Hello @WobblySue - welcome to the forum. Just to let you know, this is quite an old thread (10 years old) - you may get more engagement on the subject if you start a new thread of your own.
Ah, but we oldies have a secret weapon - we know we don't bounce, and self preservation is paramount! Welcome to the forumAs an older rider (70) my balance and reaction speed is not all it was. That’s the advantage a younger rider has above the over 50s
His looks do make it easier to forgive him!But Hogan is so beautiful.
Mary P. Do consider the cavalry dismount which I was taught at my very first lesson. After a very elderly and very experienced male rider got back from a solo hack and fell onto the cobbles. My RI (first lesson) said to me, That is never going to happen to you. You dismount this way. It means putting your weight in the left stirrup but one does that every time one mounts so it is no big deal. I could never have ridden without that work round.I find it quite difficult to swing my leg over the back of the saddle to get off.
I fear the saddle would slip if I tried that. Harry is quite round and his girth doesn’t do up as tight as I would like so I would worry about putting weight into one stirrup. I tend to jar my knees when I get off him as he is so much smaller than Ben that the ground meets me sooner and it’s always unexpected when I drop have that big drop down.Mary P. Do consider the cavalry dismount which I was taught at my very first lesson. After a very elderly and very experienced male rider got back from a solo hack and fell onto the cobbles. My RI (first lesson) said to me, That is never going to happen to you. You dismount this way. It means putting your weight in the left stirrup but one does that every time one mounts so it is no big deal. I could never have ridden without that work round.
It is very important not to bend the left knee - otherwise it becomes a Western or USA cavalry dismount for which one needs to have stretch and to be fit!
The other way people on the present yard have suggested to me is to dismou nt onto the mounting block, but I beg them to let me go on with what I am used to. May be because Covid divided people over and under 80, people on the yard are very patient with me. It sort of surprises me to know how young you are. I was raised by a Nanny very like Mary Poppins. She was born in 1906.
I fear the saddle would slip if I tried that. Harry is quite round and his girth doesn’t do up as tight as I would like so I would worry about putting weight into one stirrup. I tend to jar my knees when I get off him as he is so much smaller than Ben that the ground meets me sooner and it’s always unexpected when I drop have that big drop down.
Exactly this! I have no time to drop, I swing my leg over and am then on the ground!Yes it's not something to do on horses of a certain shape! I also found getting off big horses easier, I could slide down the shoulder and had time to prepare my landing. Worst of all are smaller horses that ride big so you expect to have that time - ouch!
Same!Exactly this! I have no time to drop, I swing my leg over and am then on the ground!