Eating Dirt | What to Do After You've Been Thrown Off

Everyone's going to end up in the dirt at some point if they ride regularly.

What you do immediately afterward helps to define the relationship with your horse and could have a considerable impact on your future progress.

First of all, are you okay? Nothing broken? No extreme loss of blood or concussion?
Is your horse alright?

Providing there is no significant physical injury to horse or rider, ignore the bruising (for now) and move on.

Do NOT hit the horse and do not act out of anger. You may well be highly annoyed, but do your best to suck it up and be as calm and in control as possible.

If your horse was acting out of annoyance, ignoring your respectful requests and threw you off in the act of bucking or 'get me out of here now' bolting, you may consider bitting her up for a brief period of time (approx 15 - 20 min on each side should suffice). Then put either a more gentle bit into her mouth or change to a hackamore and get on and ride, for a short time, again. Replicate the action that was going on when you came off (loping, trotting, jumping, whatever it was) so she understands that evasive behavior doesn't meant she gets to quit.

If the horse dumped you in the act of shying away from something frightening, get on and just circle him, getting him to bend and give to the rein pressure. Make sure he is listening to you and following your direction. (The same action can be taken with a horse that rears to unload his passenger).

Whatever the circumstance, it's very very important that you climb back into the saddle ASAP. This not only reinforces to the horse that getting rid of a rider will not get her out of work and activity, but it helps with your own ridng confidence as well.

If possible, it's recommended that you also ride and work calmly with the horse the next day. Expect positive results and a great experience.