Riding Student falls- procedure and etiquette

[darcilyna]

@darcilyna

Update: the sit down was congenial and went fine overall. No admission of any fault by anyone but the rider. Which I agree might be due to fear of a lawsuit. And somewhat understandable.

I did learn that this pony has reportedly NEVER displayed this behavior before. He was leaning his head down and therefore dd lost her balance. He just did not want to be ridden that day and was being a nudge. Off day for him as up until this point her has been a good schooling pony for little ones etc with no problems.

About fault I said: “it bothers me that you don’t even think it could have been 1% trainer fault, 1% horse fault …I agree my dd did not do everything right but no way was she 100% at fault for 3 falls.”

She still backed up her trainer 💯 and her horse. Which is to be expected I guess.

The head trainer did say "I did not see what happened. Did you feel the trainer did not do something she should have etc. We said we felt more instruction should have been given between falls to avoid exactly the event happening…which we did not hear nor did my dd report. She said she was told to lengthen the reins and kick more to keep him going (he was stopping). She was not told to sit UP when he pulls his head down etc.

Lots of replies of well its learned in the moment…I didn’t get to fully talk to the trainer about what happened etc. This trainer is new to us only dd’s 2nd or 3rd lesson with her… Part of the issue maybe rider/student not knowing each other well.

They did NOT think dd was unmatched with the level of the pony… Just a new situation she did not know how to handle.

My husband wants to know why there is no “on the ground” training. Other sports do this. Or even after a fall why not mimic what happen to show what should be done to prevent it. We were told that is just not how we do it… Each horse is different …kids learn in the saddle.

Also we discussed the concept of falling drills. Practicing falling in training this is practice.Apparently no longer recommended as research has shown it doesn’t help.

My husband went away thinking well they don’t admit that anything should change so why should we ask for or recommend any change? He thinks we should shop around or find dd another activity to dive into.

I know I’ll think of more later but I wanted to post this update.

Adding that dd’s trainer is part time, not at the barn every day. Head trainer asked her to call me to discuss but as of our meeting she hadn’t yet. She did reach out to me tonight.

I told HT that my biggest issue was maybe dd should not have gotten on that 3rd time. Or perhaps didn’t get good instruction as far as what to change to not get dipped off the pony. From dd’s report she was not told to sit UP when horse dips to sit back/up etc. I told HT it seemed there should have been more of a pause after dd fell to re-assess or maybe put the horse on a lunge line etc… As some of you have suggested.

Also… While HT was adamant the horse did no wrong…it was the rider. The trainer made at least 2 comments leading me to feel the horse was not innocent. When asking us to get another trainer to school the pony she stated "He is lucky I can’t get on him right now to school him’ implying frustration towards the horse.

ALSO I straight up asked her trainer if dd had done anything wrong and she clearly stated “THIS IS NOT HER FAULT. I DONT BLAME YOUYE DAUGHTER.”

Clearly the trainer felt differently in the moment about what happened.

Mixed messages.

[darcilyna]

@delta-time

You mentioned your daughter is in an IEA program. In IEA, riders show horses they’ve never ridden before, provided by the host team. I did IHSA in college, which is a very similar format. Some of the horses are difficult, quirky, or otherwise not perfect lesson horses. Learning to be effective on horses you aren’t used to, aren’t comfortable on, or just don’t like is a skill she’ll have to learn to be successful in IEA.

I’m not a trainer, but I did do four years of IHSA and I was heavily involved in horse selection and schooling for the shows my school hosted. We had a finite amount of horses, and those horses couldn’t go in every class of the day. There were some times when we got down to the walk/trot and walk/trot/canter divisions at the end of the day, and the great walk/trot horses were lame or tired or cranky. More difficult (not dangerous!) horses took their place.

I’d not be so quick to find a new barn. Sure, looking back, we can say “she should have quit after one or two falls,” but I can think of several very valid reasons a trainer would make the call to put the kid back on the same horse. Was the trainer trying to teach “sit up, leg on, use crop?” Stickability? Mental toughness? All those things are needed to be competitive in IEA.

If you’re really uncomfortable with what happened in that lesson, talk to the trainer. Make your expectations clear. There’s a lot of options here between “get a new trainer” and “don’t change anything.” Maybe you want the horse schooled after any fall. Maybe you want your daughter to have a 5-minute break after a fall to take a breather. Maybe you want the trainer to ask if your daughter wants to ride a different horse, instead of relying on her to speak up.

Head trainer today said she usually prefers to school a horse after a lesson is over so the rider doesn’t see or feel the horse was at fault (I think that is how she put it).

I should get a chance to talk with the trainer that did her lesson tomorrow.

[mmeqcenter]

IMO, yes the “it’s never the horse’s fault” is applicable in all scenarios, though more often used for experienced riders getting mad at their horse for various behaviors. However, that doesn’t mean it’s automatically the rider’s fault. In OPs situation, it is applicable in that ponies are ponies, they aren’t humans and they don’t think like humans. That pony didn’t make a conscious decision to dump a child three times that day. It didn’t wake up and tell itself “Hmm, I’ll think I’ll just be a right d-bag today.” It’s just a pony, and pony’s gonna pony. It was either uncomfortable, annoyed, confused, whatever, and it got the kid off once, therefore learned that it can get the kid off, and so did it again (and again). As I said above, not the inexperienced kid’s job to school the pony through something like this. IMO, a trainer or experienced rider should have gotten on at minimum after the second fall. I’d bet dollars to donuts the pony has, in fact, tried this trick before, but it was with a stronger or more experienced rider and therefore didn’t succeed. This is a classic pony trick, IME. I know I was dumped once this way while trotting around in 2-point no stirrups, chatting with friends in our group lesson not paying attention even remotely to the pony I was on. You can bet she tried it again almost immediately after I got back on, but that time I was ready. This kid wasn’t ready, and that’s just not really her fault in this case.

[Crashing_Boar]

Comes down to this: Most falls are no big deal. LAST thing you want is to endow the affair with tons of drama and blame, thereby building it up to a major fear obstacle in your daughter’s mind. Some thoughts:

(1) Even the best school horse can have an “off” day–literally “off,” as in “something hurts” or he doesn’t feel well.
However, after the 2nd fall I’d have pulled that kid off that pony and put him away. Sure, ponies can be little snots, and maybe he was expressing his displeasure with some kind of discomfort (pinching girth, tight saddle, kid maybe holding on by the reins) but 3 falls equals an obvious mismatch between mount and student.

(2) Any competent instructor today will be watching how the student hits the ground. “Concussion protocol” is not normally in play if the student fell on some other body part besides the head (usually, the butt!) so don’t overthink it. You do NOT need to buy a new helmet if it did not strike the ground. “Are you all right?” can encompass whether or not the student may have had the wind knocked out of them or been shaken up. There is NOTHING wrong with waiting a while to get back on; maybe until the group lesson is over, when the beginner student could be remounted in an empty ring and given a quiet “pony ride” led by the instructor for a few turns of the ring until they realize that the horse won’t launch them again. “Hospital or back on!” is for very advanced, experienced older students, not child beginners. No school horse will be so spoiled by “getting away with it” that a young beginner needs to “straighten them out.” Not the kid’s job.

(3) “Incident Reports” are not a “thing” for the very good reason that no stable owner in their right mind is going to expose themselves to a lawsuit by giving a written account of what is, around horses, a natural and expected occurrence. Most states now have an official disclaimer stating that any participant in equestrian sport (or their parents) understands that unpredictability is the known and understood nature of the beast and thereby accept that risk. The definition of “negligence” most places is knowing that an unsafe condition exists (shoddy tack, ring fences in disrepair, loose dogs, egregious mismatch between school horse and student) and doing nothing about it. That said, 95 out of 100 falls do not result in injury requiring medical attention. Better to have a little fun “ritual” of a barn tradition where the one who fell either brings or gets a treat of some sort (with adults, you get to buy the drinks!) rather than making it into fear-inducing sturm-und-drang if there’s no actual damage done.

(4) Smaller riding schools may have a limited number of horses available, and may have to try to wedge a square peg into a round hole. If you’re hearing “ride him because he’s the only one available,” but you don’t get along, you may need to find a new riding stable. Vote with your feet and checkbook.

(5) If you ride, you’re going to fall off. More than once. There is however a correct (or at least better) way to fall.
Vaulting exercises and intentional bailouts are a great way to instill confidence and good safety practices for those inevitable times when things get “a little Western.”

[tbchick84]

You can teach her to fall safely at home. Put a mattress on the floor or something with similar padding, Just have her practice falling onto the matt and tucking and rolling. Have her fall from a chair so there’s a little bit of a drop. It’s just to develop muscle memory so she automatically tucks everything in and rolls the second she makes contact with the ground. I’ve come off a few times at high speed and walked away without so much as a bruise. Just tuck and roll away from the horse.

[mmeqcenter]

https://landsafeequestrian.com/

[darcilyna]

@Mia Sorella

OP I think the range of responses you’ve gotten here are pretty representative of the general consensus (or lack thereof) when it comes to lesson falls in the horse world. We definitely have a “suck it up” and get back on culture, but you as the parent can and should be an advocate for your child. We live in a world of increasing knowledge regarding the cumulative effect of head injuries and frankly, the horse world needs to catch up.

This whole situation could be chalked up to a series of misunderstandings and poor judgment. Newish trainer not entirely familiar with the lesson string and students; your daughter may appear more experienced because of athletic ability or innate talent and instructor miscalculated the horse/rider pairing. This particular ducking maneuver can be harder for a top-heavy adult (e.g. long torso, well endowed…you get the idea) to school out of a pony so I can understand how the situation may have resulted in your daughter coming off 3 times, through no serious wrongdoing on anyone’s part.

HOWEVER the text message responses you have received are completely unacceptable in my opinion, and I’m not even a parent. The crappy truth that most of us horse people don’t like to acknowledge is that for every daredevil kid that toughed it out with a dirty pony and came out a better rider, exponentially more kids were scared or hurt by that same type of pony, and those kids ended up quitting or never really realizing their potential in this sport because of those experiences. And those kids are not going to be the ones advising you as adults on a horsey message board or as barn owners and instructors.

Yes, accidents happen and being around horses is inherently dangerous. However, even those silly “crap happens” falls can result in serious injury or death, so it is our responsibility to work to minimize all falls, including the silly ones. This means having well schooled appropriate lesson horses that are suitable for students’ experience levels and abilities. And YES, you can and should be able to say no I don’t want to ride that particular horse or I don’t feel comfortable doing that particular exercise.

If that’s not “how they do things” at this barn, then I think you should start looking for different barns. This is not the kind of environment you want to be dropping your daughter off at unsupervised, while she puts in her “working student” hours. That she was even offered a “working student” opportunity with so little experience under her belt is a red flag to me that she will likely be used as free labour and a crash test dummy at a barn where it’s just “not their way” to let students admit fear and decline to ride a particular horse.

If I had a child, I would not want her to be schooling dirty maneuvers out of horses or ponies until she could w/t/c with and without stirrups and jump a small course with some degree of autonomy (e.g. know when to change a lead, circle to rebalance/get control or correct a bad line, etc.). At this point, your child doesn’t know enough to recognize when she’s in trouble. And she doesn’t have the physical ability or skill set to separate what she’s doing from what the horse is doing. Until she has those basics, putting her on tricky ponies is more likely to get her hurt or scared to the point she quits, than it is to turn her into some Velcro-seat superstar little rider.

Wishing you all the best in your upcoming meeting. You may have some hard decisions to make.

Thanks! You and a few others on here I wish could be my dd’s trainer! I love the way you think about training.

My daughter does work/ study to help pay for her lessons bc that is the only way we would allow her to do IEA team. HOWEVER her only jobs in work study are tacking, untacking horses,a sweeping aisles and putting away lesson tack. She works 2 days a week. Pretty basic stuff and she’s been doing the tacking up and untacking since day 1 for her own lessons. She loves that stuff as much as the actual ride. They usually start work/ at 12, we were offered this to make the IEA team a possibility for her. The HT could see her love of horses and how passionate she is… (Plus dd has been asking if she could do work/study since she learned it was a thing).

She wants to go to our local Ag-Stem school and desires to own her own horse farm someday. (I know she is young And this could change!)

[darcilyna]

@Crashing Boar

Comes down to this: Most falls are no big deal. LAST thing you want is to endow the affair with tons of drama and blame, thereby building it up to a major fear obstacle in your daughter’s mind. Some thoughts:

(1) Even the best school horse can have an “off” day–literally “off,” as in “something hurts” or he doesn’t feel well.
However, after the 2nd fall I’d have pulled that kid off that pony and put him away. Sure, ponies can be little snots, and maybe he was expressing his displeasure with some kind of discomfort (pinching girth, tight saddle, kid maybe holding on by the reins) but 3 falls equals an obvious mismatch between mount and student.

(2) Any competent instructor today will be watching how the student hits the ground. “Concussion protocol” is not normally in play if the student fell on some other body part besides the head (usually, the butt!) so don’t overthink it. You do NOT need to buy a new helmet if it did not strike the ground. “Are you all right?” can encompass whether or not the student may have had the wind knocked out of them or been shaken up. There is NOTHING wrong with waiting a while to get back on; maybe until the group lesson is over, when the beginner student could be remounted in an empty ring and given a quiet “pony ride” led by the instructor for a few turns of the ring until they realize that the horse won’t launch them again. “Hospital or back on!” is for very advanced, experienced older students, not child beginners. No school horse will be so spoiled by “getting away with it” that a young beginner needs to “straighten them out.” Not the kid’s job.

(3) “Incident Reports” are not a “thing” for the very good reason that no stable owner in their right mind is going to expose themselves to a lawsuit by giving a written account of what is, around horses, a natural and expected occurrence. Most states now have an official disclaimer stating that any participant in equestrian sport (or their parents) understands that unpredictability is the known and understood nature of the beast and thereby accept that risk. The definition of “negligence” most places is knowing that an unsafe condition exists (shoddy tack, ring fences in disrepair, loose dogs, egregious mismatch between school horse and student) and doing nothing about it. That said, 95 out of 100 falls do not result in injury requiring medical attention. Better to have a little fun “ritual” of a barn tradition where the one who fell either brings or gets a treat of some sort (with adults, you get to buy the drinks!) rather than making it into fear-inducing sturm-und-drang if there’s no actual damage done.

(4) Smaller riding schools may have a limited number of horses available, and may have to try to wedge a square peg into a round hole. If you’re hearing “ride him because he’s the only one available,” but you don’t get along, you may need to find a new riding stable. Vote with your feet and checkbook.

(5) If you ride, you’re going to fall off. More than once. There is however a correct (or at least better) way to fall.
Vaulting exercises and intentional bailouts are a great way to instill confidence and good safety practices for those inevitable times when things get “a little Western.”

Thanks for all the input. I am considering everything read here and it’s helping me learn and have a broader understanding of the horse world.

In 2+ years of sometimes intermittent lessons at this barn this is only the 2nd she has ridden this pony…the first was at camp on bareback during a fun game. There is a slew of horses and ponies… 16 regularly ridden school horses and ponies.

[darcilyna]

@mmeqcenter

https://landsafeequestrian.com/

Thanks for sharing! The fact this even exists right now shows me that at the very least there is mixed theories on whether it’s best to train and practice falling! Our HT said that it’s not done anymore bc research showed it wasn’t helpful?!?

[darcilyna]

@SuzieQNutter

It is never the horses fault is a lifestyle. It really comes down to the fact that the pony did not choose to be in that lesson and did not choose to be ridden by your daughter. So no blame can be assigned.

NOW EVERY. SINGLE. horse and pony will try and get the rider out of the saddle. Why? Because the seat is what controls them, not just legs and reins.

Yes there are things you can do at home.

1/ Give her ‘reins’ to hold and not let go. Get her to slouch, put her heels up on the side of the chair not in front, loose tummy, loose arms but hold those reins and give her a small tug. This is what happened on the pony she should come forward.

NOW get her to sit up tall, shoulders square, head up, elbows by side, tighten tummy muscles. Elbows by sides, thumbs up. Heels down. (This exercise is better done on a quiet pony but a chair will suffice) This time when you give the tug, she should stay in position and not be pulled forward.

So strengthen her stomach muscles as it is the stomach muscles in experienced riders that stop horses and ponies trying this trick. Pilates is the answer and can be done while she is healing.

You and hubby can do it too.

Thanks. I’ve been wondering how the heck she gonna survive 2 weeks of no physical activity. Pilates may be a great idea

[Mia_Sorella]

@darcilyna

Thanks! You and a few others on here I wish could be my dd’s trainer! I love the way you think about training.

My daughter does work/ study to help pay for her lessons bc that is the only way we would allow her to do IEA team. HOWEVER her only jobs in work study are tacking, untacking horses,a sweeping aisles and putting away lesson tack. She works 2 days a week. Pretty basic stuff and she’s been doing the tacking up and untacking since day 1 for her own lessons. She loves that stuff as much as the actual ride. They usually start work/ at 12, we were offered this to make the IEA team a possibility for her. The HT could see her love of horses and how passionate she is… (Plus dd has been asking if she could do work/study since she learned it was a thing).

She wants to go to our local Ag-Stem school and desires to own her own horse farm someday. (I know she is young And this could change!)

Thank you for clarifying. This type of work is perfectly suitable for your daughter at this stage and is an excellent opportunity to help her develop into a well rounded horse woman. Being able to tack up correctly, and by extension noticing wrong tack or tack that no longer fits or any injuries/oddities the horse has is an invaluable skill.

For more experienced horse people, the term “working student” usually applies to a situation where a young person is basically working as an employee in exchange for saddle time; the saddle time is often putting miles on green horses, riding sales horses or tuning up the lesson horses outside of regular lessons (e.g. without supervision). It’s probably better described as an apprentice position. A good working student position can be a wonderful opportunity for a dedicated, talented young rider that is considering working in the horse industry.

Just something for you to be aware of as a possibility for your daughter if she’s still this interested in her late teens. If anyone is offering a “working student” position, like what I described above, to an inexperienced green rider, you should be taking a long, hard look at that barn’s program and asking some tough questions.

[darcilyna]

Hi all!
I researched pony clubs near me last night. There are 2 centers about 30 minutes away…which is do-able. Not ideal with an hour round trip and us having 3 kids schedules to balance but do-able. One of the barns in particular looks AMAZING… I am hoping to tour and learn more about a few other options. Feel like we have 5 weeks to make any decisions.

So the more I research and learn …the more I feel like such an idiot. Read an article last night stating things to look for in a riding instructor. Some things I never asked about : are all trainers first aid/cpr trained? What kind of certification if any? Asking about the barns insurance?

It did concern me when dd fell at camp and that shook me realizing that in say a Girl Scout camp situation they require a nurse on site at all times. Learned they have an EMT and that settled me a bit.

But how, as a parent, could we have been so cavalier in choosing a barn? Husband just now researched and realized how dangerous this sport can be …higher risk than riding a motorcycle when broken down by hours of riding.

Now I feel like an idiot asking these questions so late in the game but do want those answers about current barn.

We tried two barns and this was closer and dd liked it. They were flexible with scheduling which we didn’t want to be forced to buy a lesson plan… It was nice to be able to do once a month or twice a month as our finances see fit.

But the more I think about it …even though everyone was nice enough at our sit down and whenever I talk to HT face to face she is kind. I have never got a warm/fuzzy feeling there and things just don’t “sit right”… My gut is telling me find a place we feel safer and that student are more well cared for. We did get empathy from trainers but not thru the whole process. And certainly mixed messages from the trainer working with my daughter who DID put some blame to the horse and at that moment NONE on my daughter to now the HT saying it’s all the ridern etc. I GET THAT is the theory and mentality in working with horses…but it can all be said and done with more empathy.

Also it bothers me that there is not better communication amongst barn staff. This is not the first time there was an issue and I was told “oh I didn’t really get a chance to talk to XYZ so I don’t know fully what happened”. Especially if a kid goes the ER… A manager should TALK TO THEIR STAFF and understand fully what happened. Not now two days later tell the parent they don’t have a fully clear picture of what happened bc they weren’t there.

I fear this may be a bit fight with our child and she loves the horses there and sees no reason to move on.

She is signed up for the IEA season but we only paid half up front. They let us do a payment plan which was super nice and one of the reasons I like them they really work with you on the financial stuff. So I feel like maybe finish the year with them…try one of these other barns for summer camp and move on at that point …?

PRIORITIES FOR ME: a focus on safety and training and a good horsemanship program for youth.

I welcome any input on what y’all would do in my position.

Thanks!

[darcilyna]

Additional thoughts:
-one article I read talked about how to find a good summer camp. It suggested looking at the kids who attend (photos). It made me think about how happy kids were after camp etc. And how happy my own daughter seemed. In general after lessons too. She loves it and is always happy…but that giddy joy that often happens at summer camp? I don’t recall seeing seeing that. Everyone at this barn seems to have this stoic personality. Some trainers are more warm and kind than others. Looking at one of their major working students she rarely smiles. Now I have chalked all that up to PERSONALITY DIFFERENCES. I kept saying horse people must be mainly introverted…and I’m an extrovert so that’s why I don’t feel connected to these people. I’m asking too much of them.

But perhaps it’s just the personality of THIS particular barn? I am definitely feeling the need to explore a bit to see if there is a better fit for our family family.

Even if it’s just a personality conflict for me and this barn owner…if we are going to spend a bunch of money and time over the next number of years we need somewhere we love not just tolerate for our kid.

I know there was a second thought and it’s escaping me. Sorry for all the posts; this is a place I feel can help me process all this.

[Denali6298]

Hi there OP. One thing that stands out to me about your barn is the defensive response you received via text. Honestly, I think it’s fair for you or your daughter to request riding a different pony. I certainly cannot see why the barn wouldn’t accommodate that in some way especially with three falls in one lesson.

”It’s never the horses fault” is true and yes your daughter could have sat up and prevented her own fall. However, she’s a beginner. If I fell off like your daughter did, “she should have sat up” would be an appropriate response. But I’ve been riding a long time.

Also, yes your daughter broke her wrist but that can happen in one fall. My concern is the three falls that happened in one lesson. I say this as I have fallen many times over the years and have never broken a bone. I also would decline to ride a horse I came off of three times in one ride.

Some trainers have more of a suck it up attitude than others. I think, personality wise, this barn may not be a good fit for your daughter. I don’t think it’s a bad barn, just not a good fit. I also, see how the trainer could go on the defensive because of the language you used, but knowing you and your husband are new to horses she should have realized you weren’t placing blame.

I am glad you are looking at pony clubs in your area. Good luck moving forward and best wishes to your daughter. And remember falls happen. It’s scary to watch your kid go down but it’s part of the sport. I’m almost 40 and my Mom still isn’t used to it when she sees it.

[Beck]

@darcilyna

The fact this even exists right now shows me that at the very least there is mixed theories on whether it’s best to train and practice falling! Our HT said that it’s not done anymore bc research showed it wasn’t helpful?!?

IME practice ‘falling’ definitely achieves at least one important thing: it reduces the tension in the riders that comes from the fear of falling. Once they have practiced dismounts while the horse is in motion (often just at the walk!), it is no longer a ‘great unknown’ and distraction. ‘Falling’ in a controlled way allows the riders to move on and get down to the business of riding. Anything that reduces unnecessary tension is a good thing, imo.

Practice ‘falling’ and the associated discussion does prepare riders for falling off: installing the concepts of rolling with it and retracting the arms is very helpful and may reduce the impact. Literally.

[Denali6298]

@Beck

IME practice ‘falling’ definitely achieves at least one important thing: it reduces the tension in the riders that comes from the fear of falling. Once they have practiced dismounts while the horse is in motion (often just at the walk!), it is no longer a ‘great unknown’ and distraction. ‘Falling’ in a controlled way allows the riders to move on and get down to the business of riding. Anything that reduces unnecessary tension is a good thing, imo.

Practice ‘falling’ and the associated discussion does prepare riders for falling off: installing the concepts of rolling with it and retracting the arms is very helpful and may reduce the impact. Literally.

This. When I was just starting out the local vaulting barn came and gave a falling off clinic. My Mom said I either attend or I don’t get to ride anymore. I believe this three day clinic is why I haven’t broken a bone.

[x]

Some thoughts as a USHJA certified trainer and an instructor of 25-plus years experience: My big concern here is that your daughter wasn’t able to stay on at the walk/trot when the horse stopped and dropped its head; understandable at the canter, but if it was occuring at a slower gait, then something is missing.

My biggest concern is the IEA–I’ve been involved with the IEA. Lately it seems that instructors have been putting students that are not ready into IEA classes/levels they should not be in. IEA, if you read the requirements, have pretty strict ideals for the levels riders need to be at. For example, a rider needs at a bare MINIMUM to have ridden at least a year under instruction to even be considered ready–and that usually doesn’t mean “off and on”. A good solid year of continuous instruction and riding. In addition, to be jumping at 18" in IEA you are supposed to be jumping 2’ 6" at home on your regular horse, to do 2’ you should be doing 3’ at home. I find that many barns are pushing kids into IEA before they really are ready–it is IMPORTANT that the student truely be ready–they are riding strange horses in a competition setting without being able to ride or school them before going into the classes–that alone worries me about your barn.

As far as the fall, I would guess if she fell when the pony put its head down she was pulled off–hanging onto the reins and following the head down. This is assuming it was just a head down and not a drop the shoulder and spin. In the case of the head just going down she needs to be shown how to slip her reins and stay sitting up, then gather the reins back up and regain the horse’s head. This can certainly be practiced by the instructor with the student–I do this all the time. Stand in front of the child, have the child hold one end of the reins while the instructor pulls on the other end the way the horse woud–student practices letting reins slip while sitting up, then practices shortening reins as soon as they can.

As far as practicing falling–we teach all students an emergency dismount. If they start to fall, they can use this motion to help them land on their feet in a safe manner. It will not help with all falls, but does help with confidence, and with them being able to safely dismount if they are so far off balance they are going to fall.

Finally, as far as getting back on the horse where the traumatic event happened…as an instructor, I would not put her right back on that horse after a broken bone like that, or even if she had that many falls and was traumatized by it with no injury. She needs to regain her confidence, and that is not going to happen on that horse. Not saying she should never ride that horse again, because if she continues to ride, and the horse continues in the program, and doesn’t really have a major behavioral issue, at some point she should ride it again so she knows she can–but that may be quite a while down the road. Putting her immediately back on that particular horse is not going to help her–she is going to be too nervous and not ride well, and may fall again just due to the sheer panic of being on that horse, which in turn is going to create more problems. She needs time to improve her riding, time to improve her confidence, etc. Any decent instructor should know this. And she is probably going to start back at a lower ride level due to nerves and need to be built back up in confidence, unless she is an unusually brave kid. But I would not expect that response out of a kid riding off and on for two years.

[darcilyna]

@x

Some thoughts as a USHJA certified trainer and an instructor of 25-plus years experience: My big concern here is that your daughter wasn’t able to stay on at the walk/trot when the horse stopped and dropped its head; understandable at the canter, but if it was occuring at a slower gait, then something is missing.

My biggest concern is the IEA–I’ve been involved with the IEA. Lately it seems that instructors have been putting students that are not ready into IEA classes/levels they should not be in. IEA, if you read the requirements, have pretty strict ideals for the levels riders need to be at. For example, a rider needs at a bare MINIMUM to have ridden at least a year under instruction to even be considered ready–and that usually doesn’t mean “off and on”. A good solid year of continuous instruction and riding. In addition, to be jumping at 18" in IEA you are supposed to be jumping 2’ 6" at home on your regular horse, to do 2’ you should be doing 3’ at home. I find that many barns are pushing kids into IEA before they really are ready–it is IMPORTANT that the student truely be ready–they are riding strange horses in a competition setting without being able to ride or school them before going into the classes–that alone worries me about your barn.

As far as the fall, I would guess if she fell when the pony put its head down she was pulled off–hanging onto the reins and following the head down. This is assuming it was just a head down and not a drop the shoulder and spin. In the case of the head just going down she needs to be shown how to slip her reins and stay sitting up, then gather the reins back up and regain the horse’s head. This can certainly be practiced by the instructor with the student–I do this all the time. Stand in front of the child, have the child hold one end of the reins while the instructor pulls on the other end the way the horse woud–student practices letting reins slip while sitting up, then practices shortening reins as soon as they can.

As far as practicing falling–we teach all students an emergency dismount. If they start to fall, they can use this motion to help them land on their feet in a safe manner. It will not help with all falls, but does help with confidence, and with them being able to safely dismount if they are so far off balance they are going to fall.

Finally, as far as getting back on the horse where the traumatic event happened…as an instructor, I would not put her right back on that horse after a broken bone like that, or even if she had that many falls and was traumatized by it with no injury. She needs to regain her confidence, and that is not going to happen on that horse. Not saying she should never ride that horse again, because if she continues to ride, and the horse continues in the program, and doesn’t really have a major behavioral issue, at some point she should ride it again so she knows she can–but that may be quite a while down the road. Putting her immediately back on that particular horse is not going to help her–she is going to be too nervous and not ride well, and may fall again just due to the sheer panic of being on that horse, which in turn is going to create more problems. She needs time to improve her riding, time to improve her confidence, etc. Any decent instructor should know this. And she is probably going to start back at a lower ride level due to nerves and need to be built back up in confidence, unless she is an unusually brave kid. But I would not expect that response out of a kid riding off and on for two years.

I believe she is in the lowest level of IEA. Her group lesson is with mostly grade school kids 4th and 5th graders…it seems they are only doing walk/trot. Possibly canter. I don’t think any jumping. She has only done poles and cross ties a couple times and not in IEA lessons.

Is it possible to do only walk/trot/canter and no jumping in IEA?

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It is possible to do only w/t/c–flat classes–in the IEA–but still you are supposed to be at a higher level than what you are showing at. The beginner novice classes are only w/t/c, but again, you are supposed to have had a minimum of a year continuous riding/instruction before being a part of it, and be competent to ride all three gaits on a strange horse with no warm-up or practice; for the flat classes you are put on a strange horse and are in the ring in front of the judge–no warm-up or practice on the horse, and you can be mounted on pretty much any size horse as well–she needs to be able to deal with various sized gaits at the w/t/c, because each horse is going to move a bit different from other horses–she needs to be able to adjust to various horses quickly.

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Incidentally, the 4th and 5th grade riders are a trial for the IEA this year–in the past, you had to be in 6th grade or above to show IEA; they are trying out letting 4th and 5th graders in this year.