Anyone who rides a horse enough times is going to fall off.

There is a small chance that a person could ride a horse for a significant period of time without falling off, just as there is a small chance that a person could get into a car every day and not get into a fender bender.  Do you personally know anyone who has never been in some kind of collision inside a motor vehicle?  I don’t.  Every one of my family members, friends, and acquaintances I’ve asked have at least bumped into something while inside a car.  For this reason, cars are made so passengers inside will have the least amount of possible injury in a car accident.

Just as auto manufacturers try to decrease the risk of injury in car accidents, people who ride horses should try to reduce the risk of injury when they fall off horses.  In other words, riders need to plan on falling off and prepare for it, assuming that it is almost inevitable no matter how careful you are or how well trained your horse is.

There are ways to reduce injury when falling off a horse with the use of equipment such as wearing helmets, boots or shoes with heels that won’t get caught up in stirrups, putting safety stirrups and quick release bars on your saddle, body protectors, and others.

These are all good, but one thing that is sometimes overlooked is that riders need to learn how to properly fall off a horse.  The first time I heard this, I immediately felt some anxiety.  I imagined practicing tumbling forward off the horse and trying to not break or bruise anything until I either learned how to be gymnastic or died in the process.  Something like what is shown in the video below:

While I am somewhat athletic, I could imagine this would be quite difficult with the wrong horse, wrong equipment, or wrong partner handling the horse.  This second video would also be a great way to learn if you were quite athletic and had the equipment, which the majority of us do not.

The way I was taught to prepare for falling off was to start in an arena on a bareback horse.  As the horse walks, you can practice leaning forward and wrapping your arms around the horse’s neck.  This will raise your seat off the horse’s back.  If you feel yourself losing your balance, slide your right leg over the horse’s back and slip to the ground while still lying forward on the horse’s neck.

This is a good way to introduce yourself to the idea that if you lose your balance, it is easy to simply dismount.  A common problem people have when unused to falling is that they are afraid of getting hung up in the saddle or other tack.  This is one reason why it is good to begin learning to fall off while riding bareback.  Here is a rider demonstrating an easy dismount from the bareback position.  If you are truly unbalanced, you will want to lean forward even more so you can control your departure from the horse better.  It is easier to have some control over your landing if you slide to the side and roll away from the horse.  Also, if you are truly falling due to losing your balance from a spook, etc, you are more likely to stay on for a second or two if your instinct is to lean forward and grab onto your horse, and your upper body will stay with your horse which leaves you free to kick your legs over and even possibly land on your feet.  If there is no chance of landing on your feet, try to get as close to the ground as possible before letting go of the horse with your arms.

Riders who have practiced landing on their feet will have this goal (hitting their feet first) in mind.  Even when the horse is going too fast or the momentum of falling knocks you off your feet, you will tend to then land on your buttocks, which will help absorb the force of the fall.

As you practice falling off your horse at the walk and trot while riding bareback, think about a real fall and how if your body were to hit the ground it would be important to tuck your shoulders and not extend your hands or arms, which are easily fractured.

The next step is to work on dismounting quickly from the saddle in an emergency.  A quick dismount is something that I have found myself using on many, many occasions when riding.  While a fall is uncommon, I’ve found that I may need to get off horses quickly on a regular basis.

Notice now in this video, the rider’s knowledge of how to do an emergency dismount results in her immediately responding in that position when she loses her balance.  This means she lands nearly on her feet, and the impact of her fall is reduced greatly.

Getting very good at leaping off your horse will help you out tremendously.  It will keep you from hesitating too long and finding yourself in a bad situation.  The motto I’ve adopted after riding many “square” horses is: “If in doubt, dismount.”  When I’m riding down a narrow road and hear a low rumble that might be a double trailer truck; I get off.  If my horse lets out a snort that can be heard a mile away and starts springing up and down like a pogo stick; I hop off.

You can of course modify your own emergency dismount based on what works best for your body mechanics.  Personally, I prefer to put my hands on the pommel of the saddle and push off from there.  My horse’s neck might be down low where I can’t easily reach it in case of an emergency, and the pommel is always right there in front of me.  As well, I sort of “push off” from the stirrups instead of taking my feet out before initiating the dismount.  I push down with the ball of my right foot in the stirrup, which gives the foot momentum to come out of the stirrup quickly.  As my right foot comes over the back of the saddle, I simultaneously kick out of the left stirrup and jump backwards off the horse while pushing myself off the pommel to ensure I go up and out of the left stirrup instead of getting hung up.  It is my experience that in some out of control situations, the horse is going up, down or sideways and if you get rid of the stirrups too soon before pushing off the horse, you will find yourself banging against the saddle and getting tossed around instead of cleanly dismounting.

My friends can show you the funky, crooked fingers that result from the fractures caused by trying to hold onto a horse you have fallen off of.  While it is a noble sentiment to keep your horse safe by not losing the reins, a person cannot stop a bolting horse while standing upright on the ground, much less when being dragged behind him.  If you get knocked out while being dragged, you will do the horse no good.  It’s better for the horse to get loose and have you in good condition to save him or take care of any injuries he incurs.

Many times, your reins will be gathered up in your hands before an emergency dismount or fall because you have been attempting to slow the horse.  After gathering up the horse as well as you can, use your open hands to push off the pommel and drop the reins.  Sometimes they will still get looped through your arm if you have closed reins, but that is preferable to having them tangled in your fingers.  An open loop will tend to slide off after you fall rather than drag you.

One caveat I will mention is that if you practice “falling off” and emergency dismounts in an arena or on a flat surface, you must bear in mind the surface you will be dismounting onto when riding in other places.  On several occasions I nearly sprained my ankle by quickly leaping off my horse and landing on an uneven surface or in a hole in the ground.  So be careful if the footing where you are riding is not flat and hard.

Notice how the following rider practices what many experienced riders do: leaning forward and grabbing the horse’s neck after losing his balance.  If he had not managed to stay on the horse, he still had a good chance of getting his legs clear of the horse and heading toward the ground if he had not been able to regain the saddle.  He also could make sure his head and neck didn’t hit the ground first, which is extremely important.

Not every fall is going to work out well.  However, by practicing falling and quick dismounts, by thinking ahead and having some goals in mind (trying to get clear of the saddle, landing on your feet, staying as close to the ground as possible before leaving the horse and doing a tuck and roll rather than putting out hands and arms to stop yourself), you can help minimize the risk of serious injury when coming off a horse.