Part two: Two part question- How many hours in the saddle, and how many times you've fallen off??

Question

And again, lets keep it real-honest answers only please!

To give you all a comparative figure: riding once a day, 7 days a week for twenty years will give you roughly 7560 hours in the saddle, so calculate your hours carefully.

Answer 1

I started riding with my father at 6 months. I started riding on my own at 3 years. I have been riding almost everyday since. I train horses for a living - the bottom of the barrel, no one else wants to train them horses. Sorry, exact hours are hard to figure. Using your math, it's just shy of 15000 hrs. probably more than that since I ride multiple horses a day.

How many times have I fallen off - more than I can count. I have broken almost every type of bone you can brake including my thick skull.

And while it may not be the best way to tell of a persons experience, I would rather work and ride with a person that has had a few train wrecks. Experience is the best teacher - and the most valuable lessons usually come with a big price tag. People who say they have been riding for years and never fallen off - they aren't trying hard enough. You can ride a push button horse all your life and never fall off. A person that keeps pushing themselves to learn more and try harder things, and work with harder horses - that person is bound to take a fall every once in a while.

I hate falling off. My body hurts just thinking about it. But you can't make an omelet with out breaking some eggs.

Answer 2

Well, let's see..... 15 years riding... many of those years were 7 days a week on 4+ horses...... I've probably ridden 200 different horses in that time..usually 1 hour rides..hmmm.... I can't imagine how many hours I've had in the saddle....I honestly have no idea. - seveal thousand for sure, maybe 10,000 or more.

I think I have fallen off at least 40 times maybe more, all in all, not that bad I would say. I've never lost it on trails, or cross country jumping, and only a few times at shows. Most of the falls I've had were while schooling - and almost always while working through problems areas or introducing something new or higher or scary....
I know when I was first learning to ride and learning the canter, the horse bolted with me, tripped and I fell between his front legs and he stepped on my thigh as he strided over me.
And then there was this one horse that used to take a sick pleasure in dumping me over a 3'6" rolltop all the time. He dumped me 5 or 6 times iin one ride alone.
Most of my fall offs were from schooling jumping while retraining TB's.
My one horse fell with me on her twice, and came down on me one of the times. She broke my ankle.
Another horse of mine dumped me twice at a show, and there was another time I recall getting dumped at a show - he bucked me onto the fence I was passingb y while warming up, and I hit my pelvis against the gate fence and broke it. I think those were the only-show dumps I ever had.
Falling off, I've broken my ankle and my pelvis. I fell off this summer and reinjured my pelvis but it was not broken.

I think my fall:riding ratio is pretty good all in all - in my opinion most falls happen during the learning process- either a horse or rider learning. Once a rider knows how to ride, and the horse is well trained enough taht even if he spooks the rider can acheive quick control again, the falling off factor goes away pretty much fully.

Answer 3

Let's see, I've been riding consistently for 20 years. BUT, I started riding about 4 years before that, just not consistently. I have spent up to 10 hours in the saddle in one day.

I have fallen off more times than I can count, since I have been training and helping to train horses for 20 years.

Answer 4

When I was a child, my pony, and then later my horse(s) were a main source of entertainment. In those days it was also safe to put a kid on a pony, and say "Go have fun", and watch them ride off down the road and figure they'd come home safe....today you have to worry so much about increased traffic, and what sick person might snag the kid off the pony. Anyway....off that tangent. As a kid, I wouldn't even begin to come close to figuring up the hours and hours I spent riding. Now, probably do good to average 150 hours per year. Accumulating over a 40 year period.....that's still a lot of hours. As for falls....I couldn't tell you how many times I fell as a child....heck....most of them were no big deal, so they don't stick in my memory. Now....let's say...in the last 15 years....5 times. I'm highly motivated to stay in the saddle....the ground's a whole lot harder than it used to be!!! :O)

Answer 5

I had a horse for 26 years, rode for 10 years before that. Thousands and thousands -- TENS of thousands of hours in the saddle.

I'd GUESS that I've fallen off between 15 and 20 times. But in all those times, I was only injured ONCE and not very badly. Although it almost always HURT, sometimes it didn't. And TWICE I landed on my feet!

Answer 6

Ugh, the mathmatical figuring required in this question was too much for most people...me included! I can honestly say I have been riding for 24 years, but it's tapered off in the last five years due to jobs, marriage, and a child. I still own horses, but I don't have time to ride daily. I trained horses for my dad growing up, and I have fallen off probably upwards of 30 times. Never a serious injury.

Answer 7

I have approximately 15,120 plus hours riding horses.(going by your calculations) For all types, pleasure, training, exercising for others, showing etc... I have never just fell off, but have been bucked off twice, and had to jump off 2 times..once when a mare was bulled up and flipped over backwards (she only got my ankle), and another when the equipment failed and the runaway horse was headed for the barn and smashed through a rail fence (just a headache) and I rolled off once when I was riding with a broken leg and the horse took off so quick my leg flew up and around so that I was laying sideways, so got as low as possible and let go. Oh yes and once when I was racing bareback on a logging trail ,the horse stopped dead and I didn't...LOL, but he did come to see if I was ok. (there was a road sign on ground) So if you count those, 6 times. But still time for more, although don't bounce very good anymore =)

Answer 8

Since I messes my knees up 10 years ago, I spend an average of 8 hours a week saddle (more like 2-6 3-4X a week, but add sick and vacation) I've been tossed once of a horse I was schooling and once off one of my horses. (2x 10 yrs) (408 hrs)

In the 10 before that, I had around 4 hours a week in the saddle and much training of bad horses. I can think of 4 times in the dirt....all bad ones) (204 hrs)

In the first 10 years of riding, 2 hours a week, I was tossed sooo many times I can't even count. my first time off (1st canter), I broke my arm. I was the teenager who always got to be the 1sy ride on babies and the one who got on horses that bucked owners and students off to fix them, or re-educate bad horses and race horses. Of course doing stupid things like riding with no girth, blindfolded, or with no tack is just ASKING to be dumped. :-) I'll guess 30 times in the dirt. (102)

714 hours, 36 times

Answer 9

I would say I have fallen off 20+ times, most of which happened while I was jumping. I have been riding 15+ years.

Of course that is not counting the times I fell off when we had falling off contests from a Shetland pony.

Answer 10

I've been riding on and off for 19 years and I've fallen off about 10 or 12 times. Some were due to spooks, some from jumping, once from a run-away when I was younger, and once was from getting bucked off. Ohh yeah, once was from riding my friend's POA bareback, not even a halter, in his pasture while she chased him around.....stupid I know, but I was only 9 and it seemed like fun at the time....kids and their horses, hehehe.