[livmaj]

Hey everyone!

Had my weekly lesson this morning. Was put on a horse I don't ride as often as my regular guy, but still really enjoy. He bites (we're working it out), he's got a little bit of an attitude, and he bruised my foot something fierce a couple months ago when I didn't move away fast enough.

So I tack him up, dodge the teeth, mount, and then adjust my stirrups from the saddle. This was maybe the second time I've done it from the saddle, but felt pretty good about it. I'm working on two point right now and my trainer had me try some half seat all in a trot. So I'm feeling my balance, letting go of the mane as much as I can, when I start being able to hold myself in proper position for a few steps. So cool! And then I feel myself sliding right. In a brief moment, I thought my saddle fell off. I'm falling, between horse and wall. Well ****.

Because it was a fairly slow fall, I managed to twist myself around and fall gracefully on my butt/back. I had a moment of relief when I realized I was totally fine and then felt intense pressure on my hand. Again, I hadn't moved away fast enough from this horse's feet! I don't want to pull my hand, but he eventually moves off and my hand is already swollen. I can't make a fist. Trainer and the other student come over asking what the hell happened. They thought my horse took off. He hadn't. He was actually pretty good today. He even stopped when I fell off to stare at me. I look up: saddle is still firmly attached to horse. I look over: stirrup is on the ground. It's not broken. It bloody slipped off the clip. 100% my fault.

While I could absolutely get back on, I couldn't hold the reins. My trainer ended up putting my horse away. I'm so bummed that I couldn't finish my lesson. I ended up going to see a doc a few hours later because it was so swollen, turning all sorts of colours, and I work with my hands and don't really want to mess with it. The best news is that nothing is broken and chances are it'll be healed up for next week.

Anyway, I'm glad I had my first real fall. I'm glad it wasn't bad at all. The only injury that I sustained is pretty small in the grand scheme of things. I'm ready and raring to get back up in the saddle next week and hopefully I'll have the same horse because we made great progress today!

Just wanted to share this story as my social circle isn't particularly horse-friendly and the few people I told think I'm going to die riding horses. I mean, I might, but I'd be dying happy!

 

[Horsef]

If it makes you feel any better, a lot of people manage to fall of stationary horses. I did it myself once even though at that stage I could already ride decently (w/t/c). I went on a long trail ride (30km). Towards the end we stopped for some reason. We were on a steep decline, facing downhill. The horse I was riding decided to lower his head to munch on some grass, I pulled on one of the reins and...toppled myself over face first. I had a lovely shiner for a week.

Good luck with the recovery.

 

[tinyliny]

huh? how did your stirrup come apart from the saddle?

 

[SteadyOn]

It can be such a weird relief to get it over with, eh? I started back riding a little over two years ago, after a fifteen year hiatus, and even though I had fallen off plenty as a teen, I was dreading that "first" fall now that I was back at it.

...And it wound up being such a "nothing" fall, for such a silly reason. Like most of them are. I was completely unhurt but still trying not to sob like an idiot because my adrenaline was so spiked. I've had two more, far scarier, falls since, and they didn't phase me as much.

Congrats on getting through your first one, and glad you weren't seriously hurt!

 

[Dustbunny]

Congratulations on your great attitude!!!!! Seriously!
Hopefully you and Mr. Grumpy Horse will have a better experience next time.

 

[livmaj]

If it makes you feel any better, a lot of people manage to fall of stationary horses. I did it myself once even though at that stage I could already ride decently (w/t/c). I went on a long trail ride (30km). Towards the end we stopped for some reason. We were on a steep decline, facing downhill. The horse I was riding decided to lower his head to munch on some grass, I pulled on one of the reins and...toppled myself over face first. I had a lovely shiner for a week.

Good luck with the recovery.

This... is something I could 100% see happening to me! And laugh about it afterwards through the tears XD

Thanks for the well wishes folks!

@tinyliny The stirrup leathers hook onto an open hook under the saddle flap. It's an open hook for safety. If you fall off, the horse takes off, and your foot is still in the stirrup, the leathers will come off the hook with enough force. When I adjusted my stirrups, I had accidentally moved the leathers too far over this hook, so they were no longer secure. During my ride, they just slipped off. I may not be using the correct terms, but I hope this makes sense!

Edit: I guess I could have just checked, it's called a stirrup bar. I'm not sure it's standard on all saddles for it to be open for safety, I'm really too inexperienced. This one happens to be open and it makes sense to me. It usually wouldn't fall off, but I'm a noob and didn't think about it when I adjusted my stirrups from the saddle.

 

[tinyliny]

some stirrup bars are just curved upwaard, in a 'hook' shape, to discourage the stirrup from coming off in anything other than a true emergency. Others have a hinge, and a portion of the bar flips up to block the stirrup leather from sliding off, unless there is a real hard pull.

I have the second kind of stirrup bar, and I almost never flip up the 'stopper' part, but choose to leave it flat. I have never pulled the leather off accidently. I think it's because I don't put a ton of weight into the stirrup, for better or for worse, but then I'm not jumping so dont need to put so much weight into the stirrup.

 

[Acadianartist]

My daughter once had a stirrup come right off her saddle when she was between jumps! She stayed on, but it was scary. At the time, we were using a cheap saddle (we returned it). The stirrup bar was angled weird and was the hook kind, but it slid right off. I tried putting the stirrups back on and pulling down on them, but they kept falling off. That was the end of that lesson!

Glad you're ok, overall, but hope your hand recovers quickly! I hurt my wrist a while back and it took forever to heal. One of my fingers that was also hurt is still a little crooked and painful. I probably should have had it looked at... oh well

 

[bsms]

On my Bates English saddles, the stirrup bars were pressed into the backing hard enough that it was tough to get a stirrup strap on. Not sure they would come off even in a fall. With my Aussie saddle, the stirrup bar is further away from the saddle. I've had straps come off carrying the saddle out. I've also nearly had one come off while going uphill. Stirrup straps also have differing thickness affecting how easy they slip on - or off.

 

[updownrider]

some stirrup bars are just curved upwaard, in a 'hook' shape, to discourage the stirrup from coming off in anything other than a true emergency. Others have a hinge, and a portion of the bar flips up to block the stirrup leather from sliding off, unless there is a real hard pull.

I have the second kind of stirrup bar, and I almost never flip up the 'stopper' part, but choose to leave it flat. I have never pulled the leather off accidently. I think it's because I don't put a ton of weight into the stirrup, for better or for worse, but then I'm not jumping so dont need to put so much weight into the stirrup.

I would never rely on the hinge flipping down to release a stirrup leather in an emergency. I have seen too many riders dragged. I always recommend keeping the bars open. It is not necessarily the weight in the stirrup that can cause a foot to get caught in a stirrup but the circumstances of the fall.

OP- congrats on your first fall!