First Fall.

Green Hornet

Riding for a few years and had my first fall this morning. Jumping some relatively small jumps out in the fields at a slow pace and the horse slipped and bucked when he landed. Probably spooked when he slipped. Landed on my head so needless to say I'm stiff already. I have to say that the helmets can really take a bang. Would have been a bad situation without it.

Ave Sodalis

Ouch! Hope you're alright and congrats on your first fall

Ohh, and don't forget to replace your helmet, especially since you landed on your head

My first fall was kinda silly. It was after a dog's leg and I guess I forgot to tell the horse which direction to turn after the jump... I've never been fond of dog leg's since. :P

Green Hornet

Thanks:) I'm okay I think. Neck is sore and I developed a pain in my knee and buttocks to go with it this evening. Was groggy all day but better now. No doubt it will shake my confidence a bit too. He's a devil for dropping the head anyway but I'm usually aware of that and pull his head up when he does it. I think he dropped the head after the slip and bucked as I pulled his head up. Ah well...I got away well lasting so long without a fall I guess. I dont (didn't) wear a back protector but I'll certainly be putting one on now. It normally resides in the boot. Not any more:) I'm not as good as I thought I was!

champie

Congrats 1st is the worst!!!

It's not the falling thats the problem it's the landing:D

Make sure and get back up asap you will be suprised how quick your confidence will come back

Green Hornet

champie wrote: »

Congrats 1st is the worst!!!

It's not the falling thats the problem it's the landing:D

Make sure and get back up asap you will be suprised how quick your confidence will come back

I hope the first is the worst anyway . I think the falling on my head bit made it worse than it would otherwise have been. I might have been better off if I'd had my first fall at an earlier stage too because the jumps, banks etc would have been smaller. That being said, when I did fall it was at a slow pace over a small jump :rolleyes:.

Borderfox

I had my first fall just after the snow this year and the indoor school was like falling on concrete, couldnt get back on straight away but about a week after I recovered and back up again. Didnt really make a difference to how I ride, just one of those things I suppose

pearliewhite

Unfortunate that you landed on your head- ouch! A lot to be said for wearing a good riding helmet! Speaking of helmets.....a new guy joined our lesson the last night and we were havin a jumping comp so we were all waiting behind the barrier when I look over and he's holdin his helmet in both hands- reins thrown down. Other rider told him to put it back on and he said ' i'm just lettin the heat out'??? :eek:

gigino

champie wrote: »

Make sure and get back up asap you will be suprised how quick your confidence will come back

well said, thats good advice

JDPhotography

Your a true horse rider now :P

but yea as said you should always get back up ASAP, if you leve it too long and are shaken or lost your confidence it will be so much harder to get back in the saddle.
most people now, me included when i fall i dont think about anything else apart from gettin back up and repeating the exercise to get it right.

when i do fall off, which hasn't been for a while now, i always blame myself and never the horse, thats just me though

JD

twomeys

Hi Green Hornet,

Sorry to hear about you fall but glad to hear your ok. Im going to say this and again its not a sales thing. If you landed on your head you MUST now replace that helmet. If you have another fall now it will not have the protection of a new hat and you could have a serious injury. You dont need to spend a lot on a good hat they start at €58 for a triple certified so you dont need to spend hundreds to be safe.

As for your body protector Im glad your going to start wearing it now. Just be aware and again people may or may not know this a body protector will only protect against certain types of falls, it does not protect against spinal rotational injuries.

Best of luck in the future and Im only learning myself (my partners the pro!) and Im dreading that first fall!!!

Regards,

Eoghan

Green Hornet

twomeys wrote: »

Hi Green Hornet,

Sorry to hear about you fall but glad to hear your ok. Im going to say this and again its not a sales thing. If you landed on your head you MUST now replace that helmet. If you have another fall now it will not have the protection of a new hat and you could have a serious injury. You dont need to spend a lot on a good hat they start at €58 for a triple certified so you dont need to spend hundreds to be safe.

As for your body protector Im glad your going to start wearing it now. Just be aware and again people may or may not know this a body protector will only protect against certain types of falls, it does not protect against spinal rotational injuries.

Best of luck in the future and Im only learning myself (my partners the pro!) and Im dreading that first fall!!!

Regards,

Eoghan

Thanks Eoghan. I'll look to replace the helment alright. I'm hoping to get out again on Saturday so I'll need to replace it before that. I've got to admit that there doesn't seem to be any cracks or anything but I'm sure the integrity has been damaged.

I avoided the first fall for a few years but like yourself, I always knew it was going to happen . I would have experienced a couple of dodgy moments before and got away with it so I knew it would happen eventually.

In my case the fact that the horse bucked on landing (albeit that he spooked a little) is nagging a bit at the back of my head though I must admit. Hopefully when I get back out there that will just disappear.

To be fair, I think it's the shock of the fall thats worse than the actual fall itself!

twomeys

Thats a great point to make about the hat and its one i forgot to mention. Often you will never see a crack or external damage but your right its the damage inside that you cant see thats important. The beads inside can compress, once they have compressed they offer little protection after. You might not believe me but if we drop a hat on the floor in the shop from about 1.5m we have to bin it. Any knocks even that small can do major damage. This is what we have been thought by BETA who run the courses so theres a lot of research to back it up its not just to scare people into buying more hats!!

As for the bucking after the land, can I ask why thats bugging you?

Green Hornet

twomeys wrote: »

As for the bucking after the land, can I ask why thats bugging you?

Well, I guess it's in my head because I'm a little worried that he might buck upon landing again and it's quite difficult to stay on in that position (as I well know).

I suppose if I felt that I'd actually done something "wrong" myself, at least I'd know how to fix it or at least work on it. The only thing is that it was completely unexpected but at least now I'll be a little better equipped to deal with the signs........maybe........:D

twomeys

I totally understand where your coming from now.

After discussing it with Karen and one other rider we came to the same opinion. More than likely it was a once off. Often when a horse lands like that and gets a fright they can buck for a number of reasons. A common one is they may have pinched a nerve or hurt their back, this would make them either go forward quickly or buck. It could also be an old injury that may have happened again on the awkward landing. It could also be that they got a fright themselves. From discussing it with a few people Im not sure will you have an easy answer but it looks like you may have to just get up again and see what happens. I can imagine its nerve racking but its the only way unless you call a vet or a specialist to have a look. We have known of horses having very hidden injuries and doing similar things over the years. If it happens again I can recommend people for you to have a look which may save you a lot of money.

For now though be confident, I doubt you did anything wrong. Can I ask do you wear spurs?

Green Hornet

twomeys wrote: »

For now though be confident, I doubt you did anything wrong. Can I ask do you wear spurs?

Nope. I rarely ever use a crop either.

I think you're right though, just a once off hopefully!

twomeys

Well keep us posted wont you and best of luck. Also keep an eye on your back and neck over the coming while, a fall like your one (as Karen the ex nurse was telling me) can cause hidden damage so be careful!! Hopefully it'll all have been a one off and you can get back at it this weekend..

champie

I'm sure it was just a once off a few simple things to check out some may sound silly but can cause problems

Was he recently shod shoes could be pinching
Have you changed saddle if so does it fit might need to be re stuffed or could be damaged broken tree or something
Have you changed girth do you stretch legs out before you mount to make sure no skin is being pinched
Have you changed numnah style (thick thin fluffy shape) or change washing powder that might irritate skin (thats the silly one!!!) but it has happened
Where you wearing something that could have tickled him ie open coat

But as I said at the being it was probably a once off but no harm to check some of the above to help put your mind at ease

Good luck let us know how you get on:)

jeawan

Green Hornet wrote: »

Well, I guess it's in my head because I'm a little worried that he might buck upon landing again and it's quite difficult to stay on in that position (as I well know).

I suppose if I felt that I'd actually done something "wrong" myself, at least I'd know how to fix it or at least work on it. The only thing is that it was completely unexpected but at least now I'll be a little better equipped to deal with the signs........maybe........:D

On the Bucking a few horses buck after jumps , if your horse slipped it might of got a scare i wouldn't worry about it too much . I used to Jump a horse that bucked after every fence when he was warming up and sometimes in competition . it may of being down to a cold back , but i mostly though he was just very fit and playful but it kept you on your toes .

Congrats on the first fall it happens to us all and just make sure your neck is ok if the stiffness keeps up .

Green Hornet

Went out on Saturday and was definitely more uneasy than I expected to be at the beginning. The horse knew it too and acted the maggot a bit early on but we soon got into the rhythm again. One good thing is that I sat back more coming to the fences (just in case) and jumped better than usual to be honest. I may have unconsciously gotten into the habit of being too forward before I had my fall? He did buck from excitement after one jump but I had no real issue this time. Anyway, I think I'll be grand after another few outings. Thanks for the replies. Good to know that all of ye have had tumbles before too!

jeawan

Green Hornet wrote: »

Went out on Saturday and was definitely more uneasy than I expected to be at the beginning. The horse knew it too and acted the maggot a bit early on but we soon got into the rhythm again. One good thing is that I sat back more coming to the fences (just in case) and jumped better than usual to be honest. I may have unconsciously gotten into the habit of being too forward before I had my fall? He did buck from excitement after one jump but I had no real issue this time. Anyway, I think I'll be grand after another few outings. Thanks for the replies. Good to know that all of ye have had tumbles before too!

Leaning forward too much jumping will lead to unbalancing your self anyway so sitting back coming to a fence will give you a better jumping position if you know what i mean . allot of people get too far forward after they land and if the horse dips his head or trips you often will end up on the ground.

Good to see you back in the saddle