I have decided... question for pony riders

TwyfordM

TwyfordM

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Landing on your face when falling off is not clever, although got a free botox effect so shouldn't whinge .. Even if I do have cuts in the shape of a moustache/goatie :D

On a more serious note, those of you that ride ponies (or horses with no neck) any tips for staying on when suddenly you have no horse in front of you? He's (generally...) a good boy, but I'm fairly tall and he's only 13.2, wide but compact and short in the body and I have a tendency to tip forwards too which obviously doesn't help 😁 going to try and sort out a different saddle, and having lessons too but as he's coming into more work he's getting cheekier so I need to be a little more on the ball .. Considering I've been riding a fair while now and that's my first fall I've been pretty lucky really!
 
I ride ponies as small as 12.2 although I am afflicted by shortness! I've had a few near misses including almost being dumped in a puddle when he stopped dead rapidly. I've now bought an acavallo (hope that's how its spelt!) gel out seat saver. Definitely helps you stick to the saddle if you need to.
 
No tips. I have a buckroo highland when he deicdes to go I'm off like it or not.
Following this lol!

I find suede kneerolls great right enough and big ones!!
 
Neck strap is the only reason I manage to stay on my daughter's 13.1! She likes to give new things rather a lot of air and I'm often complimented at how still I manage to sit and go with her. It's purely because I have at least one hand gripping the neck strap!
 
Lintel said:
No tips. I have a buckroo highland when he deicdes to go I'm off like it or not.
Following this lol!

I find suede kneerolls great right enough and big ones!!
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Danny is a highland wannabe (NF reg but looks highland!) dressage saddle didn't help 😜 he's always been good as gold for me (bar naughty habits) but he does have a tendency to dump the kids once they start cantering as he's not been very well.schooled has mainly been a leadrein pony on the RS since being backed and then turned away for years and he's now 8 or 9. I think the horror of being made to actually listen to the person on board and work is making him naughty 😆

Sticking with him though even if I have to invest In superglue ... Love the little monster!:
 
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The trouble with ponies is that everything seems to happen so much QUICKER!! On a proper horse there seems to be much more warning time.

Sympathise with your plight OP. Can't suggest anything, other than to build up those core muscles and improve your balance.

Try a balance ball: www.fittoride.co.uk - professional eventers use them too.
 
FfionWinnie said:
Neck strap is the only reason I manage to stay on my daughter's 13.1! She likes to give new things rather a lot of air and I'm often complimented at how still I manage to sit and go with her. It's purely because I have at least one hand gripping the neck strap!
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YO has told me to use a neck strap so going to try that!
 
There is no hope for you, this is a pony thing. Get a horse ... although further to fall everything happens slower compared to the no neckness of a pony on a mission! Hope your feeling better and not too bruised :)
 
I think you're all barking up the wrong tree. There's only one answer, as the PC DC always shouts when the ponyies are naughty "sit up; sit up; sit up!!"
 
MrsMozart said:
ROFL I'd forgotten that cry :D Should remember it after yelling to D2 as Little Lad came bombing up the drive :D
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Hahahaha! This runs through my head every time... fails though. I always end up in a puddle of laughter on the ground, they are so cheeky ponies! ... I don't really find an "Oh Sugar" strap helps as my boy has a fair wad of mane to hang onto.. and that fails!
 
My 13.2h has a good length of rein, but when i was breaking him in and in the early years, he had an amazing ability to disappear from under you!
He has the sharpest spooks i've ever known, you could be trotting along happily, then BAM, hes gone! Yet i'd still be in riding position and would fall to the ground in what felt like slow motion :D Doesn't help that i have a very straight cut show saddle, so nothing to sit in to.

He was pretty good at doing it when you were putting him out to, wandering down to the field then he'd disappear - my hand would still be in rope holding position but no rope or pony :D Never known something so sharp and fast!

However, his spooking is a little less sharp now he is a gelding and i have learnt to stay with him and stop him disappearing.


As to how to stay on? Nothing i tried worked although i had a neck strap for a while, and always wore sticky bum jods which worked well with my suede saddle!
 
I have two short necked sharp ponies. The more you ride them the more you will be able to sit to them, I can often predict when they are about to go and my muscles react accordingly without me really thinking about it (and I'm often not holding the reins, as long as you sit well you don't need them). Also don't have too short a mane and take a handful when required! I often have people comment on how I have sat a spook, I've spent years riding similar sorts and I think you get use to it. I'm not a massive fan of the sticky seat savers or sticking your bottom to the saddle as I find I can't move with the pony and it jars me and makes my balance 'off'. Good luck!
 
Lintel said:
Hahahaha! This runs through my head every time... fails though. I always end up in a puddle of laughter on the ground, they are so cheeky ponies! ... I don't really find an "Oh Sugar" strap helps as my boy has a fair wad of mane to hang onto.. and that fails!
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I was trying so hard to be calm and collected as they came up the drive at a fair gallop! All I could think was the tight turn at the top and the slippery-at-a-gallop concrete ground. "Sit up! Heels down! Hands steady!" All the while thinking "Just stop you b*****d!!!".

Luckily he kept his head up and she stayed on. Gotta luv a pony :D
 
If your legs are both in full working order, adopt a defensive/hunting seat (it makes it very hard to accidentally lean forward) and probably put a neckstrap or similar on.

If, like me, only one leg works quite right (old tendon injury in my right knee), side-saddle is the only thing I've found that really helps all that much.
 
I've been riding ponies too long; having 'nothing' in front is the new normal! ahaha. I'd ride with a neckstrap to begin with. Chunk of mane helps too; eventually your muscles will learn 'pony mode'! If you trust the pony/have a sensible one, no stirrup lessons to make sure you're sitting deep into the saddle/upright and firm will help.
once you've mastered naughty ponies...you can sit to anything ;)
 
Molly'sMama said:
I've been riding ponies too long; having 'nothing' in front is the new normal! ahaha. I'd ride with a neckstrap to begin with. Chunk of mane helps too; eventually your muscles will learn 'pony mode'! If you trust the pony/have a sensible one, no stirrup lessons to make sure you're sitting deep into the saddle/upright and firm will help.
once you've mastered naughty ponies...you can sit to anything ;)
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This! My 12.2hh darty is good at putting his head between his knees and bouncing! But to be fair that is all he does - bounce! Sit back, feet forward, legs wrapped round. My grey shetland has perfected the art of spooking and shooting sideways at a blade of grass that has moved after he has been past it a few times already!

Ponies are awesome!
 
Heels down, eyes up and shoulders back !! My instructor was always a fan of the old "If you look at the ground, that's where you're going to end up!" mantra .
One trick he taught me is that whilst riding, particularly whilst jumping, your position and rein length should be so that you could ride a rein back at any moment. If you'd have to sit up more and shorten reins to do so, you need to change something! It might not be helpful for everyone but I love it :)
 
I'm definitely a big believer in the hunting seat!
I couldn't work out why people commented that I 'rode like an old farmer' as to me I just rode normally, but then realised it's a habit from a lifetime of riding small slippery ponies!
It may not look so pretty but it works. In 30 years I've never gone out the front door (although I know there is always a first time!) although I've still been dropped sideways a few times by a rocket-on-legs 12.2 Exmoor!
 
wills_91 said:
One reason why ponies terrify me :p. One minute they are there, the next gone
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Well yes, when a little pony puts its head between its knees and does a handstand there is absolutely nothing in front of you- no shoulder, no neck, nothing... I used to fall off one daily. The good side is you are close to the ground.

Giant knee blocks might help. Some investigation into "why" is a good idea too.
 
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