Anyone have any stupid falls they’d like to share? I fell off and it was entirely my fault, anyone relate? 🤣

[Tee]

I think the one that made me laugh the hardest - was riding my 1/2 Arab gelding around a 26 acre field. Going along at a fairly big posting trot (riding western). Someone had dumped their grass in the field and it had turned brown. Bandit saw that and stopped cold, ducking down in the front. I was in the upswing of my post and just rolled right over his shoulder. Hit the ground laughing so hard, it was such a stupid fall.

My other one - I didn’t come off - was I was getting on my tall Morgan from the mounting block. The second I swung my leg over, he decided he had an itch on his front left that couldn’t wait. Dropped that right shoulder and I dang near went off.

[Knubbsy]

Had a similar situation happen to me a couple of years back during a clinic with Linda Zang. Pony started walking off while I was halfway through swinging my leg over so I heaved myself and landed behind the saddle. Pony shot forward crow hopping, right into Linda - knocking her on her back - and somehow I landed on my feet … outside of the ring entirely? She apparently thought it was hilarious (so thankfully I didn’t kill an Olympic judge in my first clinic ever). I rode in front of her this summer on a different horse, hoping she forgot about the incident but no- that’s going to follow me for years I think.

[OverandOnward]

@Pennywell_Bay

Resigned to defeat, skid down neck, yelling it doesn’t count as a fall….

According to the USEA fall rules, you are right, it does not count as a fall so long as you were able to land standing - and stick that landing!

I totally agree with excusing those semi-voluntary slides as ‘not a fall’!

@Laverne77

At the barn I used to work at I was riding a very green colt one day and he got distracted by something he saw out the window and stopped. I let him look for a moment then asked him to go forward, but he was totally fixated on whatever he was looking at. Then all of a sudden he just disappeared from beneath me. The trainer was watching and said the colt dropped his body then bolted and I was literally “sitting in midair” for a second until I hit the dirt.

This is the nightmare for all of us when we are trying to ride sympathetically! The horse abandons us to the predator they spotted and saves themselves only. It happens. Every riding day we have to be prepared to fight an imaginary mountain lion.

@ParadoxFarm

The guys were laughing so hard that they couldn’t help me out.

Laughing so hard they couldn’t help you? I would have killed them both - while laughing!

[cllane1]

I fell off in front of the Girl Scout troop that had come to the barn to learn about horses. I was doing a riding demonstration, showing examples of the gaits, etc. When it came time to pop my point-and-shoot eventer over a plain old vertical, I got really lazy in the turn and didn’t get him straight, knowing he’d bail my butt out and jump from anywhere (yes, I was bad). Well, we drifted closer to the standard than the actual rail and he very sensibly stopped. I tumbled off over his shoulder in front of about 12 horrified girls. I was fine, turned it into an object lesson about the things I had done wrong, jumped it correctly and we called it a day. Most of the girls were fine when they saw i was ok and understood why it happened but I think one girl was kind of traumatized. That was the end of my scout demonstration career.

[sorrelfilly721]

I was schooling my gelding over a little jump (cavaletti really) in a borrowed saddle with zero knee roll. I had never ridden in a saddle that flat before. He decided he should buck over the jump. He unloaded me FIVE TIMES. I finally managed to get over and stay on and by the grace of God was uninjured.

[quietann]

You might enjoy this thread about my ride with Linda Zang back in 2009. (I did not fall off…) She was so good to me and my misbehaving mare.

Unfortunately, the photo link doesn’t work anymore.

https://forum.chronofhorse.com/t/horse-is-horrid-i-have-a-blast-in-clinic-with-a-very-big-name-photo-link-added/147341/24

[AllSport]

I was in between horses and desperate to ride. I found a barn to treat myself to some jumping lessons. It was mostly a kids H/J type place but I was hoping I’d be able to get some kind of advanced private lesson at least. Turns out they were short on school horses and all I could ride was a very nice, but lazy, old, sore, overworked WB. The lessons were basically just me WTC on my own and popping over a small fence no more than 3 times. I was bored out of my mind!! The horse was so steady Eddie I decided I needed to do something to get something out of these rides. I thought, what if I close my eyes and see if I can feel each footfall in the different gaits, you know, really focus on it… So we’re cantering, my eyes are closed, its a gorgeous spring day and the sun is warming my back when suddenly I’m on the ground rolling up into a standing position. The trainer said it was the most graceful fall she’d ever seen. Pretty sure he spooked at a ground squirrel next to the arena. The trainer never knew I was riding with my eyes closed. Anyway, that fall was the most fun I had at that barn and the rest of the ride I was praying the horse would spook again. He didn’t. I never went back. Not because I was embarrassed but because if I’m praying for a horse to spook because I’m that bored, it’s not the place for me.

[Knubbsy]

I’m so glad Linda has a sense of humor! And she really is good about working with purpose-bred horses and “off breeds” (she loves my little paint mare who is pretty typically western pleasure bred on top)

[RMJacobs]

I had managed to own an insane TB/QH cross when I was 19 who never actually got me out of the saddle. He hated women for some reason. I was very proud of myself that I’d ridden out his shenanigans, and quite puffed up over it. I was also very proud of myself because I hadn’t had a fall in subsequent years (very occasional riding).

Fast forward to when I’m 40, and I had my then six year old daughter in lessons and we did a nose-to-tail trail ride every other week. She was mounted on her usual saintly pony, and I was due to ride one of the nicest horses at that barn. She was sitting watching me when I went to mount the cool mare. I hadn’t checked the cinch (barn worker had saddled all the horses), and the saddle slipped. Even though I was wearing good western boots, my foot got hung up in the stirrup. The mare took off with me hanging off her side, one hand in her mane. I finally pulled myself up enough to release my boot, and dropped to the ground right under her. I saw her back feet flash by right over my face, but she never touched me somehow.

Meanwhile, my six year old is watching all this, terrified. So of course I bounced to my feet, saying “Don’t worry, I’m fine!” even though I’d tweaked my back landing on the cell phone and pager that were in my fanny pack.

We did our ride that day, and I kept a smile on my face to encourage my daughter. But I never, ever got on another horse without checking the cinch myself. When I would occasionally ride my husband’s Paint mare many years later, he got a bit offended when I’d check the cinch after he’d saddled her.

Rebecca

[Spudsmyguy]

Not me but my horse. A teen boy with a hot seat was riding my horse at a XC schooling with quite the assortment of parents and other riders watching the group go. They were schooling the ditch and they approached it fine but my horse decided to come to a screeching halt in front of it and boy did an absolutely perfect somersault in a modified pike position over the ditch and landed with a thud. He was fine and we all thought if he could have made one more revolution and stuck the landing he would have olympic potential. He got back on and horse jumped right over no problem.

[OverandOnward]

@RMJacobs

When I would occasionally ride my husband’s Paint mare many years later, he got a bit offended when I’d check the cinch after he’d saddled her.

Tell him the Department of Defense has “redundancy is a proof against failure” as a motto, practically. Lots of people check and check and check again. Someone at the DoD told me this.

[Fiesta01]

@lorilu

More recently, riding my other guy, lovely canter… he stuck the leading leg and went down to his knees. His nose dug a ditch.

Reminds me of my OTTB gelding doing the same thing. But I managed to stay on (with him balancing on his knees and chin), and me throwing rein to him. Unfortunately, when he managed to struggle back up, his head and neck shot up first - smack into my nose. Ouch!

[SunflowersN.Horses]

Thanks everyone for your replies! There are definitely some good stories here! I hope everyone is doing well!

[Fiesta01]

@chestnutmarebeware

As a teenager I fell off AT THE WALK.

Heh, don’t feel too bad. I managed to fall off twice in about 3 minutes at a halt.

I was horseless at the time but taking a group lesson with my friends, riding the trainer’s 3 year old. I had been riding for 20 years, so knew my way around a horse. Or so I thought. Before the lesson started, trainer went to make a phone call, I proceeded to mount up on this 16.3 lovely girl (I was 5’3" then; before I shrunk an inch with age). I was in the center of the ring, adjusting my leathers, busy talking with my friends who were mounted and walking on the rail. Next thing I know I’m on the ground.

It was a HUGE buck from the stand still while I was leaning down fiddling. I climbed back on, didn’t manage to get my right foot into stirrup, another HUGE buck. Back on the ground.

Trainer arrived just as I was getting up. I told her what happened. She was like “OMGosh, she hasn’t been out of her stall for a week. Go get a lunge line.” (The farm’s pastures were closed that week in preparation for Horse Trials). I proceeded to lunge her, basically 5 minutes of non-stop running and bucking. Big sun-fishing types of bucks. I got back on and had a wonderful ride.

I went to work the next day, rather sore, and a non-horsey office mate, Ken, asked what happened. I explained. The day after that, I arrived at the office with the great news that I had bought a horse. He looked at me and asked “Not that one who dumped you. Twice. From a halt.” I happily affirmed the good news. To this day, 30 years later, Ken thinks that all horse people are nuts.

P.S. That mare was my heart horse. Feisty as the day is long and more full of life than any horse I’ve ever known. But we had a bond from the very beginning. Her name was Fiesta and her nickname on especially “enthusiastic” days was Feisty Fiesta. Tragically, I lost her as a 5 year old from complications after colic surgery. (Broke her right femur coming out of anesthesia). I can still cry thinking of her and all the years we didn’t have together.

[Fiesta01]

Sorry, guys. Didn’t mean to throw a wet blanket on a very funny thread.

[SunflowersN.Horses]

No worries! Sorry for you loss, she sounded like a very special mare.

[Sleipnir]

Three embarassing ones come to mind.

1. This was years ago and I was learning to canter off the lunge on a super obedient mare. I was given the task to canter a circle, but my trainer was giving me many instructions and I was concentrating on them super hard, so my gaze was fixated on the trainer. That little mare obediently went where my gaze told her to…so we cantered straight at the trainer and I felt unable to stop - that is, until the mare did a sliding stop and I shamefully tumbled over her ears to the ground. Trainer was super amused.

2. The main outdoor was reserved for a clinic, so I was told to ride my lesson mare in a small pasture nearby. It didn’t have a mounting block, obviously, and I’m short, so I got a small bench from the barn and tried mounting from it. If only I had put it on level ground… As soon as I attempted to mount, the bench slid away and I landed on my back, bruising my left leg in the process. But I didn’t give up and tried to repeat the process…putting the bench back in the same spot! Cue me hitting the ground once again, getting a gash on my right leg this time… To add insult to injury, several teenagers had gathered along the fenceline and were openly laughing at my unfortunes. Horrible.

3. On a lovely winter trail ride with another boarder, we found a huge, snowy field. Our horses (both young geldings) were behaving perfectly, the day was lovely and we were taking silly selfies, totally relaxed and without a care in the world. Suddenly, some deer leaped out of the forest… The horses spun and we were ar the mercy of gravity. Gravity was NOT merciful that day, and we had an 8 mile walk of shame back home through extremely deep snow. The horses were okay, our pride was not.

[eightpondfarm]

Was in a riding lesson and as my very baaad, but oh so cute!, little ponymule inched sideways away from the mounting block i stretched…and he leaned out further and my split in the air became a SPLAT! Right on my butt. Twas so indelicate…and Coach had a good chuckle.

[Tarlo_Farm]

Countless. But one of my funniest was when I was going for a short trail ride on my property without a bra. Due to that, when I asked for a little trot, I was posting slowly and gently when on the “up”, my horse stepped aside of a suddenly spooky log, and I came “down” into nothing. Honestly, he gave me the funniest look as I lay on the ground next to him.

[RMJacobs]

@OverandOnward

Tell him the Department of Defense has “redundancy is a proof against failure” as a motto, practically. Lots of people check and check and check again. Someone at the DoD told me this.

The only problem with that is Rule #1: I am always at fault. If I didn’t check it, and it slipped, that would have been my fault for not checking. There is no winning at this.

Rebecca