To Alison re Tripping

[California Horse Adventures <wendyl@jps.net>]

Alison.. here's my 2 cents since you asked for it. I ride a horse that
trips fairly consistently. I ride with a light contact and when he trips
I always pull him up from it and he goes on just fine. A couple of times
I just let him go to see what would happen and he fell to his knees.
He is far too valuable to let that happen. I have no idea what all that
hot air about reaction time is all about. It is pure reflex for me to
pull him up at the moment he trips and my timing is never off.
Before I learned to ride in balance I used to ride without contact and
not be cognizant of my body position and I had horses fall right down
on the ground. I am not a proponent of "let them do what comes naturally"
because it is not NATURAL for horses to have to balance 100 plus pounds
on their back when running around their pastures. Just the phrase
"natural horsemanship" is an oxymoron.