My first time falling off a horse | attempting to canter

Date filmed: 4 May 2021

I still find it so funny that i caught my first fall on camera haha.

Don’t worry! I am fine, I had no major injuries. It was a soft and slow fall onto sand.

For anyone curious: The fall was a result of a lot of things. I was busy learning how to canter so I had never felt the transition between a trot to a canter before, and I had never felt a canter before, so when the horse changed its movement it scared me quite a bit. Also I was riding a old horse, he was about 19 years old and he had a leg injury when he was younger, and the horse very clearly didn’t want to canter. My trainer kept on telling me to get him into a canter. I tried for 20 minutes to get him into a canter and when he did begin to canter I got off balance and that threw him off balance which caused me to fall. Side note- I will talk about this in more detail one day but I was very inexperienced when this all happened. I now know that it was wrong to carry on forcing a horse to do something that they very clearly didn’t want to do. Especially if they are clearly tired and in pain. I was also definitely not ready to canter at all. I couldn’t even trot properly. This trainer pushed me and put me, a complete beginner, into advanced group lessons. She would leave the arena 10 minutes into my lesson to go talk to other trainers or watch other peoples lessons. I was left with tasks to do with no guidance from her and the only way I actually learned something was from watching people ride horses on youtube. The day of this fall, I was in an advanced group lesson and she spent the entire lesson paying attention to the advanced riders and only talked to me when she was shouting at me for not kicking or hitting the horse hard enough to get him to canter. When I asked what position I should be in when I canter, she told me I should stand up. After my fall she helped me onto the horse and then just completely left the arena and didn’t come back. My parents had to tell me that the lesson was over. I have since stopped working with this trainer and have stopped doing lessons at these stables. I have even stopped using crops because of my bad experiences at these stables. ALWAYS LISTEN TO YOUR HORSE AND TAKE IT SLOW WHEN LEARNING TO RIDE!!!

[darkhorse]

Hi guys! For anyone who wants to know what happened please read the description :)

Edit: Also I am aware that I shouldn’t post in the trot before the canter or go into light seat during the canter (when learning). The instructor literally told me I had to stand up and lean forward in the canter, I now know that it is wrong- I only learned how wrong that is once I moved to a different riding school. I am also aware that it is better to learn to canter on the lunge line (which is what i did when I moved riding schools).

I appreciate the help but I was just confused at the time and doing what the instructor told me to do. If you are learning to canter please read the advice in the comments because it is really helpful :)

[phoenixequestrian]

Just a tip that really helped me when learning to canter: have your trainer or a trusted friend put your horse on a lunge like so you don’t have to worry about steering. It will help you focus on getting balanced and keeping your position in the saddle.

[Rae-efst]

You did a good job and got right back up! My first fall I laid there like "I'm gonna need a minute". I got bucked off so that wasn't fun. My second fall my horse tripped and my position wasn't great so I came off. I got right back up and went after my horse who was walking away like "totally not my rider".

[roshannalturk]

I learned sitting trot before moving into canter. I felt as though sitting trot gave me better balance and a smoother transition into canter. All in all, not too bad a fall! You're getting there x

[misschieflolz]

Ah it doesn't look too bad for a first fall.

I remember mine because it was chaotic: we were riding indooors without stirrups in winter so the horses were all a bit fresh. Out of nowhere a bird flew into my horses' poll and it sent everyone nuts. I stayed on for 3 bucks until I hit the deck and other 3 others came off LOL

[poppysawford]

A tip: be ready for when your horse is about to canter so you get surprised when it does so you don’t fall over its neck and try not to lean to far to early. Hope it helps 😊

[enerra]

I read the description - best method to begin learning to canter is on lunge line! You don't need to worry about controlling the horse and getting it up to canter yourself if that's your first time ever cantering. You'll get used to transitions and canter movement, correct your seat and then you can do it by yourself. That's the best way

My first canter was not on lunge though, and it was on a small pony. I could barely trot back then and it was one of my first 10 lessons. And they got me to canter. I almost fell off but somehow held on and didn't fall xD all my next canters were on lunge line, just this year I started cantering by myself and even jumped a few times. I'm really proud of my progress of this year

My first fall was back then on one of my first lessons too, because 1) I got other pony than I used to have
2) he was a very hyperactive 4 year old and I was stressed bc of that
3) I got him to trot and he tripped over something, the final reason why I fell off, or rather peacefully slid off onto a nice green grass

This year I had my first 'good' fall, because I was riding a just broken 3yr old to a forest and she got spooked and bolted. It was a very soft fall
Then I fell off another two times, one because I was jumping a log on a young draft horse and she lowered her head to the ground after the jump (I've jumped the same log on that horse 2 times before and we did great), and second fall was because I wasn't ready for the jump and didn't hold on after it

Don't worry, falling off is a part of horse riding and we all just need to get used to it and learn how to fall as safe as we can

[marleyburnside]

My first fall was my first time bareback, I was doing so well bareback that My trainer decided to let me trot the barrels and I fell of luckily I landed on my feet. I do western and I lope all the time ( which is another word for canter ) and I recommend staying centered in the seat and make sure to have your reins perfect so that you can easily stop the horse :)

[landerkirby]

ah well at least you got back on! my first fall was very dramatic on my end hahaha. but i also got back on! im glad you arent with that stable anymore if that was your experience. happy riding!

[CCStableOffical]

I have fallen off many times before especially since I am a bareback rider... You are so strong and brave!

[MaryDean.G]

Yeah. I come so close to falling off because I have such a bad habit of posting while asking for the canter lol. Hope you were ok!

[Justevagacha]

IM SO EXCITED BC MY TRAINER SAID THAT FROM NEXT MONTH I CAN RIDE HIS HORSE WHENEVER I WANT AND LIKE TAKE CARE OF HIS HORSE AND STUFF
also I’m so glad seeing u improve and do new stuff, ur amazing!

[lilly]

Tip!!! When cueing to canter try not to post in the trot. The horse has to lead forward to canter and it can be difficult to start cantering while trying to take care their rider :)

[corleavanstaden]

and i love the way this video has such a good vibe of people talking about their first fall😂😂

[gabbyjosephine]

Oh man I remember cantering for the first time. Thankfully we were in a field going straight so I didn't fall off. But I did fall off cantering bareback for the first time. It's super embarrassing. Hopefully you are ok!

[creativehorsequeen]

Good job getting up right away. My first fall, I smacked my head on the ground and was stunned, so I didn't get up right away and scared my trainer.

[Horse_CrazyFan]

The exact same happened to me back in 2018/2019, when i first cantered and just remember to stay calm and drop the reins if this happens again ✨ great job! You defs made it further in first canter than most people they fall in trot 🥰

[eqamirah]

I fell off on my first canter too (Around 4 years ago), it traumatized 7 year old me lol.You did great, I'm glad you got back up :)

[picklestheduck]

Most of my falls have been bareback, or when I was riding double behind my sister. Once my sister asked if we wanted to race through our pasture. (we were bareback) I had a gut feeling this wasn't a good idea, but I knew I couldn't let fear control me, so I said yes. Sure enough, we were just starting to gallop side by side when my mare dead stopped and threw her head down, resulting in tossing me over her head! She then proceeded to run away. My sister was worried about me laying face down on the ground but I only yelled "catch her!!!" I was fine, nothing my chiropractor couldn't fix! Always follow your gut!!

[Hannah-skfv]

I have a horse that is 18.2 and I was 8 and I tried to dismount and landed weirdly causing me to fall. It was so painful but hilarious xD I couldn't stop laughing but because I was in pain the laughing made it worse xD
I have not fallen of my horse yet and I only learned to canter a couple weeks ago, Its alot harder that it looks isn't it!
Even though you are only learning you look FABULOUS on that horse and if you ever get hate, don't let it bring you down. Your a great rider and that horse did not deserve to be told to canter when he (I think) was in pain. It wasn't your fault and your trainer shouldn't have made you do that :)
But keep up the good work, your looking amazing :)