That makes so much sense. Or even with blanketing (straps all undone) or a cooler. I think so many people (at least me) focus so much on being balanced, it’s easy to forget that not even the best rider is “perfectly” balanced all the time.
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The number of times I’ve accidentally thrown a blanket AT the horse instead of ON it 
.
The thing I really need to practice with mine is for when things get caught in their tails. Something about a stick “chasing” them after getting snagged in there really blows their minds… I think it’s a similar reaction some horses have for a rider hanging off the side (not getting dragged, just hanging there).
This too. It’s good to pretend to be an unbalanced beginner sometimes! And lean over in the saddle to undo a gate/turn off the trough water/slap a bug/pull off a quarter sheet/etc. I think sometimes educated riders try to be TOO perfect, especially with youngsters. It won’t solve the horse whose instinct is Fire Now And Ask Questions Later, but it’ll help with the less reactive ones.
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I think mine practices the things getting caught in their tails thing well enough on his own 
I don’t know where he finds the things that I pull out of his tail!
I did do shifts in balance and touching all over the place from the saddle with my young horse. He was pretty chill about it. My last one practically shot himself out of a cannon the first time I touched him elsewhere on his body. He was allegedly “broke” but definitions of that vary!
Generally mine stops when he feels me get off balance from a big spook or something. I’ve also used an inflatable exercise ball for some level of “desensitization.” I’d roll it around him, under him, on top of him, place it on his back and let it roll off, bounce it, and whatever else. I’ve also put various things on his back and let him walk around with it while it stays there, or not. You do have to be careful doing all of this, and I dunno if it’s “right” but I think it made him less reactive to stuff moving around, shifting, or falling.
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So, one of my original assumptions seems to be at play here, lack of training.
Most of the horses I work with are OTTB’s, or ferals. REACTIVE horses.
I drag things from the stirrups. I drape tarps over their bums attached to the saddle and lunge them. I hang things on fences , ride up, throw them over their necks and ride away. I mount from both sides. I mount from the ground. I mount from fences. I shove them into ditches beside the road and make them stand in the water down there while I get on.
I stage unplanned dismounts in creative ways. I throw beer cans in the round pen and trot through them so my horses don’t freak out at the sound.
My horses think i’m legitimately special. They also can’t be bothered to react.
I jump, school and go to clinics. But I also like to ride 30km out of cell service, often alone, on single track trail in the woods. The kind of place where you NEED to trust your horse to listen to you over react instinctively.
I’ve gotten off in spots so steep that I’ve fallen under the horse the second my feet hit the ground. Or i’ll be trying to mount, on the right, from some janky tree branch that snaps (loudly) as I go for lift off and I just unceremoniously fall onto my horse like a giant glob and then slide off.
My OTTB judges me deeply and harshly for this. It’s evident in her glare. But she takes it, and she never makes a move to hurt me.
The closest I came to serious injury was hopping off a particularly fiery, chestnut, 16.2hh ottb mare that was wearing a western saddle.
Summer time, tank top, I leaned forward a bit too much and swung off. The bottom band of my sports bra caught the horn, along with the tank top.
And there I hung… with my toes brushing the ground… unable to get myself loose because all my weight was on it and my feet wouldn’t fully reach the ground to stand, all my weight cocking the saddle sideways and yanking up on the rear cinch.
The mare reacted, she tried to step away and when I wiggled against her and drug the whites of her eyes came out, the ear cocked towards me and I honestly thought the words… " I’m dead".
I asked that mare to WHOA. And by the grace of God, despite her every desire to freak out, she stood.
Thankfully I wasn’t like this long before one of the few MEN at the barn walked by the indoor gate and peeked in to say hi.
Keep in mind… the front of my bra and top are around a saddle horn. So my bewbs are out, and smushed against the horses shoulder. Mike was on the other side and could only kind of see what was happening but he realized quickly something was wrong. The conversation was short and sweet.
Me very calmly , “Mike. I’m hanging from the saddle horn and she’s really nervous. Can you please approach slowly and help me out. By the way, my tits are out.”
Mike, " I’ve seen a tit before, I’m just going to talk real nice to her and we will get you out of this just breathe and pet her".
So… that is why I train the way I do, with conviction. Because I didn’t die with my bewbs out that day and I will be forever grateful.
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This makes me feel better about all of the “weird” things that I do on purpose to my horse. He’s also got a pretty good “stand” command so I can generally keep his feet still even if he’s unsure or itching to move.
Your story, and others that I’ve heard or witnessed reminds me of why I don’t love western saddles. It’s probably me being paranoid, but I don’t like that there’s more to get hung up on. It’s harder for me to break free or spontaneously and quickly dismount. I’d probably get better if I spent more time in them, but still. I always have to be mindful of my belt, clothing, and whatever. Stuff can still happen in an English saddle, don’t get me wrong.
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I 100% agree with everything you wrote. It’s a fine line to ride between desensitizing, training, and flooding - but even if there’s some moments where the horse says “oh holy hell what are we doing now?” in a blowy kind of way, the questions still need to get asked so they can be shown the correct answer.
That doesn’t mean your feral horse is wearing the saddle and the tarp on Day 1. But he should be at some point. Don’t skip stuff because the horse is reactive. That just means the horse needs it that much MORE.
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That’s a good point about the fine line. I try my best to be conscious of that. I do know that current horses line differs from previous horses line (he lived his life with his hoof hovering above the panic button for awhile there). So you do have to be aware and observant of that particular horse on that particular day.
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Well, for this particular horse, it was evident to all watching him that he aimed to kick the person. He had sent another to the hospital. He was just known to be dangerous 
He was not particularly sensitive to shifts of weight, not spooky, he was just an opportunist. You also could not trust him in his stall.
But what a nice ride, as long as you stayed on… 
Here we are, before entering the ring for our jumper round. Looking at him, you would never know…
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I do the same thing in the ocean/or any water for that matter, when something grazes my leg.
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I don’t go into large bodies of water anymore because that freaks me out so bad. Steve Irwin, a wildlife pro, got killed in the ocean. I am firmly a land mammal.
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Are you swimming with stingrays? LOL
I’ve had a problem swimming in water where I can’t see everything clearly long before he had his mishap. Even before Jaws!
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I’m a firm believer that beaches are meant to be ridden on.
My friend surfed, very well. I tried and nope I was going to drown, and not enjoying it enough to take the risk.
I was afraid of jellyfish. My parents wouldn’t let me see Jaws. When I finally did see it (I read the book first) I wasn’t going in the water anyway.
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We were fish millions of years ago and most of us have forgotten it by now, right? 
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You never know what’s down there.
Like those psychos who noodle for catfish. That is a big hhhheeeellllll no from me.
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Of all the horses I’ve ridden, some well trained and others green, I’ve had two that kicked out as I came off. But I figured they would because of their personality. I don’t think it was “lizard brain” or “survival instincts”. I think it’s their personality. Any other horse turned around and came back to see what was wrong. But those two horses, nah, buck you off, kick out, and then gallop away.
Oh yes, plenty of those, weeee I am free!
That horse in the photo? Nope. Bucked, stood there, and tried to hurt his rider. Very weird. He was a school horse (for advanced riders, obviously!), too, I don’t know who trained him or what happened in his past. We never asked. We just tried to stay on 
Yeah, I don’t trust the ocean at all, there are sharks in it. Lakes or rivers, for me! Or the sea. But there are jellyfish in the sea sometimes…
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That is not true in the slightest. Horse can and do plan, according to research:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159124001874
and the BBC’s cliff notes version - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy4j4kkxd8o
I’ve known two horses that would deliberately aim at their fallen riders. Both were not trustable on the ground in general, though. One was a fellow boarder’s horse who managed to catch the barn owner distracted during turn in and shattered her lower leg. The other was my sister’s nasty pony who would buck you off and then back up and try to nail you with both hind legs.
A horse that just wings a foot at the rider as they’re coming off is probably just running on fear and instinct. I wouldn’t hold it against the horse if they were otherwise good citizens.
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This horse was truly malicious and did intend to hurt me. After that incident, I put him away and told my husband you have 3 options - Sell him, shoot him, or take him to the auction but he is leaving this property. He had been chiroed, massaged, saddle checked so there was no pain involved. He was a spoiled brat that was out to get away with whatever he could to avoid work. He had already bucked my husband off a couple of times. He’ll be going along fine and then out of nowhere, Bam!.
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You brought to mind a video of Buck Branahan (I think that’s his name) with a young stallion. A woman brought her horse to one of Bucks clinics because the horse was getting very unruly. That boy was scary, he watched Bucks helper and then attacked him when the guy let his guard slip. And once the guy was outside the arena the horse came for him again when the guy was just standing there.
Buck told the woman to euthanize the horse. I don’t remember the details but the woman was sort of a hoarder of stallions. I think she had eleven. Anyway, that horse was thinking and planning to attack that trainer the entire time he was being worked.
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