Hello! This conversation about falling
off horses safely has made me feel
slightly more "average" as I thought I was a rare one out
there in the horse world who has been bucked and thrown more than they
deserve. Sure enough, yesterday I went riding on a horse that has not
bucked before, and he bucked (not very
hard)! Thankfully, I stayed on until the bucking ended but
then I dismounted. That was probably the wrong thing to do but I got
nervous.
As a teenager I had balance, athleticism as I was
in gymnastics, plenty of guts and a green broke horse. Little
did I know how much I had going for me!! Things are different now after
many moons and 8 kids. I don't have abs any more to work in sync with my
strong peasant stock legs. I'm basically a train wreck but I still like
to ride horses! Maybe they should take away my license!
I also skydived and learned the "five point roll"
in which you distribute the fall on the feet, the fatty part behind the calf,
the upper thigh as you roll, the opposite hip and the opposite shoulder.
It really does work when falling off a horse, *given the right circumstances*,
but not always. In skydiving (eons ago using WWII parachutes), they
made us jump off a fairly high structure backwards doing this falling
technique. This is probably similar to the technique used
by stunt persons in the movies.
I'm always amazed at the cowboys in the
rodeo...they seem to land on their feet after all
that bucking. I've seen my husband take the same
approach and just walk away.
Personally, I think each falling episode is
different. Some falls can be controlled better than others. Also,
I agree that the training does kick in instinctively and it's worth it
even tho it's not going to protect you in every fall. I sometimes
visualize myself falling off a horse as safely as possible. I can't say
I've deliberately thrown myself off a horse in practice but I bet it
would be worth it to take that kind of training even at this late
date.
By the way, I started using equestrian
helmets with my family since joining this group but I have one wee helmet question:
I'm wondering if anyone has found their helmet to
be in the way during a fall?
My horse trainer does not use
helmets when riding or in her riding classes with the students. Her
argument against the use of equestrian helmets is that a person can
injure themselves more when falling with a helmet...she believes that you don't
fall as safely when you're wearing a helmet because you've got
an awkward bulky mass on your head which can interfere with the
fall and contribute to injuries. (We did wear helmets in
skydiving but not when we practiced falling.) She does
humbly admit that she fell onto lava rock and split her head open requiring
numerous stitches but this has not changed her view on helmets. It
has freaked out her family tho and this lady is approaching her
sixties!
