Have you ever baled out?

I came very close to bailing out once... I was cantering and my tb tripped and nearly fell.
He was on his knees and I kept thinking he would find his feet, but he didn't, but kept trying to canter ( while on his knees and hitting his head on the floor ), it happened very fast, but I remember having time to think " stupid horse, when is he going to learn to pick his feet up... s***, he's not getting back up, why is he still cantering on his head? hes going to roll on my leg... s***, how do I get off ?"
I got my feet out of the stirrups, but then he managed to get his feet back under him and he got up again, he then stopped and looked back at me, as if to say "blimey mum, I nearly fell over then, did you see?"
Most of the time, people think I'm really brave for staying on, but I'm just really scared of falling off,so I cling on until the horse stops long enough for me to get off.... I can get off really quickly if I have to .
Kx
 
I've bailed out off my pony many times.

I don't ride her anymore for this reason but she has a serious rear in her and on occasion (used to morebefore we resolved the underlying problem, but it's habit now and will never go away) will just go up vertically again and again.

There have been times where she goes up and feels very unbalanced - having had her go over on me before, I learnt to jump when she felt off balance.

She's now a field pet as still too unpredictable.
 
Yup, off a racehorse I was breezing so was going a good clip. He made a right hand turn as quick as you like. Before that all was fine. When it became clear 1200pds of horse was not going to stop or even slow down I baled. Kicked my feet out of short irons and flung myself off to the right. Landed on butt and head and neck crashed too. My neck is still messed up. I am glad I made that decision as horse was going too fast to make the turn. He slammed into the fence. I would have sailed into the parking lot instead of soft dirt. Horse got up and tried to jump another fence. He failed and flipped over. Got up and ran back to barn unhurt. Unhurt because he was useless. That was my second and last bolt. Experience told me things could be worse if I stayed on.

Terri
 
Only been truly, "bolted with" once on my 17hh warmblood, he jumped out the field at a gallop, galloped up the road and straight into a wall before stopping (and I then slid off). Idiot. Literally no steering, braking, nothing and he went round the field a good few times before taking the exit route. The thought of bailing crossed my brain then I looked down and thought I was more likely to die taking that risk than I was clinging on for dear life. I have bailed off a horse that took off bronking though, exited right and tried to land on my feet but ended up tearing the ligaments in my left knee. That will teach me for trying to stand up and not just falling gracefully!
 
I was trying out a horse to buy not long ago and he bolted with me while on a hack. We ended up galloping down a very steep hill and I could not get him to stop no matter what I tried - at the bottom of the hill there was massive sharp looking rocks so I remember thinking "I do not want to land on top of one of those" and looking to either side of the track to see which side looked softest - just as I was about to bail, my foot slipped out of the stirrup and I went flying off over his head and did a few rolls before coming to a stop! The owner was behind me on a another horse and could not believe her eyes when she saw me flying through the air. Luckily I was not seriously hurt just a few cuts and bruises and some spectacular gravel burns on my bum meaning I could not sit properly for weeks!! :eek:
 
mynutmeg said:
I have - my tb bolted with me and we ended up in a flat out gallop round a rather small school and I came to the conclusion he wasn't staying upright much longer.
Because he had bolted as soon as I got on I didn't have any stirrups and the only way I was staying on was because I had tight hold of the pommel. I simply let go - I think I intended to try and sorta roll/skid etc but somehow managed to land upright on my feet. Unfortunately this resulted in both ankles breaking and dislocating :rolleyes:

Even with that I still reckon I did the right thing in that situation as if he had gone down then the potential for injury would have been much higher and the potential for more serious injuries, eg spinal much higher.

Main reason why I'd never get on a horse known to have bolted previously.
Click to expand...


:eek: OUCH!
 
Yep, when I was 15, the ex racer i was riding spooked at a bird, bolted, did a few laps of the field, then came to a stop, then a second bird flew out at him, he shot off again, complete with a bronco performance, and headed straight for home - which luckily was the other side of a ditch, and unluckily was covered in really low branches. I chose bailing off to getting decapitated by branches.

Horse arrived in his backgarden, owner's little girl saw him out the window, told her dad who said not to be silly, until a painter from next door came over to explain that there was a horse stood in their garden...
 
I've never bailed out, but then again I've never been in a situation where bailing out was safer to staying on. The only true bolt (and not over exciting out of control gallop/tanking off) was a youngster I was sharing. We came down a bank after opening a gate and I hadn't gotten my stirrups back. I think his saddle pinched him because out of the blue he shot off. Was quite scary as he was unbalanced and there was a foot of mud, I was convinced he was going to fall over. He was just blindly galloping forward, like I wasn't there. I managed to get my stirrups back, balanced myself, managed to balance him, gave him a kick and said something to him, and he sort of snapped out of it and came back.
 
If a Horse truely bolts it is best to get off.

If Horse tanks in excitement or spooking (which the majority of these stories describe) then stay on, bail if in danger (roads)

I have been truly bolted with, it was horrible. I wish I had jumped off, I did think about it and had a nice green verge to do it on. But when a Horse is going that fast, its quite daunting. I wish I had though as Horse ended up falling over and skidding into a wall, my leg went through a hollow concrete pipe, which broke in half and tore off the wall. As the Horse got up I did too as my foot was stuck in the stirrup. He bolted again. Horse now been PTS after bolting with someone else.
 
Never from a bolter (and have had it happen a few times) but have given up trying to stay on a bucking/rearing/plunging fit when I can see a slightly easier option than clinging on and possibly ending up in a worse fall - just wait for a moment when you're close to the ground already and let go!
 
Yep, twice. Once when I didn't know if new (ex-racehorse) horse would jump the fence in front of us when we were travelling towards it in full racehorse mode - ended up with a fractured skull and cracked shoulder (and yes I was wearing a properly fitted hat). Second when I was on a horse who stepped on a firing pin whilst cantering across ex army practice ground in the New Forest.

My old instructor taught me that there are times when, if you know you are going to fall, to pick your moment, take your feet out of the stirrups and just throw yourself off. She always said it is better to pick your moment rather than be to be thrown off or even worse dragged by a bolting horse if you know it is eventually going to happen. Mind you she also taught me how to stay on a bolter, grabbing the reins and mane with both hands and planting your bum firmly in the saddle, she reckoned that if the horse realised you had the confidence to stay there then they would slow and eventually stop. Funnily enough it always seemed to work, guess I must have been lucky.
 
Wow, an instructor who teaches you how to stay on bolters. Be confident sit deep and they'll stop. My first bolt ended in something called the "inertia effect". The mare died. Second time around I was more comfortable with me dictating my own physics. But hey 2 actual bolters in over 3k horses gotten on. Don't think it was a confidence issue.

Terri
 
Never been bolted with but I think most times I have fallen off there was at some point a decision to stop holding on and fall as best I could! The last time I baled out the horse was spinning and bucking and I threw myself clear superman style, then the horse slipped over on its side so I was glad I did! I think its the conscious decision bit that stops you getting injured quite often, as the only time I genuinely was on the floor before I saw it coming, I broke my arm!
 
Then you have never sat on a bolting Horse if you believe sitting deep will stop them. They were tanking with you (still scary) but not as dangeorus as a bolting Horse.
 
Thanks all! I have now been put off my afternoon hack with my new horse! Reading your posts was like bad tv - you know you shouldn't be watching it but cannot stop! Sons toe curling stories!
 
I've bailed 3 times before, once off a bolter and twice off of horses being idiots.

The bolter luckily was on exmoor so had a nice soft landing if I avoided the rocks. At this point we had jumped/ fell out of the arena, ran through a hedge and somehow got over a 6ft bank. Coming up was a barbed wire fence, I jumped off before I ended up a shish kebab.

The second time I baled was on a rearing horse who just kept getting higher and higher on slippery concrete, I thought it was best to jump off then fall on the concrete with horse on top.

The third time was a horse who got spooked by some dogs and decided to tank off down a very steep and slippery hill. The hill is a nightmare to negotiate in walk as legs go everywhere so in canter I chickened out and jumped for the verge. Pony carried on back to yard where owner had a bit of a shock.
 
Yes, once before. About 2 years ago on something that had taken off with me out hacking. We'd gone through about 4 fields and he wasn't tiring (ex-racer) his blood was up and mentally, he honestly was just gone. I may as well not have been on board. I had been trying for about 5-10 mins to stop him (or however long it took us to plough through about 4 fields!) to no avail and knew the road was coming up. I honestly expected him to stop on concrete but no, he sped straight out onto the road, lost his balance slightly and slowed down but then carried on again and I thought ****** this, NOT on the road and bailed out. Was parrallel to a grass verge so saw my opportunity and slipped myself 'out the side door', rolled. Was fine, it hurt at that speed, not going to lie but thankfully nothing broken just a bit bruised and sore.
 
Once when I was about to get off, had my feet out the stirrups and reins hanging loose - the horse put his head down and got his neck strap from his martingale caught on his poll and couldnt bring his head back up. He panicked and I panicked and I threw myself off as I was convinced he was going to slip and fall down on top off me - very overdramatic from both of us :-)
I have been tanked off with (never bolted) and even when I knew there was no chance of pulling up or turning and was heading to a dead end I still couldnt bring myself to jump off. I dont know how people do it - my first instinct is to cling.
 
Yes. Been riding 37yrs and it was the only time I'd been bolted with. Was on my sensitive mare and lost a stirrup as we set off cantering through a wooded bridleway. She just went in a blind panic at the stirrup banging her side and I couldn't stop her. Thing was I didn't know the ride and it was a twisty track through woodland. Didn't know what was round each corner, very scary when you are already lop sided in the saddle. As the track headed slightly uphill I saw a dry stone wall and knew the mare was going to leap it so I decided I needed to bale out. I saw a huge pile of dry leaves (turned out to be holly ouch!) and I decided to try to land on that.
I did try to roll as I landed but took a fair amount of force to one ankle. Not sure if I fractured it but it was definitely badly sprained and was purple for a week. In all my years riding it was the scariest fall I've ever had. Think the fact that I knew impending doom was approaching made it worse. Fortunately the mare stopped when I fell. Needless to say I clambered back on and rode the rest of the way home, as you do!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top