Horse Riders/Trainers

[rodriguezpoultry]

I have a really stupid, should be blatantly obvious, question.

How are YOU able to get onto a horse that you know nothing about or know will try and hurt you?

I am scared to death of heights and am starting to get over the whole "getting on/getting off" fear. Once I'm up there I'm fine, but if my horse were a horse I couldn't trust...I'm not sure I'd be able to do it.

I'm just curious...

 

[greeneggsandham]

If I were 16 again I wouldn't care, but unless I see someone ride the horse first I will not get on one I know nothing about. Unless it is a lesson horse. As for one that I know would or could hurt me nope not going to do it.

 

[chickbea]

Well, that depends on your age!

When I was younger, I climbed onto any beastie because I was fearless - who cares if I fall off - if I get hurt, it'll heal, was my attitude.
I am now 43 years old, and I can't deny that there is some trepidation when I am getting on a new horse or one with a reputation for disorderly conduct.
Are you older and new to riding? If that's the case, then I'd stick to known sweeties. It takes a lot longer to heal now that I'm in my 40s than it was as a kid.
If you are an experienced rider and it's a recent fear that's developed, then that's a bigger problem, because that's just nature reminding your more mature self that you're mortal and how easy it is to hurt yourself!
For me it's just a mind-over-matter thing and I force myself to calm down and climb on, but I know that won't work for everyone, especially if the horse is one that is going to feel your unsure vibes and take you on a rodeo ride just for fun.
Here's my general advice:
1. Make sure your legs are STRONG! Do your exercises and keep in shape.
2. Wear your safety gear! It used to be impossible to get me to wear my helmet, but I'm pretty faithful now. My friend rides in chest protection simply because she's so afraid of getting hurt if she does fall off (which isn't likely to happen off of the back of her ancient old Perchy cross, but it makes her feel better

)

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

I think it's been an all along type of thing. I've only ever been thrown off of one horse, she was greener than green and wound up stepping on my head in her attempts to get away. That hurt...pretty darn bad.

I've started realizing that the longer I have my foot in the stirrup, the more dangerous it is because he could spook and I'd be drug on the ground...so might as well make that leap of faith onto him. I know he'd never do anything to hurt me, even when he spooks he makes sure I'm not in his path...just me feeling mortal I suppose.

Because now I've got bills to worry about, pain...etc. When I was younger I'd do anything and everything. Now though...hmm..that ground isn't looking any softer!

I won't ever be able to hop on him "normal". I have to have a step-up. The screws in my knees keep me from jumping/hopping so a nice little "lever-up" makes it much easier.

We'll say I'm in my mid-twenties...not quite old enough to see the other side of the slope but looking at the mountain from the other side ain't fun either.

 

[michickenwrangler]

Unless I have reason to suspect the horse or owner, nothing. I get on and I ride. If it acts up, I stay on until I can get off properly.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

So mi, there's no fear/tension before you make that leap of faith?

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I feel more comfortable watching someone else ride a horse before I jump on. I've been bucked off so many other people's horses that jumping on a strange one sorta gives me the jitters! When I was younger I'd jump right on. Now I'm really out of practice riding since I'm away at college and I really need to work on my balance. Years ago, I'd ride every day for a couple weeks straight bareback and felt like I could get on anything and stay on!

However, if I know the owner and know they are trustworthy and a decent horseman/woman, I would jump right on. I really judge everything based off of how other people ride. Many times their horses are a reflection of that.

 

[michickenwrangler]

Maybe a bit of tension, but not really of fear. I'm more afraid of using power tools or driving over a tall bridge than I am of getting on a strange horse

 

[Akane]

I grew up getting thrown, run over, kicked, etc... by the orneriest ponies my grandma could find. Then we got mentally disturbed auction horses she felt sorry for. I took so many falls and developed such good reflexes and seat that there isn't anything I wouldn't get on. The only time I've gotten seriously injured in a fall was a series of events that could not have been predicted which came together to keep me from landing at all well. I went straight up and I came straight down, head first, left shoulder tipped forward, left arm pinned down, legs knocked out backward, and no forward momentum. Couldn't roll, couldn't bring my left arm up in time, couldn't bring my legs up in time, and couldn't reach the ground before my head with anything but my right hand. I tore up my right wrist and both knees to keep myself from breaking my neck. Otherwise I've taken hundreds of falls and we used to dive off our ponies head first at a full run on purpose to see who could do it without getting injured. I also had this barrel horse who would always do something weird at the end of the course and for the first 2 years I got tossed more times than I stayed on. Odds of doing more than a sprained ankle are low. In the winter I hop on them bareback with nothing and let them run loose around the pasture until I decide to bail or get tossed. We do this weekly every winter and it usually just results in a roll where we stand up without so much as a bruise.

However I do not keep horses that are truly not trustworthy. If they are just in need of a little training or have a slight ornery side then fine but I grew up with psychotic beasts and I learned the value of a good level headed horse. Anything with low enough brain function it is likely to do something stupid to risk your life sometime in it's life gets sold. All the horses I have now I can trust not to get me in dangerous situations and most would get me out of it if I did something stupid even if they don't all know how to perform every gait yet and a few still have some steering issues. Untrained but with fully functioning brains.

 

[welsummerchicks]

Well, actually it sounds like some of the anxiety might be due to your knee. I know when I have had anything going on with a leg or foot I feel insecure getting up on a horse.

I was instructed as a kid to not get on how most people get on, and to dismount differently as well. We were taught to take up the reins with the left hand and adjust the rein length so there is a 'feel' of the horse's mouth. We were also taught to turn the horse's head to the right, first to prevent that oh-so-friendly nip on the backside, but also so if it tried to take off while mounting we could very easily keep it moving on a small circle.

We were also taught never to be too proud to ask someone familiar with the horse to hold it while we got on(as long as they were sklled and not about to make the situation worse). If we didn't know the horse and no one was there that could hold him, we were taught to face him toward a corner to lessen the chance he'd take off.

I saw one very athletic lady 'cheek' a horse and hop on. I was young and impressionable and never forgot it, but I doubt I could do it these days. She took ahold of the bridle cheek with the left hand and swung up in to the saddle while the horse was running around in a small circle, LOL!

We were always taught to get on VERY quickly, as well. We were also taught by a lady at one point, who INSISTED we get on with a mounting block. She said that mounting and dismounting puts an awful lot of wear and tear on the saddle and girth and she absolutely insisted we not get on from the ground, even with the large ponies where not all kids needed a mounting block. Her other argument was that horses don't have a chance to get restless or stir up trouble when one mounts with a mounting block.

I still get up very quickly though. I don't flop down into the saddle though - I was also taught that tends to create horses that take off when the rider mounts.

The way we were taught to get off that was different, was to take both feel completely out of and away from, the stirrups before swinging off. I've seen quite a few people dragged when the horse startled while they were dismounting 'step down style', and I think not being free of the stirrups is a very bad idea when dismounting.

As far as anxiety though, we were also taught that we should feel from the start if we can handle this horse - trouble restraining the horse to mount was one indication that we should not get on the horse. As a young person I was like all teens and young adults who feel they have to get on everything. I no longer feel that way.

How's this for getting on quick? This guy is an old fashioned colt breaker.

And some of his disciples:

Or here's another way to get on: