Falls...random ponderings!

[Sarah1]

Why do you think falls knock some peoples confidence more than others?

That might sound like an odd question but you see eventers & the like falling all the time & they don’t seem bothered by it at all then you see others riders who won’t ride again after a fall?

Is it just that some people are more confident in general? I don’t know cos Pippa Funnell is renowned for having confidence issues & yet she’s still competed at highest level?

Also how do you reckon you get some of that?!

Random I know but humour me!!!!

 

[Shazzababs]

I think that the Sports Pschycology (sorry about spelling!) access that the Team GB Riders get and an also anyone on the 'potential' squads is supposed to be very good.

They were talking about it on the commentary at Badders and how it really helps the riders learn to use their nerves in a posative way, and to take the falls in their stride.

 

[Sarah1]

That's really interesting.
It's good to know that even the top riders suffer like the rest of us (self-preservation I think it's called!!!!!) and it's nice to find out what they do to try to combat that.
Take me for instance, I'd love to event my boy, just low levels, but I wander round events thinking 'how is anyone brave enough to jump that' and some of the jumps are really quite small!!!!! I think maybe it's because I haven't done much jumping and I don't want to make an ar$e of myself!!!!!!

 

[barbaraNcolin]

I used to show jump (now whimped out and do dressage as fell off too many times!) and had a lot of falls, some quite nasty, some not so and my confidence issues seemed to purely depend on where I was. At shows and at my trainer's yard it wouldn't really bother me and my trainer would rally behind me and not let me ponder on it but if anything happened whilst at home or just out messing around it would knock me for six.
The final straw came when I thought I'd broken my ankle after it gave way when landing from a jump. It was neither mine or the horse's fault but I think it just kicked in that it wasn't for me. I've had a few pops since but no way near what I used to jump.

 

[4leggedfurries]

I take and have taken many a fall off my horses, my latest being tuesday night which resulted in me being in a&e all wednesday morning, but have always brushed them off and carried on as they have never been intentional falls always an accident that couldnt be helped. The only one who shattered my confidence was the 17.3 physco who purposley dumped me on a regular basis and injured me badly on pretty much each occasion. I think a lot of the confidence issues resulting from the falls can come from the horse esp if like mine he tries to kill you.

 

[Sarah1]

This is just something I find really interesting - I had a fall about a year ago now, we both hit the road after my horse took off & I couldn't stop him - I ended up in A & E but fortunately for us both we both just had cuts & bruises.
The fall didn't bother me & I was back on to ride him home then again a few days later when I could ride comfortably and it didn't change me at all, however, about 6 months after that something spooked him & he took off with me again. I managed to stop him & neither of us were hurt but after that I'd def. taken a knock to my confidence & still am not fully recovered from it.
It seems silly cos the fall didn't bother me at the time but I think I thought of it as an isolated incident til he did it again, granted it was out of fear but the thought that if something really worries him he'll run does bother me even now, tho he's usually as brave & bold as a lion!
The human pysche (sp?) is a strange thing!

 

[ladyt25]

I think if a horse purposefully threw me that would put me off more than anything else. That has only happened once when one reared and I came off the back and thought he was coming over too!

I have had some funny falls and some not so amusing. Thankfully (touch wood) I have not had any serious injuries. The worst injury i had was 2 years ago (afer 20 odd years of riding) when my horse slipped and fell on the road and I ended up with a broken collar bone. That did knock me a bit and I was and stilol am now a bit waryof road surfaces and amkes ure his studs are in (one had come out hence why he had the accident).

Other than that i generally just get on with it. I think though my confidence jumping has lessened over the years i don't knwo why - maybe the thought of an accident/falling off. I am slowly getting it back though! I am certainly not the bravest though - I trust my horse, he is very genuine and I guess I am v lucky in that respect. I see some people on horses and think "there is no way you'd get me on that!"

 

[Erehwemos]

Interesting post!

I had a reputation throughout my younger days for being the 'girl who always falls off'

But I can honestly say that although I did fall off on a regular basis, I never felt that I couldnt get back up again - I never lost my confidence. I was always quite a timid rider - jumps were always too high, ditches always too wide, that sort of thing - but falling never seemed to frighten me. Very weird!

Then I got Ellie, and we started competing properly (BSJA). I remained nervous before every class, but still any falls I had - -and they decreased in frequency as I got older - did not deter me,no matter how they came about. Until one day, we both had a fall during a schooling session - Ellie turned a somersault when we were going through a grid and landed on top of me. We were both on the floor for a few seconds, but after we both shakily got up - Ellie before me - Mum and instructor said I needed to pop a small cross pole to make sure I didnt 'lose it'. I did so - with a broken hand - and after some healing time I did get back to jumping. But after the fall I found I suffered from a real fear of combinations and doubles, and after a couple of scary moments where I pretty much bailed out voluntarily in the ring, I broke down and said I just couldnt do it any more

That was 5 years ago, and although I dont think I will ever regain the confidence to show jump again, I dont think I can say the fall made me lose my nerve - I have no fear of riding whatsoever, and am gradually getting braver about popping small fences on sponsored rides. I dont know what it is about that big fall that made me lose all my jumping confidence...maybe it was because Ellie fell too? Or maybe it was because I have never been a brave jumper anyway, and all it took was one big fall to make me lose any bravery I had mustered!

 

[ironhorse]

I am pretty windy as a rider, but it's more about 'getting it wrong' than actually falling off.

A good friend of mine who cracked five vertebrae and damaged her eye in a team chasing fall was back competing within two months and she told me that she wasn't afraid because she knew what had caused her fall ( a horse overtaking hers, which had always been the lead horse on the way into a fence, leading to the mare taking off too far away from a mahoosive hedge and somersaulting) and would never put herself or the horse in that situation again. I thought that was a very good philosophy and without knowing, I had already used it myself:
I had a bad fall out hunting five years ago because I overfaced my cob - he would jump hedges but not huge ones with ditches behind which is what I asked him to do. I was able to hunt him again less than a month later (much patching up of my damaged ligaments by the physio!)and wasn't afraid because I knew I'd never make the same mistake again.

Generally I feel OK about falls if I know what has caused them and how to avoid them in the future...

 

[Sarah1]

Ironhorse - I know exactly where you & your friend are coming from with having a reason to explain the fall making it easier to overcome. After my fall on the road with my boy I applied that sort of logic - I'd asked him to canter towards the end of the track, I didn't pull him up as soon as he got strong as I assumed he'd stop - in short I took advantage of his good nature & never again will I make that mistake!
I think the second tanking off was what did it for me which seems stupid cos nothing happened to either of us!!!!!! Again he was frightened as his exercise sheet slipped during a bucking fit (the bucking is a quite a normal event for Bailey, he loves a good canter & gets quite excited when we go for a good blast!) and was round his back leg - every horse I know would have done the same thing and I stopped him easier than I could previously, so why would it have affected me so much? Or could it be delayed reaction from my fall? I don't know but I think I'm a bit mental!!!!!!!!
MizElz - I think the reason why I'm not confident jumping is because I haven't done much of it. I think it does help if you have someone pushing you on as it doesn't give you time to think about the what ifs!

 

[Sarah1]

Thanks for taking the time to reply everyone - am loving reading your thoughts on the matter!
Keep em coming!

 

[Aru]

some people just have more self preservation than others ...

honestly id say it depend on why the fall happens tho was it a freak accident,a rider fault or just a the horses attitude...and on how the person deals with it

some ppl analsye and work out what went wrong and avoid that in future(where possible) others just get back on and try to forget the falls and focus on each jump/ride seperately and then some just realise the danger of what they are doing and self preservation kicks in to a new degree making it harder to get back on...
..iv fallen off loads esp when i was a kid but the worse i ever got was a possible dislocated shoulder where i hit the jump when the pony refused but it never really bothered me might be a different situ if i get a bad injury tho...
i had a friend who broke her jaw in a similar accident to mine and although she jumped for a next season she quit horses the year after..she always says that her fall (which wasnt her worst) made her consider what she was and wasnt willing to do to herself and she decided that jumping wasnt worth it..she knew the risks and just wasnt enjoying it anymore she just felt tense when she rode...
my policy has always been try to figure out why i fell..if it was my fault then try to learn from the experience if it wasnt then i just try to forget about it and clear my mind every time i thought of it when i was riding so i wouldnt tense up and cause a spill....but i also just love the adreneline rush of feeling a bit afraid and doing something anyway...

 

[NeilM]

I think there are a number of factors involved and reading the replies so far there seem to be a lot of good, confident and experienced people replying. Let me give you a novices view.

I must start by (boringly) stating that I trained in the Martial Arts from the age of 22 until I was 48 when I decided to retire; this is when I started riding again. What this means is that I know how to fall, breakfall and roll without hurting myself.

I believe there are a lot of people who do not have a 'robust' personality. They are the types that worry about their driving because they bumped a gate post or knocked the mirror on the garage wall. There are others who register that sort of thing as a mistake and resolve not to do it again. Put the fragile personality on a horse, combine it with tension and nerves and you have a potential problem.

There is also the matter of ego / pride, this takes an awful dent in a fall and many people who are strong enough to take physical knocks, cannot take a bruised ego.

I think the kind of mind that 'worries' will always come out badly from a spook or nap or fall, those who accept that these things happen and who can analyse what happened, why and how to avoid it in the future will always come off best.

I did a bit of motor racing years ago and it was common to find drivers, who in trying to go as fast as possible, would occasionally 'lose it'. A few weeks later you would see them, with the car all repaired and back to racing trim, pushing harder than ever through the corner which had been the scene of their 'off'. The only way to be able to to do this is by recognising the mistake that was made and working out how to resolve it, or accepting that things CAN and WILL go wrong.

I have taken quite a few falls in the 18 months I've been riding (properly), I know why I've fallen and I try my hardest to avoid repeating the situation, or at least improve my seat so the next time I don't fall.

At all costs, I think it is vital to avoid 'what if' thinking. By all means, analyse what went wrong, but don't get hung up. After nearly 40 years of riding, my OH did this and now she will not jump anything bigger than 2 ft, even though she is a superb rider and I have pictures of her clearing very respectable jumps. Age does not assist in this, as we get older we see too many incidents that remind us of our fragility, but I take the attitude of 'might as well try, you might like it'.

As a novice I think it is important not to see a fall as a failure, it is not what you wanted to do for sure, but then you didn't want to go from walk straight to canter or you didn't want to jog when asking for a canter, but those 'failures' did not end up with you sitting in the dirt.

Falls are just mistakes or unwelcome outcomes of pushing yourself and your mount hard, either in a learning or in a competitive environment, either way, if you both walk (limp) away with no real injuries, it was a good fall!