. A bit like the phrase 'Break in' to mean starting a horse under saddle. Some people prefer not to use it and use 'Start' instead because of the impression it creates.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I would use both depending on the situation. I usually fall off or part company, have also had the situation where horse fell and I came off where I would say we fell. Can think of one situation where my old horse properly bronced, not an overexcited kick heels in the air and I said F bucked me off.

I also had one where a spin put me on the neck and the horse gently lowered his head and put me on the floor.

I get what CC and CI are saying about it just being a phrase with no blame intended but I do think language can shape what we think. A bit like the phrase 'Break in' to mean starting a horse under saddle. Some people prefer not to use it and use 'Start' instead because of the impression it creates.

Of course language can shape what we think. I wouldn't say otherwise.

 

[Annagain]

My last horse was masterful at dropping me. Without notice.

I like those horses that do impressive saves, and stop you from hitting the deck. More like throwing on than off.

Monty was an expert at that. In 20 years nobody ever fell off him, only fell over with him on a couple of occasions. He pushed me back on board a few times after I'd done something daft.

 

[Birker2020]

My horse used to be very wary of 'suspicious looking fillers' and would run out or stop suddenly at the last minute and in doing so would drop his shoulder: now to me that is throwing me off.

But there were a couple of times he put in a huge jump or on one occasion on a perfect stride to the last fence of the biggest class I'd ever jumped which was a 1.10m I gave him a good squeeze with my leg and can remember feeling the relief as he took off from the ground. However my relief was short lived when I found myself unexpectedly falling backwards through the air before 'coming round' in the cafe and a paramedic asking me where it hurt.

Apparently he'd jumped me out of the saddle by throwing his bum up in a special effort and I got whisked off on a spinal board with Dad following behind the ambulance in his car and my partner trying to load a horse who couldn't understand why his rider couldn't hang on when he'd tried so hard to please her!

 

[Cortez]

I do feel that the language we use shades the perception of what happened. Unless the horse made a concerted effort to get rid of the rider, then you fell off. I have 99 times out of a 100 fallen off. When someone tells me their horse threw them 99 times out of a 100 that is not the case, but it makes them feel a lot less like a lousy rider if they can convince themselves that it was the horse's fault.

 

[marmalade76]

I have a cob that will intentionally throw riders off (drops shoulder, whips round, random emergency stop) but I tend to use the words dumped or chucked (and yes, I've had all the usual saddle/back/teeth checks).

 

[Goldenstar]

I have been thrown off and fallen off I have fallen off far more .
but I would not assume a person was blaming the horse if they said thrown I would need a bit of context before I would assume that .

 

[splashgirl45]

i sometimes watch helicopter ER and one of them had someone who had been thrown off by her horse, which seems to be how people who are not horsey view the accident. what really amused me was one of the medics attending asked the other one why there was a surface in the school and the answer was, "so it soft for when the riders fall on it"......i found that very funny and wanted to e mail the program to educate them...

 

[laura_nash]

To me thrown off means the horse intentionally removed the rider (for whatever reason). I would (and have) use the term if it was accurate. Its very rarely happened to me though (and even less likely these days), I tend to stick to pretty safe horses.

 

[littleshetland]

An old expression for being chucked off..'He/she put me on the floor..'. Ive only been put on the floor a couple of times in many years, but fallen off through my own ineptitude loads of times!

 

[littleshetland]

To me thrown off means the horse intentionally removed the rider (for whatever reason). I would (and have) use the term if it was accurate. Its very rarely happened to me though (and even less likely these days), I tend to stick to pretty safe horses.

me too!

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

I think I read or hear about the 'I got thrown off' comments more from younger persons and definitely more so from those at riding schools.

I've fallen off a good number of times, but only been properly dumped very rarely.

 

[Keith_Beef]

I use both "I fell off" and "the horse [dumped me, threw me off, insisted that I alight somewhat quickly]" according to the event.

To me thrown off means the horse intentionally removed the rider (for whatever reason). I would (and have) use the term if it was accurate. Its very rarely happened to me though (and even less likely these days), I tend to stick to pretty safe horses.

I think I read or hear about the 'I got thrown off' comments more from younger persons and definitely more so from those at riding schools.

I've fallen off a good number of times, but only been properly dumped very rarely.

Both these ring true for me.

I've written about a grey that has really bad sight in one eye, and can be spooked by movement on his left, and how in the arena he was spooked and jumped to his right several times at the same place; I managed to stay in the saddle the first couple of times, but on the third he moved much more suddenly and faster and I was not as ready for it as I should have been. I'd describe this as me falling off.

And then there's the bay gelding who I thought was stumbling when I asked for a transition from trot to canter at a particular spot. I didn't recognise that he was dropping his right shoulder a little bit harder each time, trying to dump me... and in the end he managed to.

I'm slowly getting better at staying in the saddle when the horse spooks or tries to dump me, and I agree that I talked more about falling off when I was in the first four years of riding than in the second four years (currently in year eight or nine).

 

[Winters100]

I have not been thrown off since I outgrew my 13.2 gelding, who definitely threw me off, many times. He was a master at knowing if you were experienced enough to be the boss, and until I got there he would throw me off at regular intervals. His main tricks were scraping me under a tree branch or into a hedge, spinning round and dropping his shoulder, or running out and following it up with a series of bucks at what felt like top speed. He was the pony who I credit for teaching me to ride. Just about the only thing that he did not do was rear, which was coincidentally the one thing that would have resulted in my parents selling him. When she was a teenager my Mother's horse reared while on a canal bridge and fell in, so known rearers where the only horses that I was forbidden to ride. It took me 2 years to learn to ride him, then we had one amazing year before I moved on to a bigger pony.

Since then I have fallen off many times, but never actually been thrown.

 

[mini_b]

Thrown off - horse bucks or spins you with such force as to deliberately remove you.

Everything else is you fell off, you didn’t sit it and you fell!

horse spooked? You fell off.

Horse drops it’s shoulder? You fell off.

Horse jumped you off? You fell off.

Horse takes you out with an XC flag and pulls you off? you fell off.

Horse goes left, you go right? You fell off.

Emergency stop? You fell off.

I haven’t been deliberately “thrown off “ since I rode ponies.

I wouldn’t get on a horse that made a consistent effort to throw its rider off and I would consider myself more sticky than I am skilled.

 

[skint1]

I fell off after my horse bucked, definitely my fault and lack of skill!