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My first emergency dismount, from Mia...while at a full stop!

12K views 40 replies 27 participants last post by  bsms 
#1 ·
Today was supposed to be my second day checking out Mia in a new bit. It turned into the day I first practiced an emergency dismount...from a total standstill. And it looks like a Motrin kind of night tonight...

Everything started off normal. Just a day for riding in the arena, since the wife & youngest daughter are out of state on vacation, and the two oldest are married and out of the house. Cleaned Mia off, saddled her up and mounted. sat still & scratched her withers. Scootched [technical term for wiggled some] to get my legs loose and deeper in the saddle. Started at a walk. Did some easy turns. Neck reining well. Then...

Well, I don't rightly know. She exploded. I instinctively pulled with the left rein because her balance is better to the left. We did a full 360, and continued around for another 180, since we stopped facing the opposite direction. Imagine a horse galloping in a 5 foot diameter circle. But she stopped.

Hmmm. What is wrong with this picture? Why is my left foot level with her back? Why is the saddle horn parallel to the horizon, and the saddle completely on her right side? It wasn't like this about 5 seconds ago!

She seemed to be wondering the same thing. I tried to get it upright, but no doing. I had tightened the saddle to its normal hole - one punched between the regular holes and the only one like it so it is impossible to miss. The saddle was on tight...and sideways. She was standing still, but she was obviously waiting for me to give her a good explanation, and getting concerned that I wasn't giving her one.

I wanted to say, "This is an advanced dressage technique, where you ride the right side of the horse. Later you switch to the left side, and that way your horse gets even exercise." But you know, I don't think Mia was going to buy it!

So with my left foot level with her back, and Mia becoming more concerned with time, I said to myself, "Bob, you're copulated!" I didn't use "copulate". I used another verb, one pithier and a bit more expressive of how I felt. "Do you know what an emergency dismount is, Mia?", I asked. Her ears were swiveled, but I felt the time for conversation was over. I slipped my feet out of the stirrups and pushed off as hard as I could onto the concrete floor of the arena.

Technically, it isn't concrete. Technically, it is Arizona dirt. Arizona dirt and concrete are, however, closely related!

Meanwhile, Mia practiced the emergency dismount part where she went a buckin' and a snortin' and a fartin' off past me as I rolled away from her. As I pulled myself up, I saw her sprinting for the place of ultimate safety - the corral.

I limped over and took hold of the reins. Then I had a dumb idea. Imagine that - me with a dumb idea! Who would have guessed? I tried to upright the saddle from the ground. No doing. For one thing, the saddle was still tight. For another, Mia spun in a 360 around me and took off doing the whole "a buckin' and a snortin' and a fartin' " thing again. There are a lot of reasons why no one has ever called me "Twinkletoes"...I weebled and wobbled and did a slow motion fall on to some rocks. In the places that Arizona dirt isn't concrete, it is rock. In fact, the rocks may be the soft spots.

I pulled myself upright in time to see Mia fall flat on her side at a full gallop. She got up and galloped to the far side of the corral. I limped over again, and she started dancing around before I even got there, threatening to bolt. I was a bit perturbed by this point. "What Would Clinton Anderson Do?", I asked. Then I decided CA could go copulate. I picked up a rock about half again bigger than my fist, and chucked it at Mia. Caught her on her rump, and she took off again. I met her back at the point we had parted ways after I tried to shove the saddle upright, and she stopped next to me and hung her head. At least THAT was better! I would have asked, "What Would Parelli Do?", but I didn't have a carrot stick to shove up her nether regions.

So this time, I stood on the side where the nylon off-billet was. Nylon is slippery. I clipped the reins to the rope halter under her bridle (something I should have done earlier), and gently eased the nylon just off the tongue of the cinch. It wasn't easy, because the cinch was tight. When I finally got it loose, I stood back and let it drop.

Mia bolted east, but I was ready...I bolted north. When we both hit the end of the rein, she was spun around 180 facing the saddle on the ground. I rubbed her nose, told her it was OK, and put her in the corral.

The story will continue after some Motrin. I'm too old for days like these.
 
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#34 ·
Just a short update. I sent off to Steele to try their "Fit to the Horse" program:

Steele Saddle Tree LLC - Fit To The Horse

After talking with them, they sent me their "D" tree form. It seems to fit OK to me, although I plan to talk to the folks at Steele next week.



It turns out their "D" tree is almost a perfect match for the tree of our Circle Y Mojave saddle that both Trooper and Mia have used many times and seems to work well for them (not for me - it hurts my knees). However, comparing it to the CA/Martin saddle I used, it reveals...yes, the saddle is too wide, both horizontally and in angle. Padding up can make it comfortable enough for her, and she rides well in it, but it will also leave the saddle prone to slipping. Sooooo...I've had my Aussie saddle adjusted to fine tune its fit, and we're back to using it. At least, until I find a western saddle that fits both me and my horse.

It is frustrating. Two western saddles. One fits me beautifully, but doesn't match my horse. One fits my horse, but hurts my knees. Drat!
 
#35 ·
I can relate a little bit with your story! I had a lesson this morning but obviously didn't have my girth done up tight enough. I ended up sideways at the canter (on the lunge). My poor horse couldn't work out what the heck I was doing!
Fortunately I managed to do an emergency dismount and still end up on my feet :)
 
#37 ·
Mia actually did take a pretty bad fall. A section of skin about the size of my hand went bare, and one about the size of my palm eventually peeled off. I tried getting on her about a week later, and she spent several minutes dancing around and not wanting to stop. When I did get her stopped, I got off quickly.

I figured there were two possible reasons why: 1) her back was still sore and it hurt for me to be on it, or 2) the whole thing scared her, and when she gets scared she doesn't like me to dismount. It is something I've gone thru with her many times...she's nervous, and I'd swear that she views my getting off as meaning I've decided to run away, and therefor she should run away too. She'll stop, but the feel of my leg moving for a dismount causes her to bolt before I can get off...NOT FUN. There have been several times where I ended up pulling the reins to one side, wrapping a couple of loops around the horn, and getting off during the second it takes her to get straightened out. Then she leaps forward, maybe knocking me down or maybe not, then she stops and looks at me as if to say, "You aren't coming too?" Then she comes and waits for me to make the 'bad thing' go away.

I managed to get very worried about riding her because those "You can't leave me!" moments always hurt. So a month later, when her skin had healed, I rode her again when my wife was around in case things went bad. I mounted, stiff and tense.

Mia's response?
"Why have you been riding That Appy and not me? I'm much better looking! You sure seem tense. Is it the jogging you've been doing? Or did That Appy act badly for you? Oh well, you're with ME now! I'll walk and wait for you to relax. You want to do figure 8s? I don't...but since you're having a bad day, I guess we can. You've had this saddle adjusted for a better fit? For ME?! Why yes, it does fit better...but it is smaller than the western one. Does it make my butt look big? I mean, one wants to have a butt, but not too much butt, if you know what I mean. Glad to see you are starting to relax. Breathe deep and snort a few times...that helps me. Maybe you could put a copper penny in your mouth and pretend it is a roller. That helps me too. Shake your head back and forth, blow hard and sigh...works every time. Almost. You don't need to worry. I'll take care of us both!"
In short, after all my worrying and concern, she was content as could be just to be ridden again. No worrying about her saddle, she stopped fine, and she didn't fuss when I dismounted. That can be the trouble with fear. Sometimes it is rooted in reality, and needs to be listened to, while other times it is entirely in our imagination, and needs to be overcome. How does one know the difference?
 
#41 ·
I updated another older thread, and thought I'd update this one at the same time. People sometimes stumble across an older thread, and I thought sharing what I've learned since this happened might be helpful.

Since these older threads sometimes pop up, I want to update it with the current info:

I've spent about 3 months getting, trying and returning saddle trees. It could be done faster, but we had a fridge and drier to replace in the middle of it, and that put a damper on my finances.

Here is a picture I took today of the tree that I think is going to be the basis for her next saddle:



The blanket was recommended because the actual saddle with have leather between the wood and the horse, and the fit can be deceptive when using just a plain tree. Here is how the plain tree fit, however:



I think I've emailed about 60 or 70 pictures, and these are just a sample. Even when you get down to a bare tree, judging saddle fit is more art than science. A custom tree would give a better fit, but this should be close enough for most use. I think it would be considered a "semi-quarter horse bars" tree, although actual angles and shapes vary from one maker to another.

By comparison, here is the saddle I'm currently using:



She moves well in it, surprisingly so, but I think you can see how padding it up could lead to it slipping sideways. I haven't bought a pulling collar or breastcollar because I think what she really needs is a saddle that fits.

In the meantime, I have continued riding using the above saddle and a pad that is about 3/4" thick. I think it is less likely to come off if she spooks hard that way...but I'll feel a lot more confident on a trail surrounded by rock and cactus if I can get her a saddle that fits her reasonably well!
 
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