First Spill: Yep, Ground is HARD

[Barbaro06]

It was bound to happen one day. I have been lucky for a long time when it came to tumbling out of the saddle. Today was the end of the line...I was doing my last go around on Mav (riding for the first time in a month) when I let my reins go too long. Mav was trotting over the second "flower box" when I squeezed him to get over it and he sped up a bit. I also let my heels relax at the wrong second, so I had no counterbalance to work with...I pitched forward, Mav tried to get me balanced but by then it was too late. I saw it coming and off I slid to greet the cold ground with a thud. I landed on my left hip. It took the wind out of me just enough. My left calf suddenly cramped up (go figure) and the next thing I know I'm looking straight up at the sky and Sue was kneeling next to me. She got me to breathe evenly and she did a few tests to see if I was hurt. Nope, thank God, save for a future bruise and a very, very sore right groin (those pulls are THE worst!). I didn't get back on simply because my left butt cheek and the lovely groin ache. Chereese handed me Mav who was like "where did you go?" I thanked Sue and Chereese and then Mav and I went back to the barn. He was due to work in the next go around so I untacked him and held him while his next rider tacked up. I gave him a kiss for being a good boy and left some treats with the girl to give to him when she was done.

I came home, showered, and got me some lunch. Oh yeah, I took a Motrin. I hobble a little, but I'm no worse for wear. I now feel like I'm a full fledged member of the riding world.

[spex4me]

yep nothing says love like a good looking bruise and some aches and pains lol!! better luck next time Barb!!! You'll do fine since you know where you went wrong. It's harder when you are on the ground wondering why exactly you are there in the first place!!

[Sysonby]

Chereese handed me Mav who was like "where did you go?"

This made me smile with recognition.

Years ago I owned an OTQH (really a TB with QH papers) who didn't have a mean bone in his body, never spooked at anything I can recall but who was really athletic. We'd bop around the hills around LA and all you'd have to do is shake your reins at him and he'd thunder up the side of the mountain and back down just for the sheer joy of it. He loved long trail rides.

The flip side of that is that if you did anything more sedate, you either had to lunge the snot out of him (which bored both of us to tears) or you were in for Mr Toad's Wild Ride. He also was deceptive--he could be completely quiet on the line but there was always a few bucks lurking in there if he didn't get regular daily exercise. One day it rained and he didn't get out for a couple of days and I was a little pressed for time so I chased him around with the lunge whip a couple of times and then saddled up.

I should have known better.

We got out to the field next to barn and suddenly he did this enormous leap into the air. I could almost hear him say "Wheee". I swear we went up 4 feet but he was pretty balanced so I thought "Eh, we'll just ride through it".

And then he did it again..and again...and again. By his third buck, I was getting thrown a foot out of the saddle and slowly moving off center. I think I finally came off on the 4th time up and I landed on my hip looking up at him.

The minute I left his back, he suddenly got really quiet and stood next to me peering down with a puzzled look on his face like "What are you doing down there?"

I really think he didn't realize that he had something to do with it and he couldn't figure out why I would jump off when we were having so much fun.



Advil and heating pads help a lot too.

[Barbaro06]

I'm going to have to work on my leg strength again...I noticed when I don't ride for awhile and don't work out on my legs, I have a hard time keeping the ol' heels down. Doesn't help to have tendonitis in one leg and a bum ankle from torn ligaments from long ago.

Sys...your experience sounds a lot like what one girl had to deal with with her TB. He hadn't been ridden in a long time and he was racing around the ring like he was warming up for a race. Then came a few bucks and it was time for him to cool off in the small ring. He was much better after getting his kinks out.

My yoga instructor asked her instructor about dealing with aches and pains while practicing yoga and he laughed and said "ah, you've been active in your life!"

[Sysonby]

Sys...your experience sounds a lot like what one girl had to deal with with her TB. He hadn't been ridden in a long time and he was racing around the ring like he was warming up for a race. Then came a few bucks and it was time for him to cool off in the small ring. He was much better after getting his kinks out.

That's why I own an old lady's horse now....even the very occasional spooks are in slow motion and most of the time he decides it just really isn't worth the effort.

[nferro9925]

Oh yes - the bucks are great aren't they! My cousins horse (who DID have a malicious streak) tossed me off backwards one day - he went over a creek I didn't. Split my lip but good and finding a doctor on a Sunday afternoon in very rural Virginia was not fun! My grandparents had to ask a sheriff for one! I was around 9 - 10 or so.

Barb - If you walk with a small kids ball between your knees (just above the knees) when you don't ride - that helps streengthen the thigh muscles really well.

[docjocoy]

We'd bop around the hills around LA and all you'd have to do is shake your reins at him and he'd thunder up the side of the mountain and back down just for the sheer joy of it. He loved long trail rides.

Brought back fond memories. I guess you never forget your first fall. Mine came when I was about 10 or so. I had an older QH mare that we had bought from a ranch that had gotten her from one of the studios in Hollywood. She used to be one of the horses used in Westerns back in the day, and she had several tricks that once we figured out about them were just a ton of fun. She used to rear on command, and I used to love showing off with her with my friends. My younger sister and I used to race around bareback over the fields on the Palos Verdes Peninsula (for any of you who are familiar with the area, we used to run around the little valley that is now the Peninsula Center--big fields to run the horses. One of the tricks I found out about the hard way was that if she was in a group of horses and we all raced away at the same time, she would hesitate, chase them, slide and spin. Needless to say the first time she did that I went sailing, since of course I was bareback.
I finally figured all the little commands that made her do all of that, and she was a terrific trail horse when she wasn't doing tricks. I rode her all through college and she died at about age 38.

[Toccet02]

Chereese handed me Mav who was like "where did you go?"

This made me smile with recognition.

Years ago I owned an OTQH (really a TB with QH papers) who didn't have a mean bone in his body, never spooked at anything I can recall but who was really athletic. We'd bop around the hills around LA and all you'd have to do is shake your reins at him and he'd thunder up the side of the mountain and back down just for the sheer joy of it. He loved long trail rides.

The flip side of that is that if you did anything more sedate, you either had to lunge the snot out of him (which bored both of us to tears) or you were in for Mr Toad's Wild Ride. He also was deceptive--he could be completely quiet on the line but there was always a few bucks lurking in there if he didn't get regular daily exercise. One day it rained and he didn't get out for a couple of days and I was a little pressed for time so I chased him around with the lunge whip a couple of times and then saddled up.

I should have known better.

We got out to the field next to barn and suddenly he did this enormous leap into the air. I could almost hear him say "Wheee". I swear we went up 4 feet but he was pretty balanced so I thought "Eh, we'll just ride through it".

And then he did it again..and again...and again. By his third buck, I was getting thrown a foot out of the saddle and slowly moving off center. I think I finally came off on the 4th time up and I landed on my hip looking up at him.

The minute I left his back, he suddenly got really quiet and stood next to me peering down with a puzzled look on his face like "What are you doing down there?"

I really think he didn't realize that he had something to do with it and he couldn't figure out why I would jump off when we were having so much fun.



Advil and heating pads help a lot too.

This story is hysterical. You should be a writer!
Barbaro--sorry for your fall! But you have a good horse and good attitude.