The art of falling off a racehorse...
There's an interesting article on the BBC website today, in the advent of the weekend's Grand National, about how it feels to fall off a racehorse. To quote, "should you wish to share the thrill of being a Grand National jockey but lack the necessary equine skills, stick your head out of the car window while driving at 30mph. Now imagine climbing onto the roof and being flung onto the nearest grassy verge, in the thinnest T-shirt you own, while 20 half-tonne lumps come crashing down all around you."
I find it quite interesting, because when I was learning to ride, way back in the mists of time, one of the very first things I was taught was how to fall correctly. Our instructor would have us all straddling a barrel of some kind and we were taught to fall off, to lean forward and to the side and let our body weight take us, to tuck and roll. This was before we'd learned to post, to trot, to canter, practically the second or third lesson, as I recall.
But talking with friends who ride, it seems that was quite an unusual approach, and I've not come across many other riders who were actually taught to fall. I suppose most novice riders don't like to think about falling off at all! But I think it's a good idea, and I'm grateful to my early riding school that they did focus in on it to the extent they did. Of course, I'm not sure how much of it I consciously followed on those first occasions when I was thrown!
I find it quite interesting, because when I was learning to ride, way back in the mists of time, one of the very first things I was taught was how to fall correctly. Our instructor would have us all straddling a barrel of some kind and we were taught to fall off, to lean forward and to the side and let our body weight take us, to tuck and roll. This was before we'd learned to post, to trot, to canter, practically the second or third lesson, as I recall.
But talking with friends who ride, it seems that was quite an unusual approach, and I've not come across many other riders who were actually taught to fall. I suppose most novice riders don't like to think about falling off at all! But I think it's a good idea, and I'm grateful to my early riding school that they did focus in on it to the extent they did. Of course, I'm not sure how much of it I consciously followed on those first occasions when I was thrown!