So would you have dismounted?

Alibear said:
We're funny creatures aren't we see or hear about an accident or incident and immediately start figuring out how either A) we'd have avoided it happening in the first place or B) how we'd have handled it better. I guess its the survival instinct kicking in.
The thing about accidents is they're out of our control so neither of the above is actually going to work :)
So I think however people handle an accident is the right way for them to have handled it.
Me I'd have stayed on as in my older years I suck at dismounting at the best of times. I would have been wishing I could get off though!
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Probably none of us should ever get on just in case we get attacked by an errant gazebo and are completely unprepared :D :D
 
Rowreach said:
Probably none of us should ever get on just in case we get attacked by an errant gazebo and are completely unprepared :D :D
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I know I am rather fond of this anecdote but I did once meet a dalek. a full size talking one! my horse was ok lol, he wasnt scared of much-but not sure how I'd prepare for that one.
 
MotherOfChickens said:
I know I am rather fond of this anecdote but I did once meet a dalek. a full size talking one! my horse was ok lol, he wasnt scared of much-but not sure how I'd prepare for that one.
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:D


Mine was the naked rambler. Now obviously I could have asked some friends to train my horse for me, but ......
 
Mine was the paint ball chap in full cammo gear who jumped out the hedge at us with a battle cry.
To be fair to him the bridle path did run past the woods where paintball was held so I think he'd just got a little disorientated mid game. :)
 
Alibear said:
We're funny creatures aren't we see or hear about an accident or incident and immediately start figuring out how either A) we'd have avoided it happening in the first place or B) how we'd have handled it better. I guess its the survival instinct kicking in.
The thing about accidents is they're out of our control so neither of the above is actually going to work :)
So I think however people handle an accident is the right way for them to have handled it.
Me I'd have stayed on as in my older years I suck at dismounting at the best of times. I would have been wishing I could get off though!
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I suppose you could say that anybody who survived to tell the tale must have made the right decision. But you can't usually re-run the experiment and make a different choice, to see if it ends any better.

People often make fun of the "health and safety culture" going too far, but it serves a good purpose most of the time.

An accident never simply "happens": it has a cause. You identify the immediate proximal causes for the accident, then try to find what was behind those causes, and so on until you get to the root cause of the accident. Fix the root cause, and the same accident should never happen again.

An example was a fall I had almost a year ago. Part-cob, very barrel-bodies, cantering, the saddle slipped round and I fell. I had re-tightened the girth after ten minutes of trotting, and thought it was fine, but obviously not. The proximal causes were that I had slightly more weight on my right foot, and that the girth was not tight enough or grippy enough to stay in place. The root cause was that the girth straps were not fitted with roller buckles, but plain flat buckles, more like over-sized stirrup leather buckles. The owner changed the girth, and has never had the problem since.
 
Yes Keith but in this incident it was the flying gazebo that caused the issue. We all know gazebos should be properly secured and preferably just not used in windy conditions so someone messed up there.
However for the rider, the accident was genuinely out of their control and as such no action on their part could have prevented it. Which was my point.
 
Alibear said:
Mine was the paint ball chap in full cammo gear who jumped out the hedge at us with a battle cry.
To be fair to him the bridle path did run past the woods where paintball was held so I think he'd just got a little disorientated mid game. :)
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I've had two - many years apart and on different horses. One, on the Badminton fun ride, happened when a squirrel jumped out of hedge, landed on Eb's neck and clung on. He spun, the squirrel got flung off, I ended up on the floor and he then stood there looking very confused while I stopped myself laughing long enough to pick myself up and get back on.

The second was only a few months back when a goat leapt out of a hedge onto the road about 2 metres in front of us. To be fair, it scared the bejeesus out of me, so I can't blame Arch for spinning and running! It was tethered in the hedge but the tether was too long. It's lucky we weren't a car really!
 
Alibear said:
Yes Keith but in this incident it was the flying gazebo that caused the issue. We all know gazebos should be properly secured and preferably just not used in windy conditions so someone messed up there.
However for the rider, the accident was genuinely out of their control and as such no action on their part could have prevented it. Which was my point.
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OK, I thought you meant more generally.

I agree that there's not much the rider could do, but the organisers of the event need to talk about how to stop any future flying gazebo incidents.
 
annagain said:
happened when a squirrel jumped out of hedge, landed on Eb's neck and clung on. He spun, the squirrel got flung off,
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I had a squirrel incident, riding round the edge of a field a squirrel ran out of the barley heading for the hedgerow however he met an equine leg blocking his path so he ran up Frankie's leg. Frankie reared (not too high) shaking the affected leg sending the squirrel flying. He came down and stood there snorting and I was still on board so all was fine.

Naked cyclist wasn't even worth looking at, it was a narrow bridlepath and it was me that didn't know where to look.
 
criso said:
I had a squirrel incident, riding round the edge of a field a squirrel ran out of the barley heading for the hedgerow however he met an equine leg blocking his path so he ran up Frankie's leg. Frankie reared (not too high) shaking the affected leg sending the squirrel flying. He came down and stood there snorting and I was still on board so all was fine.

Naked cyclist wasn't even worth looking at, it was a narrow bridlepath and it was me that didn't know where to look.
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Naked cyclist:eek3:
 
mule said:
Naked cyclist:eek3:
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Yes, I was happily pottering along when I saw a cyclist coming towards me. At first I thought he was wearing some sort of lycra outfit that was pale pink but when I got closer I realised he was naked. Had to pass quite close, he said good afternoon as if there was nothing out of the ordinary. I muttered something back and tried not to look down.
 
criso said:
Yes, I was happily pottering along when I saw a cyclist coming towards me. At first I thought he was wearing some sort of lycra outfit that was pale pink but when I got closer I realised he was naked. Had to pass quite close, he said good afternoon as if there was nothing out of the ordinary. I muttered something back and tried not to look down.
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Your hacks sound much more interesting than mine;)
 
Fig I would have stayed on, he's very rider aware. Nova I would have jumped off in any way I could, he would stay with me on the ground though.
 
To be fair, if that flew towards me on the ground nevermind on top of a horse i would have gotten a fright lol. Probably would dismount, if not would at-least try to move to the other side of it.
 
Being a nervous nelly in general i think id have probably spotted it moving too much for my liking before i heading towards it. Trees freak me out on windy days never mind a gazebo.
Needless to say if i had got that far i would have been dumped with a shoulder dropping spook, would have decided all outings are just not worth it, headed home for good and retreated to this forum for pitty, to be told i'm incompetent, i need to have lessons, to desensitize my horse and get a neck strap :'D, lameness work up and to remove all sugar from diet :P


But in all seriousness the organizers should have anchored the damn thing down properly. sooooo dangerous!
 
I would have intended to stay on, whether or not it happens depends on which Jekyll & Hyde type version of my horse I have on that particular day.
 
Horsekaren said:
But in all seriousness the organizers should have anchored the damn thing down properly. sooooo dangerous!
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Weather forecast says: light breeze
Organizer thinks: no need to anchor the gazebo
British weather decides: strong gusts, gazebo gets blown over.

Weather forecast says: Mostly overcast with sunny spells
Organizer thinks: It'll be OK
British weather decides: Torrential downpours, cars and trailers stuck in mud.

Weather forecast says: Mostly sunny with occasional showers
Organizer thinks: It'll be OK
British weather decides: Torrential downpours, cars and trailers stuck in mud.

Weather forecast says: Sunny, with occasional clouds
Organizer thinks: I'd better order an extra couple of kegs for the beer tent
British weather decides: Torrential downpours, cars and trailers stuck in mud.

Weather forecast says: Sunny, with rare clouds
Organizer thinks: I lost money on the beer tent last year, sod that
British weather decides: 22°C in the shade (if there was any); St John's Ambulance post besieged by dehydrated spectators
 
^^^^^ BRILLIANT! And so very true.....

Let's be honest - most of us would turn tail and run for cover if a gazebo flew towards us even if we were on our own 2 feet.
 
Alibear said:
It sounds like squirrels are more of a threat than I'd ever considered too.
How do you spook bust for squirrel attacks?
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My squirrelgate was last October when one of our lovely red squirrels (which normally I love seeing) cunningly disguised itself amongst a pile of autumn leaves before leaping in the air and causing horse to do the same thing. Fortunately, autumn leaves provide quite a soft landing.
 
Rowreach said:
My squirrelgate was last October when one of our lovely red squirrels (which normally I love seeing) cunningly disguised itself amongst a pile of autumn leaves before leaping in the air and causing horse to do the same thing. Fortunately, autumn leaves provide quite a soft landing.
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They're out to get us. They look all cute and harmless but they're secretly plotting to take over the world. I have in fact suffered at the hands of two psycho squirrels although only one was horse related. The second ended up inside the sleeve of my tasteful rust coloured fleece (it was the 90s) along with my arm.
 
Alibear said:
It sounds like squirrels are more of a threat than I'd ever considered too.
How do you spook bust for squirrel attacks?
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Take your horse to the Botanical Gardens in Sheffield, and try eating a sandwich while sitting on your horse. As soon as they hear anything like a paper bag or a crisp packet, the little grey ******* rush out of the bushes, drop out of the trees, and are all over the place!
 
One of the worst and still lingering (7years on) injuries I have is from getting off in a bad situation. Electrical box malfunction on the roadside, I essentially was cantered on top of. What I don’t know would be how bad it would have been if I stayed on!

For this I’d have tried to stay on and go with my him if it was my gelding, he stays straight, doesn’t buck, bronc or drop shoulders, but every horse is so different and what suits one won’t suit another!
 
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