Horse&Rider’s Marketing Manager Zoe Cannon
One boiling, beautiful summer day my Warmblood tripped and fell on his face. I don’t know how I stayed on, but that incident shook me up more than any fall I’ve ever had – possibly because I had considered not wearing a hat that day as it was so hot, and I knew that had I fallen, my horse would have had no choice but to trample over me.
I’m not a nervy rider, but I am of the opinion that you never know what’s going to happen with horses – so you may as well protect yourself as best you can.
Less than a week later, I was deposited on the floor in what was my first fall in over six years. Everything was going well, when suddenly something spooked the horse. We went from medium trot to reverse gear in a fraction of a second. As he span round I shot out the side door and managed a close verbal impression of Gordon Ramsay, which spooked him even further. Then he was off and I was left on the floor.
I quickly realised nothing really hurt and got to my feet. He can be a nervous horse, so I was worried how he would feel about our parting company. He let me catch him easily and seemed fine, but all of a sudden the realisation of what had happened hit me and I felt out of breath and giddy. Fortunately, another rider in the school kindly got off and held the horses so I could sit on the floor and gather my thoughts.
I think it was the speed at which things had gone wrong which really surprised me, and I was annoyed at myself for getting out of balance. I dutifully got back on and trotted around the arena a few times. Everything was fine so I called it a day.
There are however, some important lessons I can take with me from yesterday. Firstly, falling off needn’t result in a visit to casualty, as most of my previous falls have done. Secondly, although I don’t plan on doing it too often, I’m not so worried about falling in the future. And finally, although I didn’t land on my head, I’m even more convinced I need to wear a hat every time I ride – even when it’s scorching hot.
I won’t go on about it, but as the weather gets warmer and the temptation to ride without a hat becomes greater, please think about that decision very carefully.
Tags: confidence, falling off, hat, scared, trotting, Warmblood
