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potential hazard, you must do everything you can to stay with the horse!)

If you see disaster coming, pull your feet out of the stirrups. Then you can swing a leg over the top of the horse, slide off to one side, and try to land on your feet. Bend your knees, and try to spring onto the ground. Certainly, a sudden voluntary dismount is preferable to being launched into the stratosphere!

If you are caught by surprise, drop your stirrups, and think fast: FEET or SEAT? Try to land on one or the other. Protect your head, your arms and wrists, your back, and your neck. No one wants to land head-first in the dust, even with a helmet!

Stay on the ground for a few minutes, and take a quick body inventory. You may have had the wind knocked out of you. Be sure you are reasonably unbroken before attempting to rise.

Call for someone nearby to help you catch your horse, if he is not munching grass nearby.

If you possibly can, you simply must remount immediately. Even a simple walkabout will be important for you and your horse. The horse must be reminded that you are in charge, and your confidence must be rebuilt by ending the ride on a positive note.

Grab some ibuprofen and an ice pack, and round up your friends. Unscheduled dismounts are no fun, but they may be considered bragging points. After all, every real rider has come off! If we didn't ever fall off, we would still be riding the carousel!

Congratulations! You have graduated to the emancipated! As long as you are not perforated, mutilated, or devastated, try not to be humiliated or frustrated! You may be a bit sore tomorrow and the next day, but you will ride again.

Learn more about this author, Linda Ann Nickerson.
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