# When was the first time you fell off?



## Brenna Lee (Aug 10, 2012)

I had not fallen off in 5 years of riding... Then at my first show I took a face full of dirt. It was rather humiliating! :?

What about you?!


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

To be honest, I don't remember, I have ridden horses ever since I can remember & I got dumped lots!
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## riccil0ve (Mar 28, 2009)

I think my pony turned and I didn't, lol.
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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Hmm, the very first time I hit the dirt, I was 3 and my mini-burro bucked me off. After that, I lost count so now I only count the situations where I was seriously hurt:lol:.


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## Nightside (Nov 11, 2012)

My first dive was after a few years of riding, I was bareback and no halter of any kind, and a friend spooked my horse for a laugh. We galloped a few acres around the pasture and when I couldn't stop him, I bailed
Unharmed. And of course the **** horse stopped right after. 
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## amberly (Dec 16, 2012)

On my pony Cody. One of the best horse people I know was teaching me about balance. She told me to be an airplane - stick your arms straight out and look ahead. Well, the sun cast a shadow on the cold, hard ground and Cody thought it was a club or I was gonna smack him or something. Cody got scared and charged forward like the Devil was behind him. He went forward, I didn't. But here's the thing, I don't remember seeing him after that experience...


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## Brenna Lee (Aug 10, 2012)

Nightside said:


> My first dive was after a few years of riding, I was bareback and no halter of any kind, and a friend spooked my horse for a laugh. We galloped a few acres around the pasture and when I couldn't stop him, I bailed
> Unharmed. And of course the **** horse stopped right after.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


That's mean! :shock:


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## EquineGirl1965 (Dec 22, 2012)

I honestly don't remember the first time I came off a horse, but I do remember the last. I had a brown pony mare who had a bit of a nasty streak and I was working with her to correct it. I mounted to go for a short ride and before I had my balance she had decided to take off. I fell off the off-side to her rear, landing on my hip and bouncing to my back. Hit the back of my head really hard so it was very lucky I was wearing a helmet. I had nearly 3 weeks off work due to the injuries I got. I now have a back protector...haven't needed it yet.


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## Thunderspark (Oct 17, 2012)

I rode as a kid bareback/hackamore, I was cantering along the side of the road in grass riding my sister's part arab gelding who shied at something, jumped sideways and I went down on my knees LOL that hurt!
This year is the first and second time I have fallen off my mare since I got back into riding 8yrs. ago, the first time was coming in our driveway with friends, my dogs decided to be morons and flew down the hill through the bush and went to nip at Spice's heels, she gave a kick up at them....I was in LALA land and tipped forward and fell right beside her LOL
Then this fall I was on a trail ride with about 20 other riders, there was a lady I knew behind me on a big gelding, she was yaking away to me and I hear this commotion, I turn and look and her head is two feet from mine but I can't see her horse's head/neck! He had tripped and stumbled where his head/neck went under between my mare's back legs LOL she gave a little jump forward which got the horse in front of her po'd who kicked at her (we were in a very narrow trail) and Spice spun to the left and I slowly slide down the side of her LOL she didn't panick but stood and looked at me like she was saying sorry but I didn't know what else to do!!!
Hopefully I'm done falling now!


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

I was about 13. I was leasing this butt ugly gaited sway backed creature who was incredibly forgiving and totally bomb proof. Since he pretty much had a saddle for a back I would often ride bareback. A chihuahua got off leash and attacked my horse when we were standing by a tree taking a break. I was on a totally loose rein, horse freaks out and off I went.
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## Canterklutz (Jul 20, 2012)

I think I was 10 or 11 when I first fell. I was doing a 1mph jog on a lesson horse and he faceplanted and went down. Somehow I managed to do a flip in the air and landed in the mud of course. :?


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

Err... Haven't yet, but I've only been riding since this spring 

I will admit to a few times of barely hanging on with an arm around her neck and a fistfull of mane, and a couple of deliberate bailouts, but it doesn't count if you land on your feet and in control, does it?


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

DancingArabian said:


> I was about 13. I was leasing this butt ugly gaited sway backed creature who was incredibly forgiving and totally bomb proof. Since he pretty much had a saddle for a back I would often ride bareback. A chihuahua got off leash and attacked my horse when we were standing by a tree taking a break. I was on a totally loose rein, horse freaks out and off I went.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Nothing more scary to a horse than a chihuahua!!

I don't really remember my first fall. I would have been eleven because that was when we bought our first pony. She threw me off pretty routinely. Sometimes she would buck. Sometimes she would turn too fast. Sometimes she would bolt off and jump a random ditch. Fortunately, she would always come to me and let me get back on. Eventually I got a little harder to throw off.

I don't know why I kept riding. Maybe it was due to brain damage from one of those early falls? Or could it be that I had more fun with that pony than I will ever have with any horse ever?


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## Blaze (Apr 21, 2012)

In my 3 years of riding I've only technically fallen off once, and that was not too long ago when I was doing an in and out jump thing (it wasn't pretty the first few times we did it) and at the end my horse went one way i went the other. :lol:

But years before that, when I wasn't into horses at all was when I had my first real fall. We had too horses and we had two people on each, and we were riding beside the rode. Well, a motorcycle comes flying by, and I swear he sped up on purpose. It spooked the other horse, he spun around and so our horse did the same and I landed on the cement road. The skin on the palm of my hand got ripped away and it was sprained, not to mention other small scrapes and bruises. So there we were, all four of us dumped on the ground, having to walk back to the barn (the horses went straight back there, we weren't far) :lol: Good thing my mom was there though, she caught them and then came to pick us up.

My horse has fell 2 times when I was on, but I don't really count those lol


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## xJumperx (Feb 19, 2012)

It was a while ago, when I was just starting out - I had never trotted without stirrups before - I could barely trot with them at that point. My trainer put me on the BOUNCIEST horse on the property, complete with jackhammer withers, and took my stirrups off my saddle. I braced up, and just slid off  It was probably pretty funny, looking back at it :lol: 

My last fall was acually today! Was just messing around on Diamond bareback, as she prefers it, and we don't currently have a saddle that fits her. I was jumping her, as I had done several times before. All be darned if, right after the jump, a huge groundhog comes jetting out of the field right under her feet and spooked the daylights out of her! She just stopped, threw her head down, and started backing up. I went over her head, landed on my feet, walked over and consoled her


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## Lins (Nov 8, 2011)

Thunderspark said:


> I rode as a kid bareback/hackamore, I was cantering along the side of the road in grass riding my sister's part arab gelding who shied at something, jumped sideways and I went down on my knees LOL that hurt!
> This year is the first and second time I have fallen off my mare since I got back into riding 8yrs. ago, the first time was coming in our driveway with friends, my dogs decided to be morons and flew down the hill through the bush and went to nip at Spice's heels, she gave a kick up at them....I was in LALA land and tipped forward and fell right beside her LOL
> Then this fall I was on a trail ride with about 20 other riders, there was a lady I knew behind me on a big gelding, she was yaking away to me and I hear this commotion, I turn and look and her head is two feet from mine but I can't see her horse's head/neck! He had tripped and stumbled where his head/neck went under between my mare's back legs LOL she gave a little jump forward which got the horse in front of her po'd who kicked at her (we were in a very narrow trail) and Spice spun to the left and I slowly slide down the side of her LOL she didn't panick but stood and looked at me like she was saying sorry but I didn't know what else to do!!!
> Hopefully I'm done falling now!


That is the funniest story I've heard in a long time!!! Laughed my bum off lol
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## Thunderspark (Oct 17, 2012)

HAHAHA everyone has great funny stories!!! Got the giggles going on......HAHAHAHA I love this thread!


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## FaithCat (Aug 13, 2012)

I was riding Little Man(leasing at the time,lesson horse) in a big, open field. My friend and I decided to race...
I took a sharp turn at the corner of the field. All I remember is slipping...dead grass rushing at my face...grass and hooves...
I remember thinking: _That dead grass is going to hurt---it looks prickily!_
I got a minor concussion from that fall. I'm very thankful I wore a helmet!


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## Houston (Apr 15, 2012)

Horse was feeling frisky, I was still a beginning. He took off at a canter which I was not ready for, turned left. I kept going forward...


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## katdressagegirl (Oct 14, 2012)

e The only reason I remember my first fall is that it was my second lesson ...third time I had been on a horse ever. He was a good horse but he was apparently spooky and didn't like wind. Well, if memory serves correct, there was a piece of tarp that wasn't fastened down. (Man, the more I think about this the happier I am I don't ride at this place anymore *shudders*) and I wasn't on a lunge line. The horse spooked and I landed on my butt with the reins in my hand. My instructor didn't put me back on that horse but I got to finish the lesson on a different one. Later I rode that horse many times during the course of the year I rode there...I was never frightened...it didn't hurt that bad and I was too horse-crazy haha.


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## ItsNOWandFOREVER (Dec 29, 2012)

Maybe this is sad, but ive never fallen off a horse. I heard its supposed to make you a better rider but im way too scared to let myself fall, even if sometimes it feels like im going to


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

The first time I rode a pony to actually learn to ride - I was about 4 and wasnt allowed to hold the reins until I could balance without hanging onto them. I just bounced on the sand and was straight back on
I did put my saddle on the back of the sofa when I was about the same age, sat on it and fell off and got a really bad nosebleed - it hurt a lot more which said to me that ponies were safer than sofas


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## ItsNOWandFOREVER (Dec 29, 2012)

Hahaha thats hilarious! To be honest, i think sofas are a tad safer imo 
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## Northernstar (Jul 23, 2011)

I fell off my QH summer before last while riding bareback - I'm only 5' tall, and she has a very bouncy trot!


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## HeroMyOttb (Dec 28, 2009)

I can't remember the first time I fell off... I remember the last time. LOL. My naughty Thoroughbred that sadly hardly gets ridden right now due to me being away at college decided to be extremely spooky one day. No big deal. But then he spooked and reared up which completely caught me off guard and down I went. Right when I got up he gave me that look like OMG I can't believe just dumped my mom.


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## myQHpaul (Jun 25, 2009)

When I was younger, I rode bareback a lot and would have the occasional fall here and there with nothing serious. In college, I was taking English horsemanship and there was no intermediate class so I was with all the beginners. One day we were working in the arena and a girl's horse spooked at the barn door swinging in the wind and instead of calmly redirecting his attention and jumped down and let her horse go. There were about 15 horses working and they thought it was a free-for-all and they started to wig out and girls were jumping off their horses left and right. I was one of the few to stay seated until my horse did a little rear. I went to jump off but my foot got caught in the stirrup so I got dragged a few feet and then managed to unhook myself. As I fell completely, my horse's hoof hit my calf and I could barely walk for the rest of the day and had a huge bruise for over a week. Not fun at all.


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## jinx1990 (Nov 17, 2012)

When I first started riding, my mom got me lessons at a new barn in the area. It had only been open a couple weeks and the arena was brand new and the sand was all soft and loose. I riding a bombproof mare when she decided to roll in the nice soft sand. The trainer grabbed me and drug me off then put me back in the saddle before she was even back on her feet. I was only about 8 and my mom and grandma were at the fence freaking out. The next time was my first horse, a 16h appy/tb retired barrel horse who was 25. I was about 10 riding bareback in a halter in our corral. My dad didnt turn the electric fence off and when I stopped at the fence to talk my dad and he touched the fence with his nose. Next thing I knew I was in dirt, the horse was hiding in his stall, and my dad was laughing at me 
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## heymckate (Nov 23, 2010)

Second lesson ever when I was 10-years-old. Trotting along, a horse kicks the wall of the arena, horse in front of mine starts cantering. My bomb-proof lesson horse assumes he is supposed to canter. I managed to hang on maybe 6 or 7 strides, and then got dumped right in front of the window where parents (or in my case, grandparents) were watching.

My most recent fall was a few weeks ago while doing no-stirrup work. We were cantering nicely, but Finn lost some of his balance going into a corner. Instead or riding through it and picking him back up, my automatic reaction was to pull him down to a trot. The transition was, as to be expected, awful, and I kind of bounced right off.


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## hellothere (Dec 2, 2012)

My first fall was when I was little, in a small round pen, at a trot. Oh, the tears... 
I had a couple other mini spills since then, but my only good fall worth a story was back in April when I had the saddle fitter there, trying out a beautiful Steubben. I was confident enough to get into the canter, and I don't know if my girl did something or if I was just being absent minded, the paddock we rode in sloped downhill slightly, she turned the corner, and I kept going... hit myself on the fence, fell to the ground, then yelled, "YES! MY FIRST REAL FALL!" as my horse continued to canter around the paddock... it was only later that I cried because I was afraid I could have punctured a lung, but I was okay. hahahaahahahaha


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## Catpeedontherug (Oct 23, 2012)

My 1st pony. She was awful.
Never had a saddle, so it was easy for her to slide me off by taking me under low branched trees going full speed.
She also loved to give that little extra buck when we'd jump a bush or something.
You see, the neighbors had yummy, luscious alfalfa...acres of it! So, pony, always found a way to get rid of me and make a run for the alfalfa pastures.
Some days I would go get her, some days I wouldn't.
Llamas would signal something in her brain that would bring out her inner bronc horse. I'm not sure I ever made it past the neighborhood llamas safely.

But, I loved her.


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## WesternRider88 (Oct 30, 2012)

The first time I fell off was at my first riding lesson. I was riding in a big arena and the horse took off for some reason and I let go of the reins and held on to the horn while leaning forward. And I fell off and slammed right into the panels and thumped on the ground. And and the horse stops and turns around and looks at me with the most innocent eyes, like what are you doing down there.


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## Muppetgirl (Sep 16, 2012)

Hmmmm can anyone tell when the last time I fall off will be??:lol:


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## princecharming (Dec 2, 2011)

my first time riding a horse, was my first fall was riding this cute little pony in a lesson with a girl who was much more advanced then me. She let her horse into a trot, and my pony followed. All well and good except that the 12 hand pony culd not keep up with her 17.2 best friend, so she started to canter. I actually managed to ride the canter out untill we reached the corner and started bucking. i fell, jump up, caught my pony and threw myself back on before my instructor could even get over to me  

my most recent fall was VERY unimpressive. While cross country schooling my horse stopped at a cabin jump with hay bales surronding it....and i did not  

my worst fall was when i was in camp and while i was cantering my horse(in an indoor) i lost a stirrup, tried to reach for it but missed and slipp that way....kept sliding untill i was pinned between a cantering horse and a wall, unable to fall or get back up. Stayed on for the entire longside(60 feet) untill the horse cut the corner and i was released. I got away from that with a bad headache and some bruses....my instructor was hysterical because she though i had died.

my funniest fall was when i was sitting on my lease horse bareback while he grazed in this Tiny space before the woods began. one moment he was grazing with his head down like the lazy horse i rode with two whips and spurs just to get him trotting, and the next he picked up his head, and executed a flawless halt to canter. i did i backwards flip before sliding off his butt. my friends still wont stop laughing.


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## jfmnyc (Apr 18, 2012)

My first fall was when I was just getting back into riding, the second trail ride at my barn. I was riding a horse who was known to be a bit fidgety and ornery. He was crowding the horse in front, and I was trying to hold him back. Eventually he got annoyed with me and when the guy in front of me went to canter up a hill, my horse threw a buck going around a corner and off I went. I hit my head pretty good and was pretty woozy for a while - thank goodness I was wearing a helmet!
Second fall was more recent, I was loping a sweet western pleasure gelding down the trail and he decided to spear off into the woods without any warning, catching my left leg on a tree, which pulled me off. Thankfully I wasn't hurt except for a bruise. The gelding (who is not known to be the smartest guy) at least had the courtesy to stop and was good for the rest of the ride.


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## Tnavas (Nov 29, 2011)

Friends with ponies let me have a ride and suggested as only kids do that I go over a jump - went very well the first time BUT unfortunately 2nd time I came off over the pony's shoulder and hurt mine - dislocated it in fact. Not good.


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## jumanji321 (Dec 1, 2010)

Hmm, does falling on to your horse's neck at age 6 after he took off towards some cows count? I can't really remember my first big fall though. I haven't fallen off in a few years now since my horse ended her bucking phase and matured. I have a feeling that is going to change soon as my two year old loves to buck.


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## BlooBabe (Jul 7, 2012)

My first fall was pretty amazing. I was 4 and my dad had just gotten my oldest sister a pony that I was wicked jealous of but my sister hated because she was rather harsh to look at. She was a mean and ornery little creature but I wanted to ride her so bad so my dad tacked her up and I got on her. As soon as my dad handed me the reins she cow hopped, spun, backed up, reared, and threw me right into her water trough. It was the middle of winter and right after a pretty good snow so you can imagine how impressed I was being dumped into freezing cold water. She looked so proud of herself for dumping me and pranced around her paddock like she was showing me who was boss. The worst part, my dad told me I couldn't let her get away with it and put me back up on her in my soaking wet clothes.


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## BlooBabe (Jul 7, 2012)

My most recent fall was last summer. I had nothing on him but a saddle pad and was cantering around. I had tied my split reins and the knot hit my foot so being the space case that I am, I thought I lost my stirrup. We were at a full out canter and I leaned over to grab the "stirrup" and blanket and I slid off. My little sister was watching and laughed trying to figure out what the heck I was doing. Definitely never going to live that one down. My horse gave me the 'I can't believe you're my owner' face before helping me off the ground and letting me back up this time without the saddle blanket and with my reins untied.


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## laurapratt01 (Oct 3, 2012)

I'm loving this thread! lol
My first time falling of was when I was 8 and had just started taking lessons. My mom's friend invited me to go for a trail ride with her and ride her little welsh pony...who was 26, blind in one eye but as sweet as could be. We can to a log in the trail and my mom's friend asked if I ever jumped and I lied and said yes because I REALLY wanted to jump that log! So we trotted toward the log and just after we jumped the pony stopped on the other side and I fell off over her shoulder... I wasn't hurt but the woman later found out from my mom that I had never jumped before :/ oops.. 
The most memorable time I was dumped was about 8 yrs ago when I was 15, at a jumper show when my Thoroughbred who was usually a very honest jumper did the dirtiest stop in front of a fence propelling over his head and sending me crashing into the poles... Everyone came into the ring thinking I was hurt but I wasn't (not physically anyways, just the ol' pride). I got back on and finished the course even though I was disqualified. So embarrassing.


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## CoconutMona (Dec 10, 2012)

I was maybe eight. We had just moved to the states and our neighbors had horses. I tried to climb on one on my own one day and it bucked me straight off. Learned to not go jumping on strangers horses however, I'd be furious if a kid did the same to mine.


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## WorshipWarrior83 (Dec 31, 2012)

My first fall came when I was riding bareback and it wasn't so much a fall as a oh im falling I better emergency dismount.

I was loping in the arena bareback and my horse broke into a trot when I didn't ask for him to and at the time my lack of experience didn't see the signs of him slowing and i started to bounce everywhere and felt myself sliding off and so i just vaulted off and landed on my feet thank goodness.

Thus far that is the only time I have come off of a horse.


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## harvesterdaughter (Dec 8, 2012)

I was 7 yrs old and riding with a halter. The mare took off and down I went!!!!


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## LikeaTB (May 28, 2012)

I've been riding for 5 years and I haven't fallen off yet....I have to say I'm ashamed in telling people because I feel like they're going to think I'm boasting or something....

But I do see some falls in my near future; I got a dressage saddle after not riding in an english saddle for 3 years, so this should be interesting


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## LynnF (Jun 1, 2011)

I don't remember my first fall really but I do remember falling off a lot as a kid. The rule was that you could ride with a saddle when you could saddle your own horse so I rode bareback alot, I was also quite convinced that the only speed my horse had was gallop!


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