Another way is to find someone who trains
skydivers, military or civilian. It’s been a few years since I last
jumped, but I’m sure they still teach “ParachuteLandingFalls”. (PLF)
The concept is to compact your body and spread the energy by a roll. If you
practice it enough, you just do it automatically. In about 50 years of
riding, I’ve been off a lot....of some pretty rank horses…and the
worse that’s happened is the loss of a lot of skin.
Jim, Sun of Dimanche+, and Mahada Magic
From:
ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of abigail Madden Sent: Saturday, July 10, 2004 5:29
PM To: Deblyons54@xxxxxxx;
ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [RC] falling safely
I'm with your husband. You CAN learn to fall safely, but like
anything else it takes a lot of practice. You're correct in that when you
are flying through the air at great height, speed, velocity, you really don't
have time to "think" about what you're doing. That's where lots
of training takes over. The muscle memory goes to work and you fall
appropriately. Gymnastics and martial arts are great for this (I have
experience in both and currently teach defensive tactics that include
falling). Like anything else, its baby steps first. You start at a
very low height (i.e. squatting) and then just kind of lay down in the appropriate
position whether you're doing a front, side, or back fall. As you
get better, you increase the height and speed. It is difficult to learn,
but its one of those things that sticks with you once you get it right (thank
goodness, because I seem to fall off all the time at speed). The
important thing is to find somebody who is qualified to teach you how to fall,
not just tell you to tuck and roll.
Good luck!
abigail
Chico,
CA
Deblyons54@xxxxxxx
wrote:
"If I were describe myself with way, for me, this would be another
thing
to "practice at home." :)
I am personally of the opinion that one of the most important things to
know how to do in order to avoid serious riding injuries is to know how
to fall off without getting hurt, and yes, there are ways to practice
this (and much of it can be done without a horse)."
My husband has done martial arts his entire life and insists that I can
learn to fall safely. I challenged him to fall off the bed "safely",
which is a good bit different from falling while standing or being thrown in a
martial arts or wrestling throw. He has never taken me up on it - so how do you
fall off the 5 feet from a horses back safely? I had a serious injury in a
spook, spin and bolt a few years ago. We were meandering at a walk after a
wonderful relaxed trot/canter and a bird flew up in front of him. There was no
time to react and I was flying through the air and broke my back when I hit.
Now I think about it - how could I have fallen "safely" at that
velocity, from that height at that speed?
