people who fall off a lot, how do you keep getting back on?

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daydreamer

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I fell off my share horse yesterday (just a few bruises but I am fine) and it made me wonder about people's reactions to falling off. I am a bit of a wimp and usually only ride well behaved horses so don't fall off very often. But people with youngsters/genuinely spooky horses etc how do you keep getting back on and not let it knock your confidence? I find it quite hard to trust a horse once I have fallen off it and I didn't get back on after I fell off (I was a bit sore and didn't trust him not to buck me off again but I did lunge for a bit) but I am sure some people must keep getting on right after they have fallen off. Is it confidence/bravery/optimism??
 
I think its determination, I dont fall off often but when I do I get straight back on to show the horse that I am not scared of him/her (if they are being naughty!)x
 
I could be wrong but I think if you fall off all the time it is less of an issue, where as if you don't fall of as often it is more of a shock and can be harder to get back on.
 
When Doug was a 'youngster'...he is still only 5, I used to fall off about three times a week due to him bronking out of excitement. He has improved a lot but still has his moments. I just think if you dont get back on he has beaten you...
 
I fell off 3 times in 3 minutes once... determination made me get back on each time!!
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I don't make a habit of falling off, but I can understand how it could knock your confidence. I hadn't parted company with a orse for nearly 9 years, despite riding daily, until earlier this year when I fell off my new 'project' horse twice, on successive days
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The first time was in the school, when he tripped on a bit of uneven surface and wasn't balanced enough to correct himself, so i decided to bail out before he came over on top of me ( he's 17.1hh!)The next day we were out hacking , almost home when a pigeon flew out of the hedge and he leapt about 9 foot at right angles, It probably looked a bit like one of those cartoons where the horse disappeared from underneath me and I was left hanging in mid-air
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The way I coped was, after the first occassion, to get straight back on, deep breathing to slow my racing heart and continue as if nothing had happened - the horse soon relaxed. On the second occassion I couldn't re-mount as he'd managed to snap his bridle, so led him the remaining 200 yards home, but got back on the next day. Immediately after coming off the second time I sat in the recently ploughed field - pulled a flint from under my backside - shook my head and said " what the f*** is it with me and falling off?!" I think you have to look on the funny side sometimes!
 
I fall off a lot and always make myself get back on unless injured beyond it which has happened once this year and I hate it when that happens.

Agree the more you fall off the less of an issue it becomes though its best if it doesn hurt too much! I call them miscommunications!

its mostly off my boy though so up to me to ride him anyway.
 
I have a spooky horse, I've come off 5 times in 7 months which i don't think is too bad. Although 3 of the falls i was hurt. I think it is stubborness! The day i'm too scared to get back on is the day i have to sell my horse.. that's not happening!
 
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I could be wrong but I think if you fall off all the time it is less of an issue, where as if you don't fall of as often it is more of a shock and can be harder to get back on.

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I would agree with this
When I was younger I always used to fall off and it was just in me to jump straight back on but the last time I fell off I hadn't in ages and it was more of a shock(although I still did get straight back on)
 
i fell off on friday 13th..oooh err..couldnet get back on I was injured and had to carted off in ambulance strapped down but will get back on her though to show her I am not worried, i hardly ever come off
 
Hi,

I fell of my baby today and after we caught her (she jumped out of the arena) I hopped straight back on. I think when you have a baby you have to so they know its no big deal.

I dont fall off often, although now I have written that I probably will all the time!!
 
I think the first time i fell off i bumped my head, and has made me mentally unstable, so dont mind getting back on.

I think really though, it was cause my first pony (stormy) was a bugger, and used to buck me off at least 3 times a day as well as buck, rear, bolt ... nap. Any whinging about it, i was just told get back on or dont have a pony.

Eventually i would just keep getting on with being prompted!! So now when i fall off, i get back on.

In fact last year when i got bucked off i had to be stopped from getting back on. i was convinced i wasnt injured.... turned out i had a broken wrist!! I got back on and competed on him the next day, cast and all!!
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Age has a lot to do with it. When I was young I fell off and got back on as I never really seriously hurt myself, as I got older the fall seemed more traumatic, ie I ended up in casualty more often.
Now I never fall off by ensuring that I ride a very safe horse mostly, but I stiill occasionally worry that he will trip or fall at a flat out gallop on the beach and his sheer weigh will kill me!, (this is the most dangerous thing I do now with my horse).

I noticed that when my daughter got to 30 she was far more reluctant to take risks riding, or volunteering to ride other peoples problem horses.

Giving birth also promotes the same sense of self preservation.
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Whether its due to the feeling that might actually die during the process, or because one is now responsible for anothers life, I don't know, ha!.
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You just have to be bloody-minded. i used to fall off Brooklyn all the time, and came off Taffy twice (second time quite badly), but if its at all possible, you jsut have to get up and get back on, before you have time to worry about it.
 
I was trying to work out how many times I came off Lance in the last two years. I worked it out to once every two months, which seemed Ok >But then I deducted all the time he had off, and when I was working away from home, suddenly it didnt seem so good at all. I averaged once every 3 or 4 weeks.
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I came off today, don't do it very often, but my first words were 'You little sh*t, you are so going to work hard now!'. Clambered back on, and put him back to work.

Why? Probably because it was drilled into me as a child, to always get back on after a fall.
 
I fall on my horse on average about once a month but it can quickly go up and i can fall off more. Unless i plan on selling her (which I don't) you just have to try harder and soon (when I say soon, I mean I hope one day!) I will be able to sit to her better and be a super duper rider!! hey hey!

And I don't even jump her yet!!! I can see my falling off alot more then, oh dear. But seriously we are all trying to be the best riders we can, so we just have to keep trying until we're there.xxx
 
I find the more you fall off the more relaxed you are about it and so the less likely you are not to hurt yourself.

I usually think oh no not again! Went through a stage on the young chap when I fell of very regular got so used to it last time I fell of ( at compitition ) I only realised a few days later my confidence had not been even slightly dented. (obviously got straght back on )

Think its a case of practice makes purfect however could do without any more practice
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I've only fallen off twice in seven years of riding (both in very similar incidents, actually - very safe pony got frightened by something in the school and bolted for safety, with me being left behind!). The first time I was only about six and it really knocked my confidence, but the second time didn't bother me at all (which is actually surprising because my confidence is sooo fragile!). I know I'm probably due a fall from Scooby, as I've had some VERY near misses lately, but I think I trust him enough to keep my confidence afterwards. He's already had four people off him in the month we've had him! Not once was it out of any kind of nastiness though.
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Its been drilled into me
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If you fall off, you must get back on (although there are times when it is difficult i admit - such as horse galloping off into distance
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) If not it knocks your confidence and each day you dont ride it ebbs lower and lower
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plus the fact that if you accept that you will fall off at somestage then its going to be less of a shock to hit the ground
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Having ridden lots of horses and been thrown off lots of horses, you learn to stick and when to bail
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but usually with a youngster its a case of riding through it
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You also get awsome stickability
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It is usually easier staying on though if the horse isnt trying to get you off!!

as with everything, practice makes routine!
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I think, and I've had this thought a few times in the last few years, that HH should invite one of our well known jump jockeys to write an article for the magazine. The subject? How to Get Back on a Horse when you've Been Slammed Into The Ground at 30mph. Because if anyone knows how to to do it, it's these guys. I know it's part of their job, and it's how they earn their bread and butter, but there must be some sort of psychogical trick they they learn along with it. Y'know, you watch the racing, well I do anyway, and just cringe when you see a horse and jockey down, but hey ho, they get up (most of the time) and there they are giving it their all in the next race. Respect!!!! So, tell us how it's done....??
 
I get back on one leg at a time......

Like storminateacup, I would agree with the age bit. You don't bounce as much! I also think that for many people you do just naturally lose the resilience of youth.

For me it depends on why I've come off. I came a right cropper a couple of weeks ago as my horse tripped in trot and went head over heels. But it wasn't his fault, I wasn't worried about it happening again and I wasn't hurt, neither was he, so felt ok getting back on and carried on. If it was a young horse or one determined to misbehave and I was worried about it happening again, I may not. Not that I'm brave enough to ride youngsters these days.

It also depends where you are. You're probably safe enough in a school, but if you've got something determined to misbehave on a road or take off with you in an open space, then why tempt fate? There's always another day. And of course, these days I can't mount from the ground anyway, so if there's no handy gate or wall, I may not have any choice!
 
I have been riding since I was 3, and my first pony was a shetland - 6 times in a morning and i still got back on! I made a habit of falling off recently too, after not falling off for ages, but i am 16 so still young and I bounce :P x
 
practice!! Unless I'm unconscious, then back on and carry on
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depends why I fell off - my fault - I get back on - the horse's fault ...... work out whether it's sensible to get back on... whether it'll do it again!!

I fell off in my 1st lesson aged 4 (hadn't done up the girth and sat down a bit rapidly!) and have fallen off every year since!
 
I've just got back on mine this weekend after a month off riding due to a dislocated elbow.. caused by me falling off him!
I thought i'd be terrified to get back on as i'm over 30 now and i do not bounce any more, but I loved it and am just so happy to be riding again.
I think the pleasure we get from riding outweighs the pain of falling off! It's just part and parcel of riding that sooner or later we'll end up in A and E!
 
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