In the August issue of Practical Horseman, we published a story with Danny Warrington and Mike Pilato on making falls safer ("Heads Up! Rethinking Fall Safety").

Have YOU ever had a bad fall? If you were taught how to fall, did it help you during the situation? Would/could you have done anything differently if it happened again? Do you currently do anything to help prepare you for future falls? Share your experiences.

 I have fallen a couple of times, but none of them have benn real bad. I wasgetting ready to do some bounces and my horse stopped right in front of the second bounce and I went over her head and landed on the jump. I had bruised my ribs but that was it. Then later that day I was riding her around the arena and she ran straight towards the fence. Instead of turning, she did a sliding stop and I went over her again and onto the fence, hitting my ribs again. I think she was just in a bad mood that day. Now I am aware of her ears and face before I ride her to see if she is having an "off" day. If she is, I'll just brush her and and do some very light ground work.

Stacey-mod:

Have YOU ever had a bad fall? If you were taught how to fall, did it help you during the situation? Would/could you have done anything differently if it happened again? Do you currently do anything to help prepare you for future falls? Share your experiences.

I feel that being involved in rodeo has helped me learn 'how to fall safely' somewhat with the tuck and roll deal, but with me, experience has been the best teacher!  If I can help it and I get in a bind with a bucking horse that I think I can handle, I'll stay on and ride through it, but unfortunately the horse sometimes has other ideas so I don't always make it.  Then there's the horse that sees the monster that comes out of nowhere, which happened to me right in the middle of a drill pattern one time in the middle of the arena during a rodeo.  He went one way, and me and the flag went the other.  Those are a little harder to prepare for, but practice helps

I have had quite a few falls, especially when I was learning how to jump, but none of them were really terrible ::kicking on wood:: The worst one was in a lesson with a girl I had not been in a lesson with before. Her horse and my horse loooove each other. It's ridiculous. During the lesson her horse started acting squirrely, which was out of character for him. I started to do a course and we came around to this line and we got right up to the jump, I sware her front feet started to come off the grouns like she was going to jump it, and then immediately she darted to the left of the jump. My body was still going with the momentum of the jump that I thought was going to happen but my feet were still with her so I slammed into the jump standard with my shoulder. Grabbed it to kind of fling it away from us because I didn't want it screwing up her legs and I had to emergency dismount. I landed on my feet but the momentum threw me to my knees. My shoulder hurt for weeks after that and it still hurts if I sleep on it wrong sometimes. 

I have never been taught to fall. I still hold onto the reins even though I tell myself not to.  There is just so little time to think.

A running joke among my friends is that I know how to fall better than I know how to ride, and I think there's some truth to this. 

The last time it happened, I didn't have much warning. I was loping along behind a group on the trail and decided to slow to a trot because I could feel my horse getting a little competitive with the horse in front. I figured he wasn't listening to me, so I reached over (bad move) to pull up on one rein to do a one-rein stop, and dang if he didn't stop -- just like that -- when I asked him to. Over I went. Ouch.   

My worst fall was jumping.  The horse had been really backed off and looky all lesson, so when I flubbed the distance I expected him to chip.  I threw my weight back to brace for it just as he went for it from almost two strides out, I bounced off the cantle, and kept going.  I flew over his head in the air and landed first, head first and kind of stunned, and glanced up to see his shod hooves coming down right on top of me.  I had the presence of mind to throw my head out of the way so only my hand was shattered.

My worst accident with a horse was actually while I was leading one.  He got spooked from behind, and as he jumped his shoulder knocked me down.  He then proceeded to flee, like any hot two and a half year old would, and ran right over top of me stepping hard on my skull.  This guy was sharp-shod for the track, by the way.  And actually, you know the dance in place thing they do when they get on a surface they don't trust?  He did that on my body, and all I could do was curl up, cover the back of my neck with my hands, and wait for him to get off me.  At that point I bounced back to my feet and hollered to find out who had caught him, much to the horror of the paramedics who'd seen the whole thing (hey, he was worth several years' earnings!)  I was an interesting collage of hoofprints for a while after that, the black eye was legendary and I had a pretty good concussion.  No wonder my hubby thinks every horse I touch is going to kill me somehow!

Stacey-mod:

Have YOU ever had a bad fall? If you were taught how to fall, did it help you during the situation? Would/could you have done anything differently if it happened again? Do you currently do anything to help prepare you for future falls? Share your experiences.

I have had more falls than I could possibly count, although *knocks on wood* none have been serious. I've gotten banged up and had my ego severely bruised on multiple occasions, but have had no major injuries either to me or the horses.

I really wish that I had been taught to fall properly, as I'm sure it would have helped in many situations. Usually, it happens so quickly that I don't have time to think about it. At least I seem to always instinctively protect my head.

There was one horse that I rode, Killian, who still holds the record for making me fall off the most amount of times in the shortest time period. This guy was so notorious for getting anyone off that even our pro rider refused to get on him. Well, one day my trainer called me and said, "Go get on Killian." Those were all the instructions I was given, and I had no clue what all of the pre-ride instructions and gear requirements were, so I tacked Killian up with just the saddle, bridle and breastplate, and jumped on him without spurs or a crop.

The first part of our ride was uneventful - the walk and trot both ways was beautiful. Then I asked him for the canter...and half a second later I was on the ground. It happened so quickly that I had no clue what had even happened. I got back on, walked, trotted, asked for the canter...BAM, on the ground again! He would rear up and spin to the side so quickly that it completely threw me off balance; there was absolutely no way to avoid falling. This happened once more, and I was starting to get a bit frustrated (especially since I hadn't fallen off in over 5 years).

My trainer arrived at this point and asked how things were going. I said, "Well, I've fallen off three times. Other than that, it's going well." I was told that I should have lunged Killian beforehand, put draw reins on him, worn spurs, and carried a crop upside down so I could give him a quick bat between the ears if he tried to rear. These were all things that would have been useful to hear before I got on the horse!

Since then, I have learned to always ask a lot of questions before getting on a horse that I don't know. If I am aware of any issues the horse might have, I can at least prepare a plan for how I will handle the situation and be aware of any warning signs in order to prevent a mishap.

I was told by an old British women, You have to fall off 7 good times to be a good rider.  I think I have met my limit many times.

 I have been taken to the hospital two times by ambo for good falls.  I luckily came out with no major injuries.

 First was 1995 competing at USPC showjumping Championships riding a large pony.  Last ride I was going into a 3'6" triple and first fence was an oxer.  Culpepper Va had dead trees in the ring and the pony thought it was the ground line.  She took off and then put her front feet back down and tried to jump again.  Well she crashed the fence and luckily I went the other direction and slid on my stomach and then completed a full circle inside out, at one point all my weight being on my head.  I was lucky that I had a safety vest on!  I must say the local hospital was very good with neck injuries.  I was in the room right next to where Christopher Reeves was when he was a patient there.

Safety vests and approved helmets do help a lot!

I'm a riding instructor and once a student feels comfortable on the horse we have a "falling off" lesson.

I teach them to wrap their arms around the horses neck, take their feet out of the stirrups and slide off. We start off at a stand still and progress up through the gaits. Knowing this gives them a lot of confidence.

I know it's saved me a few times from getting hurt. 

Mine wasn't really a fall – I bailed off a bucking horse. The mare wasn't used to spurs and when I accidentally touched her sides, she began to buck. I rode three bucks then allowed myself to come off. Too bad I didn't know how to land (it's not the fall that hurts, it's the landing). I landed on my wrist, breaking it in two places. I wish I had had lessons in how to do an emergency dismount; I'm sure that would have helped.

I had a bad fall when I tried to go riding by myself.  My horse spun suddenly with no warning for the barn.  I remember thinking, oh no I am falling off this really tall horse.  I dont remember much else but he stepped on back of my helmet which knocked me out.   I guess the blow keeps me from remembering anything else.  The concussion was pretty bad.  I spent about five days in the hospital.  I remember thinking I need to get up but do not remember walking back to the barn and untacking my horse.  Fortunately someone was home that took me to the hospital when they saw me throwing up.  I think I may have held onto one of the reins which pulled him over me since there was a bruise on my ring finger on the right .  My left shoulder had a bruise.  If it hadnt been for the head injury it wouldnt have been a bad accident.  I have been trying to picture what to do if it ever happens again and the thing of grabbing onto the neck and swinging off sounds good.  I am definitely imagining throwing away the reins.  I always keep my feet not too far in the stirrups just on the ball of my foot and wear riding boots so hopefully wont ever get my foot caught.  I always wear a helmet and try to get others too especially since the accident.  I have read to never ride alone and I guess they are correct but it is hard to always have someone to ride with.  I dont think I would ever be comfortable riding alone after this.  Maybe on another horse.  I may send my horse for some training. 

 Yes, I have had a bad fall. Well, two really. I'm not going to go into details because I've spent years recovering emotionally from them. In the first one I was knocked out temporarily (this was before helmets even existed, yes I am that old) and in the second one I broke a vertebra. I won't count the fall where I broke my nose and strained both wrists. I suppose "learning how to fall" might have helped the second time, but learning how to ride and stay upright would have been better!

 After my second fall, what I did differently was spend a lot of time visualizing the accident in my mind and imaging riding to a better outcome. That helped me get back on the horse, but it took a long, long time before my fear receded. It will never go away completely, but it's manageable now.

 Maybe it's because I was never taught, but I'm a little skeptical of the real value of "learning how to fall." Are there any studies on whether it really helps?

I've had two bad falls. The first was when I was about 20. The horse slammed on the brakes right before the jump. I went over it without the horse, scooped up a mouth of sand and scraped up my face. Was sore for a few days and that was that. The second time was April 2008, 30 years later. I had just finished a groundwork session with my husband's mare, Chic, and decided to hop up bareback for a short trip around the arena before putting her away (something I routinely do with my own horse, Scout). She was fidgity and in retrospect gave me all the signs that I should not get on her bareback, but I was stupid and attemped to hop up anyway. I never really got completely seated before she scooted her butt to the right. I grabbed for mane to do an emergency dismount but missed her mane. I slid off to the left, landed on the inside of my left foot and my knee bent to the inside. Final outcome, smashed upper tibia repaired with a plate, 7 screws and synthetic bone. I started riding again last August. Just this passed April I realized that I no longer walk with a limp. Lessons learned: 50-year-olds don't bounce like 20-year-olds; heed any warnings the horse may give you; don't get over-confident; and remember which side the horse's mane is on (Chic's and Scout's are on opposite sides and I grabbed for Scout's mane!).

 My bad fall actually saved my life.  I had been having breathing issues & panic attacks for no "real reason".  I kept going to the doc.  & was labelled as "needy".  Well 2 yrs. ago Sept. 9th.  I was jumping my mare,  when I became unseated.  I was riding in my endurance style, gaited saddle.  NOT made for jumping!  Long sturrups, etc...   I became stuck in front of the saddle.  My horse was amazing!  She never bucked and almost tried to regain me.  After I fell she stood over me & kept the other horses away!  I remember my husbands voice yelling she's going to step on her!  Get her fast!  But she was protecting me.  It was amazing!!!  Prior to this fall, when I was having a panic attack, she would know right before & would slow down to a stop & stand still til I was through it. 

I was wearing my helmet!  Thank God, because it was broken on my fall, not my head.  As I was falling I was thinking, at least I'll be landing in the sand. Well the sand is not as soft as it looks.  I ended up with 6 fractures on 3 ribs & a severely separated shoulder which required surgery.

The day after my fall, I stayed home alone, my husband had work.  The day after my sister, a nurse-practitioner in neurology, was at my house to lend me a hand.  I got up to go the bathroom, in my hospital gown still, & became confused & dizzy.  I made it to the bathroom & attempted to remove my under wear with my non- broken arm.  Something felt odd as I could not feel anything with my left hand.  I then fell head first into my tub.  Not understanding what was going on, I procceeded to scream for help.  My sis heard my fall & came in & pulled me out of the tub.  She told my mother, who had also come to help out, that I had just had a stroke & to call 911.  I kept yelling out that I was fine, but no words came out of my mouth.  It was very frustrating.  I went to a local hosp. where they did a cat scan & said I had a large blood clot that had already killed off a sauage sized part of my right brain.  They took me by helicopter to Redwood City Kaiser, where my sis had a neurosurgeon friend.  I had another stroke start as I was being prepped to leave.  I can remember praying in the helicopter for my healing.  When I arrived the doc was shocked that the clot had disolved & he did a full work up.  Apparently he found my lungs were filled with blood clots, 2 of which were in my pulminary arteries almost completely closing them off.  I would have died instantly any day if not found. The cause was a 1" hole & aneurism in my heart. They were fixed & I am now healed with a bit of balance issues. The doc put my story  in the doc journal as a miracle!  If I would not have fallen, my sis would not have been at my house & I was certainly dead!  2 weeks before my 40th b-day.  I am riding again & love my mare!!!  She definately  knew I was having issues!!!  

My fall saved my life!!!!