I swear I usually ride better than this.

[Cypress Creek Elites]

There is no reason to get so defensive, the problem so many riders have today is not being able to take criticism. We always want to make an emergency discount because pulling on the horse. Horse riding is dangerous, we are aware of it as soon as we get on our animal's back. Never will I say I'll let my horse be in discomfort or pain because of my decision to ride em that day.

I think I'm allowed to be defensive when you barge into my topic with a badly formed opinion of how things "should" be.
The point is, if I had fallen off (which wouldn't have happened unless I had actually made an effort to do so- I remained over him for the duration of the jump- it was just really really clumsy) it would have gone a lot worse for both me AND my horse. I could have died or gotten a permanent injury. He could have spooked and bolted or hurt himself. Yes, I do know the potential consequences of riding, but there is NO world where deliberately falling off into a jump is a better option than maybe causing some slight discomfort. The vest I'm wearing isn't a body protector.
He's pretty good about letting me know if he's uncomfortable. If he had really wanted me off his back, he would have bucked me off. We jumped another round after that and he was completely fine. I did go off course because I forgot a rollback, but that wasn't his fault, and he wasn't in any pain and didn't seem at all scared of the jumps.
It's not that I can't take criticism- but you're not someone I know or trust the opinion of. And you're just flat out wrong. If you think you can ride my horse better than me, you're welcome to try. -_-

[Silverine]

So I just wanted to let you know that my own personal first opinion (as a H/J instructor) upon seeing your photo was "this rider has a really solid leg position." Your heel was jammed down in that stirrup and the angles in your knees and hips look like they would be ideal if you were actually in the tack. Especially as I'm guessing you were in some sort of jump position before the pic.

I don't particularly agree that there was slack in the reins just based on how far back in your horse's mouth the bit is and the angle on his cheek pieces, but I also don't think the "yank" on the reins is due to rider error in this situation. A picture really is just a snapshot in time. Based on the position of your arms my guess is that you weren't trying to yank on his face and the situation was simply a result of an appropriate length of rein before the "hop" being pulled taught by an unexpected movement. This is normal and anyone who can honestly say they've never had anything similar happen to them has not been riding for long or has never had anything unexpected happen.

Also, while your horse's mouth is tight in this one particular instance in time, the rest of him does not appear tight or overly stressed. His ears are in a relaxed "paying attention to my rider" sort of position, and his eye to me looks like he's trying to think through the situation. His body is all over the place, but his front just looks like it's braced for landing and the rear isn't tight at all.

Overall, while the picture isn't "pretty," it speaks to me of a decently experienced pair that had an off moment. I think you and your boy would be a pleasure to watch under other circumstances. I also love your color choices.

[Cypress Creek Elites]

...

Haha, thank you!
I've been on him for about four years now. Leg position is something I on and off struggle with (I've had both the heels-way-too-far-down and the pinching knees), so it's nice to get praise for that
I'm also not the greatest at judging rein length, since the boi tends to pretty much retract his neck into his body (and it's not very long to begin with).
There's actually a video of the incident as well. The whole thing is pretty funny. I'd post it if I could figure out a way to keep my face consistently blurred xD
He's done several slightly silly things when I've been on him as well, such as walking into a mailbox (like a trail obstacle) and spooking when he knocked it over (I fell off that time, but landed on my feet. That was also a product of me being dumb. I didn't think he was actually going to walk into it) and also face planting onto his exercise ball when I was on his back. Shockingly, I stayed on for that one, and he got back up and we finished warming up normally.
And then there was the incident where I was completing a trail pattern and he knocked a brush that I needed to grab off of a barrel with his face. Trail was never his strong suit anyways.
He's a derpy boy.

Edit:
I was not, in fact, in a jumping position prior. That was the second fence he'd stopped in front of (the first one he just walked through), and I expected him to walk through it like he did the first, because he's pretty green and he doesn't much care about lower fences. Him stopping was an error on my part- he didn't have enough impulsion- but it was our second jumpers show and my general attitude towards competitions with him is to just do the thing. Should have had the patience to get him going a little more in the course. Oh well.

[Gabby Woodlark]

There is no reason to get so defensive, the problem so many riders have today is not being able to take criticism. We always want to make an emergency discount because pulling on the horse. Horse riding is dangerous, we are aware of it as soon as we get on our animal's back. Never will I say I'll let my horse be in discomfort or pain because of my decision to ride em that day.

I think I'm allowed to be defensive when you barge into my topic with a badly formed opinion of how things "should" be.
The point is, if I had fallen off (which wouldn't have happened unless I had actually made an effort to do so- I remained over him for the duration of the jump- it was just really really clumsy) it would have gone a lot worse for both me AND my horse. I could have died or gotten a permanent injury. He could have spooked and bolted or hurt himself. Yes, I do know the potential consequences of riding, but there is NO world where deliberately falling off into a jump is a better option than maybe causing some slight discomfort. The vest I'm wearing isn't a body protector.
He's pretty good about letting me know if he's uncomfortable. If he had really wanted me off his back, he would have bucked me off. We jumped another round after that and he was completely fine. I did go off course because I forgot a rollback, but that wasn't his fault, and he wasn't in any pain and didn't seem at all scared of the jumps.
It's not that I can't take criticism- but you're not someone I know or trust the opinion of. And you're just flat out wrong. If you think you can ride my horse better than me, you're welcome to try. -_-

I agree. Dopple was WAYYY too... How do you say this... Mean in a way. They tried to judge you and your horse, and acted as if they were your riding instructor. They were in the wrong, and you had every reason to defend your case.
One thing I would like to point out:
There is no evidence that the horse is in discomfort. He is focused on his rider, and even if he did not like the harmless bit pulling on his teeth, he doesn't care.

But then again, I am no expert and have been riding since June. (I still feel like a newby)

Nevertheless, have a great day!
-Gabbs

[Iris Rock Stables]

(we went to a schooling show and did the 2' class. He stopped in front of this jump so I kicked him over it and he jumped me waaaaay out of the tack. I stayed on)
**would like to add that I ended up behind the saddle and had to somehow get myself back into the saddle. Thankfully, Zippy stayed still for that whole thing xD

XD Happens to the best of us, luckily you're ok! We've all had our accidents on horses

[Iris Rock Stables]

A lot of people are saying that it's a good thing you stayed on, it is not. Almost every rider should be taught that when you're falling, you let go of the reigns and just take the fall. It's so harmful and damaging to the horse when you pull the reigns.

I hate to get defensive because I hate taking peoples sides T-T but it was a "oopsie" moment and probably in that moment she didn't realize he jumped the way he did. Its understandable to say, "Its a good thing to fall off instead of taking the reigns" But humans have natural instincts and think to hold the reigns so they don't take a fall and hurt themselves (which probably some people still fall after grabbing the reigns T-T) But obviously we don't want to hurt the horse either. All I'm saying is people don't always automatically realize what has exactly happened and instead go for their instincts.

[Gabby Woodlark]

A lot of people are saying that it's a good thing you stayed on, it is not. Almost every rider should be taught that when you're falling, you let go of the reigns and just take the fall. It's so harmful and damaging to the horse when you pull the reigns.

Okay... just adding my opinion here...

When a horse jumps like that and you end up staying on, it means you are either very lucky or a great rider. In this case, she is a great rider and managed to stay on the horse’s back even when it looked as if she would fall right off his back.

I haven’t been riding long, but my riding instructor told me to try and stay on when I feel as if I am about to fall off. I usually do this by wrapping my arms around the horse’s neck for support.

Whenever I fall of my horse, Blinker, she runs off and tries to bite anything and anyone in sight. (I have no idea why. She is a nicely trained horse after all-) Once she bit a little kid that came to watch the girl I was riding with, and the kid ended up needing stitches. I felt horrible and never saw the family again.

As for the bit tugging on the horse’s mouth-

It is completely harmless unless the bit is made with special ‘hurting’ sides that teach the horse what to do. (I completely disagree with that) The rider does not have much slack in the reins, but no one would if they were in the exact situation. The horse is not focused on discomfort, only on his rider (As a good horse should).


STORY TIME!!

Okay.. so my riding instructor bought a horse a while back when I started riding...

Her name was Lightning, and she came in horrible shape.

Cuts, bruises, scars, whip marks, etc.

Her tongue was sticking out, full of blood and scars.

Turns out my riding instructor bought her from a rodeo where they abused her into doing tricks, and make her wear a bit originally made for cows, and it cut into her tongue so deep that it almost fell right off. (I’m not exaggerating guys)
She now wears a hack-a-more and only boots without spurs are allowed when riding her.


Okay. Story time over, welp.

Don’t attack me, BlackOak for starting up the ‘drama’ again

K bai

-Gabbs

[Cypress Creek Elites]

STORY TIME!!

Okay.. so my riding instructor bought a horse a while back when I started riding...

Her name was Lightning, and she came in horrible shape.

Cuts, bruises, scars, whip marks, etc.

Her tongue was sticking out, full of blood and scars.

Turns out my riding instructor bought her from a rodeo where they abused her into doing tricks, and make her wear a bit originally made for cows, and it cut into her tongue so deep that it almost fell right off. (I’m not exaggerating guys)
She now wears a hack-a-more and only boots without spurs are allowed when riding her.


Okay. Story time over, welp.

Don’t attack me, BlackOak for starting up the ‘drama’ again

K bai

-Gabbs

Dang, that's awful! Hopefully she's doing a lot better now

[BlackOak2]

Don’t attack me, BlackOak for starting up the ‘drama’ again

K bai

-Gabbs

You have your opinions, we all do. We're all allowed them and allowed to share them too.

I try to only remind our community, not attack them, though. -_-

Regardless, your take on it, is interesting to read as well, just like the others, as was your... regretfully sad... story.

[BlackOak2]

I think the point has been hammered home well and fully... sharing of opinions is good and fine (and reading the opinions on this is still interesting, especially the different takes and what different people see), but can we now avoid the direct quoted reply, please?

Thank you!