Yes, it goes without saying that bailing off a runaway horse is strictly
a last resort to be used after all brakes have failed, and one is faced
with imminent doom. I never meant to imply otherwise. But if you ever
need to bail, knowing how to launch & land is a big plus.
Most endurance riders are pretty athletic, & I'll bet lots of people use
the "vaulting" tecnique without even realizing it, i.e., to jump on &
off to run with the horse for a while, and to dismount quickly when
coming into a vet check. (Some of you may remember seeing Farzad
"vaulting" off & on my horse Raffalin during rides in the Pacific South;
he made it look easy and smooth!). It's not that difficult and not
really very dramatic when the rider is in rhythm with the horse. So the
emergency dismount/vault technique is useful as a time-saver in many
situations. And I use a version of it for regular dismounts, as I feel
it is safer to drop both stirrups and jump off than to dismount with a
foot in a stirrup, whether the horse is standing or in motion.
As for the brakes, I've been on horses that could run straight forward
while being "doubled"! I find that the pulley rein works best for me,
as I'm not very big & it gives me the leverage to get the point across.
Getting them stopped within the first few strides before the "G" forces
build (!) helps, too.
SZ
http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/archives/past/02/33/msg00009.html
