How do you get your head around the prospect of falling off again?

I've always been a bit nervous of new horses, then when I was looking for a new one, got thrown off, dislocating my shoulder and cracking my hat...which really didn't help matters :(

By the time I got to trying my new lad, I was sore, stiff and terrified of falling off again. That is, until it actually happened! Call it a weird quirk of mine, but if I get thrown it sticks with me for ages, whereas if I come off due to my lack of balance etc, it doesn't cause me any problems. Fortunately when I fell off my new lad, it was a complete accident, it didn't injure me, and he had the grace to look mortified and froze till I'd peeled myself out of the sand :rolleyes:

In a way, it was a relief to just get the first fall over and done with! I'm dreadful for forever saying 'but what if...' so just have to give myself a mental slap and get on with it on the basis that falling off is part of riding, my horse doesn't bugger off or panic, and I make it as safe as I can can - wear my BP if I think I might - jumping, box to a fast hack etc.

Good luck :)
 
It doesn't usually hurt as much as you expect it too. It's just like slipping down the stairs really. I used to ride in my bp all the time as I knew if I started to slip I could throw myself onto my back and it wouldn't hurt. Sadly after having my son my bp won't fit over my 'ample' bosom any more - but after childbirth I have a totally different attitude to pain!!! I don't really worry about it any more.
I do have a strap across the D rings of my saddle for 'hairy' moments though - it pays to stay safe!
 
If its a fear thing, do whatever makes you comfortable. I know one owner who bought a body protector because it makes her feel safe, another who only has lessons on her horse and never rides outside the lessons, and another who hacks schools and competes but never ever canters. Have the horse owning experience you enjoy, not the experience of it that everyone else thinks you should have.
 
Being honest I never think about it. I would be a millionaire if I got money everytime over the last 20+ years I have fallen off and some have been hospital/cast jobs :o

Im of the opinion of your coming off your coming off no matter of if its my 22yr old or my 5yr old any of them can stumble or buck or anything and ill hit the deck if im not secure enough.

I you over think it you will drive yourself nuts so my advice is dont, works for me :D
 
It is part and parcel of horses sorry to say. They are animals and no matter how well trained they are something can happen and we can all end up on the ground. If you read into things too much its never a good thing, go and have some fun.
 
Last few falls haven't hurt and last few close call occasions I have managed to stay on so feeling positive at present. Going up 2 and half hands probably hasn't helped but I'm hoping I'll have far enough to fall off big lad that I can get hold of some part of his tack to slow me down and get my feet down, little lass is too small for this. I cover a short space of distance at the high speed I came off at with no chance to sort the problem so bigger horse may be safer - that logic actually works for me lol
 
Do you know, when I got my horse (he was a 4 yo) 17 years ago, it never even crossed my mind that he would do anything that would cause me to fall off. Ok, granted I was a teenager back then (therefore invincible obviously! :) ) but i just trusted him (for no real reason, I just felt safe). I have done lots of competing (SJing and XC ovre the years and I really have never fallen off 'properly'. The most falls I've had are when he's slipped and slipped over - he did this twice on grass at one venue and then slipped once on the road a few years back as he'd lost a stud (that resulted in a broken collar bone for me!) BUT, he's never thrown me off as such, only the odd few comical falls where I landed on my feet.

Best thing to do is not think about it - ride them with the attitude that they are a riding school kick-along and i tend to find that attitude passes to the horse and they act more like that.

I will say I am now just backing my 3yo i got aged 15mths - I do sometimes wonder if he'll flip out and chuck me off but so far so good and I feel more trusting of him (and vice versa) now as I do try and just assume he'll do what i want. Mind over matter! Lol :D
 
I'm generally an anxious person/a worrier, I have allowed it to spoil a lot of non-horsey things in my life and at times I allow it to creep up on me and ruin my riding and this makes me very sad and frustrated with myself

I tell myself that lots of people fall off horses and even if it hurts, most of the time they're fine, I have a hat and bp (for whatever that's worth) I have a very nice horse who does not rear, buck, bolt or spook which is all in my favour

Worrying about it really isn't going to change the outcome any and may in fact cause me to be tense and contribute to a fall.

I have the odd squirt of Rescue Remedy too
 
I was in the same boat as you here, when I got Conn. On my 3rd trial, I fell of infront of a jump and it kind of just clicked in my head that I had ridden badly and had I not, I would have stayed on.
Then I got bucked off very painfully and was scared about it happening again.

To make myself feel better I always made sure that out hacking I wore a BP and would never get on him without a hat. When I fell off it was so funny that I didn't mind!

So my advice is just chill, relax and make sure you're prepared! (oh and post a picture - I love anglo Arabs!!) x
 
I just tell myself that if I will insist on getting on.....at some point Im going to fall off :D In fact recently I have been going through a stage of "bailing" and throwing myself off which I really must stop doing. Its like I have invented some kind of extreme sport all to myself :D
 
Well I have fallen off 7 times this year, almost always very publicly.
Never really been Buds fault, just one of those things. I still 100% safe on him though.
I get more nervous of failing, and then if I fall off at least I've failed properly ;)
 
Well i probably take the world record for falling off, must be 40 times in the last year, mainly off a very spooky sharp 5 year old I have, even managed to dump me in the sea last week. Thankfully i have never hurt myself, dont want to speak to soon as Im taking him hunting on sunday ! The main thing is not to worry about it and try to curl your body as you go down, Im over 50 but have survived thus far, getting very loose in the saddle as well !
 
Like OP, I have just got a youngster (just backed) and I spent many a sleepless night thinking about the madness of what I had done......the first time I got on him, I had two handlers holding him still by the mounting block......and was really nervous - though as soon as I am aboard, I am absolutely OK, and the years of riding horses experience comes flooding back - I can now line said horse up at the mounting block on my own!
I don't worry about falling off per se, if I wobble off because the horse has done a huge shy, or something similar. What I would worry about would be if he suddunly started bucking, or shot off, during a normal hack, and that I had lost the ability to control that - I would worry about it happening again, coupled with my loss of control, together with my future ability of getting through that sort of scenario - it would really rattle me....
But to date the young horse has been a star - yes he has had a few moments when I have felt him tense up, or about to whip round, but thank goodness, I still seem to have some ability to instill confidence, use my leg at the right time etc.
I have often found that the thinking about getting on a horse, is far worse than the reality - and as I have said, once I am on it - then I feel all the old confidence flooding back.
I rode my older horse the other day and came V close to falling off him - I knew it would hurt, if I did, so all the self preservation stuff came into force. Boy did I ache the next day, having used all those muscles to stay aboard - I might have ached less had I actually slipped off him!
 
SmanF - a new horse, how exciting !

The one thing I would say, is don't blame the new one for not being the old one. I have a lovely Anglo mare that I rode for years and then retired and I started riding the gelding in my photo. He was a bit of a juvenile delinquent and I used to mutter that Zara would never have done that etc, etc. Then one day I realised I was being really unfair to him - he wasn't Zara, was totally different and very much his own horse. He's 14 now, I love him to bits and wouldn't change a thing about him, but he still isn't Zara.

And I am now riding Zara's daughter - and she is nothing like Zara either !

I don't think about coming off my horses any more than I think about having a car accident. I get on horse and ride just like I get in car and drive. :)

It can be a bit daunting starting a new horse though, and I'm always a bit nervous until they have shown me their worse. Once that's out of the way we are away.

The one thing I have learned though is you don't bounce at 45 like you used to at 20 :eek:
 
Ah great replies people, thanks, can't wait to get on him!! (Think I will lunge him a couple of times first mind!!) Oh yeah, and my Mum came up with this great idea where, she could lunge him, with me on his back!!:eek: Errm, yeah, tell you what, how about I'LL lunge him with YOU on his back Mum??

For those asking, tried to upload a couple of pics but am obvioulsly really thick as can't work out how to do it!!
 
If it's a big fear why not have a lead line on him for first sit? Wander round with him for a bit and have it sink in that he's walking with you and not playing silly buggers. Then get lead line off and have fun? That's if it's just a mental barrier for first getting on, rather than being all tensed up first time? Simply having someone else in control for it might work.

I wouldn't be on lunge on a young horse. With the older ones I do. That's a personal mental block for me though. Head says unbalanced baby, body follows and cue unbalanced baby...

If it helps I've done far more damage to myself on the ground with horses than on top! And trees... they've got in the was a few times riding :p
 
Worked it out (I think), here's to the next one... (will let you all know fist time I come a cropper...)

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Just don't think about it.

I went for years as a happy hacker without falling off (as in 15 years +) - then bought my welsh x Arab pony and started doing more / jumping. I've now lost count of the number of times I've fallen off. I bought myself a bp for hacking just incase as I always seem to land flat on my back.

Luckily my pony is 14.1 so not too far to fall.

I've also got a 5yr old cob who I am teaching to jump, so expect lots of falls from her too. Have already fallen off xc (but landed in my feet so that was fine)
 
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