Emergency dismounts

From: Kathryn Dawe

I read some of your post mentioning practicing emergency dismounts and bail offs. Can you please elaborate...... Kathryn Dawe

From: Jerri Subject: emergency dismounts

Is there any book that tells how to do emergency dismounts. I am a new horseperson, you were so kind as to send me a couple books. I live here in Montana and have no teacher or trainer. Is there any way to learn what these mounts are on your own....I too have a terrible fear of falling, and know nothing about it...

Thanks Jerri

From: Campbell Haloo. I have been wondering about emergency dismounts for some time now, and when you mentioned them in a recent horse-sense post, I decided I'd ask Kirsten

Hello to all three of you, and to the other listmembers who have written in with this same question. It's obviously time to address the question of emergency dismounts!

When you first get on a horse, you spend some time learning to mount. Often, you don't learn how to DISMOUNT until the end of the ride, and then you don't really think about it much. Many riders aren't really very comfortable dismounting -- they need to practice until both mounting and dismounting are easy. In Pony Club, we eventually require our riders to mount and dismount from both sides!

Until you are quite comfortable mounting and dismounting, and can do both easily, don't attempt to practice emergency dismounts. If you are stiff because you are out of shape, have physical limitations, or are tense, you will need to become more fit and more flexible before you begin practicing emergency dismounts. Improving your physical fitness is a good idea anyway, for all riders! The improved fitness, flexibility, and balance will help your riding, and will make you less likely to come off, suddenly or otherwise.

When we were children, we all knew how to fall and roll -- we rolled in the grass, we rolled down hills when we could find them, and we delighted in our ability to do somersaults and the like. It was easier for us to keep our balance, and we didn't worry as much when we LOST our balance. But for many of us, that was a long time ago, and now that we are older and stiffer and more afraid of falling, we've forgotten how to break a fall by curling up and rolling. We stiffen and fall flat -- in exactly the way that you DON'T want to hit the water when you dive. ;-)

Learning how to fall off a horse can be useful. For one thing, it can lessen your fear of falling off a horse! For another, it can give you a safer option in the event that you NEED to get off suddenly, without stopping, either because you have lost your balance completely, or because the horse is no longer under control and is going somewhere you do NOT want to go with him (into traffic, say, or into a wire fence). But the emergency dismount shouldn't be a rider's first reaction to anything slightly nervous-making -- it's not the answer to every minor loss of balance, or an appropriate reaction to every minor leap, buck, or spook. There are times, depending on the situation and terrain, when it makes much more sense to STAY WITH THE HORSE.

If you determine that you do NOT want to stay with the horse, you need to know more than just how to get off in a hurry. You'll need to know how to come off, when to come off, and what to do AFTER you come off -- run with the horse, stop the horse, let the horse go, roll as far away from the horse as possible, etc. If you're a jockey in a race, you'll want to stay on until you can't stay on any longer, and then roll up in a ball and STAY in one place, hoping that the horses following yours will be able to avoid you. If you're riding at slower speeds and in less dangerous circumstances, you have more choices. As long as you understand that, we're ready to move on to the actual emergency dismount. ;-)

There are various forms of the emergency dismount, but the most common one is this:

1) drop your stirrups 2) lean forward 3) wrap your arms around the horse's neck 4) straighten your legs, swing your right leg over the horse's back, look up, and slide off

Some instructors advise doing this with no reins, others suggest keeping hold of the reins. I tend to prefer keeping hold of the reins, because this, and keeping the head UP, can help the rider land upright and looking forward. At that point, you can still drop the reins and let the horse go if you need to!

If you DO opt to hold on to the reins, you'll need to add two things to your emergency dismount:

5) land with your knees slightly bent 6) run a couple of steps with the horse before you let it go or try to stop it

Practice! You don't even have to involve a horse at first -- you can use a barrel (block it so it won't roll). Just be sure that you have a soft surface to land on, and don't wear your best clothes. ;-)

When you start practicing on a horse, start at a standstill, then progress to the walk and eventually -- if you can -- the trot and canter. You'll have to be quite a good rider to achieve this, not because it's difficult to come off at trot and canter, but because it can be VERY difficult to keep your horse moving at trot or canter once you initiate the dismount process. School horses are especially good at slowing to a walk or halt as soon as (in their minds) you begin to lose your balance -- part of their job is to keep you on board, and they know it.

You can practice at walk and trot by setting up two cones in your arena, about 30' apart (later on, you can shorten the distance). When you pass the first cone, drop your stirrups and lean forward, putting your arms around your horse's neck. When you pass the second cone, reach as far around his neck as possible and straighten your body, bringing your legs up. Swing your right leg over his back, and slide off.

The dismount described above works nicely even for riders who are older and stiffer. If you're stronger and more athletic, you can vault off (and this, too, is something you can practice on a barrel, and then on a standing horse). When you vault off, you drop your stirrups but don't wrap your arms around the horse's neck. Instead, you drop your reins too (knot them first, so that you won't catch a leg in a long loop of rein on the way down!). Then you put your hands on the horse's withers, lower your chest, and push down strongly with your hands as you swing off. This method requires more upper-body strength, but will help you land farther from the horse. It also encourages tucking and rolling instead of trying to land on your feet, running along with the horse. It's not a bad idea to become competent at both methods.

If you don't know how to tuck and roll, don't try to learn on the way off your horse's back! Practice that part alone, WITHOUT the fall. If you take a basic gymnastics class, you'll learn this very early. Get your instructor to help you, whatever you decide -- she may have suggestions or variations of her own to suggest, and she knows you, your body, and your ability.

Some instructors worry that their students will begin to perform emergency dismounts at the slightest provocation, and will leap off, perhaps endangering themselves unecessarily, each time a horse stumbles or snorts. I've found the opposite to be true -- when riders know that they can come off the horse in a more controlled manner, they don't worry as much about coming off in an UNCONTROLLED manner, and they stay more relaxed and cope better with sudden movements and temporary losses of balance.

Jessica

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