Have you ever thought your horse TRIED to keep you on?

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Ranyhyn

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Out hacking last week I passed a local quarry, typical bad luck that they must have blasted as I went past (can't say for sure, Ed just went from straight on in canter to sideways in gallop)!

I lost my stirrup and started that inevitable, awful slid towards going off one side and just as I thought I was off, he slowed down and turned into my slide so I righted myself and he stopped. Not a dead stop or dirty stop - but what can only be described as a helpful stop.

Have you ever got the impression your horse helped you to stay on?
 
Mine are taught to stop if balance is lost - find it really helpful ;)

I decided to do this after riding a horse that would scoot sideways and 'catch' you if he felt you were bailing out of the side door :D Can't teach that though :(
 
yes definatley, a horse did this exact thing to me, spooked to the side in gallop, i was half hanging off then straight away he dodged back and caught me! :)
 
yup, when i was 7 months preggers, i was hacking out on raff with a friend... we were going along a river bank and raff put his foot down a rabbit hole, he tripped PROPERLY and i flew up his neck. he stopped, didn't panic about his foot being stuck.. instead, he slowly and carefully lifted his head up until i shuffled back into the saddle... then he tried to balance himself again and put his other foot down the another hole. i again shot up his neck, he was on his knees by this point... but still he lifted me back into the saddle...

he definitely deliberately stopped me falling off.

i didn't ride again in that pregnancy...! xxx
 
My daughter's horse has done it twice now! First was at an enormous Pony Club rally and he got a bit over-excited being asked to canter around in a group whilst 150 other horses were heading off in all different directions around him and he put in a couple of flybucks followed by a leap which sent daughter up his neck, but as soon as he felt her unseated he stopped his acrobatics, gently slowed to a halt and allowed her to get back in the saddle.

Similarly, at a jumping competition she got her line wrong, jumped too far to the left of a jump and caught her foot on the wing bringing that down and the wing behind it and the whole lot landed with a crash, and half pulled her out of the saddle. We all thought she was coming off, but again he gently stopped so she could right herself!
 
My old horse was a doll, she would hold her head up and stop if I landed on her neck after jumping. One time this happened and she felt me falling, so she scooted me over to a pile of long grass and dropped me there... shame it was full of nettles!!!! I always wonder if she knew about those....
 
Mine did just today - a tree had fallen down in the woods and now I DONT jump but was out hacking with my instructor (who very much does) so i said I would jump it (way too big to walk or trot over). Trotted in stupidly slowly and he lept it like it was 6ft high (bless him i hadnt exactly prepared him!). Of course i flew out of the saddle, slipped the reins and thought i was going to die - but instead of galloping off when i got unbalanced like he normally does he just stopped as soon as he landed and then walked a few strides whilst i got my balance back :). You have got to love them!!
 
Yes - I used to have a Qarab chestnut mare. Best horse ever. She was a natural cow horse and used to naturally round up and 'sort' the cows (NF). Of course in an English saddle and being a complete numpty I couldn't sit these antics. Didn't even know what she was doing at first (this was some 25 years ago). She figured she'd have to help out so every time I started exiting via the side door she would lift her shoulder and kind of shrug to get me back in the saddle.

We had lots of exciting adventures and she saved my a** and pride many a time. Miss her to bits.
 
I'm glad I'm not imagining things, I have always said to this day (and more so now) that the only reason I've never fallen off him, is because he is so good, not the other way round!
 
Does it count that Lily once bronked me right up onto her neck and then reared, helpfully putting me back into the saddle again ;)
 
Roy boy saves my neck every five minutes! I'm regularly shunted back into the plate by him shuffiling, chucking his head around, or wiggling in a helpful way. He knows when I'm heading for the floor, and as a result I have only come off him three times in five years, no matter how many times I've gone bareback hedge jumping! All three times were entirely my fault and he couldn't have saved me if he wanted to... and all were hilarious!

He's a doll... and I'm very lucky to have him!
 
Snowysadude said:
Yep definitely...... haha poor you :(! But the thought of it did make me laugh
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Lol, tbh having sold her now I can see the funny side of it. Not that funny at the time, she snapped the peak off my hat.

New horse is 17.2hh so I really hope I never fall off but if Lily never managed to buck, bronk or rear me off in the 7 months I owned her then I reckon I should be safe....

*Runs and hides before tempting fate*
 
My first pony, Raffles was an ex riding school pony. He was too naughty in the riding school so got sold to someone who then sold him to me. If I lost my stirrups or wobbled about he would slow down then halt till I had sorted myself out then off we would go again!!
 
Neither Flynn nor I had jumped for ages but my daughter had some jumps up so I thought "Why not?" It all went fine for a while and I was getting my nerve up when between us we go it entirely wrong, he got a pole between his front legs, did a three point landing, both knees and nose, and I ended up with both legs on the same side of the saddle and the pommel rammed firmly in my sternum - never a good idea unless you are intending to get off! Most horses at this point would have pissed off, Flynn just sort of managed to get back underneath me - it wasn't elegant but we stayed together - and then my daughter put the jump right down, we trotted over it and ended on a high note - sort of!
 
wellsat said:
Lol, tbh having sold her now I can see the funny side of it. Not that funny at the time, she snapped the peak off my hat.

New horse is 17.2hh so I really hope I never fall off but if Lily never managed to buck, bronk or rear me off in the 7 months I owned her then I reckon I should be safe....

*Runs and hides before tempting fate*
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Haha yea dont tempt it - 17.2 is a long way to fall!! I fell of my 17hh a lot before he finally grew up (at the age of 9) and that hurt enough. Didnt realise you had a new horse - didnt you used to have a lovely cob at one point?? :)
 
I did, I had four years with the lovely Daisy. She was fantastic fun but was never gonig to be a world beater. I bought her wanting nothing more than to be a happy hacker but after a couple of little local shows I got more into it and wanted a horse with the potential to go further. D is now in semi retirement as a light hack and broodmare pver in Cambridgeshire. I bought Lily to replace her but she turned out to have a witchy temperament when in season. I now have Gerry who seems lovely so far :D
 
I am not sure about stopping me coming off, I only tend to do that if a horse goes down fortunately. Out hunting once my arab came down a cropper, I shot out the front door (into slurry - of course! I always fall off in slurry) right infront of him, apparently he tried desperately hard to avoid stepping on me as he piled right on over me on his face. I don't actually con myself that he didn't want to hurt me, just didn't want to step on more squidginess more like:D

Knackered my shoulder good and proper that time and he actually walked home, that horse never walked out hunting. Again, he was probably a bit sore and it had nothing to do with the fact that I was on board.;)

I've ridden plenty that are the opposite and drop a shoulder then bugger off leaving you sat on the gallops feeling a right plonker.:o
 
Enfys' hunting story reminds me of another one. Daughter was out hunting with a friend who was riding a whizzy cob. Whizzy cob failed to see a ditch until the last minute and ended up somersaulting through it and landed on his back with his legs in the air, throwing rider off in the process. Whizzy cob then continue lying on his back, and they all thought he was hurt. But as soon as his rider crawled out of the way he rolled over and scrambled back up unhurt - he had been waiting for her to get out of the way so he didn't squash her.
 
Yes I've had it happen to me a few times. Once I was riding a horse at work nicknamed Calvin. He was fresh as he was walking for a few days and decided to throw in some massive buck as we were nearly home. I flew up his neck but he kept his head up and stayed walking calmly so I could get back in the saddle whereas he could have put his had down and I'd have been off! Another time on another horse at work nicknamed Chappy we were walking down the road off the gallops and it was Monday morning and all the other horses were fresh and being naughty. I commented on how good my boy was being and he darted forwards and then whipped round and I nearly ended up in the bush dangling nearby his knees. Luckily he just stood still while I pulled myself back up into the saddle and just laughed. Didnt learn my lesson about saying how good my horse is though, later on that week we walked back down the gallops and another horse was being naughty and I said Chappy's never naughty and then he cantered off, jibbed off the gallops and off I came :o soon jumped up and ran after him shouting "Nooo! Chicken!!!!" :p
 
my first horse never saved me from falling off (i reckon she thought i deserved the odd fall) but my mother took her out once, the women riding with her got drunk at the pub they stopped at for lunch (as was their usual habit) and set off for home flat out down the disused railway line. Mum knew i didn't want my beloved Queenie galloped flat out for 3 miles (!) so did her best to hold her back, then couldn't cope with the cavorting so let her canter (bad move), Q speeded up to catch the others (not surprisingly) and mum (not the most experienced rider at the best of times) lost her balance and the reins and swears blind she was holding onto the back of the saddle to stay on, at which point Q brought herself back to a walk and gently nannied Mum home. That was one amazingly kind, knowing and generous horse. I was waiting in the yard and she arrived back ages after the others, lathered from head to foot, but in walk...
I've known RDA ponies that were bona fide SAINTS with the kids on, no matter what they did, but if you put a decent jockey up they'd soon realise and have a bit of fun here and there.
 
In was out with my friend we were cantering across 50 acre field, which had sheep in it. All the sheep moved out of our way but one of them was so busy eating it didn't notice us until we were either side of it, of course it had to run towards me and Axey!
He leapt in the air sideways causing me to lose both stirrups and then he took off flat out, luckily we were halfway across so plenty of room!
I managed to sort myself out and start circling him to slow him down but I was so unbalance I knew I was going to come off. The second I was about to fall Axel stopped and saved me!!

His loaner is often telling me that when she loses balance on him he slows down for her :)
 
Not a stopping falling but an avoidance of standing on. Elizabeth, my daughter, doesn't jump but as Captain loves it she had a lesson. He put in a short stop and then jumped, she went out the side door. YO said she had never seen a horse do that much dancing around to avoid standing on someone! Mind you now if Cappy jumps it is free schooling, Elizabeth says she is staying with dressage.

FDC
 
I used to ride a Shire who was an absolute saint and did her best to keep her riders in the saddle. One day another horse spooked and tripped her. She went down on both knees and ever so careful got up again, keeping me in saddle.
 
Bonnie has saved me so many times!

She always gets herself out of the way when I fall off, making sure she doesnt step on me, then waits calmly for me to get back on.

When I did my first (and only, to date) clear round with her this summer, over some teeny cross poles, I was a wreck. I couldnt speak, and was frozen with nerves. However, in we went, and B was a complete star! I did fall off, but she slowed right down, and waited for me to recover and hop back on.

Fell off Dawi the other week, landed in the sand on my back, some how facing the other way, and i could just see his feet coming towards me... He did some funny acrobatics to avoid stepping on my head, which were very much appreciated!
 
My horse is at working livery in a riding school and is used for a lot of RDA as he is so good at making sure people don't fall off. He went through a period of doing little bunny bucks whilst ridden - this turned out to be because he'd lost weight and his saddle wasn't fitting properly any more, and once we got him a new saddle he was happy again - and he did one once when I was trotting without stirrups. I was much less balanced back then and had a good wobble, but he very kindly stood still and braced his neck for me to wriggle myself back into the saddle. The fact that he did that even though he must have been in some discomfort at the time really shows what a sweet horse he is.

His efforts to keep me on don't always work though - sometimes I really am just too useless! I was having a jumping lesson once and I went over the first part of a double, and completely lost my balance and fell on his neck. He obviously didn't want to go over the second fence with me clinging on round his neck so he stopped - we were only trotting and he just gently came to a halt, I really wouldn't call it a refusal - but I slithered off anyway. :o My instructor couldn't stop laughing because apparently I managed to cling on for a few seconds after he'd stopped, so now I have a reputation as "the one who fell off when the horse wasn't moving!".
 
Yes! I ended up behind Genie's ears - LITERALLY. Bless her she stopped dead, lifted her head up, and I slid back down her neck into the saddle. Such a good mare.
 
Well, can I send my boy round to any of your places to learn a thing or two from your kind and generous horses? He definitely doesn't care if I fall off or he wouldn't do enormous bucks whenever anything mildly exciting happens. That being said he does always wait for me when I come unstuck and will mosey over and nudge me if I'm not getting up quickly enough. I suppose that's something...:o
 
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