# Trail etiquette for rider down?



## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

If everyone is OK and there is no sign of anything to worry about (concussion, loose horse bolting towards a highway etc) I think you did all the right things. I probably would have trotted back (agree not to run) but if you were having a little trouble no reason not to play it safe, esp if the mare is caught and safe by the time you get back.

If your friend seemed hurt I would have made her go with you (walk with you, ride the horse while you walk) etc or if hurt badly you stay with her unless going for help. Your friend was fine and you didn't doubt that and the horse was going back to the barn that was waiting for her.

Holding her horse was a good idea if the mare was nervous and yours was not, but it all depends. Then who will hold yours when you get on? (Though if her horse were nervous and yours not maybe you get the glasses?)

Sounds like the only error was getting on a nervous horse with a loose rein with a lousy mounting block (hey, we've all been there!) but mistakes happen and I'm sure she learned her lesson. All's well that ends well.

My only suggestion would be for her to learn to get on from the ground. I think it's something everyone should be able to do even if they chose not to use it as a primary method.

Glad everything was ok! Hindsight is 20/20 and everything turned out well anyways so I wouldn't stress.

To answer the question I would probably just ride home double, or chase down the horse (if possible) but it all depends so much!


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

I never chase down a loose horse because the odds of catching it are poor & they seem to run faster with a buddy following.
I think you did fine. On a hotter horse maybe leading it would be a better idea but you didn't have to with your horse. I think you did fine.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

It all ended OK so what you did must have worked OK
I agree that chasing a loose horse is rarely a good idea - quite a lot of horses will come back to the other horse(s) rather than go home, obviously in this case it didn't!!
If I feel confident that I can stay on a horse that's getting a bit hyped up I prefer to stay on it.
The thing that you'd do differently in the future is to find a better mounting spot and maybe try to hold the horse that's being remounted or at least block it in somehow so it can't sprint off if it decides it wants to go off before the rider is back in the saddle and in control


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## Prairie (May 13, 2016)

As a voluntary EMT, I would have first check the rider over and if everything checked to be relatively ok, I'd have walked with her, leading my horse, back to the barn. Too many times a person has thought they were fine initially after an unplanned dismount only to find he/she was seriously hurt or had a concussion. 


However, in this case since everybody arrived safely at the barn, what you did was fine. Some things to think about teaching your horse are a head down cue and spook in place. Lowering the head relaxes a horse, and spooking in place beats a bolt hands down! Our horses are also trained to stop and stand when a rein hits the ground.






"My only suggestion would be for her to learn to get on from the ground. I think it's something everyone should be able to do even if they chose not to use it as a primary method."


-----This sounds fine in theory, but isn't very realistic. A short rider may never be able to mount a 17+ hand horse from the ground, someone with arthritis or limited flexion may not be able to get her leg up to the stirrup, those who are older (like me!) have found that old limbs and muscle loss are not conducive to mounting from the ground. It wasn't too many years ago that I just easily vaulted onto my horses never touching the stirrup and landing lightly on their backs----old age and medical issues have caught up with me, so I look for a low spot to put my mare in or a log to use as a mounting block. I can still mount from the ground if absolutely necessary, but it sure isn't easy now.


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## Textan49 (Feb 13, 2015)

Yogiwick said:


> If everyone is OK and there is no sign of anything to worry about (concussion, loose horse bolting towards a highway etc) I think you did all the right things. I probably would have trotted back (agree not to run) but if you were having a little trouble no reason not to play it safe, esp if the mare is caught and safe by the time you get back.
> 
> If your friend seemed hurt I would have made her go with you (walk with you, ride the horse while you walk) etc or if hurt badly you stay with her unless going for help. Your friend was fine and you didn't doubt that and the horse was going back to the barn that was waiting for her.
> 
> ...



Yogiwick's thoughts are the same as mine. The only thing that might have prevented it is if your friend could have mounted from the ground. You might have been able to hold her horse if it was still nervous while she got back on. Since her horse was obviously heading for the barn it wouldn't make any sense to try to head it off .


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I agree with Prairie.

if there was not reason for you to go after the mare, then why not stay with the rider who is now afoot, possibly with an injury.
you could not run down the mare (chaos!), the mare is going back to the barn, and you are faster to call the barn and alert them. there is nothing that following her can really do.

I guess I'd go a ways down the trail to see if the mare had stopped and was waiting forlornly (as did my horse who dumped me , alone, in the woods and started to run for home but ended up waiting for me). but, if after a bit it was evident that the mare had truly gone for home, I'd ride back to the fallen rider, dismount, and walk with her. 

overall, except for choosing a very iffy mounting 'block' , I think you did very well.

how is your friend now?


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

egrogan said:


> ...if you're riding with just two people and a rider comes off, losing the horse, what would you have done?


Can't tell you what's best to do, but I've been the rider who came off. I told my friend to go after my horse while I patched myself up and started hobbling back to the trailer. Of course we were maybe 3 miles from it, and quite a ways further from home, so it's not like the horse could just run home. And really, what could my friend have done, unless there was major bleeding or something like that?


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

I've been in that situation a couple of times. One time my friend came off when someones dog ran up to us barking and her horse spooked sideways and she came off. Her horse ran for home. I saw her sit up and new that there was a major road between us and the barn so there was a quick "Are you ok?" and I took off after the horse and caught it. We came back to get her and all was well. The trail we were on was clearly not made for a high speed chase so by the grace of God, I didn't come off myself. 
The other time my niece dismounted her horse and handed me the reins but let them go before I had them. When the horse realized she was free she took off for home. There was nothing but trail between us and home so I just let her go and we rode double home to find her grazing at the gate. I think it all just depends on what the situation is. There are so many variables and you do have to think fast so I'm sure in hind site you always question yourself if you did the right thing. 

I think I would have walked back with her or rode double back if there were not any roads her horse had to cross to get home or if the horse got enough head start where I would never be able to catch her anyway.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Prairie said:


> Too many times a person has thought they were fine initially after an unplanned dismount only to find he/she was seriously hurt or had a concussion.


Good point, I wasn't thinking about this in the moment but makes a lot of sense!



Textan said:


> Yogiwick's thoughts are the same as mine. The only thing that might have prevented it is if your friend could have mounted from the ground. You might have been able to hold her horse if it was still nervous while she got back on.


In hindsight, I don't think it's a question of her not _being able to_ mount from the ground. It's just more of a habit I guess? We just weren't really thinking it through, it seemed like having a little lift from the pipe was convenient. But in the future, I would either mount from the ground or find a more stable "block." We could have walked a little further back into the woods, where there are big boulders that work better as a block. 



jaydee said:


> quite a lot of horses will come back to the other horse(s) rather than go home, obviously in this case it didn't!!





tinyliny said:


> I guess I'd go a ways down the trail to see if the mare had stopped and was waiting forlornly (as did my horse who dumped me , alone, in the woods and started to run for home but ended up waiting for me).


I was really hoping this would happen, but no luck!



jaydee said:


> If I feel confident that I can stay on a horse that's getting a bit hyped up I prefer to stay on it.


On my current horse, who I know so well, I always prefer to stay on when things get a little dicey. My personal confidence is much higher handling her from the saddle then the ground when she's strong or nervous. 



jaydee said:


> The thing that you'd do differently in the future is to find a better mounting spot and maybe try to hold the horse that's being remounted or at least block it in somehow so it can't sprint off if it decides it wants to go off before the rider is back in the saddle and in control


Yep, this makes a ton of sense. I do think we should have gone to a better spot.



LoriF said:


> I think I would have walked back with her or rode double back...


A couple of you mentioned riding double. I can honestly say that option never occurred to me. My mare is a petite little thing and carrying me is about her limit, so I can't imagine doing this. And I honestly have no idea how she's react! But I do think if this happened again, I would probably stick with the person on foot and walk together rather than walking out ahead.



LoriF said:


> ...if there were not any roads her horse had to cross to get home...


There is one road crossing, right in front of the barn. It's a country road, so traffic is unpredictable. The scary thing is that the trail head access is a wooded area, so it spits you out blindly onto the road. If a car had been coming, they would have had no chance to see the horse running before she was in the road. Could have been scary. That's the part where serendipity was on our side.



tinyliny said:


> how is your friend now?


She's fine this morning, a little sore from where she landed on her back, but she'll be ok. And, she asked to schedule another ride for this weekend, so her spirits are good too!


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

I think you honestly handled the situation just fine. I'm glad nobody was seriously injured/hurt, her horse went back home, and everything was fine afterwards. Hey, and she got back on when she got back to the barn, which is even better!

I think you staying on your horse, being able to control her was the right thing to do. If you got off to help (even though nobody was seriously hurt) your mare could've easily gotten away although she seems pretty well-trained! Good job on the one-rein stop! We can all say what we would have done, but in the moment you never know what you will choose to do. Chasing a 'running' horse definitely wouldn't have been a good idea, so you did the right thing. I think you did great handling this. Your friend should try mounting from the ground, I agree- it would definitely help her in the future if this were to happen again. 

Hope your next trail goes much more smoothly!:sad:


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## Tazmanian Devil (Oct 11, 2008)

As others have mentioned, everything worked out well so you must have been doing something right.

You are doing one other thing correctly - asking questions so you can learn from the experience and be better prepared in the future.

Just a few thoughts.

Did you have a cell phone (and service)? You should call ahead to let the barn know a loose horse is coming in. Many barns also have a vehicle (ATV/Golf Cart/etc.) they could bring out on trail to pick up/assist the fallen rider. Especially helpful if there is an injury and the fallen rider can't walk back.

The buddy sour thing is an issue you should work on. I know it can be hard to do, but it is important. In that situation, you don't need the added headache of your horse acting up - especially if the other rider was injured.

You should also work on different trail situations with the horses. Trees fall, branches crack, joggers and bicycles and animals can appear from around corners... it is an unpredictable environment. You and your horse need to expect the unexpected.

Since you can only train so much "spook" out of some horses, the rider also needs to train themselves to be more vigilant. You wrote, "We just weren't really thinking it through." When you are out in the woods, you always need to think things through. Complacency can be dangerous, even more so when you are in the woods and a mile away from help.

Not trying to be critical... as noted, you did well. Just trying to offer some help.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

I would never run after a runaway horse. For one it's dangerous for you and your horse. Secondly, when a horse sees another horse moving fast they'll likely take off too. Ride at your normal pace in the direction the horse went and hope it stops so you can catch it. 

I wouldn't ride double myself, it's not comfortable for either rider or the horse (sitting on their kidneys). If the other rider is hurt, let them ride (if they can) and you walk. If not hurt then take turns riding or one of you just leg it home. Being just a mile from the barn I would hike it myself.


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

egrogan said:


> A couple of you mentioned riding double. I can honestly say that option never occurred to me. My mare is a petite little thing...


Never occurred to me, either. While my friend's horse is not a petite little thing, neither am I  And honestly, I don't think I could have gotten on a horse at that point. Next time I fall off, I'm definitely planning to do it on ground that isn't frozen hard.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Tazmanian Devil said:


> Did you have a cell phone (and service)? You should call ahead to let the barn know a loose horse is coming in.


We both had phones, and the barn was notified. I currently always ride in a place with good service, and run a ride tracker app that sends a "beacon" indicating where I am- if I went down and was unconscious or too injured to reach the phone, my husband would eventually find me via the beacon.



Tazmanian Devil said:


> The buddy sour thing is an issue you should work on. I know it can be hard to do, but it is important. In that situation, you don't need the added headache of your horse acting up - especially if the other rider was injured.


Would you expect your horse not to react with anxiety if their riding partner suddenly bolted away and left them? Genuine question, I hope it doesn't come off as defensive. I just think most horses would find that alarming.

I wouldn't really think of my horse as buddy sour- 9 times out of 10, I ride her out on trails alone. I suppose one thing we could do when riding as a pair is break off for part of the ride and go in different directions and then reunite at some point. So that would at least cut down some of the shock of leaving the other horse unexpectedly. Not quite the same as a horse galloping away, but something we could do.



Tazmanian Devil said:


> You should also work on different trail situations with the horses. Trees fall, branches crack, joggers and bicycles and animals can appear from around corners... it is an unpredictable environment. You and your horse need to expect the unexpected.


Yes, we have experienced all these things with no ill effects. There is a lot of wildlife where we ride.



Tazmanian Devil said:


> Since you can only train so much "spook" out of some horses, the rider also needs to train themselves to be more vigilant. You wrote, "We just weren't really thinking it through." When you are out in the woods, you always need to think things through. Complacency can be dangerous, even more so when you are in the woods and a mile away from help.


So true. I think I've ridden the same trails so many times I've gotten a bit nonchalant about it and need to get better about that.



Tazmanian Devil said:


> Not trying to be critical... as noted, you did well. Just trying to offer some help.


Totally understood, and your thoughts were very helpful!


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## Tazmanian Devil (Oct 11, 2008)

Sounds like you had things covered. The tracking app is a very cool idea. Now that I think of it, my wife and I use "Find Friends" on our iPhones in a similar way.

I wasn't there, and I don't know your trails or the exact situation you were in. Since you did call ahead and the barn was aware, another approach may have been for someone drive out to meet you and your friend. Per the original description, your friend fell "hard" on her back. There was potential for a more serious injury that wasn't readily apparent. From what you wrote, I get the impression she walked back alone. A mile of walking can potentially complicate even a minor injury.

The barn really should have some method (cart/ATV) to quickly reach and retrieve a downed rider. That can be very important in the case of a serious injury. Personally, I don't like the idea of leaving an unhorsed rider alone on trail, especially if they were injured. 

Again, I wasn't there. I only base this off the trails I ride and situations I have seen. It is not meant to be judgemental.




egrogan said:


> Would you expect your horse not to react with anxiety if their riding partner suddenly bolted away and left them? Genuine question, I hope it doesn't come off as defensive. I just think most horses would find that alarming.


This is tough to answer without coming across the wrong way. 

Yes, I would absolutely EXPECT my horse to not react the way yours did. Some initial anxiety is one thing. My horse would almost certainly call out. What concerned my were your descriptions: "compliant enough," "chomping on the bit," "like a coiled rocket underneath me." It sounded like a scary ride with its own potential for trouble.

I have learned there is no "100%" guarantee with horses. Having been in comparable situations, I can say with 90% certainty that my horse would not have tried to make chase. I'm also confident I could have ridden back at any pace without having to worry or fight about it. 

There was a situation some time back where a rider had an issue and I needed to go back to the barn quickly then return to the rider. Never felt like the horse was anxious or about to bolt. If that wasn't the case, I would have worked hard to correct that behavior.

Another time my horse wiped out and we both went down. Messed up my foot pretty bad about 1/2 mile from home. The rider with me was able to dismount and ground tie her horse while she helped me. My horse at the time was great - he ran ten yards away and stopped. The other rider walked over to get my horse and helped me mount up to ride home. I won't pretend to know how to train horses to this behavior (both horses involved had very good trainers), but it is something to work towards. Certainly desirable if you ride trails often.

This is not meant as a "brag" or an attempt to "put down" you or anyone else. It is simply something I have worked at very hard and expect from my horses. To me, it is a very important quality in a horse you plan take out on trail. 

I see too many people (in my area - not directing this at you) who spend plenty of time in the ring to practice... then believe that trail riding requires no practice, knowledge or preparation. Yet, an accident in the ring will have someone calling 911 in seconds, while the unprepared person can potentially die on trail from a much lesser accident because they are stranded and don't know what to do.

I don't obsess over what can go wrong. I have tried to think things out and have a plan that has been worked on in advance. Just like having a plan to get out of the house if there is a fire.



> I wouldn't really think of my horse as buddy sour- 9 times out of 10, I ride her out on trails alone. I suppose one thing we could do when riding as a pair is break off for part of the ride and go in different directions and then reunite at some point. So that would at least cut down some of the shock of leaving the other horse unexpectedly. Not quite the same as a horse galloping away, but something we could do.


Didn't mean to call your horse buddy sour. Just that the behavior you described fits that description.

What you describe is a very good exercise (its also a fun game). I mostly trail ride my local loop alone these days, but when I am with others we almost always work on separation. My two horses are very "attached" so I make sure to address the issue regularly. My horse likes to call out, but he also knows that once the saddle is on, I am calling all the shots.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Thanks @Tazmanian Devil. Didn't come across the wrong way at all, and I have pretty thick skin so don't worry about seeming judgemental.  Your read of my description was correct- I did feel nervous with my horse's reaction. It was clear that if I was not being very firm (e.g., very heavy on her mouth), she most definitely would have preferred running off after her friend. We kept it together, but barely. I was ready to write it off as a natural reaction to an unusual situation. But maybe that's not the right way to think of it. I certainly wouldn't have been able to ground tie her to attend to my friend- she would have been on the way home. 

I also appreciate what a couple of you have said, that leaving the rider to walk alone, even though she initially said she was fine, was probably not smart. I wouldn't do that again. With my horse being so jiggy, walking along next to her would have been tough, so more reason to think about how to prepare Isabel to respond in a tense situation.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

You did okay. But as you say, I would have stayed with the fallen rider as she walked home, probably gotten down and led my horse back with her. 

Chasing after a horse running for home will just make them run faster so no point in doing that. 

Just a couple days ago I turned back after riding with a group and made my own way home on a familiar trail, about a mile, while they went on. My horse came unglued! She was torn between fretting for home and fretting to rejoin the group going away. She's fine alone on that trail if I start out alone. She's not a very experienced trail horse, but it still caught me by surprise. For my horse "coming unglued" means not being able to walk on a loose rein without constant attention and correction; it wasn't awful, but it was more work than I was expecting. My point is that when any upsetting event happens, many horses are going to feel the effects for quite awhile.


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

I would have done what you did. Hope your friend isn't too sore today.


I'm not even going to talk about my ride/mostly walk with a friend yesterday. My 24 year old reverted to her former self and there was no getting back on. Back to basics here. Good lesson for nitwit human! At least my greenie friend had a good ride on my steady slowpoke.


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

I'm comfortable with chasing loose horses, so for me, I would of went after the horse after asking if my friend was okay, had her stay put, then bring the horse to her, help her remount and ride back.


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

I agree with cowchick above.

My BF got turfed once and when the horse took off cause he didn't have much for brains, I just loped after the gelding and ponied the jerk back to my BF. It's also good that the horse will learn that it cant get away with just running away.


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## Rain Shadow (May 1, 2014)

I'd never let a loose horse go. Way to many busy roads near where we ride. I'd chase after them if only to block traffic and try and keep them from getting hit. But I trust Kenzie and Harley not to bolt. They are both familiar with galloping horses around them.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

You're all much braver riders than me!! But I appreciate hearing the perspective of some folks who would take that approach


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

Rain Shadow said:


> I'd never let a loose horse go. Way to many busy roads near where we ride.


Just the opposite here: miles and miles to anything but dirt. 

The one that dumped me and took off running (or I should say, decided to take off running when I was halfway dismounted) stopped to graze in a meadow about half a mile down the trail.

And last year, when she dumped my friend (thankfully in a soft spot) and took off running, we figured we'd seen the last of her. But 5 minutes later she came galloping back.


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## Kaifyre (Jun 16, 2016)

I guess for me it's situational. Where I used to live in Nevada, anywhere I wanted to ride my mare I had to cross a busy highway with vehicles travelling at speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour, so whenever I had a horse dump a rider I took off after it, pronto, after assuring that the rider was okay. Loose horses on highways = bad news. Here, though, in rural Montana, there IS a busy highway near where I ride, but it's behind a 6 foot tall fence so I doubt horses would get onto it if they were loose. Around here I'd be more inclined to stay with the rider, as other people have said chasing a horse generally makes it run faster, so I wouldn't do that except in great need.

-- Kai


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

What's this rider beacon?


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Yogiwick said:


> What's this rider beacon?


 @Yogiwick-I use the app "ViewRanger." I'm on my phone so can't show you what the "buddy beacon" looks like from the side of someone receiving it, but if you have a few minutes, you can read about it here:
http://www.viewranger.com/en-us/product-overview/product-features/buddybeacon

Basically, my husband is added as a buddy to my account, so he can log on from his computer (or probably phone too?) and as long as I remember to activate the beacon when I ride, he can track the beacon.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Cool, thanks!


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## Tazmanian Devil (Oct 11, 2008)

If you are using an Apple iPhone, there is also an app called "Find Friends." You can send/received requests from other iPhone users with the app. This also allows you to track/find others. Sounds creepy, but it is easy to turn on/off.


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