So the twit twins were back. The same self-entitled pricks who I have had to on more then one occasion physically pull off their horses. This time asshat 1 decides he’s going to do what he wants regardless of what he’s told and how stupid he is. So he decides he’s going to jump the horse regardless.
Needless to say when your balance is shit at a trot it’s not magically going to get better over a jump. Particularly a bigger jump.
Horse caught the rail which wouldn’t have been a problem as the jumps are designed to fall apart should the horse hit the rail (unlike cross-country hence why I consider it unnecessarily dangerous and even cruel). Except that he had absolutely no business jumping and no balance and was an idiot. So the horse fell because he was unbalanced due to rider error. Which caused the rider to fall off.
Because the reins were held way to long when the horse fell he put a leg through the loop of the reins. A horse is a prey animal, it’s first instinct is to run. Nothing sets that off like potential damage to their best defence, their legs.
Unfortunately for me (and fortunately for the brat) I do have some morals. Not many but they do exist.
I know three things would happen without doing anything. The horse would try to get up. The horse would fail to get up as the reins tangled around his legs. The horse would then panic and very likely severely injure or kill the rider.
1500lbs is not something you want flailing about you.
So I went to move in before the horse could try to stand as there are ways to keep a horse down with resorting to ropes or cruelty. It’s simple physics. Unfortunately dipshit who might have been helpfully knocked out in the fall chose then to start screaming bloody murder. Which of course scared the shit out of the horse.
He flailed at the wrong time and I got clipped by a hoof. I’m lucky all I got was a dislocated jaw (which was promptly relocated by the nice paramedics. He got a very busted leg, some broken ribs and a lovely black and blue patterning which was determined to have happened AFTER he had panicked the horse, NOT in the fall (something about the types of breaks). The only injuries aside from bruising that he got from the actual fall itself was a rattled brain cage. Bet he’s happy I make everyone where a helmet as soon as they enter the stable regardless of how unfashionable it is or how warm the weather is.
Unfortunately I still have to deal with the twit twins parents trying to sue me for everything from ‘not stopping him’ (because I’m totally going to step in front of 1500lbs trying to run me down.) to ‘provoking the animal’ (do they mean the kid by telling him no? In which case I might agree. Or the horse for doing what horses do?)
Oh and it wasn’t like it was some epic faceplant front flip kind of fall where you go catapulting into the ground. Nope this was one of those falls where the horse stumbles, then goes down to his knees, then sorta flops over on his face like he had a derp moment and forgot he was a quadruped and not a snake. The kinda slow mo fall where any competent rider could have very well balanced the horse mid fall and the rest wouldn’t have happened.
Trust me I’ve had some epic faceplants. Sometimes there’s just no stopping the disaster once it’s in motion or you get to a point where you can predict what will happen several strides in advance but your mind won’t let your body do what needs to be done to correct.
Often what ‘feels’ safe to a novice (ie leaning forward/hunching up, hooking a thumb over the neck, bracing in the stirrups, ‘hanging’ off the reins) is the very last thing you want to do.
Leaning forward/ curling in on oneself on a horse that’s taken off might give you a feeling of security but it also encourages the horse to go faster as the weight is off his back and there’s less air resistance. Proper correction is to turn a circle as it forces the horse to slow down and rebalance instinctually. Still makes you feel like the horse might fall over if you turn so it mentally feels counterintuitive.
Hooking a thumb over the neck might give you something to brace yourself on but it also means if there’s any sudden changed of direction (like if the horse spoils it stumbles) then you are probably going to break or at least dislocate that thumb.
Bracing in the stirrups might give you something to set yourself against but it also prevents you from moving with the horse’s natural movement. At best you will get bounced around until you can make your joints pliant enough to absorb impact of the horses stride and in line with your body so that you aren’t tilting in any direction. Single stirrup circles tend to correct this problem damn fast as you either hold proper position or gradually fall off.
It’s tempting to pull back when a horse puts his head down to kick up his heels. Newsflash you weigh 100lbs, the horse 1500lbs, you’re a bit outclassed. If hang off the reins then the next time the horse jerks his head down and his butt up you are going to meet the acquaintance of Mr. Ground. He’s not as nice as your instructor. It’s counterintuitive but the correction is to squeeze the legs and push him forward while bringing your hands up (not back). He can’t buck if he’s made to run. Not without unbalancing himself and he won’t do that deliberately.
Horseback riding is the most dangerous sport for a reason. It’s the only sport that will push your limits physically, mentally, and emotionally. I guarantee if you hit the ground at 30km/hr from 10ft up because the horse stopped to ‘scratch his knee’ (also known as the pop and drop) suddenly you are going to have a psychological and emotional response when you are told to haul ass and try again. Particularly if you know what you did wrong but have to fight your body’s natural reaction in order to correct it.
In fact many of the coping mechanisms for high level competitors have been taken from the same methods used to cope with PTSD because many of the reactions can be similar.
Needless to say when your balance is shit at a trot it’s not magically going to get better over a jump. Particularly a bigger jump.
Horse caught the rail which wouldn’t have been a problem as the jumps are designed to fall apart should the horse hit the rail (unlike cross-country hence why I consider it unnecessarily dangerous and even cruel). Except that he had absolutely no business jumping and no balance and was an idiot. So the horse fell because he was unbalanced due to rider error. Which caused the rider to fall off.
Because the reins were held way to long when the horse fell he put a leg through the loop of the reins. A horse is a prey animal, it’s first instinct is to run. Nothing sets that off like potential damage to their best defence, their legs.
Unfortunately for me (and fortunately for the brat) I do have some morals. Not many but they do exist.
I know three things would happen without doing anything. The horse would try to get up. The horse would fail to get up as the reins tangled around his legs. The horse would then panic and very likely severely injure or kill the rider.
1500lbs is not something you want flailing about you.
So I went to move in before the horse could try to stand as there are ways to keep a horse down with resorting to ropes or cruelty. It’s simple physics. Unfortunately dipshit who might have been helpfully knocked out in the fall chose then to start screaming bloody murder. Which of course scared the shit out of the horse.
He flailed at the wrong time and I got clipped by a hoof. I’m lucky all I got was a dislocated jaw (which was promptly relocated by the nice paramedics. He got a very busted leg, some broken ribs and a lovely black and blue patterning which was determined to have happened AFTER he had panicked the horse, NOT in the fall (something about the types of breaks). The only injuries aside from bruising that he got from the actual fall itself was a rattled brain cage. Bet he’s happy I make everyone where a helmet as soon as they enter the stable regardless of how unfashionable it is or how warm the weather is.
Unfortunately I still have to deal with the twit twins parents trying to sue me for everything from ‘not stopping him’ (because I’m totally going to step in front of 1500lbs trying to run me down.) to ‘provoking the animal’ (do they mean the kid by telling him no? In which case I might agree. Or the horse for doing what horses do?)
Oh and it wasn’t like it was some epic faceplant front flip kind of fall where you go catapulting into the ground. Nope this was one of those falls where the horse stumbles, then goes down to his knees, then sorta flops over on his face like he had a derp moment and forgot he was a quadruped and not a snake. The kinda slow mo fall where any competent rider could have very well balanced the horse mid fall and the rest wouldn’t have happened.
Trust me I’ve had some epic faceplants. Sometimes there’s just no stopping the disaster once it’s in motion or you get to a point where you can predict what will happen several strides in advance but your mind won’t let your body do what needs to be done to correct.
Often what ‘feels’ safe to a novice (ie leaning forward/hunching up, hooking a thumb over the neck, bracing in the stirrups, ‘hanging’ off the reins) is the very last thing you want to do.
Leaning forward/ curling in on oneself on a horse that’s taken off might give you a feeling of security but it also encourages the horse to go faster as the weight is off his back and there’s less air resistance. Proper correction is to turn a circle as it forces the horse to slow down and rebalance instinctually. Still makes you feel like the horse might fall over if you turn so it mentally feels counterintuitive.
Hooking a thumb over the neck might give you something to brace yourself on but it also means if there’s any sudden changed of direction (like if the horse spoils it stumbles) then you are probably going to break or at least dislocate that thumb.
Bracing in the stirrups might give you something to set yourself against but it also prevents you from moving with the horse’s natural movement. At best you will get bounced around until you can make your joints pliant enough to absorb impact of the horses stride and in line with your body so that you aren’t tilting in any direction. Single stirrup circles tend to correct this problem damn fast as you either hold proper position or gradually fall off.
It’s tempting to pull back when a horse puts his head down to kick up his heels. Newsflash you weigh 100lbs, the horse 1500lbs, you’re a bit outclassed. If hang off the reins then the next time the horse jerks his head down and his butt up you are going to meet the acquaintance of Mr. Ground. He’s not as nice as your instructor. It’s counterintuitive but the correction is to squeeze the legs and push him forward while bringing your hands up (not back). He can’t buck if he’s made to run. Not without unbalancing himself and he won’t do that deliberately.
Horseback riding is the most dangerous sport for a reason. It’s the only sport that will push your limits physically, mentally, and emotionally. I guarantee if you hit the ground at 30km/hr from 10ft up because the horse stopped to ‘scratch his knee’ (also known as the pop and drop) suddenly you are going to have a psychological and emotional response when you are told to haul ass and try again. Particularly if you know what you did wrong but have to fight your body’s natural reaction in order to correct it.
In fact many of the coping mechanisms for high level competitors have been taken from the same methods used to cope with PTSD because many of the reactions can be similar.
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