took a good fall... sry i have not been around

[h2opony]

hey all

sorry i have not been around...

i took a bad fall off a horse i am training last thursday that resulted in 20 stitches on my head, a concussion, a broken foot, and scrapes all along hte left side of my back

NO FUN!!!

[redmustangwoman1]

Oh my!!! I hope you get better soon!! Ill keep you in my thoughts and prayers.....

[patty dukes]

I hope you get better also. I have never fell off a horse thank God! was wondering if you got stomped and is why you have a broke foot? I broke my foot back in 2000 and then last November I hurt it again. this time it was the day after Thanksgiving and we had waxed the wood floors well I fell in my kitchen. I am saying this because I know what a broken foot feels like and I am here to say stay off of your foot as long as you can. I was up trying to walk too early and my foot hurts everyday now. I had to walk early I was a clutz on the crutches...........lol

[Golden Girl]

I am SO sorry to hear of your accident!!!!!! I hope that you are now doing better. I also start/train horses for other people and know how risky it can be.

A going out to you. I pray that your recovery is speedy, and that you can start riding again before too long

[wisteriafarms]

OUCH!!

Oh wow, I am glad you are okay, but sorry to hear of your injuries. Take it easy, and I hope you are feeling much better soon and able to be back in the saddle

[cher1010]

I hope you have a speedy recovery. Hope you don't mind since this link is about falling off of a horse, but I fell off of one 6 weeks ago and broke my sacrum and my pelvis. I have basically been in bed since, except for the wheel chair to get to the bathroom. Anyway, starting to improve. What I wanted to ask, tho, is I think that I fell because my stirrups were too long and one foot slipped out as we were galloping pretty fast. I wanted to get off and shorten after we had galloped earlier and I just didn't. That is how I fell. I don't have a ton of riding experience and I thought it sounded like you guys do. If anyone could give me any pointers, I would appreciate. I plan to go again in July.. That is when the doctor said I could. I used to ride some when I was younger, but have never owned my own horse. Hopefully, someday, but I am getting up there. No spring chicken.......LOL Help

[bndranch]

I guess I should be the bearer of bad news LOL. The stirrups are not there for you to keep you in the saddle. I would personally work on regaining a better seat before I went galloping out on the trail and think it was the stirrups. I know this might come across harsh but I truely don't mean for it. I am just trying to help. Remember ALL of us as riders were there once or will be or still are. If it were me or a friend of mine I would have them do exercises bareback to have them get a better seat!
Good luck and I hope you heal fast!!
Brittany

[wisteriafarms]

lol I had an instructor whose mantra was 'stirrups are a priveledge!'. Most of the lessons with her were without stirrups, but to be honest I still rely on mine much more than I should. I really realized it when my gelding tried to spin me off while I was mounting him. I only had one foot in the stirrup, and was quickly losing my seat, so I decided that I would just drop the other stirrup and bail lol. (falling on purpose hurts less than falling against your will right? hahaha) As soon as I dropped the stirrup, and my weight sank into my tush like it should instead of the lone stirrup, I had no trouble finding my seat again and bringing him under control. I stilll hate doing 2-points without stirrups though lol.

[cher1010]

Brittany, what do you mean, by a better seat?

[amby]

NO STIRRUPS!! AHHH!! J/K, I do my best to not ride without stirrups, as I have almost NO seat. It is improving everytime I ride however. Probably because if it doesn't my crazy horse will run off and leave me. LOL!!

H20Pony, I hope you heal very quickly, You too Chero. You people must learn to keep the horse between you and the ground, it hurts less.

[bndranch]

cher1010 said:

Brittany, what do you mean, by a better seat?

Your seat is just that! When you ride you rely on the way you sit a horse. Riding a horse doesn't mean you just put your feet in the stirrups and go. To truely be a good rider you need to develope a "good seat". When you ride you don't want to be leaning forward or leaning back. You want to ride squarely over your seat bones (butt bones). You legs should be under you with just the ball of your foot in the stirrups. Heels should be down and you should be looking straight head through your horses ears. Straight back, you should have a straight line from your ear to your shoulder, to your hip, to your heel.
When you are on a horse bareback you HAVE to rely on your posture and your "seat" to keep your balance. So many people will use their hands as well and all that does is rip apart the poor horses mouth. The first thing I do with people who want to learn to ride is I put them bareback in the round pen with no reins NOTHING. We start out at a walk, hands out to the side, above your head, twisting etc have to get your balance first. Then work on posture at the walk. This could take days or weeks! Then move into the trot (again bareback), you have to learn to sit that and do all the things you did at the walk. Then comes the canter same thing.
If your horse freaks out nothing is going to keep you on the horse EXCEPT your seat and posture. All stirrups do is get in the way and a GREAT place to have an accident! Do I ride with stirrups??? Yes I do, but you could take them away and I would be fine! In my horsemanship classes both english and wester I am asked to drop my stirrups and in english this means you still have to post!
I agree with Julie though doing a 2-point without stirrups is a pain in the you know what! Heck I hate doing it WITH stirrups
Good Luck and heal fast!!
Brittany

[tinypony]

awww syke that stinks!!!! hoping you get better soon!!!!!

and as far as the stirrups conversation...... i had an instructor that made us ride w/o stirrups ALL the time!!!! so of course, i hated it. some friends and i were on a trail one day cantering along and as we got ready to gallop one of my friends came to a halt because her stirrup leather broke (the metal buckle part). i gave her one of my stirrups trusting my horse more than hers (lol) and boy was i happy i had had all those no-stirrup lessons!!!!

[cher1010]

Then do you have to kinda squeeze the horse with your legs a little? I was bouncing a lot before it happened. It was very uncomfortable. Now that you are saying that I realized I couldn't get comfortable on her.

[Linda]

Oh Skye, I hope you have a speedy recovery, and the rest of you that posted here. Take care and listen to your DR Skye.

[Angie C.]

bndranch said:

cher1010 said:

Brittany, what do you mean, by a better seat?

Your seat is just that! When you ride you rely on the way you sit a horse. Riding a horse doesn't mean you just put your feet in the stirrups and go. To truely be a good rider you need to develope a "good seat". When you ride you don't want to be leaning forward or leaning back. You want to ride squarely over your seat bones (butt bones). You legs should be under you with just the ball of your foot in the stirrups. Heels should be down and you should be looking straight head through your horses ears. Straight back, you should have a straight line from your ear to your shoulder, to your hip, to your heel.
When you are on a horse bareback you HAVE to rely on your posture and your "seat" to keep your balance. So many people will use their hands as well and all that does is rip apart the poor horses mouth. The first thing I do with people who want to learn to ride is I put them bareback in the round pen with no reins NOTHING. We start out at a walk, hands out to the side, above your head, twisting etc have to get your balance first. Then work on posture at the walk. This could take days or weeks! Then move into the trot (again bareback), you have to learn to sit that and do all the things you did at the walk. Then comes the canter same thing.
If your horse freaks out nothing is going to keep you on the horse EXCEPT your seat and posture. All stirrups do is get in the way and a GREAT place to have an accident! Do I ride with stirrups??? Yes I do, but you could take them away and I would be fine! In my horsemanship classes both english and wester I am asked to drop my stirrups and in english this means you still have to post!
I agree with Julie though doing a 2-point without stirrups is a pain in the you know what! Heck I hate doing it WITH stirrups
Good Luck and heal fast!!
Brittany

Great explanations Brittany *runs and hides* oh god don't make me take off my stirrups!! lol, I HATE having to take them out, I usually have a pretty good seat but gee when it comes to having no strirrups its as if I just started riding... Maybe cause i'm a nervous wreck(with no stirrups) on the horses I ride nowadays(they are mostly horses that have been trained for a bit, but are not proffessional yet, and need work. Like I said, I know I have a good seat cause I ride one of the springyest horses in the barn, and can sit to her without bouncing much, but without stirrups its bounce bounce bounce and I lose my balance I guess I need to keep working lol...


and Skye, owwwch! Hope you heal quick!