I prefer not to fall but it happens! My horse is still emotionally young and he’s gotten big and sadly my little legs aren’t as great as hanging on as they used to LOL BUT, most of my falls are still completely 100% my fault and because I’ve asked from some ridiculous distance and thrown myself pretty much off over his shoulder anyway hahahahahahaha
Then there’s the odd youngster spook, when I look down and “oh oh where’d the horse go that was underneath me a second ago?” This is a humbling sport but falling off shouldn’t ever make you that distraught!
It’s really strange that you would have grown up being told do not fall off. Everyone I know (including myself) was “raised” in the horse world to understand that everyone falls off. It’s part of learning. You probably wouldn’t be so devastated about falling if you hadn’t grown up believing that as a kid.
The older I get (I’m late 20s now) the less I WANT to fall off, as I can’t risk being too injured to do my real job or take care of the horses. So I’m less likely to put myself in situations where I will fall off. But it certainly still happens. I was just thinking the other day that I haven’t fallen off in a while and I’m kind of “due”. I only come off once or twice every couple of years and its been a while. Knocks on wood furiously
3 times in a year is not a lot. As a dumb and fearless kid I used to fall off far more than that. And if you are moving up to higher fences or from hunters to jumpers or something like that, a learning curve should be expected. When it happens, do your best to brush yourself off, get back on and try again. We all fall off, no one should judge you for it.
Last time I fell off was a couple of years ago, riding my dead quiet, complete ammy ride of a mare, over a crossrail. We both misjudged the distance super hard, and her being the most honest animal in the world jumped anyway. Crap happens sometimes!
To echo what others said it’s not if, it’s when. I took my first fall after my hiatus about a month ago. My horse spooked when the announcer came over the loud speaker and plop, there I went. Thankfully I wasn’t hurt and got right back on and finished the show.
Now, on the flip side, if you’re constantly falling off (I mean almost weekly or at every horse show) due to the same mistake - i.e. leaning up your horses neck when you know he’s a stopper, or falling off in the same corner he spooks at every ride, then it’s time to buckle down and figure out what’s going on. But if it’s once in awhile, that’s part of our sport and you shouldn’t be hard on yourself at all!
Yes, trainer enforced it. In fact we had to do extra chores if we fell off! I think I fell off twice as a junior bc it was so taboo!
With riding horses, it is not a matter of IF you will fall off – it is a matter of WHEN.
I don’t fall off very often. Last time I fell off was 3 years ago and it might have been more of a subconscious bail. I was riding my 2-year-old colt and it was his 5th ride. I was totally at fault and kinda got us into a sticky situation. He started panicking and it wasn’t going to end good, so I fell off … I think. I might have let myself fall off just to get outa the situation! LOL
Prior to that … I cannot remember the last time I fell off. But I have. It’s a part of riding.
Falling off is a learning experience as a kid. I fell off a LOT when I was learning. I’ve been riding 22 years now and do not fall off as often knock on wood and haven’t fallen in a couple years. Watch, now I will and I just jinxed myself. My opinion on falling as I get older is NO NO NO NO NO I do not want to break myself. As a kid I cried and got back up and was gritty, flexible, brave, and yeah it hurt but it would be ok.
Now it means a bruised ego and possible embarrassment, being hurt to the point of not being able to go to work and make a living, being frustrated with myself, losing loads of confidence which I don’t have enough of to begin with, etc.
It is a part of riding but I care much more about not falling off than I did when I was a kid. I think my skill set is what is helping me to not eat dirt constantly (or at least most of the time and then sprinkle in some luck). Sometimes a fall is inevitable. I don’t tend to ride horses where I know it is going to happen more often than not because, well, I just prefer not to.
I love this, thank you…needed this today:)
I was always told if you didn’t fall enough, you weren’t riding enough!
I am against that.
I used to ride anything, which translated into frequent flyer miles in the ER. Then I got older, and decided falling is no longer for me. I am sure I will fall again at some point, although I am not planning on it because I have kids to raise and stalls to clean.
I know I’m most at risk on the babies, and do very little of that anymore. I won’t ride anything that stops or has a known vice, period. I don’t care if it’s the fanciest, prettiest, cheapest horse ever, it’s not worth the risk to me anymore. I also don’t want to be the test driver anymore, which I used to love to do. I don’t jump anything bigger than I know the horse under me can chip in and save the day, and am much less embarrassed about my ability to chip brilliantly than I used to be, because generally, no one gets hurt 
I do find myself to be more worried about how big the jumps are the older I get, and I am not sure if that’s because I am more breakable or just smarter.
So for me, it’s the pain that’s a deterrent. Is the horse stopping and that’s how you are falling?
Before I owned horses my Mom would take me about a 1/2 drive out to go ride rental horses. I was probably 7 or 8 years old. I remember once I fell off after galloping around a track with other horses lead by the trail boss…around the turn was a truck parked on the horse track. My rental horse got squished between the truck and the other horses. As my stirrup dragged across the truck I fell off. I remember the trail boss handing me back the horse saying - when you fall off you are going to be a better rider. I did get back on the horse and rode it back to the barn. And of course still bugged my Mom for a horse - and over 40 years later I am still riding 
As a kid I fell off every once in a while. As an adult I try not to. It hurts way too much more now…
I fell off recently about three months ago. My horse rooted down after a jump and I was riding the neck. I forgot what I learned as a kid and that is to get away from the horse… so of course I hung on around the neck, rotated under the neck and got stepped on. My arm is STILL healing.
There were times I fell off and landed on my feet. I like that unplanned dismount much better…
I felt like a total failure when I fell off and was hurt… I was a bit mad at myself for what happened. Feeling like a horrible rider I watched George Morris commentating the MaClay’s and it helped me… He said during the MaClay finals when a rider fell off - “It’s not if you are going to fall of, it’s when”. He also talked about how he has fallen and broken bones etc… so even the best fall off…
Every time before I get on my horses I look them in the eye and say - “please take care of me as you always do.” I hope that they listen…
My attitude is if I didn’t get a picture, it was a wasted opportunity. I fell off a horse in the 2’6" hunters once and I’m still sad no one got a picture or video (I got bucked off in a most epic fashion).
Have gotten a few dramatic pictures.
My mom always said that if you fell off, you had to make cookies. Made falling a lot less scary for all the kids in the barn growing up when we had the cookie rule.
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Fall off… go boom…get back on…keep riding. I don’t fall often but if I do I do… It’s no huge deal.
My rule of thumb has always been do everything possible to avoid it, but accept that it is going to happen at some point. I would think a “you do NOT fall off” mentality would add a lot of pressure and would make me obsess about not falling off, which is not really helpful. What’s most important to me is understanding why I came off, so that if it was my mistake, I can make sure I don’t do that again :lol: And if you hit the ground and aren’t hurt, laughter really is the best medicine. I came off my lease horse once in 2 years, threw my body at a jump, and put my horse at the jump awkwardly, he tried to fix it by adding a stride where there wasn’t one and left himself nowhere to take off, so I went out the side door, bounced off the top rail and landed sitting in the dirt still holding the reins. And as I sat there I thought really, how can I NOT laugh at myself for that because finally, my well-cushioned thigh made itself useful, lol!! So I dusted myself off, got back on, and came right back to the jump and fixed it. That’s the best way to put it behind you when it happens. So cut yourself some slack, it happens to everyone – just go look at the picture of Kent Farrington after Giselle bucked him off last year in Wellington!
I was taught that “it takes 7 falls to make a rider”.
When i was a kid, at one barn, we had to pay 25 cents if we fell off. But falling off was still considered “normal”.
I have lost track of how many times I fell in 2016 (green, inconsistent, horse)- at least 5, probably more. Luckily not hurt, though I do not bounce as easily as I used to.
I had an instructor who said "there are two kinds of riders;
A Those who fall often, but rarely get hurt
B Those who fall rarely, but usually end up in the Emergency Room when they DO fall.
I definitely fall into type A.
When I DO fall, I definitely think about what I could/should have done differently. But I do not dwell on it.
Falling off = never comfortable, but most of them are not harmful. Except to one’s pride.
I like the horses that stand there and look at you lying on the ground, waiting patiently for you to get it together and get back on.
I rarely fall - but sooner or later, something happens and I’m wondering how I got down here when the horse is up there. Cross fingers & knock wood, I have yet to see any doctors or ER’s over a fall.
Once, while young-ish, I went years without a fall, proudly. I think a part of my brain decided that I was done with this falling. Then I came off 3 times - in one DAY. LOL It was at a schooling show where everyone was permitted to school the “field hunter” (read: cross-country) course before the show, if you were there early enough. I was tagged to get all my friends’ reluctant horses over the ditch. They all went over, eventually, with or without me. (I would handle those horses differently now.)
I was wearing my white shirt, of course. My mom arrived later, and told me very matter-of-factly that she knew how many times I had come off by looking at my shirt. LOL
Oh wait - the thread title asked about one’s attitude. My attitude about ME falling off is what they used to call “unprintable”. These days it would be printed, although I suspect my language would now be called “archaic”. LOL LOL LOL
Back in the day, the instructor’s attitude was "What did you fall off for ??? " in unforgiving tones.
This was before people knew what “liability” meant. It would not be unusual to hear an instructor bellow “GET UP, GET THAT HORSE, GET BACK ON AND GET HIM OVER IT !!!”
I certainly try to avoid situations where I may be more at risk to fall off (aka I try not to make stupid decisions) but I did my fair share of falling as a kid and it has made me pretty sticky! I certainly can sit a good size buck or five and have ridden more dirty stoppers than honest horses so I feel pretty confident in my ability to stay on in those situations, but I only got to that point by eating my fair share of dirt! There is nothing wrong with falling off, I do my best to land gracefully and I’ve gotten lucky the past couple of times and been able to land on my feet. I was also encouraged by my riding instructor to do gymnastics as a child, because you learn how to fall off of things with some amounts of grace as a gymnast. When I teach people I try to make a point to make falling off be no big deal, especially when there’s crying involved. I do think a lot of it has to do with how much you fell as a kid, as stated previously, I would prefer not to fall off, but if I did I would likely be back on the horse and rolling my eyes (at myself or the horse) without giving it much thought. I do recommend Advil and a hot shower post fall though
I was also taught as a kid that you weren’t a “real rider” until you fell off 7 times. I generally fell off a few times a year as a kid and it wasn’t a big deal. Nowadays, I average a fall every 12-18 months (as I’m violently knocking on wood because I’m WAY OVERDUE :winkgrin:) and I typically shake it off and get right back on. I ride a lot of greenbeans and, ahem, naughty horses so the occasional fall is inevitable. The horses are often more alarmed by it than I am, like, “omg why is this human catapulting about?!?!” :lol:
No one wants to fall off but no matter how good you or your horse are, it is going to happen! when I first started riding back in the dark ages I would keep count of how many falls but those numbers became way too big! At 67 falling can be painful on landing and I usually swear on the way to the ground! Get up, count body parts still working, climb back on and try not to repeat!
If you fall off out hunting, you have to pop some champagne with the master(s). Some show barns have adapted this idea for juniors where you bring a pie or whatever. Takes the sting out of falling off!
Think of taking the fall gracefully as part of having good spprtsmanship. Get up, get back on, move on with the ride, smile. Extra points if you fall off into a water element!
