Falling From Horse.

If you ride, you’ll fall off.

Even the quietest, most well-schooled horses can spook, bolt or buck. This can result in an ‘unscheduled dismount’. There is no way to completely avoid falls when you’re riding. There is no way to guarantee you’ll fall without injury, even the injury can an interior one, I mean without any wound, like hairline fractures, dislocation of the arm bones, cervical problems, backache issues and so on..

I doubt very much that anyone enjoys falling, be they amateur or professional. But, honestly, unless you restrict all your riding to simple arena or trial riding on only the most older-horses, I doubt that any rider can go forever without the odd involuntary dismount.

It isn’t a particular surprising that you’ve experienced a few falls since you’ve begun to challenge yourself with more difficult jumping courses. You just don’t want to make a habit of it! Even your push-button horse, if he has experienced competing at a higher level, will move and jump quicker and with more power than what you might have ridden up to now.

 When a rider falls as a result of refusal or run-out, it is essential that both the insecurity of the rider and the reason for the “denial” by the horse are addressed before continuing on. Simply hoping that the refusal won’t happen again is a poor response! A run-out is purely a ‘steering’ issue. Even the nicest horse can quickly learn that approach to a fence offers two options: over or around.

These kinds of refusals almost always result from horse:

👉Being confused due to the rider’s interference in the last stride or two.

👉 An inappropriate peace or balance for the take-off spot arrived.

👉A real lack of confidence on the part of the horse and/or rider to successfully negotiate the jump on that attempt.