Falling off - hold on or let go?

I always, always hold on if I can, and I have always drummed into my OH's that if I come off when they are there they MUST catch the horse first, I dont care about me!

Having said that I did get studded dramatically in the leg when I got trodden on while eventing (he tried not to stand on me
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) and I also got spectacular grazes on both legs when I got dragged along a tarmac road - they were icky and took ages to heal.

The last time I came off was when I was XC schooling, horse banked a fence and nearly somersaulted, he jerked his head up and I lost the reins so he buggered off across 3 fields - towards the road. I was having kittens, and the stupid girl I was with couldnt understand why I wanted her to catch the horse not bother about me
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i always hold on... but at a comp i was dragged by horse for a 20m and have horrible grass burns on my arms - it hurts like hell!
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I dont know how but I usually hold on (never remember the actual hitting the ground ususlly happens too fast) not that I fall off lots *touches lots of wood*
 
I never TRY to hold on but sometimes I am still holding the reins when I land. Having seen a work colleague kicked in the head by the horse he fell off because he held on I wouldn't reccomend it to anyone. If you're coming off its best to come off clean. Murphy used to run off as he was scared and I remember being dragged some distance on my back across some plough because I hung on with grim determinations, but after a few falls he stopped running off. Tarquin is now getting better at stopping unless he is really frightened, in which case there is no point in hanging on as he will still keep going.
 
I don't really think about it, but usually end up hanging on.
Haven't had any disasters yet, but I think it's one of those instinctive things. You'll know what to do when the time comes.
 
It's not something I usually have time to think about - sometimes I've held on while other times I've let go but it's never been a conscious decision - I'm always too busy thinking "Oh crap, I'm falling off!"
 
I am of the school who were told to hang on. This meant that when leading the old Appy and she spooked me into a dtich, I still held on, watching her shoe pass over my face, but not touching it thankfully, and ending up with legs that were blue from hip to ankle! We got out of the ditch and walked home.
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I agree it's instictive what you actually end up doing when it happens. Me? I've always hung on for dear life!
 
I have known more people to be seriously injured by trying to hold on than from the fall itself. I will initially hold on as it's instinct, but have no problem letting go if I get any serious pull on the reins.
 
Tried to hold onto one horse that bucked me off cos I was so mad with him and he dragged me - wouldn't do it again.
On the other hand, when my OH fell off my friend's ancient, precious retired show cob, I went to catch the cob before looking to see how my OH was! (If cobby had got loose on the road and been injured, it would have been the end of a long friendship!)
 
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