Even the best riders fall off sometimes, and sooner or later you will too. How you hit the ground can make all the difference between a serious injury and getting back up injured — and there is a technique you can use to help you fall off in a ‘safe’ way.
We have deliberately put ‘safe’ in inverted commas here, because any fall from a height comes with risk and you can’t remove it completely. However, doing what you can to reduce the impact is surely a good thing.
“There’s a definite position to take as you bale out or fall off a horse,” states horse trainer and stunt rider Karl Greenwood. “Even if you don’t have a lot of time to think about what’s going on, just getting your arms in the right position will really help.”
How to fall off a horse safely
The next time you find yourself falling off, consider the following:
1 Cross your arms over your chest
Cross them so that your hands are on opposite shoulders (see main image, above). It should feel like you’re giving yourself a hug. Hold tight.
2 Keep your hands flat
Making a fist could lead to broken knuckles as they hit the ground.
3 Lose the stirrups
Get your feet out of the stirrups; point your toes and straighten your knees.
4 Drop the reins
Don’t hang on to your horse as the risk of being dragged or trampled is too great. Your aim is to get as clear as you can — so let the reins go.
5 Keep rolling
Once you’ve hit the floor and you’re rolling, keep rolling until you stop naturally.
6 Check you’re OK
After you’ve stopped rolling, give yourself a quick check over and then get back on. “Learn from it, then let go of the emotion,” says Karl.
Practice makes perfect
Changing how we do things is hard, but the falling off position needs to become second nature if you are to do it during the precious seconds between leaving the saddle and hitting the ground.
“Practice by rolling off the sofa or bed onto some cushions,” suggests Karl.
“The technique is always the same, whatever size or type of horse you’re riding and whatever situation you find yourself in.”
Safety tips
As we’ve already said, you will never completely remove the risk of being injured in a fall when you’re riding a horse. However, there are things you can do to help keep yourself safe.
Karl suggests:
- Using safety stirrups, which will free your foot quickly in a fall.
- Wearing boots designed for riding — ie a narrow, smooth sole with a small heel. Chunkier styles of boot can easily get lodged in the stirrup.
- Cleaning your tack regularly so that the stirrup leathers are supple, enabling them to be pulled from the saddle easily. If the stirrup bar is too tight, ask your saddler to adjust it.
- Making sure your stirrups are wide enough so that your foot slips out easily.
- Not using equipment for the sake of it or because it’s fashionable. Know why you are choosing it and make sure you use it correctly.
- Always wearing a riding hat and ideally a body protector and an air jacket.
At the end of the day, you only have one head — and you only live once. So do all you can to protect yourself.
