HN Best of 2015 #6: Keeping It Cool After a Fall

When this pair slips and falls going around a turn on course, cool heads keep a scary situation from escalating.

The fall happens about 40 seconds into the video. It’s clear that the horse is making every attempt not to roll over onto its rider, and when the rider becomes trapped between his front and hind legs, the horse remains absolutely still to protect her. Some comments on the video propose that the rider grabbed the horse’s front leg to keep it from getting up, which may be true, but even if that’s the case no human can contain a horse that’s in panic mode. As Lindsey Kahn, who forwarded us the video, put it, “Regardless of whether the horse was actually trying to protect its rider, it’s still a pretty darn good example of a crisis being handled well by horse, rider and bystanders.”

Well said. Here’s the video (note: you must be logged in to Facebook to view).

Go horses. Go Riding!