Does falling off make you a better rider?

[MB1201]

I've heard people say that the more times you fall off, the better you get and you need to fall off at least 7 times to be classed as a good rider. I now feel like I've been cursed and will fall off soon because my mum said ' you haven't had a bad fall yet' as Ive only fell off by losing my balance before.

I feel like I'll have a bad fall soon now because that's been said and I'm dreading it lol :S

But surely if you stay on through the majority of things, that will make you a better rider as you can sit long strides/ stay in balance on dirty stops and have experience with riding different horses etc?

Haha, what are your thoughts on falling off having a connection with your riding ability?

 

[cobgoblin]

Avoid falling off at all times. It just hurts!

 

[Enfys]

In short, Yes and No

If the amount of falls equated to a standard of riding ability then I would rank amongst the all time greats because in 45 years I have hit the deck many, many times and have no doubt that I will do so again, so I think the old fall off 7 times thing is a load of baloney

Yes, because you will learn from it, what you could have done, or should do, if the situation arises, or it may make you aware of an area that perhaps you need to improve on.

No, because sometimes there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

If we all rode around looking for every possible thing that could go wrong we'd be a bunch of nervous nellies, give up and take up raising guinea pigs or something. We know there is a risk of hitting the ground at some stage so we all avoid situations that could lead to this, holes in the ground, slippery, rough going etc, etc,

My worst falls have been when my horses have fallen, different horses, both out hunting the landing gear after a jump just didn't quite work, both times it has been in slurry in gateways and both times in front of the entire Field, who tried, and failed, miserably (the swines) to contain their howls of mirth as I floundered about like a mud skipper. Both times I landed and busted the same shoulder It wasn't my fault, it wasn't the fault of the horses, just bad luck, and fate most likely deciding that I was the entertainment of the day and deserved a dunking.

My most embarrassing fall was my fault, and it couldn't even be classed a fall, more of an involuntary dismount, I hadn't had breakfast, so one sherry for each foot at a Meet was probably not such a great idea, but hey, it was cold I reached over to do up my girth, and just slid off, plop, again in front of everyone, I seem to specialise in the art of hitting the deck in public. That has to have been about 15 years ago and my dear friends never fail to bring it up What I learned from that was to eat breakfast before taking a stirrup cup or two and have a foot follower do my girth

 

[Pearlsasinger]

What makes a good rider, imo, is riding a wide range of horses in as many different situations as possible. This might well involve falling off sometimes but it is always better to stay on if at all possible.

 

[Archangel]

For a while you just fall off then as you get better the horse has to raise his/her game and throw you. It is the throwing that hurts!

 

[Auslander]

I fell off the same horse 7 times in one day. It didn't make me a better rider, because I fell off him 9 times the very next day.

 

[Cowpony]

Claire Balding said in her book that she and her brother used to try to fall off in an effort to reach the magic 7 falls

I've always thought that whether a fall is "good" or not must depend on what you were doing when you fell. If you just wobbled then you probably need far more time in the saddle before you can claim to be a horseman, but if you fell jumping a massive hedge while hunting or eventing you probably already are one!

 

[EquiEquestrian556]

I think falling off can make you a better rider, yes. As, if say, it was rider error, then whatever made you fall off *should* teach you not to do it (whatever you did wrong) again, thus reducing the chances of you hitting the deck once more. Having said that however, some falls that are unforeseeable, e.g horse falling, medical illness etc, won't make you a better rider, as they aren't (normally) foreseeable ones.

 

[Enfys]

I fell off the same horse 7 times in one day. It didn't make me a better rider, because I fell off him 9 times the very next day.

Snorts Ah, but was it because of different reasons? You could look at it as an improvement.

 

[SO1]

No, I think a lot depends on what the activity is and what your horse is like.

My friend has a very quiet cob she has not fallen off once in the last 8 years, I have a slightly more spirited native pony, he sometimes gets excited and bucks and I have fallen off a fair bit. If I was a better rider or tried to avoid activities that make my pony excited I probably would not fall off as much.

I am not a better rider than my friends who have not fallen off very often, I would say I am a worse rider.

 

[cobgoblin]

I fell off the same horse 7 times in one day. It didn't make me a better rider, because I fell off him 9 times the very next day.

Could you actually walk after that?
I take my hat off to you - that is serious masochism!

 

[Auslander]

Could you actually walk after that?
I take my hat off to you - that is serious masochism!

It was a baby racehorse - so not far to fall! He dumped everyone many many times - if your name was next to his on the day sheet, you were going to hit the deck several times! It was at least 20 years ago, and we started loads of them, but I still remember his name, and his innocent little face!!

 

[Stockers]

I think you just get better at falling off - whether it's 7 times or 27!

In 38 years of riding I've fallen off about 15 times but 5 of those were what a call proper splats and I got hurt - fairly badly on three occasions. The others (including one where I fell off in walk - 4 years ago) would probably be classed as 'tactical dismounts' - I threw myself off one childhood pony a few times when he took off as I knew I couldn;t stop him. I don;t remember ever being hurt or worried.

 

[rowan666]

I grew up with the "your not a proper rider till you've fallen off" and I always say it to anyone when they just had their first fall in an attempt to make them feel a little better about it.
I think falling off lots as a kid may help you develop a better grip lol but falling as an adult tends to do little more than knock your confidence, as you get older soon learn you don't bounce the same as you did when you were a kid! Although I'm 30, had horses my entire life (mum always had horses) and whilst my sister seems to end up in hospital everything she gets within a 100 yards of a horse, I've yet to have a serious injury (the worst being winded) I've probably fallen off maybe 3 times in the last 15years and the longer time passes without incident I do find that I'm growing a little paranoid that my day will come! 😔

 

[MagicMelon]

I don't believe falling off makes you a better rider, why would it? Falling off a bicycle doesn't make you ride it better does it? Falling off just hurts and for me, makes me a WORSE rider because then I end up with wonky screwed up parts of my body forever more which I have to try to work into some sort of riding posture...

I remember a girl in Pony Club years ago who used to fall off ALL the time, Im not kidding I rarely saw her through a lesson or event without her coming off and I can assure you, she did not improve.

 

[SpringArising]

Only if you find a bunch of riding tips in the dirt/horse crap/puddle you fell into.

 

[ShadowHunter]

As previous posters have said yes and no. Two of my falls have been when horse bolted, i lost balance and fell. Nothing to be learnt there really. However, i've fallen whilst jumping which probably would teach me how to sit better if i had continued learning.

 

[jules9203]

I grew up with the "your not a proper rider till you've fallen off" and I always say it to anyone when they just had their first fall in an attempt to make them feel a little better about it.
I think falling off lots as a kid may help you develop a better grip lol but falling as an adult tends to do little more than knock your confidence, as you get older soon learn you don't bounce the same as you did when you were a kid! Although I'm 30, had horses my entire life (mum always had horses) and whilst my sister seems to end up in hospital everything she gets within a 100 yards of a horse, I've yet to have a serious injury (the worst being winded) I've probably fallen off maybe 3 times in the last 15years and the longer time passes without incident I do find that I'm growing a little paranoid that my day will come! ��

I agree - I'm sure it was a saying invented to get people back in the saddle. I've been riding for 40 years and have fallen off many times. I have been very very lucky and only been bruised or battered but not broken anything (I've managed to do that well enough on the floor!)

 

[NZJenny]

It's a total lie - right up there with the "more wrinkles you get, the less pimples you get" and "of course Father Christmas will fit down the chimney", the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and Handsome Princes.

After 40 years of getting chucked off horses I should be able to ride like Andrew Nicholson and I still can't!

 

[pennyturner]

I suppose that having a horse that keeps throwing you will make you a better rider... eventually.

 

[SO1]

It is the same as I think like riding a difficult horse makes you a better rider, in a lot of cases it does not as you spend so much time either falling off or trying to get the horse co-operate you can't spend time to either learn new moves in dressage, jump different fences or just perfecting your riding position as you are concentrating on trying to improve your horse.

I was one of the kids at pony club who had a naughty pony and never rode as well as those on the schoolmaster ponies. I think it was a made up expression so that the kids on the naughty ponies did not get jealous of those on the schoolmaster ponies!

 

[MargotC]

What makes a good rider, imo, is riding a wide range of horses in as many different situations as possible. This might well involve falling off sometimes but it is always better to stay on if at all possible.

This.

IME riding all kinds of horses will teach you to develop a sticky seat and react better to some movements and situations but the actual falls won't have an effect on your riding beyond making it painful to get back on (and possibly knocking your confidence a little as well as your pride). If a fall is down to rider error you'll try not to make the same mistake again but ultimately riding is an unpredictable activity where complete control of all variables (horse and human and environment) is impossible.

I guess you could theorise the horses who are most likely to deck you are also the horses that'll teach you to ride through it but again the falling off is just a side effect and it's the actual riding that'll make you better.

 

[AmieeT]

Nope, I'm still rubbish anyway...

 

[Micropony]

Some horses are a lot easier to fall off than others. My last horse was big and big moving WB, and while he didn't have a mean bone in his body, he wasn't particularly bothered about keeping his rider on, it was your own lookout. Highly embarrassing at times. Once when he was being rehabbed after a long period of box rest he ran out of patience and dropped me in walk. I have no idea what happened, as my head bounced off the side of the school on the way down and I still have no memory of the incident, but am told he didn't appear to do much at all other than simply remove himself from being underneath his rider. He also jumped me off, spooked me off and bucked me off on many occasions. And on even more occasions made me almost-but-not-quite fall off just to make a point. Felt much safer on my new horse when he was a just backed 3yo to be honest! But he is a bit of a saint.

If falling off made you a good rider, I would be Olympic standard after my time with the big boy. In fact I am still deeply average. Possibly slightly less rubbish than I was before I met him, but still...

Falling off: it's not big and it's not clever!

 

[huskydamage]

What makes a good rider, imo, is riding a wide range of horses in as many different situations as possible. This might well involve falling off sometimes but it is always better to stay on if at all possible.

^^^^this!! I was at my best riding wise probably when I was riding different types of horses on a regular basis as a groom a few years ago. Now I have been riding just my own pony for a long time I am so used to her and not anything else (same old predictable stuff- no challenge for me).
Fell of my old pony too many times to count (habitual bronco) my current pony I have had 13 years and fell off a grand total of 3 times. One not so long ago, because she slipped over. Don't think that fall made me any better a rider that day - just woke me up a bit lol

 

[spookypony]

One instructor said to me, "The art of riding is the art of keeping the horse between you and the ground." Wise words, I thought!

By the "7 times" measure, it's the Spooky Pony that's turned me into a rider, because other than from him, I've fallen off 6 times in my life (I think), and several of those were silly things like the horse lying down to roll in the snow, so don't really count! However, I'd argue that falling off the SP rather a number of times in fraught circumstances, rather than making me a better rider, has now given me a whole lot of defensive bad habits that are hard to undo!

I also rather liked thinking of myself as "the girl that doesn't fall off", so the SP-tumble-caused adjustment to my self-image didn't exactly do wonders for my self-confidence!

 

[Equi]

It depends on your personality. It refers to those who fall off and bounce right back on and have another go at the 10ft wide ditch. Not those who fall off, take 6 months to get back on and walk for a year. I have fallen off approx 8 times, and im very much in the second category. Falling off sets me back massively. However, i fall off and get right back on but the particular horse is ruined for me, and i can not trust them again unless it has been a silly thing like i have slid off bareback lol

Youc an usually tell very early on what type of faller someone will be. For example at the sj a few days ago one came off over jump, so just landed on sand. Squealed the place down, got put back on pony but wouldnt ride and eventaully walked out of the ring crying loudly. Another girl came off into jump, jumped up and turned about giving a big smile and a bow, hopped on and finished her round and took pony to another comp next day.

 

[el_Snowflakes]

I wouldn't say so, no!
However I do think people who are 'good' riders normally have fallen off many times due to the amount of hours in the saddle they have clocked up & because they push themselves rather than playing it safe.

 

[DabDab]

Well, if you fall off 100 times without even considering the possibility of not getting back on then you know you're nuts enough to be a rider....

 

[HashRouge]

No, I don't think it does. IMO those lines are usually trotted out to make you feel better once you've fallen off! If it were actually true, I'd be an Olympic dressage rider by now