Falling off and bolting ..

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ForeverBroke_

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Evening ponderings :o

Basically I'd kill to take my horse XC. He prefers it over SJ in which he does really nasty, dirty stops. XC is also my forteit so I think it'd be great for us to both go out and do a bit this summer by way of a change and for some fun :)

However, due to his dirty stops I am a bit reluctant to do so. I can sit them more recently, but when he means it there is really no staying on as far as I go anyway! I'm not bothered about the falling off - its more watching him bolting off into the distance with me not being able to get near him!!

Is there any way of stopping a horse from galloping off when you fall off?!?! Ive never hit him/ shouted at him for coming off so its not like he's fearing that. I usually keep hold of my reins but he runs backwards and I cannot get to my feet before I'm finding myself being dragged.

I just dont want to loose him in the middle of 300 acres worth of XC fields!!
 
This might sound a bit daft but someone once told me that they taught there horse that falling off was ok. They did this my practicing falling off in the school, obviously slowly as first and then a bit more chucking themselves off. Once they so called ‘fall off’, they gave the horse a treat and a pat.

Not sure if it will help, and haven’t actually done this myself, but worth a try?
 
I would presume that you are going ot go to a couple of XC training sessions prior to an actual competition, if this is the case there will a few horses all together so I am fairly sure he'd be less likely to bolt off that far away from them .

Positive thinking ...
 
Ooh no , no competitions at all!! Just hiring somewhere for a play/ bit of lessons :)

I'd heard something similar JoBo , will need to find a willing volounteer to throw themselves off if it does work! :p
 
There is an exercise, I believe derived by a woman called Sarah Fisher (or something) who developed the TTeam Method. I think she calls it the sliding numnah or something, begins by sliding a saddlecloth of the horses back and immediately dropping a few treats onto it. It gradually builds to using a dummy, then a rider 'falling' off deliberately and the horse learns that if it stands still afterward it will get a reward.

I believe I have an old magazine article with a step-by-step guide lying around somewhere, although its probably fairly easy to do without. But let me know if you're interested and I'll see if I can dig it out. I should add that I've never tried this exercise and have no idea of its effectiveness.
 
I have the same problem - both times I've come of Dobbin out, he's bolted home - both times we had company in the form of horses he knew. Unfortunately not much seems to stop him, he has crossed a main road at high speed, which led to a fairly nasty injury when he fell on tarmac. I've tried jumping off him from trot in the school a few times, but I tend to land on my feet (I'm a wimp and think a more realistic fall will hurt) and he just stops and looks at me like i'm bonkers!

ZIGGY - if you could find that article and scan me a copy, I would be eternally greatful! I would love to follow a structured, graded approach to dealing with this, and preferrably before fall number 3!
 
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