Bucking

[Salina]

Hi
The pony that i ride, has a habit of bucking, how do i stop her from doing this??? i do keep her head up.

[chapsi]

I recommend you to look at old threads. There were other threads on the subject with plenty of feed-back.

[jovi_y2k2]

she may be in pain, having her back teeth and tack checked would find this out. If she is not in pain and just naughty then you have to push her on and ride her through the bucks try to keep her head up and push her forward with your legs

[Salina]

She used to be bucking all the time, but now she doesn't do it much, exept for the other week when she bucked me off and then stood on me:o
she seems to give little bucks when i'm riding w/out stirrups, whys that???:)

[jovi_y2k2]

if your not very balanced wen trotting without stirrups and your bouncing around quite a bit she may be uncomfortable and just letting you know! getting her back checked will be worthwhile as you can eliminate pain as the factor

[Salina]

i thought that was the problem, when i'm riding without stirrups i bounce alot, but i have good balance, she isn't my pony, so i can't have her vetted, but i think its just the bouncing that makes her buck!

[jUmPingIsLifE]

maybe a soar back, but also, if you are bouncing a lot maybe your hands are unsteady and you are pulling on the horses mouth when you bounce making her angry. when she does buck keep those eyes up and sit up as much as you can, if your eyes go to the dirt so will your body... i have learned this the hard way. also when the horse bucks try and keep her going, if you stop after a buck then the horse will think "if i buck, i get to stop and not do so much work!"

[Wally]

If you are bouncing then you don't have good balance!

You should not be bouncing without stirrups. If you want to improve only do 5 or 6 steps or so of sitting trot at a time to practice. This way you will not end up losing your balance and bouncing. Come back to walk after a few strides then back into trot for a few more. Make the length of time you trot more and more until you can happily manage a whole circuit of the school in sitting trot with no bounce and losing your balalnce.

Make sure you have the correct technique to move with and absorb the sitting trot. Don't keep your heels down without stirrups, let your foot flop, even point your toe to the floor for a few strides...in spite of what folk might tell you!
Make sure you are rocking on your seatbones forward then back to an upright pelvis in trot, don't let your tail bone duck under you with each stride. Imagin growing taller and taller and let that pelvis rock on your seat bones.

For your next birthday/Christmas ask someone to buy you heather's book, "Enlightenend Equitation" or if they can find the video ask for that too!. It is written in plain English, no fancy words or images, just simplicity.

If the horse continues to buck find another to ride unntil he is checked out for saddle fit, teeth and back.

[IdlewildsMerlin]

check All your tack. Make sure nothing is bothering her. If thats ok Ride her threw the bucks, hold on!! When she realizes she won't get u off, she'll give up. Hold on to mane! and pray!!:) She will realize it's easier to "just do it" then to make a fuss and buck.

[FreedomStar]

when it seems as if she even THINKS of bucking, squeeze her hard, because she can't buck if she is going forward. Also, try to keep her head up, but so that it doesn't make her hollow.