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Riders getting jumped out of the tack

Hunter/Jumper
#1

I just started following a popular FB group that posts funny stories about riding fails. I don’t want to link to any specific post, because they aren’t putting them up for critique, just for laughs. But I have a question about what I’m seeing.

A significant percentage of the falls show riders with good solid seats at the canter, then jumping something quite low, even cross rails or two feet, and getting ejected forward over the horse’s shoulder.

Am I correct in thinking that this is happening because they aren’t giving enough release and are getting pulled off by the horse’s head?

My beginner jumping lessons in North American style involved an exaggerated two point, high crest release. This has the danger of putting you ahead of the jump, and you pretty much throw your reins away, plus it’s hard to learn a following release if you’ve been drilled in crest release. So it’s not necessarily ideal. But you also usually don’t hit the horse in the mouth.

Anyhow this is primarily a British eventing site, and I don’t see crest releases, but I do see riders getting popped off forward on tiny jumps. Riders who ought to be able to sit a jump like that.

Anyhow, I just wondered if I’m seeing this right. When I see low level jumping falls IRL with crest release it’s usually that the rider is ahead of the horse, and horse runs out or refuses. Not getting pulled out of the tack because they aren’t releasing.

#2

I’m in the group in question (and have found it all hilarious—it’s nice to be in a group that isn’t so quick to focus on all the things you are doing wrong or could be doing differently), and I don’t think there’s a single answer to what you’re asking.

I do wonder if, for all its flaws, the American hunt seat that many of us are taught (lighter out of the tack, hands resting on the crest) results in a more independent, stable lower leg as a whole, which accounts for some of what you’re seeing. But I really don’t think there’s any major generalization to be mad other than we all have bad days.

6 Likes
#3

I love that page! And it is lovely with the no criticism, just for funnies.

We all have our days. One of my friends who is a very talented and experienced rider with a very secure balanced seat had a horrible wreck last month that in theory was easily avoidable. It was a small spook and trip that ended in the horse falling on her then dragging her by the stirrup. She now is in rehab with a TBI and still thinks she took a spill of another horse and had a stroke. She knows how to emergency dismount, she knows how to handle a spook, a trip, a fall. She wore a helmet.

It happens.

6 Likes
#4

Yeah, there’s some really scary sh*t happens falls and big broncs and rolling in ditches :slight_smile: that would unseat anybody. I was thinking more about the rides that look super competent and then the rider just somersaults off.

#5

I think the point is more that even super competent riders can sometimes have a moment that is a fail. No one is perfect.

3 Likes
#6

I’ve got a few decades under my belt when it comes to riding and jumping, and I’ve been everything from “shite” to rather talented… I’ve also come off spectacularly, there’s no way any of the preceding statement could be accurate without some unplanned dismounts, going down with the ship, lawn darting and so on…

And to this day, the worst fall I have had involved the smallest fence I have ever jumped. And it was 110% my fault for making a dumber than a box of rocks mistake (in my 50’s!!!) I was just cantering a 20m right lead circle over a simple barely-more-than-a-ground-rail-X, asking for the young horse to land on his right lead.

I saw one longish distance off the canter stride to the X, he saw another and added one more, I was already casually, ho hum, no big deal leaning forward on him because I wasn’t taking this jump seriously… when he chipped in… My leg swung back and goosed him and I set the guinness world record for the highest recorded land speed record of a lawn dart projectile as he bolted off to the right* and I tweaked my IT band (still feel that regularly 8 years later) as I yanked the leather off the bars,

Embarrassment level: 10

A few weeks later I ended up scaring my orthopedic surgeon so bad with my description of igh leg/hip pain that wasn’t going away (I was seeing him for some unrelated elbow stuff when I mentioned how this pain wasn’t going away). I left the office in crutches with warnings to not bear weight and an emergency MRI on the weekend.

Umm, I did not have a cracked femur head. I had a hematoma in my glutes. Yes, I had an “ass bruise”.

Embarrassment level: 15

I would TOTALLY post a video on that site if there was evidence.

(*he did land on his right lead though…)

20 Likes
#7

AHAHAHAH!!! That is it right there.

#8

My little powerhouse mare would pop me out of the tack occasionally with NO warning. It had nothing to do with my release, she’d just crack her back and launch me into another level of the atmosphere. I’ve posted some hysterical pictures of it over the years.

Now, it’s probably fair to say that that’s a different scenario than what you’re describing, but it’s definitely not limited to that scenario. And IME, getting jumped out of the tack looks quite different from getting left, which sounds closer to what you’re talking about. Is their position otherwise correct, just popped up above the saddle? Or are they opening their shoulders and slipping their reins with the hip angle more open than you’d expect?

1 Like
#9

The ones I’m thinking are riding up with short reins, going over the jump fine, then tumbling forwards and falling off.

Popping out or jumping out of the tack might be the wrong word I’m using.

It’s more like they don’t release over the jump and then the horse pulls them out of the saddle.

#10

I was sent that site to view. I found it very depressing to watch. I did not find it amusing at all. Yes, we all make mistakes, we all fall off. And yes, it can be amusing to watch sometimes. But I saw falls and disasters there that were predictable, not unexpected, and the horses suffered the consequences, which I don’t find amusing. Horses getting jabbed in the mouth, I don’t find that amusing. Horses falling hard, I don’t find that amusing. Rotational falls, I don’t find those amusing either.

2 Likes
#11

My example was to point out that if you had only seen that video you might think the beginner had no business cantering an x on a circle yet, but the point seems to be missed.

So I’ll be more blunt. No. You are assuming incorrectly since you simply do not have enough information to form an accurate analysis of everything thing that led up to that point.

3 Likes
#12

I haven’t seen the photos or videos in question, but any time I’ve fallen (or come close to falling) off like that it’s been because I jumped ahead of the horse. It puts you both off balance and then the horse actually jumping knocks you forward onto the neck or over the shoulder. (Or the horse stops and you become a lawn dart.) Nothing to do with release. I’m not sure how a lack of release could pull someone forward unless they had a crazy death grip on the reins.

1 Like
#13

I’m also on that site and have had similar reactions. There are some honest oopsie falls, some dangerous “oh, that had to hurt!” falls, some miscommunication falls and then there’s the “shite” riding. My reaction is often along the lines of “those people have NO business jumping anything.” Too many slow, no impulsion, loose lower leg tip over the head when the horse stops (wisely!) at the jump falls for my taste. Or the gallop like mad at it and hope to god my horse saves me falls. I see a lot of uneducated riders having a go at jumping on sometimes inappropriate mounts (who are blamed for not taking dumb risks) with predictable results.

A friend posted a spectacular jump destruction near fall at a hunter show (she’s a very competent amateur in both hunters and jumpers) and every single response was “wow, you have such a great seat!”. Yeah, she sure does!

My SIL is an accomplished eventer and she said she hates the site because it sucks her confidence away to see so many falls. I agree- I scroll past many of them because we’ve all had those stop and spin falls that are unavoidable and I don’t find most very funny.

2 Likes
#14

If it is the FB group I’m thinking of, it has me LOLing at most of the posted pics & vids, along with the humorous explanations of How & Why.
{Shrugs}
I assume these “worsts” are balanced by not-posted “bests” & the page is intended for humor only.

My Personal Worst fall & injury in some 40+yrs, was a dislocated shoulder when my horse stumbled going over an itty-bitty X.
He went to his knees, I rolled down his neck & landed on the shoulder with the exact amount of torque needed to fracture my clavicle. Not a clean break & I wear the bump the healing left to this day. Surgeon offered to repair, but said if I avoided strapless gowns it would never give me a problem.

I imagine my Arse-Over-Teakettle moment would have made a good pic to post on the page.

5 Likes
#15

I have mixed feelings about the site :slight_smile:

I do enjoy the story telling. Many of the posts are multiparagraph anecdotes with a good sense of humorous exaggeration, a specifically British sense of self deprecating humor.

I do agree though it is cumulatively hard to watch so many people fall off, especially as I’m at an age where I do not bounce at all.

The rides I was wondering about specifically weren’t total obvious disasters but the folks who looked like they were riding in a good strong seat and then popped off. Of course it’s probably true that for each of them, this was the one in 1,000th time they got dislodged and they can laugh about it, like the people here with their examples.

It’s also a nice break from the general discourse in dressage forums :slight_smile:

I wonder what would happen if someone started a Shitedressage forum? Here’s my 18 hand warmblood bucking me off in a lead change. Here’s my cob pony doing an impromptu levade at the mounting block.

1 Like
#16

Interesting, they have been getting a bunch of crappy comments lately- the increase coincides time-wise with the posting here.

Now THAT is crappy!

1 Like
#17

I feel like a lot of the popped out of the saddles of the strong riders was the fluke ride. Though having a strong seat on the flat doesn’t always equate to a strong seat jumping. I would be interested in what kind of equation training the European members have vs the US members.

I do have to say the dressage, hunting and cross country moments are some of my favorite. All for different reasons but man, people do their best to not have the long walk of shame potentially covered on mud and wet.

#18

It isn’t me commenting on that site! I swear! (I’ve see the warnings tody, but policing 200K posters must be a chore!!)

I get the funny parts, I really do. I’ve laughed at some of the stories until I cried (the horse in the canal is hilarious!!). I do think there are some obviously in pain horses, poorly ridden horses, etc. but for the most part it’s that one in a thousand oops that is getting posted.

Back to the original poster’s question:
Getting popped out of the tack happens because of balance and horse’s jump. Some horses just have that tiny little back snap that catches you when you sit a fraction too early and POW! off you go…unless you are a super strong rider. I think many of us weekend amateurs just aren’t fit enough to ride that most times. I sold a mare because she used her hind end too well, and I simply couldn’t ride that jump effectively. It would piss her off or scare her when I’d lose a bit of balance if she cracked me out of the tack. So I do see that on some of the videos. Athletic horses and riders who just catch it wrong.

2 Likes
#19

I discovered that site a couple of weeks ago, and also noticed what you did - riders that looked like solid riders, and then BAM, over the shoulder and on the ground as the horse landed. A couple of the videos befuddled me enough that I went through and paused them repeatedly on the approach and over the “fail” jump to try to figure out what the heck happened. I’m sure there are a million ways that this happens, but at least in those examples, it looked to me that the horse either chipped or hesitated, then jumped. That chip or hesitation caused the rider to pitch forward, and then they were launched when the horse jumped.

#20

That makes sense!

About the cranky comments, I wonder if this site has just suddenly been growing exponentially and is getting too wide an audience? Usually by the time I find a site like this the whole world already knows about it :slight_smile:

1 Like

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