Schoolgirl error today

[scruffyponies]

Today's hack included playing pacemaker for a novice having their first canter. As I carefully eased my horse into canter, I was turned in the saddle, making sure that his horse was doing the same, and he was OK with it.

Within a couple of seconds my saddle felt all wrong, and I looked down to see my pommel somewhere over his left shoulder - i.e. about 45 degrees off where it should be on the horse. No problem, I thought - I know it doesn't fit him very well as he's filled out lately - and righted it (still in canter), and when we came back to walk I reached down and tightened my girth by a hole, thinking no more about it.

Only when I got back to the field and went to take off his saddle did I realise what had caused the problem. One buckle of his humane girth was undone... which means I had just ridden for 2 hours with the girth flapping loose. Oops!

I still can't understand how I managed to mount in the first place.

 

[Am1]

You must have very good balance! ?

 

[Pippity]

You did better than me. I once completely forgot to put the girth on at all! Thankfully I was just in the school, and somebody kindly pointed it out to me before we did more than walk.

 

[ester]

bridles, saddles, I'm wondering what will be the third one!

 

[JFTDWS]

I was once running barrels on my mare and after my third run, pulled up and said "something feels weird, I might need to reassess my saddle fit". A bystander suggested I check my girth - I could fit two fists in it, it was hanging off her. And my mare turns like a nutter too...

I also briefly had a new saddle issue where I didn't have a long enough girth for her - so I used to mount her first, with string through the girth buckle held in my hand, so I could do the girth up after I was up.

So basically, I'm in no position to judge!

 

[thefarsideofthefield]

Lucinda Green ( or Prior-Palmer as she was then ) recountS the tale of setting off for an event when she was a young teenager , with her mother driving her there in their land rover .A few miles into the journey Lucinda realised with horror that she had forgotten to pack her crash hat but , knowing that her mother hated sloppiness and would go mad , she was loath to confess . The further they got from home the harder it became to say anything until , finally , Lucinda confessed . Predictably her mother went bonkers , turned the car round and boll*cked her all the way back home . As they drove through the gates they were greeted by the sight of their trailer sat in the middle of the yard with Lucinda's horse in it , waiting patiently to depart . Her mother had neglected to hitch it up to the Landy and neither of them had even registered that it wasn't following behind them .
We all have our moments.

 

[scruffyponies]

You must have very good balance! ?

Bareback riding has it's rewards

 

[Keith_Beef]

I once fell because of a dodgy girth, on a three-day trip.

As usual, the horse was puffing out his chest, so I wasn't all that surprised to still have plenty of holes left to take up. Walked for a bit, trotted for a bit, tried to take up the slack and could only pull up one more hole. Trotted some more, cantered, and the saddle started to roll over to the right. I knew I was coming off, so took my feet from the stirrups and off I went.

The poor horse had a panic attack when he had the saddle under his belly, and bolted off along the path between the fields.

He managed to find his way back to the yard where he'd been stabled overnight without any visible injury, and we inspected the tack for damage. We found the cause of the problem: no rollers on the girth buckles and they were corroded and rough, so there was no way I could have tightened the girth up another hole or two on the billets.

 

[SEL]

I did a clear round on a speedy jumping pony I rode as a kid, pulled up and one of the PC mums told me to check my girth - it had been accidentally fastened to the 2 back straps which had bust somewhere round the course and was miliseconds from disintegrating.

I've always checked how the girth is attached on both sides ever since when someone else has tacked up for me!

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I used to ride Jeff all the time with a loose girth. You couldn't do it up before you got on so it was only just on each side til you were in the plate. More often than not I forgot to actually do it up once moving. We didn't come to any harm on the gallops!

I still don't crank my girth right up which is why my girth straps last longer than anyone elses at the yard. When the boys hop on to school they are always putting it up another couple of holes.

 

[thommackintosh]

Another one here who's guilty of riding about with a loose girth far too frequently. Though I'm reminded in equal measure that if you've got good balance, a girth is merely an accessory. I probably shouldn't mention the 2hr hack I went on recently with a baseball cap instead of my riding hat. ?