If I landed on my feet, did I really "fall"?

Question

Not really a serious question, I'm just curious. I ride spooky, fat ponies bareback (I refuse to ride them with a saddle unless we can find an outer cirsingle or a saddle which actually fits the contour of their watermelon body, which normally is not the case) so I often find myself unexpectedly on the ground whenever a dragon pops out. But normally I'm on my feet, facing my horse (we condition the heck out of them to stop when someone comes off) and still holding on to their mane (which I seldom let go of bareback). So for the record, is that a fall? at least I can pretend it was on purpose, cuz most people can't tell.

Answer 1

It's a fall. But no worries as long as you didn't get hurt!! =]

I work at a daytime horse camp for kids over the summer and we have a rule that if someone falls off, no matter how creative, they have to bring in brownies for everyone in their class.

Let's just say we have a lot of brownies... :-D

Answer 2

Hmmm.  If I were you, I'd go with the "creative dismount" moniker.  Technically, you did not FALL, but as you are involuntarily parting company with your noble little steeds who are graciously choosing to stand and wait for you, you might call it a "creative, albeit unscheduled, and somewhat graceful dismount."  Just lift your free arm in the air and stick your chest out like the gymnastic people do after their dismount from the balance beam, and no one will be the wiser.

PS Riding ponies bareback, especially fat ones, really is like riding greased watermellons, and I don't care how good your balance is, it is hard to stay on through a big spook.  They move twice as fast as a larger horse, you can't feel it coming, and there's nothing to wrap your legs around.

Answer 3

It's still a fall-because you still technically "fell off" rather than jumped off or got off. And you were in the process of actually "falling" but you're good to catch yourself on your feet. When cats fall they catch themselves on their feet-but we still say the fell.

And if it doesn't look like a fall (looks like you did it purposely) then sure, why not say it was on purpose. haha

Answer 4

I would call it a creative dismount!  haha

Answer 5

nope because it would be considered a forcefull jump!

Answer 6

If you lose you seat, you fall,no mather how you land. do like the rodeo cowboy do, run over a saddle with your car and break the saddle tree, it will fit any horses withers then, or use a extra blanket. I have falling off of horses standing still, did I fall or get off. And then what about those practicing, or showing off by fall off of they horse. It is so much easyer to fall off of a bareback, you do not have to worry about clearing the stirrup's.

Answer 7

u fell my dear!

Answer 8

You had to have a "pit stop" your horse was in deep need of a hug! If you didn't give it to him soon something might happen to him!!! That would be my exscuse, how would you ride bareback without holding on to mane any way? sounds like a braver way to ride.

Answer 9

To me i would say that you did fall off because you got on you feet... i have fall off b4 and its no fun and i didnt land on my feet so you did a good job. you might want to put the pony on a diet so that you can find a saddle that fits the pony. you dont want an over weight pony because its not good for their heart

Answer 10

Well, if you become unseated and depart company with your mount, then I would consider it a "fall". That is the nice thing about ponies too, not to far between them and the ground if you ever fall hard! lol!

Answer 11

The way I see it, if you start out "on" the horse or pony & end up "off" the horse or pony, it is a fall.

*EDIT*

Midnight, how do you figure that?  You can have proper contact with the horses mouth riding with one hand.  Our horses all neck rein & they are all ridden with one hand whether bareback or saddled.  But then we don't ride on the horses mouth either.  We ride with a very loose rein.

Answer 12

Yes it is falling. Its just not bad falling. Riding rough stock I have landed on my feet a few time. It is only a dismount if you "ment" to get off. But kuddo's for not landing on your head.

I do like creative dismount, but its called ''riding'' not '' landing on your feet everytime your horse spooks''.

Kinda like they call it ''fishing'' not ''catching''. In the rodeo world they would not call your falling a ''creative dismount'', its called "bailing off".

Edit-blackheart_987 I have never ran over any-ANY- of my riggin' with my car. That ruins a good saddle. And I have never heard of winning cowboys doing that. But I guess some people do. I just never seen it.

Edit- Midnight, you don't need to be "on'' the horses mouth. I train reining horses and the key to it is a very loose rein. And if holding the mane is soo bad then how does Stacy Westfall do her reining exibitions, bareback with no bridal or reins. I don't know. Maybe I don't know the facts.

Answer 13

Lol!  I used to do this, too.  I had one little mare I loved...  she'd go like the wind.  But as soon as I'd cue her to stop, she'd stop and put her head down to graze and dddoooowwwnnnnn the sliding board of her neck I would go!  Didn't bother either one of us.

Was that a fall?  I don't know, I certainly didn't consider it one.  I'd do it 5 or 6 times a ride, and just hop back on.  It was a very bad habit to be in; if she'd have done it saddled my feet probably would have been stuck through the stirrups...  but we were young and didn't know any better.

I think these unscheduled dismounts can be safer than riding with a saddle, particularly when the pony is difficult to fit to a saddle and so round the saddle won't stay on the back but wants to go under the belly.  

What to call it....  hhhhmmmm....  gymnastic equitation?  Just land on your feet, stick your landing, and sweep your arms into the air like a gymnast landing a vault, and say "AND she stuck the landing!  10!"

Answer 14

Unscheduled dismount. lol. but no, you parted company with the horse!!!

Just a point, no wonder the ponies are spooky as they don't have a proper contact on their mouth - if you're holding the mane there is no way you can have a proper contact. Also, if you need to hold the mane when riding bareback then your seat obviously isn't great, so maybe you shouldn't ride spooky ponies as this will be making them worse.

ADD: To the poster above, if you break a saddle's tree then put it on a horse, you'll cause irrepairable damage to the horse's back.

ADD: I'm not saying only weak riders hold the mane, but there is no way at all that you can have a correct contact on the horse's mouth if you are holding the mane. It's not a viewpoint, it's a fact.

Answer 15

Its just 'falling with style' (he he he). btw I like the idea of a creative dismount!!

Answer 16

I did that once, except I was riding in a saddle.  I was riding a friend's 16 hh gelding and he suddenly got scared and reared up.  Next thing I know I was standing next to him holding one of the reins. I have no idea how it happened.

But I would still consider it a fall.  Even if you land on your feet, you still came off the horse and it wasn't your idea to come off the horse.

Answer 17

Well, you can do what most people around here do when it happens and claim to have vaulted off rather than to fall.  Now, in a way, you could kinda sorta say that's true, since you didn't wind up on your a###, but without the push off, it's a stretch.  So maybe call it something clever, like the bareback semi-vault, or the moving dismount..you know, be creative!

Answer 18

lmao, I like the creative dismount! I used to have a very overweight horse and couldn't find a saddle for him either, I went with the Balance Treeless in the end. It was like a huge shetland pad, but it worked whilst I was working to get the weight off him!

Same happenend to me a few months ago, was on a youngster who decided to get creative and did rodeo bucks for me! They were just getting bigger and bigger and I knew I was going to come off, and sure enough I did! Landed on my feet facing him. I was very chuffed with myself as there were loads of people building the new stable block watching at the time! I still don't call it a fall, but didn't know how to describe it, now I do...creative dismount!! Love it!

Answer 19

That's a fall, don't cheat. The art of riding consists of keeping the horse between you and the ground

Answer 20

It's a fall if you've unexpectedly become separated from your pony.  What you need to do is teach yourself how to vault back on.  Then, you come off the way you are now, except facing forwards, then as soon as your feet hit the ground, spring back up onto their backs.  If you're good, no one will even notice you left the pony.