The strange things we brag about..

[Venus]

LOL. I went for a ride last night. My coach and I are personal friends so we went up to the barn and rode together. Since she was around, I felt comfortable and decided to work on my canter. My horse was having the TIME of his life. I could feel his excitement. It was very cute.

As we are cantering around he lowered his head. Me, being the novice rider that I am, thought he was going down to scratch his leg (he ALWAYS does this). I held on and didn't fall off! (Yeee Haww) After I got myself together my coach said. Well..that was your first buck. She explained that it was a "fun" buck and that horses do this some times when they are having fun. (She did also cover the "I want you off my back buck.")

Later, I was talking to one of the other ladies in the barn. When she asked how my ride was..I said.."It was great!! I had my first buck!!!!"

LOL So, what experiences have you had that were brag worthy but a funny thing to brag about. (eg. first fall, etc)

[maverick927]

Wow, you first buck. I orefare no bucks, but my pony is into doing those fun bucks mid gallop. Very scary so i leave me sister to it.

I was to young when I first fell off to brag. I just cried. I was awful good at bragging when I got my first rossette. My aunty made made me enter a class at a local show. I had not prepared for it at all. i had no show gear on or anything. I was shaking pretty bad to. But i got round and came 5th (last) and got this little tiny rossette which was a lovely pink and I spent the next week showing it to everyone and no one knew why I was so excited as I came last!! But i was so happy. And it took me another 6 months to win my second one, boy more bragging. you should have seen me with my first trophy!!

Now I have 56 rossettes and 7 trophies so that's a lot of bragging (only joking, I stopped after my 3rd rossette)

[jUmPingIsLifE]

congrats on staying on! but i remember my first buck, it was actully a first three bucks. i was troting around and over small cross rails. it was when i was first learning to jump. there were three canter poles before the jump. i troted half the areana asked for the canter and MERLIN say WOOHOO and let out three huge bucks, i lost both stirrups took the jump than than he just STOPED. my instructer came up to me while the rest of my lesson sat there, she was like "nikki don't ever do that to me again, i only herd it but all i was thinking was OMG she is comming off!" than she asked if i wanted to stay on or if i wanted her to get on. i told her i would stay on and i canterd the jump like 4times just fine :) lol...he is still one of my fav horses in the barn he has the best personality EVER! lol

[Gracie]

Today my horse reared on my leg(**which u may have read on my other post!) well anyways.. I;ve been showing everyone the war wound!LOL!

[smarty]

I used to have a nasty pony who used to buck and then drop a shoulder straight after!
My best fall ever was when i was out hunting on a fat cob who was very unfit. I think it was blondness that guided me towards a huge hedge and i aimed for the biggest and thickest part. As I approached the hedge I felt the horse movebeneath me and then there was thewhistling of airasI flew over the hedge WTHOUT the blinkin' horse! I hit the ground head fist and promptly rolled myself under the hedge waiting for the cob 2 come down after me. But, it didn't happen. She had banked herself on top of the hedge and was looking down on me! The hedge itself was way above my head in height! I scrambled back on to enjoy a good days hunting!
A friend of my mums had her binocualrs out a couple of fields away a told my mum about the incident, not realising it was me and was in histerics when she saw the huge bum (horse not me!) fly onto the hedge!

[FreedomStar]

well, this was when I was still an intermediate beginner rider, who can ride and do most of the basics, like cantering and jumping small jumps about 1 foot six. Anyways, this day, they had to use the lesson horse I usually ride for a special program they were doing. I was given THE MOST ADVANCED horse in the whole stable. I was freaking out of my wits. Since she was so...hard to ride, we had a walk trot lesson. I'll never forget it, my arms were about to fall off from holding her in!!! But I have to say that I was very proud of myself and told lots of people about it. hehe.

[Venus]

Those are great!! LOL

It appears that this is my week for firsts. I had my lesson today and Tux stepped on my toe when we were walking to the arena! Nothing broken..it just hurt like hell. Then, in our lesson, we jumped for the first time (1/2 foot cross poles) and, Tux decided he wanted to canter into the jump!

I was so surprized that I nearly fell off from shock!! LMAO

I really love this schooly horse. We are starting to bond and have some fun together.

I have attached a picture of my bucking bronco! LOL

[Shmon]

I had a very exciting thing happen in my lesson yesterday! (of course, it scared the crap out of me too, but I was so happy when it was done!)

I was working on a little tiny 2' course, and the first two jumps were a 4-stride line. Well, I came around the corner to the first crossrail rather poorly (didn't get a good straight line at all!) We jumped it at a slight angle, and because I took such a poor line into the jump my horse's strides were off, and he took off SO far in front of the jump! He takes this huge jump, which totally unbalanced me, and when he landed my feet fell out of BOTH stirrups! But I was in line for that second jump, and I wasn't about to have the horse stop or run out, so I just went for it. We cantered a beautiful 4 strides into the jump, and I jumped without either stirrup! I was SO PROUD! :D

After the jump, we cantered around the ring once while I tried to find my stirrups (without success), so then I tried to get him to stop. He can be rather difficult to stop sometimes (ex-racehorse), and basically after a couple of frantic half-ring circles we came to a stop with me holding the reins and hugging his neck, while my seat had slid so far off the saddle that my left cheek was barely on the right half of the saddle! Rather ungraceful...but I was very proud that I actually stayed on. I'm even more happy about my first jump without stirrups!!

[Alison+Rio]

I have to say my funniest moment that i oftne tell people about had to be when i was riding my friends little fat cob. I had just been riding my hot thoroughbred and she had done her usual rodeo show and deicded i wanted to sit on him.

My friend held my monster (who could blame her). I got on her little pony who walked on when asked. In a straight line I should also add when suddenly i just fell off! Lol I dont know why but i suddenly started to slide! I fell off just missing a puddle! i lay there for ages laughing. I had managed 30 minutes of hell on my monster and only managed to walk about 6 feet on a reliable old cob who was walking perfectly and in a straight line!

Ive never lived it down!

[JenJane]

When I was at college they kept putting me on a 17.3hh horse for jumping lessons - i was really scared as I only ride ponies and jumping at college petrified me!
Anyway - i fell off this horse twice in two weeks - once in a jumping clinic just after the woman taking it had said 'the only thing you can never do in my clinics is fall off...'! and then again when I counted the strides wrong in a jump. Each time I just rolled off over his left shoulder and ended up sitting on the floor looking at his face that seemed to say 'Oh, your down there? Shouldnt u be up here?'
It was quite surreal really, falling that distance, wondering when i was going to finally land!!!

[Nickie]

Curently I'm boring every one to tears about the horse shoe shape on my belly!!! :D

(see thread I'm in pain but a lesson learnt!) I got kicked in the stomach by a horse at our yard on Friday. Not an experience I'd care to repeat by the attention and the amazed looks are fantastic!! :p

Generally I brag about are my war wounds! But I'll tell anyone who'll listen about how wonderful Bren is and how funny it is when we cat leap - (you can't really call it jumping!) :D :p

Nic

[ems]

Well, I just cant help bragging about how I can ride all four gaits - walk, trot, canter, gallop - when I havent had a single riding lesson at all!!! I learnt how to rise to trot the first time I ever trotted (on a leadrein). And the first time I cantered and galloped was out in the countryside on a hack!! Its cos I cant afford to have riding lessons, what with having to pay for dancing lessons, so I work for rides basically at a local riding school/yard. I still cant believe it! Makes me pretty proud!

Ems

[kedwards]

JenJane, your clinic story cracked me up. There's a basic tenet in sport psychology (or any psychology of learning) that one never emphasize what "not" to do. So it was the trainer's fault for planting the seed. ;)

[sarahh]

i was proud/amazed to ride a notoriously inclined to buck horse (he was small so i realised i wouldn't fall very far even though i was v scared) and he behaved perfectly, even going over small jumps much to everyone in my group's amazement, they were just waiting for him to buck me off (even another riding instructor expressed concern that i was given him to ride). i couldn't believe i hadn't hit the sand once. i am also always really pleased when my riding instructor praises me for keeping my horse going at the right speed, sometimes it always seems to be too fast or too slow and to have him saying "that's just right, well done" is great. but the very best thing was finally starting to use my reins in canter instead of just clutching my neck rein/mane for dear life, i used to fantasize about the day when my balance and confidence had grown enough and it was just brilliant when i realised i could move my reins in canter and not instantly fall off. the next thing i have to aim for is cantering a circle, so maybe this time next year i'll have mastered that!

[ravenin]

My first buck occured along with a few other firsts... I was eleven at my first show (just a show for those who took lessons at my then-equestrian center)and I had just finished jumping 6 small fences on a fat, spunky little palomino gelding who I rode in my lessons. We had stopped and I was about to dismount when the announcer finished talking. Suddenly everyone clapped, which caught poor lil Butterscotch off-guard--resulting in a few fun little bucks which I was thoroughly unprepared for in my already nervous state, being 11 years old at my first show. I stayed on though, and we got into line for our next event, while I scolded Butterscotch for his unexpected little rodeo.....I suddenly went from annoyed to overjoyed with him, though, when I heard on the speakers that we'd been awarded 1st place! He was more than forgiven, having given me my first coveted blue ribbon. :D
He did pull the same little performance after our second event, but I was ready for it that time~ :)

[Abbie_P]

I always laugh when I remember one day I was out riding my old pony with a friend. He often used to buck & I was used to falling off.

Anyway, this time he did a couple of normal bucks that I can stay onto then one HUGE one with his head right down & I did a forward somersault over his ears and LANDED ON MY FEET!!! LMAO!!

Friend was in stitches - said I should be doing gymnastics rather than riding LOL!!!

[Venus]

Abbie!! LOL..I had the same thing happen to me today! I had my first fall. Actually, I would prefer to refer to is as an unscheduled dismount! LOL

Tux has been REALLY moody lately and has bucked off a few riders. The first part of the lesson was going REALLY great. We then moved into the canter. As I mentioned before..Tux gets REALLY excited in the canter and will pretty much break into one without having to be asked. The minute I start with sitting trot he starts his canter. So, today, I decided to work on his bad habit. So, everytime he broke into canter without me asking I brought him down to a walk..then halt and tried again. Well..after the 6th time I guess he had had enough. He bucked twice..and I hung on barely. Then, the little bugger dropped his shoulder after the 3rd buck and I rolled in slow motion over his head, hugged his neck, brought my legs around...and landed on my feet standing right next to his face! LOL

After the lesson..everyone in the barn was giving me pats on the back and congrats on the nice landing! LOL

[BlueSky]

LOL... Abbie, I did a similar thing the other day (though not quite as spectacular as yours sounded!). I was hacking out with a friend, on a 5yr-old that's inclined to buck sometimes. Well, we'd got through the whole ride without a buck, perfect manners, and we were within sight of the gate back into the yard, when she spooked at something, and gave three MASSIVE bucks. I shot straight over her head, landed on my side and kind of bounced onto my feet! Meanwhile Rio was standing at the gate looking at me as if to say, 'What on earth are you doing down there?'

[Mazpup]

lol my first fall was off a cheeky little pony called tico. I'd only just started riding off the lead rein, and in trot he kept starting to canter off! I like sitting to the little fun bucks that small ponies do when ur cantering across fields! The worst situation I had was when I was riding a big horse (fern) and me and another helper were cantering around the school with no stirrups. We didnt realise our horses didnt like each other, and when we got to close, they began kicking out and bucking at each other (luckily only small ones!)

[Pintaloosa]

I was showing a very handsome appaloosa gelding named Rio for some people at my trainers barn last year. He had a bit of a bucking problem so no one else would ride him and he needed to be sold. This horse was the best bucker I'd ever ridden. He would do this lipazzan (sp?) leap into the air spin and kick thing. We started to get along pretty well and my trainer took me to a big Breed show across state. He was being really good at the show in the warm up arena and I was very excited about our western pleasure class. He was perfect the first direction then the second direction I cued him to lope and it was if I cued him to buck. He bucked off perfectly straight so I sat there and equitated through it hoping the judges wouldn't notice. I got last out of 3 judges but the one judge didn't see it and I got a first. Many people congratulated me on my 8 second ride and how lovely my saddle bronc equitation was.