I went splat today! Sitting big spooks?!?

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fathorselover

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I have had little mare a few months now, she isnt hugely confident hacking alone but we went out today and had a fabulous ride... that was until we rounded the corner to pass the pond and there was a blimming heron in it which flew off. Well she had dropped her shoulder, spun and disappeared from under me before i registered it had happened. Luckily i wasnt really hurt, so went and retrieved her and rode back to pond to show her there was nothing to be scared of.

The only other time she has done this was when a deer leapt across the path in front of us- same again, ended up on my back on the floor!

Can you ever learn to sit a supersonic spooky spin like this?? She is much improved but i feel her reaction to these situations will always be to do the same- i did have fingers under neckstrap but still came off! I didnt mind the fall as such but i do mind the bruised behind!
 
Poor you. It's hard to prepare for a spook because if you are bracing for something you will be tense and more likely to trigger a spooky reaction. As you say it all happens so quick. I can tense on hacks as I anticipate things so I remind myself to relax every so often, a deep breath and a roll of the shoulders helps get the tension out.
 
The trouble with spooks is that they are unexpected... You can't prepare for them. You can aim to sit deep all the time to reduce your chance of being unseated and you can work on your horse's confidence so she doesn't do it in the first place - but short of training her to spin and practicing staying on, there's really nothing you can do to make sure you stay on... There are also various contraptions and sticky seat covers you can use (none of which I have experience with) to help you but I think you'll be able to stay on the more it happens or you'll just keep falling off until it stops happening and that's kind of all there is to it!
 
This sounds really bad, but the more she spooks with you the better your chances of staying on. You will start to learn what her warning signs are even if very small and quick. You will also learn how she spooks and spins. This advice comes from experience of horses trying to ****** off without me. Hope you feel ok, and not put off by the experience, it will only make you a better rider!
 
The better your seat is the easier it will become to stick on. Loads and loads of riding without stirrups, I mean loads, it takes a very long time to develop a truly independent seat. Also ride out of the saddle with shorter stirrups in all paces, this will get your lower leg solid.

In the meantime hack out with a few fingers through a neck strap and if she spins you'll stay on top in some fashion.
 
As others have said, it is hard because it is so unexpected!

I would hack out with a neck strap at all times. Make sure you are always sitting up, deep and with you leg on and forwards. If you are*riding her forwards, she will also be less likely to do it.
 
keepitugly said:
The better your seat is the easier it will become to stick on. Loads and loads of riding without stirrups, I mean loads, it takes a very long time to develop a truly independent seat. Also ride out of the saddle with shorter stirrups in all paces, this will get your lower leg solid.

In the meantime hack out with a few fingers through a neck strap and if she spins you'll stay on top in some fashion.
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^this. I used to work in racing and the jockeys sat everything, they had such good seats, but with youngsters they rode a bit longer.
When we took in youngsters from the breaking yard for their roadwork we always had to ride with one finger in the neckstrap, and a decent length of stirrup leather.
Watch the ears.
 
Cheers everyone! To a certain extent i have developed a better seat for smaller spooks, not a problem, its the drop shoulder/spin at a zillion miles an hour that gets me. In future if we're going past a bit i think she might find scary i will have two hands firmly on neckstrap- having just one on it yesterday didn't save me unfortunately!
 
My lad is 17.2 and spins on a sixpence, a pigeon flew out of s tree yesterday and I ended up halfway across a barley field....sideways ( sorry Mr Farmer). I've found that now I ride better in my dressage saddle as I have my legs wrapped round and I just can't switch off (very frustrating), you'll get a great seat from it lol!! My back feels permanently tweaked though 😁 good luck!!
 
keepitugly said:
The better your seat is the easier it will become to stick on. Loads and loads of riding without stirrups, I mean loads, it takes a very long time to develop a truly independent seat. Also ride out of the saddle with shorter stirrups in all paces, this will get your lower leg solid.

In the meantime hack out with a few fingers through a neck strap and if she spins you'll stay on top in some fashion.
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Seriously this!

I am just starting out a young mare who is brave but even a drain can give her the heebie jeebies and in trot we can quite often leap from one side of the lane into the other and back again....

Only through falling have I learnt to sit and move with each split second spook. The best one was when she shot through a narrow gate and somehow I landed feet first next to her. I got straight back on, lengthened my stirrups and sat dressage style! Short stirrups on youngsters and spooky horses is a surefire way to get an a&e trip. Also, I have found, a longer rein out on a hack is much better than trying to maintain a textbook contact and use a neckstrap if you need that balance.

Sit in the saddle upright and straight and maintain your own balance. Actually imagine your seat is part of the horse and you are not seperate entities. Again, only truly gained once you've been UNseated several times!

You will find what works for you soon enough. Get back in the saddle quickly!!
 
As others have said, deep seated riding and long leathers. I ride longer using the Thorn Pad and haven't come off in 8 months of using it (I was becoming the yard entertainment before, as I'd just backed my mare and she's a reactive sort!). I assume you've got a body protector?

Just read comment above about being the same entity as the horse. I agree. Because the Thorn is close contact, I feel when she tenses and can act on it before something happens. I have ridden in a normal saddle since and I feel perched and distant.
 
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A good, grippy saddle with knee rolls, shortish stirrups, constant knee and thigh grip on the horse, sticky bum jods and regular bareback and work without stirrups in the school.

The ride with your mind principles are good for seat security.
 
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Having had a horse that would drop a shoulder and spin with no warning on a regular basis, I won't ride one that is known to do it now. It's so difficult to sit to and predict!
I'd suggest a saddle with huge knee blocks, neck strap - which you already have (I use a breastgirth rather than a stirrup leather or similar, I find its a bit more solid and secure, and won't slip round the neck with you!)
and try not to be tempted to 'hang' on her mouth, easier said than done!
Stirrup length is up to you, I feel more secure shorter, but I know some feel better longer.
 
My horse does some huge spooks and as others have said, it helps to stay focused and make sure your seat is perfect (spooky horse has done wonders for my position lol) I ride in a dressage saddle but the best thing that has helped is my avecello gel out seat saver. Just gives that extra bit of grip!
 
I ended up in A&E after a seriously fast spook and spin!!
Agree with others, melt really deeply into the saddle, sit back and keep horse focussed on you at all times with lateral movements. shoulder in etc.
It's a pretty dirty habit but you have to build horse's confidence up and sit them out as well as you can.
 
A neckstrap won't save you on a dirty spooker; it will only help on a genuine green youngster IME - the only thing that ensures your safety full stop is the secure independent seat.

I also disagree with the poster above who advocates hacking on a long rein! I only do this on horses that I can trust 100% plus. I also never 'switch off', but whilst relaxed am alert for issues ahead. The horse is ridden into the hand on a contact and given things to occupy its brain and divert from things up ahead.....so I regularly leg yield across the road and if I spy something that may become an issue I take the horse deeper and shoulder in towards the offending item.
 
gunnergundog said:
A neckstrap won't save you on a dirty spooker; it will only help on a genuine green youngster IME - the only thing that ensures your safety full stop is the secure independent seat.

I also disagree with the poster above who advocates hacking on a long rein! I only do this on horses that I can trust 100% plus. I also never 'switch off', but whilst relaxed am alert for issues ahead. The horse is ridden into the hand on a contact and given things to occupy its brain and divert from things up ahead.....so I regularly leg yield across the road and if I spy something that may become an issue I take the horse deeper and shoulder in towards the offending item.
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Whilst you disagree, please note that I said I was riding a young horse, not an experienced spooker!

Each to their own, a long rein works for me out hacking so I can maintain my balance and she can maintain hers. We haven't got to lateral work yet so leg yielding would be an issue for us right at this moment in time...
 
I know my lads right shoulder very well, he always spins to the left, he has got better as he has got older he is thirteen now, at one point he would spin at something most rides, and could also do it while schooling. I got so I would normally stay on at walk, at trot i nearly always hit the deck. I now ride in a deep seated dressage saddle which helps, and touch wood, he doesn't do it very often. I tried riding him on a contact and a long rein, as he went from the shoulder it didn't seem to make much difference. I do watch his ears as I can read him that way, have been told off in dressage tests for doing it, but it does give me that split second of advanced warning.
 
Get a western saddle - it's as close to a seatbelt as you'll ever get!

When they spin like that I think your chances of coming off are always going to be high. They do this so quickly it's almost impossible to do anything about it. The only time I stayed on when a horse did this I was in a western saddle.
 
Stacy_W said:
Get a western saddle - it's as close to a seatbelt as you'll ever get!

When they spin like that I think your chances of coming off are always going to be high. They do this so quickly it's almost impossible to do anything about it. The only time I stayed on when a horse did this I was in a western saddle.
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I used to work on a western yard and this is so true!! 👍🏼
 
willhegofirst said:
I know my lads right shoulder very well, he always spins to the left, he has got better as he has got older he is thirteen now, at one point he would spin at something most rides, and could also do it while schooling. I got so I would normally stay on at walk, at trot i nearly always hit the deck. I now ride in a deep seated dressage saddle which helps, and touch wood, he doesn't do it very often. I tried riding him on a contact and a long rein, as he went from the shoulder it didn't seem to make much difference. I do watch his ears as I can read him that way, have been told off in dressage tests for doing it, but it does give me that split second of advanced warning.
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Couldn't agree more with this, I always watch my boys ears and I can often feel his back come up, his shoulder gets twitchy too when he's in "that" frame of mind!! You do really learn to know your horse when they are sharp like that don't you...
 
I too ride western and my saddle has saved me from all manner of monsters . Mine too does the drop shoulder and spin jobbie and I have spent ALOT of time concentrating on keeping right shoulder up- my stick is always in my right hand and I am constantly reminding it ( the shoulder) to behave. Unpredictability is the main problem s as is trying to keep horse and rider soft. Lateral flexion is key, not just the neck , the whole body. However the spooks have become less dramatic and easier to sit.
 
I've got a dirty spooker/spinner too, and I also hack on a long rein. If I have him up to a contact, he is more "on it" - more likely to get silly and spooky. I have one hand on the buckle, and one hand free, so that I can shorten the reins fast if I need to (rein holding hand comes back, other hand grabs both reins in an emergency situ). I have pony length reins, which makes it easier to shorten them fast.

He always goes right, so I carry a whip in my right hand, and give him a tap if he starts to give me the warning signs. He will occasionally throw in a spin out of nowhere, but he usually starts giving off subtle signs (or not so subtle - the alarm snort is a dead giveaway!). I may appear relaxed when I'm hacking him, but I'm always ready to deal if he throws in some moves.

His dressage saddle has a suede seat, which is very helpful. The only time I have nearly hit the deck, he was wearing a leather seated saddle, and I slipped as he span.
 
Auslander said:
I've got a dirty spooker/spinner too, and I also hack on a long rein. If I have him up to a contact, he is more "on it" - more likely to get silly and spooky. I have one hand on the buckle, and one hand free, so that I can shorten the reins fast if I need to (rein holding hand comes back, other hand grabs both reins in an emergency situ). I have pony length reins, which makes it easier to shorten them fast.

He always goes right, so I carry a whip in my right hand, and give him a tap if he starts to give me the warning signs. He will occasionally throw in a spin out of nowhere, but he usually starts giving off subtle signs (or not so subtle - the alarm snort is a dead giveaway!). I may appear relaxed when I'm hacking him, but I'm always ready to deal if he throws in some moves.

His dressage saddle has a suede seat, which is very helpful. The only time I have nearly hit the deck, he was wearing a leather seated saddle, and I slipped as he span.
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Soo glad I have had some agreement. I know it's each to their own but this forum does sometimes make you feel like "yer on yer own!!" lol!

I can ask my filly to work into a light contact when 'we' are feeling at one with the planet. Which isn't often with a youngster on a hack through the village because every wall, bin and road marking can be a potential predator. So, if the horse is feeling like a coiled spring underneath, a leap where her head disappears somewhere I can't see will mean i will still be on top, vertical, with a buckle in my hands. Better than losing your rein altogether.
 
As well as the western saddles take a look at the australian stock saddles, they reckon if you can fall out of one of them you should take up golf instead of riding!
I used one to get going on my horse when i first got him, due to the fact that once he realised I came off when he bucked developed a taste for it! I rode in it for about a year and then went back to the english one, but it was great being able to stay glued to the seat and take control of the situation without worrying about coming off.
 
A very secure lower leg is your friend here! I ride with the majority of my weight in my feet and the saddle is just something I use to put my bum on. A horse can drop the shoulder and spin out of nowhere in any pace and say you are cantering along with your backside out of the saddle, a deep seat with long stirrups is out of the question.

So, weight in feet and secure lower leg, bum independent of saddle and hands independent of reins, you're good to sit the spooks!
 
I had/have the same trouble with my horse not so bad now he is a bit older but I now hack in a jumping saddle with big knee blocks, always wear full seat breeches and always try to look up & ahead, I used to always be looking for potential spook things which he then would look at & you guessed it spooked, I think I fell off once/twice a week when he was 5/6 luckily always managed to roll down the shoulder no harm done
 
My jump saddle has saved me many a time, big knee rolls and thigh block. Only time it didn't save me I was cantering uphill and dog spooked/chased horse and he literally jumped round to face the opposite way at a canter and I exited stage right. I had no warning (didnt see dog) and don't think anything would have saved me that time.
 
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