# Me and my riding time ((video added))



## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

So today i ventured up to the barn and lunged Vega. She did pretty well but didn't like the caveson so I have to invest in a better one. But i didn't really expect much with a $20 caveson anyways. The surcingle seemed to fit good. I had plans on hooking up the training system, but she seems a little uneasy about it, so I'm saving that for another day. I figure i'll let her get used to it in her stall before she has to work in it.
Then i rode my fiance's horse. Gem is usually a very laid back, can't get him to do much type of guy. I did a lot of walking and some trotting in a half seat to let him stretch out. He was doing good. Kept his head low which was something i wasn't really used to. I also rode him in his halter because he doesn't need a bit. Things were going good for about the first 5 minutes or so. I stopped him, pet him and he let out a couple of snorts. So i thought everything was fine and dandy.
I'm walking along and bam :!: He jumped straight in the air and then kicked out. I flew straight up out of the saddle and landed back on, but to the left side. Gem moved quickly and i was falling off. I let go with my right hand but held on with my left hand i think. Before i hit the ground, i closed my eyes and let go with my other hand. I landed on my lower back i think. Gem cantered and then stopped and looked at me. I got up and got him. He was still acting sort of spooked so i decided to call it a day. I know i should have gotten back on, but didn't want to risk another fall. I turned my camera off and loosened the girth, rolled up my stirrups, packed my camera into its back and walked down to the barn. Gem did a few buck walking back to the barn. I told my friend nicole what happened, and we went through the video and saw it. It was pretty amazing i must say. 
It didn't look like Gem meant to do any harm. So i'm thinking he got spooked, or he's in pain somewhere. I'm going to ask if the vet can come out and see if everything's ok.
But i'm fine. A few bruises but nothing big. I'm glad i was wearing my helmet because i'm sure it could have been a lot worse. And the funny thing about it too is that i was thinking of not wearing my helmet, but had this gut feeling i should.
I showed my fiance when i went back to work and he couldn't believe it. It was impressive. haha
But i do think i need time to recover before i ride again. That was my 3rd fall in 12 years of riding. None have been with Vega which i think is odd because Vega does a whole bunch of crazy stuff.
Well, that was my excitement for the day.


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Glad you're okay! Sounds like quite the fall!


Do we get to see the video? :wink:


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

well i uploaded it at the office, so i could reply the video and hear my "ooofff!" when i hit the ground. I kept cracking up :lol: 

But of course, i lost the wire to upload it to my home computer. :evil: 

I've searched the whole room and no luck. It's probably buried under the pile of papers on my desk. Or Napoleon stole it and its....somewhere.

When i go to work tomorrow, i'll edit the video and post it.


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## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

Glad to hear that you are okay. But now that I know you are I'm gonna laugh. I love the way you tell a story, had me cracking up the whole way thru! I can't wait to see the vid!


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

Glad your ok and you do tell a good story :lol: Can't wait to see the video. I wish I had a one of my last fall, my husband said I was very graceful and he thought it was a "good" fall. I did too til the pain hit my brain :shock: 
I did try to get back on OUCH, silly me. 
Let us know what the vet says, it has to be some sort of pain issue.


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

Well the vet should hopefully be coming be coming out soon. If not today, tomorrow, i'm hoping.

I'll mess around with the video and get it up.

I guess i am good at telling what happened. And the funny part is, its all true, none of it is made up. Last night I was still laughing about being launched into the air.

My knee and back are sore today. I'm just glad i have a comfy chair at work. I think i'm going to use that massage chair later too.


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## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

Good idea about the massage chair! 

There is nothing better than a horse rider that can laugh at themselves when they get thrown. 

Kudos to you for being so down to earth!


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

Well any way i look at it, it wasn't Gem's fault. If he was in pain, not his fault, if he spooked not his fault.

So i edited the video of windows movie maker thing and i can't upload it to youtube. So i'm trying something else and its taking forever. 

I always could post the whole video, but its like 9 min. long and the only part worth watching is the buck/leap.


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## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

Well that is a good way to look at it! When you get the vid up I'll be sure to watch it! And I promise I will try not to laugh to hard!


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

the funniest part of the video is the sound i make when i hit the ground. First time i heard it, i was like "what is that sound?" played it a few times and realized it was me.  

it's still uploading :?


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

it finally uploaded :!: 

Just try not to laugh too hard  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-bS629dxkE

comments are welcome.

I was also just doing a leisurely walk with him, thats why my hands/arms look the way they do.


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## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

That is too funny! You really did fly into the air! I love that sound you make...ouuf! Too too funny. :lol: 

He really did look spooked eh?


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

Maybe Gem wanted me to be a bird. lol

Yeahh i have no idea what he spooked at, but something scared the bajeebers out of him. And then he did that snort and was like on guard.


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## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

Hehe...I'm still laughing! I promise if I get a vid of me falling off I will post it so you can laugh at me too. 

That's awesome that he came back and faced you though. He's a good boy. I wouldn't have the vet come out though. He does not look like he is in pain at all, just a big old spook!


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

well his feet have been bothering him too. He's had abcesses before and had to have surgery on them, so we want to make sure his feet are ok. And even though it could have just been a scare, we want to make sure. Gem has always been a little iffy with his back. I can't really explain how he would react, but it wasn't like he was grumpy about having a saddle on, more or less that he didn't want the weight of it on. He was even worse with a western saddle.

Another thing too, is that when i would sit or post to his trot, he'd have a somewhat choppy stride, but as soon as i went up into a half seat, his stride lengthen and he seemed to be happy not to have weight on his back.


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## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

Ohh..well that seems a little odd. Well in that case I would call the vet out. In the vid he does not seem in pain but when you describe stuff like that it sounds for sure like he has pain!


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

yeahh, if you were to see him from the very beginning you'd see what i was talking about. We don't know which set of feet hurt him. We can pick his hind feet fine, but his fronts? He'll pick up his fronts and then lean back and put them down. We've tried almost everything and there was no change in it. We never tried tying his foot and don't plan to either. Also if you try to pick up his front feet for a while, he'll back into a corner and he like freezes up. Poor Gem Bar baby.


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## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

Ohh that is sad  Be sure to let us know what the vet says when the come out!


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

i will. I just hope its all good news


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

You can see it right before he bucks. Its like he got a wiff of something that scared the begeebers out of him. His head comes up his ears forward and he is in alert mode. He looks terrified :shock: I'm not so sure its a pain thing either after watching that. Do get him check though you just never know. ouuff :lol: :lol: too cute


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

it all happened so quickly that i couldn't even prepare.
I just have no idea what could have triggered it because there was another horse out there and she was fine.

just got to wait and see what the vet says.

my ooofff! cracks me up to. And i love how like the first thing i said was "i think i got it on camera" :lol: ahh i amuse myself


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## Harlee rides horses (Jan 13, 2008)

Ha, I'm sorry but that's good fun, and the noise! I hope you're all right though.


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

laugh away! It's here for everyone's enjoyment  

I'm ok. I'm sore today, but that's to be expected.


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## jazzyrider (Sep 16, 2007)

laughing and laughing :lol: :lol: :lol: im sorry but it was funny when you hit the ground lol you must have hit pretty hard

i wouldnt worry too much about pain. looks like he just plain old spooked at something. right before he does it something over to the right gets his attention and then yeah he was pretty snorty so i dont think its pain 

still laughing 

i promise too that if i ever fall off and get in on camera you can watch and laugh as hard as you like


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

i'm glad i'm making everyone laugh  
I'm guessing i hit the ground hard too because i'm sore today. I think i had a rush of adrenaline that i didn't really feel it too much.



> i wouldnt worry too much about pain. looks like he just plain old spooked at something. right before he does it something over to the right gets his attention and then yeah he was pretty snorty so i dont think its pain


We're just having the vet come out as a just in case. We just want to make sure that he's ok. Tom has always thought his back and feet were bothering him, so after that he just wants to make sure he's alright.


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Wierd... that was out of nowhere!! Glad you're okay!


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

Thanks. I showed it to Tom on my computer just now. Gem kept putting his head down and lifting it back up. And that is apparently the signal that he's had enough and is done. But it looks like something spooked him too.

You'll notice that after i'm out of the saddle and he comes to a stop, he'll lower and raise his head, basically saying "i told you i had enough" Gem Bar is funny.


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## mayfieldk (Mar 5, 2008)

He spooked, and in that video, he has absolutely no pain. His little 'head bob' at the end has little to do with him being done... horses raise and lower their heads to get something far or close in focus in their eyes. He's trying to locate what bothered him so much. Right before he bucks, he lifts his head up (which COULD be a sign of pain) but his ears are focused away towards something and not back at you (so it's clearly not pain. Horses who raise their head in pain have their ears back, or pointed to the source.) Then he snorts (more fear) and raises his tail to attempt to poop (horses empty their bowels when they get scared, so they're lighter... No joke. Scientific fact. Ah, the wonders of my Equine Science class. ). 
Also, what you mentioned about posting.. If you're a green or a just-getting-back-into-it rider, you could be causing him pain by posting if you're landing too hard in the saddle (hence why he prefers two point). You don't 'sit' in the saddle when you're posting, you softly touch back down. Pretend there are egg shells on the saddle, and you don't want to break them.  
He could be in pain, but this video does not show any signs of it. Good luck!


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## mayfieldk (Mar 5, 2008)

Also... you'll probably hate me for this...  but don't pet him after he gets scared (this means all horses). You don't have to get back on (horses don't really know that they bucked you off and they 'won'), but when you pet him, you're telling him, 'Good boy! Good, it's a good thing you were scared, or we may have gotten eaten!' because that's why horses get scared... they think they're going to die! lol You are enforcing the behavior. Instead, just be calm and act like it never happened... then he'll follow his 'leader' and be calm too.


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

mayfieldk said:


> Also... you'll probably hate me for this...  but don't pet him after he gets scared (this means all horses). You don't have to get back on (horses don't really know that they bucked you off and they 'won'), but when you pet him, you're telling him, 'Good boy! Good, it's a good thing you were scared, or we may have gotten eaten!' because that's why horses get scared... they think they're going to die! lol You are enforcing the behavior. Instead, just be calm and act like it never happened... then he'll follow his 'leader' and be calm too.


Thats a good point, I'm going to stop petting Vida when she gets scared. When I'm on her and she goes to alert mode I just say "its ok" over and over and tell her I won't let whatever it is eat her :wink:


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

I know that petting is reinforcing the bad behavior. When my dog would start shaking because of thunder storms, we'd just ignore her. I was just pretty shaken up. I guess i just wanted to make sure he was ok.

Mayfieldk- i've been riding for the past 12 years, so i'm not a green rider. It was just when i ride Vega, my lower leg comes forward and i think that's because i'm concentrating more on her, than what i'm looking like. I was riding Gem so i could focus on my lower leg and not have to worry about him taking off.

Gem was a lesson horse for i'm going to say atleast 5 years. And from just being there for a year already, Lesson horses basically get worked into the ground, They don't care what condition the horse is in. They'll intimidate a horse to make him response, and a bunch of other nasty stuff. So my fiance and I feel that his back is sore from years of having people on him. He also had abcesses that he had to have surgery for, so we feel he is very touchy with his feet and if the ground is too hard, it hurts him.

I guess if you knew Gem, you'd know what the head bob meant. He's done that everytime he's had enough. And my fiance feels bad that he was a lesson horse, so he lets him get away with it. But that's what Tom says and since he works with Gem, he knows his horse.

The only thing that i just don't get is, what he actually spooked at. There was the guy standing behind me, and no one else out there. And he's not the type of horse that will spook at something in the distance either. The only time he spooked was when a brown bag blew towards him in the summer. He took a huge side step and hit into my fiance and then he stopped. That was it. That was the only time he spooked.

I still think he's in some sort of pain. And i'm sure if something scared him that bad, he'd do it, whether he was in pain or not. 
maybe i'll post the video of him walking and trotting so you all can see how he moves. He just looks like really stiff to me. And even with him being warmed up, there was no improvement.

This has been something that's been bothering my fiance and me since we got him. And we kept saying, we'll give him time off and he'll be better. But the last time he was ridden was in May? maybe June the latest. So he's had 9 months to recover. 
I don't know, it just seems so odd to me.


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## mayfieldk (Mar 5, 2008)

I'm not trying to be mean or anything. But the buck wasn't that bad, and you came off--granted I'm sure you had no idea it was coming (aren't they the worst kind?) and if you need to focus on your leg... I'm not suggesting you're green. But I also think if it's best for our horses if we accept that we are not always the perfect riders we would like to be. If you're leg slips forward, then you will come down harder in the saddle. It's simple mechanics. 
Also, people tend to read horses and assign them 'meanings'. That head bob is classic of every horse trying to get something in focus. He wasn't even looking at you, nor paying attention to you when you walked up to him. He was scared. If he hadn't been ridden in a while, he also could have been fresh--hence a buck like that when usually you said he doesn't spook. He could have gotten a whiff of something--I know when my horses walk through the woods and if there's a dead animal and they can smell it, they are not happy campers. 
He could be sore, I didn't see him moving really. I was just trying to point out that that buck in particular had nothing to do with pain.
If his back is a problem, try the pessoa lunging system, and don't ride him while you use it (for a good few months). It helps him build muscle back over his withers and shoulders, where muscle tends to atrophy when being ridden incorrectly or harshly (like in the lessons you mentioned). I had to use it with my horse, so I can attest to it working well.
You can overcome back problems, so after he's had the rest (like you mentioned) you have to build the muscle back; trying to do it with a saddle on dead muscles doesn't work. I tried. 
Good luck with him!


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## jazzyrider (Sep 16, 2007)

please dont hate me darylann but i agree with the previous poster. im totally not saying that he doesnt have some pain issues you need to deal with but that particular incident doesnt seem pain related at all. all the things mayfieldk has said about his behaviour indicates spook. the head bobbing being about focusing is true too. if he does this often is there any chance he could have sight problems? 

it is totally possible that there is some pain going on somewhere but i agree that it doesnt seem to be the cause in this case. we're only going on what we can see though 

once again i mean no offence but that particular incident seems spook related especially considering he was walking along fine and then bam...

anyways thats my 2 cents  i hope you find whatever the problem is


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

oh no that's fine.  I put it up and expected to get opinions back

He does have a sight problem. He's not blind in his eye, but he has a cataract.
Isn't that called personification? (when you use human traits for non human things?
Well he did spook, and if you were to slow down the video, you'd see how high he got. And everyone at the barn was surprised by that. And yes i wasn't expecting it at all. I was just walking him on a long rein to cool off before i brought him inside, so i was just relaxing up there, thinking about the great ride I had. Doesn't it always happen that way? 
I do appreciate everything everyone has said. It probably isn't pain related, but it's always good to check right?
I don't know. After how Gem was acting yesterday, we think something is up :? 

I think my leg would slip forward when i ride Vega was for more support. But when i was riding Gem and I'd look down at my leg, it seemed to be correct.
I could have been falling down on him harder, i don't know. But he still had a short choppy trot when i'd sit to it, and i was hardly moving in the saddle. That's what makes me think that his back is bothering him.
I would lunge him in the pessoa, but i leave all the training to my fiance. Gem is his horse and I let him do what he wants with him. I only asked to ride him to work on my leg.


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