Every rider has fallen off a horse, it’s how you learn to stay on.  You pick yourself up, get back up on the horse and learn to hold your seat.  With the = determination to stay on the horse, we develop our mind and body to ride better.  We train our bodies to stick out all the bucking, kicking, rearing and any other crazy spooks that happen when you ride horses. 

Over the years, I’ve watched riders struggle just to stay balanced on horseback just riding around the arenas.  Then, if or when something bad happens, even it’s just a bad step, a rider either clicks to a positive or negative thought. The positive mindset should go something like… okay, let’s gather ourselves together.

The oh shit  look is obviously a negative reaction.  The athlete has held onto bad vibes from previous events in the saddle.  Maybe it was a very bad fall but the mental struggle is at this moment and that compounds the problem. 

There’s absolutely nothing an observer can do to help a rider who’s in a oh shit moment.  The rider has to find their seat and somehow regain balance and control over the situation.  I have found that in the oh shit moment,  if the rider could tap into their internal core balance as security for just a couple of strides, they could regain control. If a rider does not have core balance, it’s way harder.