Do you prefer holding onto the reins when you fall off, or do you let go (on purpose) so your horse may or may not drag you.

Personally - l think you should hold on to your reins, l would rather be dragged a bit (though my horse did not drag me when l fell off) than have them out loose on the roads or in an arena where they could get hit by a car or trip on their reins.

Allwelcome.
- my personal preferance is actually based on where i'm riding.
i'm not asking which is the best one, i'm asking what you guys do or what you prefer. l have fallen off three times.

1. my horse fell on me, let go of the reins when she was getting off me.

2. was getting on my friends horse bareback and did not have reins tight enough and l jumped on her and she started trotting, l lost the reins and fell off to the side.

3. was trotting slowly and my horse spooked at a guy jumping off a tractor, she turned the opposite way l was going, did not have a tight grip because my horse is normally bomb proof and did a flip onto the ground.

so really it has to do with how l fall and where l fall depending on what l do, holding on or letting go.

Let go, because you can wreck their mouths by holding on to the rains if they are pulling.

l fell off today and l let the horses reins go becasue l held onto the reins befor and he reared up on me

Haha, let go. It might not be polite but if you're in a S#t storm, its better to bail than get a busted neck.

Let go you silly! You can rip their mouths or kill yourself if you get dragged. Usually you let go without even thinking about it. That is why its called falling off.

it depends..if the reins come down over his head like when you lead them l hold on. if they are still in riding position (resting on his neck) l let go because then you could be dragged if the reins get stuck. and sometimes you do not even realize you have already let go. if l am in a small arena by myself l let go because my horse cant go anywhere. its not worth trying if your by yourself!

For me, it depends on where l am riding. If im in the arena, the gate or door is usually closed, so it would not be a catastrophe if my horse got loose. l am not saying thats a good thing, but it would not b terrible. If l was on trail or something that is not in an enclosed space, l would make an attempt to hold on to the reins. The thing with holding onto the reins though is that it can frighten ur horse more if u happen to fall on the ground & yank on his face. So thats kind of a conflicting question lol

A good horse should stop when their rider falls off. But. Not all horses will, no matter how 'good' they are. I'd let go of the reins. l love my baby, & would be devastated if anything happened to her, but being drug can turn into something very dangerous.
Now, if l had slid to the side & could land on my feet, l would totally keep hold of the reins, b/c l know l could stop my horse.
l know a woman who was drug by a horse & received brain damage that caused her to have to drop out of her third year in vet school. A horse is so dangerous. In a situation like this, some one could be easily be injured, or even killed.

Well from experience let go. l held on not by choice, happened to fast, but after wards l have a steel rod and 3 screws in my leg. This is from falling and pulling horse on top of me.

You need to let go of the reins. It is dangerous to fall off and hold them. First off, if you fall off on the road, you lying on the road (possibly injured) and holding the reins will not keep them from bolting into traffic, they will jjust take you with them. Secondly, if your horse steps on the reins they will snap more often than the horse will trip on them.

Use mecate reins and then you will have a 12' lead rope attached that you can use.

l can tell you that every time I've fallen off, I've never come up with the reins in my hands.

l have the habit to holds the reins. l have to stop because it is really bad for a scared horse to have to drag (x) pounds just from their mouth. If they dont move, fine, hold them, but if they run, let them go. It can tear their mouths and scare them more. It is not really how you ''feel'' about it, but what is best for the horse.

Hold onto the reins if you can rember to.. when l fall off it happens so fast that l can not think straight. If the horse is goin wild then let go its kinder

l would rather to let go of the reins.
2 reasons.
1. If my horse keeps going, l a) would not like to be dragged, because it is unsafe for you, & the horse, & everyone around you. b) l do not want to hurt the horse is mouth.
2. If on a road, l never go alone. And l only go with either my friend & my horse is friend, or something like that. Or an instructor. Then, the instructor will either grab the horse because they r supposed to do that, or the horse will slow down/stop near its friend. l found out that thats what my horses do, thank god!
In an arena, My horses r trained to stop if they r freed. Anyway, if l fall off, my horses always stop, because l form a bond with them, & so they stop, sniff me, just to see if l am okay, because l love them, & they love me, too.

i'm not sure, l kind of just react to the way i'm falling. so sometimes i'm holding onto the reins & other times i'm not, but usually l just let go & let myself fall. it seems like if u hold on to the reins u end up tensing up & the fall hurts more. also my horse does not run too far when l fall off, he will go a couple of steps & stop & look back at me like what r u doing down there? so l do not feel the need to grab the reins because l know he wo not go anywhere. but it all depends on the horse you're riding, how u fall, & where you're riding.

Hell, l got drunk one day and went crazy riding.

The horse turned one way and l went the other.

However the one thing that l remember at the time was to let go of the reins.

ps. l only suffered dirt in the back of my mouth from hitting the ground with my face. Also a little bit of a sprained neck.

lucky me.

Everyone who saw the incident thought l was dead.

Answer your question?

When l fall off, l usually hold onto the reins. Although not tight, so they can and do get pulled out of my hands. Its not a decision l make though- Im usually rather preoccupied with where Im falling, in comparison to the jump and my horse is hooves.

l *try* to let go when l fall, but in the three times that I've fallen, l held on (not on purpose), and when l hit the ground, l let go. l think it is better to be out of the way of a spooked horse is feet, which is why l should let go.

Let go.

You can always catch a loose horse.

If you try to hold on, you're asking to get dragged/stepped on. Which can turn a minor inconvenience into a medical catastrophe.

Most horses are going to panic if they start to drag you, and that is only going to make things worse.

well. l would definatly let go. if you hold on to the reins it could hurts their mouth. Also holding on could hurt you because they could yank their head up and hurt your arm or drag you.

Well if the reins are like not around it is neck then hang onto them, but when they are around its neck, let go. l rode in an arena once and my horse got spooked and was rearing, so l slid off the side and let go. But once l got thrown after my horse got spooked, you just do not realize that you let go of the reins.
Hope l helped.

My view on falling off: usually a kaleidoscope of whirling ground, horse, sky, & trees, followed by a star studded blue sky. oh, wait. You had more! :D

Since l am an eventer & ride outside, l hold onto the reins no matter what. Better he should get his mouth yanked than he should run into a car & kill somebody (not to mention himself). Better he should get a heavy pull then he should run off & leave me, injured, alone, miles from anywhere.

If he pulls me & l am endangered, l can always let go. But it is safer for both of us (and IMO for anyone not in an enclosed area) if l maintain control of him even if l fall.

let go of the reins and the quicker you fall the lease it hurts because you have lease time to think about how much it would hurt

l let go of the reins

I'd let go. Holding the reins when you fall of is an easy way to dislocate your arm. There is also the chance that you may pull off the bridal (there have been cases where that has happened). You are more likely to be injured holding onto the reins, than letting go.

Frankly, l am impressed so many of you have the time to think and make the choice of whether or not to hang on. I've been riding for over forty some years and every time it has happened, it was to fast that there was never time to chose anything. The one time l did have a hold of the reins, l was getting on my horse and in the process of getting on, he jumped sideways and the reins got hung under my elbow and slapped me to the ground and popped my head back.

Let go, please please please let go of you reins when you fall. You can hurt your horses mouth badly, get dragged and break something, or worse you can pull the horse on top of you.

About three or four years ago a girl fell, and held on to the reins, and she pulled the horse on top of her. She was killed. She had bee ridding her whole life, and her parents owned a equestrian center. l am looking up the story now. It was at Triple M Equestrian Center

when l fall l dont think about it but l always end up not holding onto the reins lol l dont ahve time to think haha

the last time l fell (bucked) off l just laid there and cried. (got kicked and broke 3 ribs) l let go on the way down but not sure. It was a 5 hour ride out of the mountains. It would of been a long walk if some one did not catch my horse for me

l prefer not to fall off

depends where i'm at. if i'm in an arena or other enclosed area, l would not dare hold onto my horse is reins. it can really hurt their mouth. if they run away, so what, they can not go anywhere. now if i'm outside, such as on the trail, l just might try to keep hold of the reins but trying not to pull and hold my weight on them.

100% let go always. You can tear there mouth , and freak them out more.

Finally, years later l get to comment on this subject! l used to be so good at falling off a horse, that l used to swear that l knew every angle that could be used in order to fall. Yes, l did get hurt.no, the horse was always smarter than me & never did get hurt. Yes, l got back on every time but sometimes my teachers had to do a lot of explaining before l would get back on again. l have to admit l did not always see it their way! Most times when l fell off, l completely let go of the reins. l think that if u r in an enclosed area, letting go of the reins is best. If u r outside of an enclosed area, & can manage to keep the reins within ur grasp then that is the option l would go for first. This is not always possible, & as soon as u r able to get up u need to collect ur mount before it gets hurt or causes others to be put into a situation not easily controlled. I've lost my mount while riding on sideroads where people in cars tooted(spooked horse), motorcycles swerve & make loud noises while going around us(we r on the side of the street.makes u wonder) & once had a horse take me over a 6' fence through field & roughly over a rock wall(the horse went over & l did not) when a fire engine was en route. I've been face whipped with branches & have not yet had the proverbial snake put in a scare, but give me time. l am sure l will catch up with this episode as well. The best advice l will give is that u do whatever seems to be the safest at the time of the fall. You can always re-evaluate what should have been done later on. Keeping ur mount & yourself safe r the only things important here. Technique can be dealt with later. l know & have learned the hard way to keep better attention to my surroundings & my mount. Guard Dog

l got bucked off once & landed on my head, saw blackness & stars for the lack of a better term. l let go of the reins, stumbled up, grabbed the tail & went skiing down a hill. My mare stopped after l got bucked off but as l got up she walked away, its why a grabbed her tail. l do not think at that moment l could have decided to hand on to the reins or not. l do not think l would hold on, horses know where they live & l would just look for them at the stable. My girl started heading for there, poor thing was freaked, l think she knew she did something wrong. So l had my bro put me back on her, l could not see straight & saw double of everything & l rode her back, did this more for her so she would not be traumatized from the incident.

Well if ur horse starts walking(or backing like my stud does) then its a lack of respect. Do more ground work. Or Parelli is a nice training program. But no matter how or when u mount ur horse, u just always be ready to pull them back if they start to move..and if they start walking, get off & make them work.lunge them for a few minutes.and try again. If they start to walk & u continue to get on ur letting them get away with it & then it will lead to an uncontrollable horse.

ALSO::: NEVER let go of the reins when u fall off.your horse can take advantage & leave u lying there. Always keep a hold no matter how u fall.