How often do you fall off?

[Ambers Echo]

I know falling is part of riding - certainly if you jump - but I feel like I am falling off too often! So wondered what is avergage/normal - realising of course that it will vary hugely.

I have been riding Amber for almost a year and have fallen off her 4 times. I had my previous pony for over 2 years and fell off her twice - once when she somersaulted over a fence and once when she refused a XC fence. That seemed ok to me - once or twice a year.

With Amber I fell in May when she jumped coloured X-poles for the first time and hit one and freaked out.
Next in August a stirrup leather broke over a jump. Maybe that one does not really count?

Then a few weeks ago when she jumped massive over a 70cm fence and just pinged me off.

And then today when she was doing some XC fences and she tried to run out at one, realised she had nowhere to go so sort of jumped sideways. Ironically she had been jumping beautifully till then and had flown over everything. This was the last line of fences of the day.

It bloody hurts every time too! She's too big!! And it knocks my confidence again every time. I had my pony before last for 5 years and never fell off once!

Should I be worried? Am I doing too much too soon? In between falls we jump clear rounds at the same height and it all feels fine. So scaling back does not seem the answer. Do I need a better seat to be riding an inexperienced horse? And how do I get one of those without a few falls to teach me how NOT to ride?

 

[Pinkvboots]

I am glad that its not often last fall I had was in November and I smashed my ankle up pretty bad got a plate in it now, and before that was about 12 years since I last fell off, I don't like falling off I am 46 and don't bounce anymore as a kid falling off was pretty much a weekly thing often doing very silly things to cause a fall which is very stupid but you don't have any fear or seem to hurt when your a kid.

 

[DabDab]

Not very often - when I was younger it used to be something fairly dramatic to cause it, but these days my seat isn't what it was when I was riding a lot every day so I have had a couple of sillier falls of my current horse. In 5.5 years of ownership I have fallen off him 4 times - twice when he was younger before I identified and started treating for pssm and he just used to explode out of the blue. The other two falls were silly ones - one when he balloon jumped a ditch that I was expecting him to walk through (as he had done every other time we had crossed it), and the other out hunting because my reins snapped over a fence and then I got in a bit of a kerfuffle.

So I guess a little less than once a year currently

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Twice last yr, once from a sj rotational that i couldn't prevent and the other 3 weeks prior when we slid xc.
Once in 2012, and a goodly number of years prior to that.... in the last century :redface3:

 

[Chinchilla]

I've fallen off 11 times in 16 years.
So averaging 0.6875 falls a year lol!! :lol:

 

[Ambers Echo]

I have just remembered that a good friend seemed to be falling quite regularly when she was eventing for the first time and on a new horse. Which is where I am now. But she seemed to fall a lot that first season and I can't think of a time she fell last year or so far this year. So perhaps we are just at a particular painful stage of the learning process as I begin to do these sorts of things for the first time? It would have been better to learn on a school master I guess but funds were never going to allow that!

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I tend to fall off once every 2 years or so and usually it's something stupid! The last time I came off the horse spooked (there's actually a thread on here about it!) Normally I would have stayed on not a problem but I was complacent and landed on the deck.

Before that was probably the Welsh Cob (again I think there is a thread about it on here!) And again something stupid - broncing with one bronc too many!

But I don't tend to jump so I have less chance of hitting the deck!

I've had my dartmoor since he was 3yo, he is now 17yo. I broke him and rode him away. I have come off of him twice. Once at his first show 3 weeks after being sat on for the first time and other about 3 years later!

I don't mind falling - it's the hitting the ground I don't do anymore!

 

[Chinchilla]

I don't mind falling - it's the hitting the ground I don't do anymore!

Reminds me of this saying: "the hardest part of riding is the ground!!"

 

[HappyHollyDays]

In 10 years of owning K we never parted company. In the last 5 years I've come off DP once when he learnt that bucking going into canter was good fun and almost three years on the vertebrae I mashed still hurts to touch. As a result I never ride him without a back protector on. Not fallen off Bailey yet but I've only had him a year and he is very steady but for a pony he has a massive jump so it's inevitable it will happen at some point.

 

[mavandkaz]

You could be talking about me! Have had current horse just under 2 years and have fallen off him more then any other horse - 5 times I think. Was actually only thinking about it earlier today after a little jumping session. 4 of those falls have been when jumping. I am putting it down to getting older so not being so supple, but largely down to nerves. I know that when I get nervous, my legs go to jelly and I lean forward and tense up. He has a cracking jump and he has jumped me out of saddle many times, resulting in 2 falls. Unfortunately I now approach jumps thinking it is going to happen again, although have come a long way since finding a new jump instructor. It is a little annoying as am only competing at 70cm at the moment. Whereas with my first horse I did alot of BSJA and competed 1.10-1.20 and in the 4yrs I had her only fell off twice. But she had an economical jump and we learnt together, whereas new boy is much more capable then I am (if that makes sense)

 

[JFTDWS]

I last fell off a couple of summers ago when we got stuck in some deep mud on the river bank and Fergus fell over. Before then, I think it was a year or two prior to that I had a silly rotational over a small show jump on a youngster. I'd fallen off the same pony a couple of months prior to that (because I hadn't done my girth up!), prior to that, the odd fall off Fergus - maybe once a year.

Going back further, 10 years or so, I was young and stupid and used to throw myself off regularly...

I did come rather close this morning when I was cantering up a track with a pony in hand, and my ride horse spooked and spun at the sight of a kamikaze pheasant.

 

[scats]

I came off last summer for the first time since 2014. Although the 2014 incident I did manage to come off twice in 45 minutes (it was the hooligan- enough said!)
I usually come off maybe every 4ish years. I hate falling off, so I try not to do it very often!

 

[milliepops]

Not often, though I think it's only a matter of time with Salty

In the last 10 years... I fell off the funny Spanish thing the year before I got Kira, I think that was the last fall I had. So that would be getting on for 5 years ago I suppose. He reversed out from underneath me while I was leaning forward to undo a gate.

Before that... I tipped Millie up jumping into the low sun. Felt like a centipede was galloping over the top of me when she got up, I thought there were far too many footfalls and it seemed to be never ending.

And before that, I had a fall BE at our second novice, but my record tells me that was 2006 gawd where does the time go.

But Salty will be the one, I've been clinging on like a limpet on about a weekly basis when she and I have had a disagreement about the direction of travel. I think it will frighten her so I'm doing my damnedest to stay on!! :biggrin3:

 

[milliepops]

as far as developing your seat goes, I think that really is a thing that comes with practice and also confident relaxation. The horse I had before Millie was a bronker - on reflection he probably had kissing spines or something. But he taught me how to relax when a horse was leaping about like that, he made me laugh and that is the best way to deal with potentially unseating moments if you've generally got good balance IMO, if you stiffen up that tends to be when they ping you off. That and having a good basic position.

Don't underestimate how your equipment can help or hinder you either. I had a jumping saddle that put me in horrendous balance and I felt really insecure - changed it to one where the stirrup bar was further back and I improved overnight without trying :wink3: might be worth a thought, OP.

 

[Britestar]

Too often I would say. I bought my airjacket in May 2016. I have 14 empty canisters

Its not that he's a bad horse, he's just very big, and I'm small (16.3/ 5'2"). He's very sharp and can whip round in a millisecond, and for some reason I can't stay with. A couple have been jumping, one was when he fell over on a hack. I've already come off him twice this year. Once a happy bouncy bum after a jump (sat 2 x bounce, but the swerve got me), and once when some snow slid sown the roof in the school. He was gone before I knew what had happened.

Little horse, he's 21 this year, I bred him and I've come off him once in all those years. He can spook for Scotland, but I think because he's little I can go with him.

I just accept it as one of those things that's going to happen - more than I like.

 

[Snowfilly]

I used to fall off a lot as a kid - slightly iffy ponies and a disregard for personal safety. Most of them were riding bareback though so don't count surely?!

In more established times, I'd say once every couple of years and across all sorts of things. Came off the riding school mare last week, 3 days after we'd jumped a double clear at 90, we parted company in a flat lesson at trot...in her defence, another horse spun into her and she freaked at his rider falling off.

I also once vaulted onto a gymkhana pony, over estimated my jump and landed in the dirt on the other side. Not sure that counts as a fall if I never touched his back...

 

[SEL]

I used to come off all the time when I was <30 - riding a motley collection of horses didn't help. Nowadays I don't bounce and when the Appy bucked me off 18 months ago I twisted my back and it still causes me problems.

Only a matter of time before I come off her again. For a fatty she's very athletic with her bucks.

 

[JennBags]

I fell off George more times than I'd fallen off in the rest of my life put together and I'm not particularly young! I felt rubbish about my riding because of it, and really worked hard on both my fitness and my riding, both of which reduced the instances of it happening. When I was walking the course for my first ever ODE, I got chatting to a woman who clearly knew what she was doing, and she said "oh I had a horse like that once, could hardly stay on the bloody thing" it made me feel a lot better about myself! She recommended a gel out seat saver which definitely helps with stickiness, unfortunately George went lame shortly afterwards and is now pretty much retired. My new horse who I've had for over a year now, I've fallen off twice. Once when I first got him and he had a little bucking fit so I bailed out and once when he tripped going down a steep path. I still use a neck strap whenever I ride but feel totally safe on him, he's not sharp and he has a very economical movement so you go with his movemenet a lot easier.

 

[Auslander]

I've had Alf 6 years, and fallen off him 4 times.

On two occasions, he bucked me off when I tried to ride him bareback (shallow learning curve there!)
Two years ago, he was doing his favourite "leaping vertically in the air multiple times" trick. I laughed at him, so he threw in a buck for good measure, and fired me so high that I landed on my feet!
Last year, he faceplanted on the road, and took me with him

 

[Wheels]

I rarely fall off - think the last time was about 5 years ago but I ride relatively chilled horses

 

[ihatework]

These days it is my mission not to fall off, so I minimise that risk by only riding fundamentally safe horses and I don&#8217;t jump any more.

Current horse I&#8217;ve had 6 months and not fallen from or come close (yet!!)
Previous grey I sold on quickly, in part, because he was too dull - no chance of falling off that one!
My dressage horse I had 2 soft falls from in 4/5 years where I was spooked off and pretty much landed on my feet
Horse prior I never came off

The one before that kicked off the paranoia - that one was the reason for broken bones and more!

I now generally won&#8217;t ride other people&#8217;s horses, exception being some of my friends event horses (but only the safe ones!)

 

[JustMe22]

My new horse is a saint so haven't fallen this year.

Previous horse was less of a saint and I was also riding a lot of youngsters at my yard which I no longer have time for. I reckon last year I must have been falling off every few weeks to be honest!

 

[HashRouge]

When I was riding my Arab I think I fell of about once a year. I fell off quite a few times riding her bareback, and a couple of times out hacking that I remember (very narrowly missing a puddle on one occasion!). Hurst myself quite badly on one occasion when riding bareback back from the field, but no lasting damage fortunately. Since then (she's been retired for about 6 years) I've only fallen off twice - once when I was an SJ groom and my favourite horse had a brooking fit and slipped over on wet grass (I landed on my feet) and more recently I came off my share horse when we jumped a log out hacking and she stumbled on landing. Held onto the reins and got dragged about ten metres, but at least I didn't lose her on the South downs!

 

[Ambers Echo]

Thanks for all the replies! Oh dear I seem to be heading the 'falling off' pack. Not a category I want to be at the top of.
So next question - was there a period in your adult life when falling was more common. Ie am I right to think that I am just at that stage of learning where I am doing more than ever before so will have to learn to sit refusals and run outs at higher speed.

Thinking of the 4 falls - the leather breaking was just one of those things,. But the other 3 was bad riding. I really should have been able to sit those episodes. I definitely feel my seat is getting more secure but obviously still not secure enough!

Milliepops - I bought my first jumping saddle recently & felt awful and very insecure in it. I had never had a jump saddle before so I assumed I would just need to get used to it. Luckily Amber hatted it too. I am much happy in my new saddle!

 

[be positive]

Thanks for all the replies! Oh dear I seem to be heading the 'falling off' pack. Not a category I want to be at the top of.
So next question - was there a period in your adult life when falling was more common. Ie am I right to think that I am just at that stage of learning where I am doing more than ever before so will have to learn to sit refusals and run outs at higher speed.

Thinking of the 4 falls - the leather breaking was just one of those things,. But the other 3 was bad riding. I really should have been able to sit those episodes. I definitely feel my seat is getting more secure but obviously still not secure enough!

Milliepops - I bought my first jumping saddle recently & felt awful and very insecure in it. I had never had a jump saddle before so I assumed I would just need to get used to it. Luckily Amber hatted it too. I am much happy in my new saddle!

If you felt insecure in the saddle it wasn't suitable, usually when trying a jump saddle the feeling of more security is obvious and your position tends to become immediately more stable, so good move to find something else as having the correct saddle can make a huge difference to how you ride and while they will not stop you falling they will help you be better positioned to remain in the right place a fraction longer.

My plan when jump training is to set things up as far as possible to avoid run outs and stops, to slow everything down so the rider can control the shoulders until the horse is taking the rider, remaining on a straight approach and jumping without question, there are obviously times this doesn't happen but in my mind almost every stop or run out is avoidable, especially the run outs, until they are confidently jumping out of a controlled trot or canter they do not move up a gear.
I think the main thing to learn is to control the pace, even if it feels a bit slow, until you feel the horse has understood the question in front of it and then you allow it to take you forward a little more, if it doesn't give you that feel then you remain sitting up, keep the contact and leg on, possibly a half halt to get it's mind focused, getting it wrong is not bad riding as you need to do so in order to know when it is right but in an ideal world the horse will always jump what it is faced with provided the rider has set up correctly.

Do loads of work in 2 point to develop core strength, while doing this your horse should soon switch on to you sitting up as a half halt, that is the cue to approaching a fence, using poles on the ground to do this is perfect so you can be in 2 point then sit up a certain number of strides before a pole and use it to ensure they remain totally in front of you and not drop as soon as you sit.

 

[Ambers Echo]

Thanks Be Positive that is really helpful.

I wonder whether I am doing more than is sensible for her level of experience and my level of skill? But then again clinic instructors have told me to get entered into stuff and that we are ready..... So hard to know what to do! I think the problem is that I am inconsistent. When I ride well, Amber goes well and I feel ready. And then I do something idiotic and just don;t get away with it and feel like I need to go back a step or 5.

I am a nervous rider and often bottle out of things unless I am in a clinic, lesson or competition. But I have my first hunter trial of the season in 2 weeks and first ODE in 3 - both 80cm. So yesterday I took Amber round the farm ride at Somerford and spent the majority of the ride looking at jumps and thinking 'nah' and refusing to jump. Nothing on the ride is bigger than 90 and much of it is 70/80 - so none of the jumps should be a problem really. After about half an hour I popped a few jumps and she was great. So my confidence increased and I ended up popping a line of about 4 including a 90 cm brush fence I have never done before. I was thrilled and really should have stopped there! But there is a line of fences along a valley near the end followed by an uphill gallop. Lots of my friends love that line and I normally refuse to do it. I've never jumped it on Amber. I told myself that since I am hunter trialling in a couple of weeks I need to start in a start box and jump whatever is in front of me no matter what, so I should treat that line like that! So I picked out an imaginary start line and went off towards fence 1 - which was pretty big (85/90), wide, with a gap under it. Basically a horse-scarer. And she said no!

I know now (I think) that I was nervous as I got near when I could see that it was a bit daunting looking and so I was staring at the gaps/ditch at the bottom of the fence! So not surprising that she rode into the base of it and then had nowhere to go. Total rider error. She has never run out/ jumped sideways before so took me by surprise too.

Maybe I am just overthinking it - I know what I did wrong, I know how not to do that again, so useful lesson learnt and now time to forget about it and crack on....

 

[Ambers Echo]

I think the main thing to learn is to control the pace, even if it feels a bit slow, until you feel the horse has understood the question in front of it and then you allow it to take you forward a little more, if it doesn't give you that feel then you remain sitting up, keep the contact and leg on, possibly a half halt to get it's mind focused,it.

This was my other mistake! When she was backing off I kicked on trying to use speed/momentum to get her over. Which I KNOW is wrong!! I would have been far better letting her approach in an active trot giving her the chance to see it. She can jump a 1 metre oxer out of trot! She did not need speed. Lots to think about in what you have written. Thanks again.

 

[be positive]

This was my other mistake! When she was backing off I kicked on trying to use speed/momentum to get her over. Which I KNOW is wrong!! I would have been far better letting her approach in an active trot giving her the chance to see it. She can jump a 1 metre oxer out of trot! She did not need speed. Lots to think about in what you have written. Thanks again.

You learn all the time and will remember next time to keep hold with leg on strongly and not kick for speed and allow the run out to happen even faster! you should be able to jump anything out of a trot and if in doubt that is usually the best thing to do, they then learn that saying no is not the correct answer.

 

[pixie27]

I used to fall off ALL the time. Used to ride a sharp little pony for a friend and would regularly meet the ground about once a week.

On my current horse, I've come off once from the most stupid silly spook. The stuff I've stayed on through has been ridiculous - we've been launching ourselves around before with people gasping on the ground. I never thought I had a good seat until him putting me in such situations. A few things definitely help - my jump saddle is really forward cut with massive knee rolls; I have cheesegrater stirrup treads that glue my feet in (though when I did come off, my feet didn't get stuck); I cling to my neckstrap like a limpet (I've never used one before, wish I had before now!); and I talk the whole way through which, as MP says, relaxes you.

I have quite a few friends who took a lot of tumbles when starting out eventing, so try not to let it bother you (easier said than done, I know). It's hopefully our first season this year, so I'm sure I'll be resurrecting this thread in a few months!

 

[Embo]

I'm averaging one per year at the moment, had B 4 years next week & fallen off him 4 times.

First was a few months after I got him and the first time I experienced his left spooky spin. Caught me totally off guard!

Second was XC schooling. We slid over (in slow motion) on some long wet grass, so not a true 'fall' but we both ended up on the ground!

Third was at a SJ comp. B was NOT playing ball (I was a nervous wreck) and he stopped, and stopped, and stopped. One of them was a stop and shuffle, which unseated me. I landed on my feet. It wasn't a good day.

Fourth was jumping at home. B got tired, the jump got a bit too big and wide for his liking. Stop and shuffle. Off I came and ate dirt. Thankfully just my pride was bruised.

There are many other occasions where I probably should have fallen off but by some miracle I didn't. Back when I was a working pupil I used to fall off a lot!