Not too often but I would suspect somewhere between 10 and 20? Over many years. Luckily I have really long legs that makes it easier to stay on (in some circumstances). My most memorable fall was galloping down the beach several years ago. OTTB girl was going at a good clip and I was in two point. There was a small rivulet that ran to the ocean which my mare had encountered numerous times with no issue. On that particular day she decided she didn’t like the looks of it and suddenly slammed on the brakes. I went flying over her head (I think I did a flip). Landed in the sand and fortunately she just stood there. I was unhurt. Wish I had that one on video!!!
Another time I was ponying a friends horse because my friend was having trouble trying to pony that horse. When we got to the trailers said horse suddenly bit my mare. My mare went 3 feet sideways and because I didn’t want to let go of the rope I came off. Again unhurt. So far I have been pretty lucky.
I think my background in gymnastics makes me more comfortable when I get launched through the air 
If you haven’t ever fallen off, have you truly been riding???
ive been riding for over 30 years and my first fall was at the age of 5 off a cranky mare. I have probably fallen off of horses throughout the years over a hundred times. But I am the rider who also was on a green, or behavioral horse.
the last few years I was on a green horse who was just a tad quicker than my reaction and I would say I came off of him at least once a month for awhile there- bucks, stops, spooks. It was all part of the process. Now, I’m quicker at reacting … but I will say, I was never hurt in the falls, just one where I landed hard on my hip and knocked the wind out of me and I had a limp for awhile 🤷🼔♀ï¸
i would take a look at each fall and see what the reasons for the fall was. Also, were you hurt in any falls?
but falling off is a normal part of riding horses. I don’t think there is a “normal” number.
I’ve been riding for almost 23 years. I fell off often as a kid, mainly from doing silly things like riding double bareback. Later on, I had a terrible Thoroughbred mare that I had two pretty bad falls off of. Fell off my next lease horse once or twice. Last lease horse as a junior, I don’t think I fell off at all.
I went several years without falling off, fell off my TB gelding 2 or 3 times. A borrowed horse twice, another borrowed horse twice and then got my own horse again. I fell off of him numerous times. Probably 6 to 7 times in the 5 years I owned him, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but I didn’t ride very often, so it was quite a bit compared to the number of rides we had. I haven’t fallen off since 2017 (knock on wood…I probably jinxed myself now). So that makes roughly 20 to 25 falls I’d guess. Give or take a few obviously.
You are limiting yourself by looking at others and thinking, “What if?”
From what you are saying, this is my understanding:
- You are a nationally ranked rider.
- You are currently limited by your horse.
- You are at an age where you are easily trainable and have the want to.
I would stop looking at your friend’s horse and parents (it is weird that you care about their opinion at all lol). Unless they are extremely wealthy, in the larger picture of a horse world, there are probably plenty of better horses. If you are limiting your perspective to that, it is a waste of effort.
If all that you say about yourself is true, I recommend getting a sponsor with access to truly good horses. You can forget about what others in your barn are doing and focus on your own limits. Stop wasting time both on complaining and self limiting coveting.
I have to agree with your post, I think SS and others are just wasting their breath on OP, who really just seems to believe what she wants to hear. It would probably be useful if OP would just post video of her riding.
Who counts how many times they fall off? I have ridden off and on for almost 60 years beginning as a young child and had my share of falls but it never occurred to me to keep track of the number. More falls occurred as I got better, rode more difficult horses and jumped bigger fences, so I don’t consider falling an indication of how good a rider is either. Falling is just part of riding horses.
