bucking ??habit??

[uk_ghost_rider]

Ive been riding my 6 year old thoughbred/arab now for about 2 months and ive been having the problem where she bucks when i ask for canter, she then continues in canter without bucking. The bucks are quite big there not just playfull. Ive had various difrent people down to try and help with no real luck. Ive had her back, teeth, tack ect checked my instuctor tells me just to ride her though it but it doesnot seem to be having any effect.

She started this habit when a girl was riding her a couple of years ago. I dont know much about her but I think it could of been that she was leaning forwards when asking for canter. It seams to me that that this is a habit so has anyone got any ideas on how to get her out of this anouing habit?

[horselover]

and I posted on it. My situation was the same as yours- playful buck, then continue into canter.

To solve it, my instructor had me drop Rascals head and get him relaxed and using his hindquatres for impulsion. I started on a very loose rein at the walk, and squeezed with my legs to get him to drop his head. Once he did, I rewarded him by giving more rein. We kept on with this, then for about 5-7 minutes, then I asked for a trot without shortening the reins. Again, I kept squeezing occassionally to ask for him to lower his head, then letting out a little on the reins.

After going both directions, I went back to the first direction and asked for a canter. The key was not tightning up on the reins. This was kinda worrisome for me at first because Rascal sometimes tends to race rather than canter at a collected rate. He bucked once, and I immediately stopped him, and brought him back to a trot with a sharp niose of dissapproval. Trotted him for a few minutes, then asked for canter again, making sure to give half-halt to ready him and keeping the reind long. This time, he went into the canter beautifully and went at a nice collected pace.

This worked well for me, and I haven't had any problems since. I just start off my lessons now by allowing some extra time for collection and impulsion work.

Word of advice- I would stop trying to ride through the buck. If this is just a habit and you have eliminated any physical problems, then riding it through only reinforces the idea that she can do it. Stop her immediately, do a circle at the trot. Loosen on the reins and work on impulsion for a few minutes. Then ask for a canter. If she bucks, do it again. She needs to learn that she can't start off her canter by bucking, and the only way to do this is to inform her that it is not accaptable.

Good Luck!

[Outrider]

Some will disagree with this old cowboy, but when I have a horse that bucks, I immediately get off, go to his front, grab the reins in both hands and holler BACK and back him quite a ways. In my experience, though horses will back on command, it is not as natural an activity for them to do. Once I do this, I get back on. If he bucks again, I do it again. He understands eventually. You need to reward bad behavior with something the horse doesn't like and you will reduce it sooner. Happy Trails!

[Sharon H]

Have you tried walk to canter transitions and does she do the same then?

[Showjumper]

I agree with horselover – letting the horse continue at canter is like a reward. The second it does something you don’t want it to do (in this case jogging), stop it, and like outrider says, make it do something it doesn’t like doing, to teach it that misbehaviour means less fun and more work. Mine sometimes jogs on the way home, although he’s not as bad as he used to be, and whenever he does jog, we stop, and rein back two paces, and stop again. Once he’s no longer leaping out of his skin, we walk on again. I’d like to get off and sort him out like Outrider does, but he’s big – 16hh+ and I’m not particularly tall, so I probably wouldn’t be able to get back on again! :)

[floppy]

but jumping off your horse, standin in front of it and shouting at it to back up a way....surely it is something you would not to a person witha new horse? when you dont know the reactions of a horse or even dont know the horse a great deal surely you are putting yourself in a danger zone? what if the horse tries to rear up on you?
hehe when i was out riding yesterday my haflinger starting bucking for no apparent reason we were just walking along and immediately afterwards i thought of what outrider said about getting off etc.. and i thought he must be crazy :) i wouldn't stand infront of this haflinger because i know how strong she is and if she wants to barge through me she probably would...however speaking of this....the route i rode yesterdya was the second time i have ridden this horse and when we got a certain point in the woods she bucked a couple of times...but so far this route has been the only way she has bucked with me...i rode this way last tuesday too and the horse was an absolute sod! we got to a certain a point and then she just misbehaved for about 10misn after that and after alot of shouting at her and making her go more forward she eventually calmed down..and to make things worse my friends usual quiet 13yr old horse decided she was going to be an absolute sod and was playing for about 40mins....so i had to spend alot of the time riding ahad of the other hrose because my 6yr old is very influential and has to try and do everythign my friends horse does!when we got back to the yard my friends hrose looked like it had been for a swim! horses are crazy animals really :)

[Edited by floppy on 7th Mar 2001 at 01:31 PM]

[Outrider]

I use this method with any horse I ride, whether I know him or not. You can never truly predict any horse's reactions to anything 100%. I have had horses that didn't spook at anything all of a sudden spook. Yes, ANY horse from a shetland pony to a Clydesdale can run through you if you are standing in front, but if you have established a herd leader position, chances are they won't. I've even ha a minature drag me halfway around the arena! I was laughing so hard I couldn't get up and I dared not let go of the driving reins! It is something to keep in the back of your mind if you do get off and back a horse from the front, but it isn't something I would worry about. All I can say is, that it has worked with horses that I have trained. None have ever tried to run through me yet. The minature I was teaching to drive with long lines from behind him and he just all of a sudden bolted out and pulled this 200 lb guy off his feet! Everyone was laughing that day! Especially me! Happy Trails!

[floppy]

hehe i can imagine how funny that must have been with the li' miniture..
but what i also meant to mention was that to do something like what you do outrider, is it more 'safer' to do when you have experience of training horses...?of course you cant know 100% about a horses reaction or many other things..
do you knwo of any other ways to sort a horse out wihtout having to stand infront of it?;)
i admire you tatics though :)

[Outrider]

Yes, it may be a bit safer if you are more experienced, but I have instructed inexperienced riders to do this too. But, work needs to be done prior to something like this to establish the "herd leader" idea in the horse. If not, they may run right through you if they think of themselves as dominant.

Another technique is to put them into a circle at a canter, making the circle larger and smaller and larger or to go back to the round pen for some hard ground work. If you are out on a trail ride or hack as our friends across the pond call it, the round pen isn't practical, and the terrain may not lend itself to safe circles.

Another option would be to carry a longer lead rope or lunge line and if a horse acts up on the trail, you could get off and lunge him then, but this may or may not be practical, especially if you are riding an english saddle. Where would you put it? Happy Trails!

[floppy]

sounds intersting...most of the places we ride here have plenty of flat land that you can bring the horse round in circles...the part of woodland we occasionally ride through is large but we only ride through a 5mins track to get to more grassland we dont actually ride much in the woods...no need seeing as there are miles and miles of open tracks and fields..i guess my friend could try the lunge if the hrose is still acting up as i am using a western saddle at the moment so i would be able to take it with...we'll see!:)

[JackiAH]

This is the way I have been taught by Belle's owner:

When the horse bucks, stand up in your stirrups, grabe a handful of mane, then lead the horse in a tight circle about three times. Then try again. If he bucks again then do it again.

The standing in the stirrups part helps YOU not to fall off, and the circle tells HIM not to buck again. So it's beneficial to both the horse and the rider.

Although, I agree with (and most definetely respect) Outrider, but don't you think that's a bit er, harsh? I dunno....

[uk_ghost_rider]

Thanks for all your reaplies. I had a good lesson today were we worked on impulsion in the trot like what horselover was saying with a gentle contact. It worked realy well she only bucked once so I brought her staight back to the trot and asked again when se did not buck. Hopfully if I keep asking her to canter with impulsion and on a loseish rain we should not have any more problems.
Thanks
Jen :)

[horselover]

I am so gald that your lesson went better! whenever i try the stuff that I read about on this board, I improve. It's so great to have all this input!

[Outrider]

If I stood in the stirrups when the horses I've ridden bucked, I would be airborne over their heads! Not sure I would recommend that with a horse that bucks hard. A little "crow hop" may be ok, but not a full fledged hard bucking! Happy Trails!

[floppy]

i agree with outrider on that coment :)
my horse bucked with me the other day and i was thrown forwards and slightly unseated..so if i had been stadning in the stirrups i would have been flying!!:O

[JackiAH]

Aack, it seemed like a good idea in theory.. just tried it out on Pal, went flying into Pile of manure.. ugh...

[floppy]

:D hehehe

[JackiAH]

Oh, and might I add, my stirrups were too long....

[floppy]

well better luck next time eh!:)

[JackiAH]

Lol... yes I could use the luck...

See.. what happened was he bucked once, then i stood and while i stood he bucked again, hard, and I went flying over his head into the nice pile of horse ****....

How nice...

Next time I'll just... try something else....

[Maci]

All I can recommend is sit deep, grab mane, and try to go with the flow of the buck!! When my horse did the MASTER buck of all bucks, I did just that and I stayed on! Different methods for different people, I guess...

Maci :)

[Showjumper]

My instructors always go mad with me for this. I can easily sit the biggest of bucks, even bareback, I seem to miraculously stay on; but all the horse has to do is unexpectedly go from a large buck to a small buck, and I’m off. I remember one time, I was riding a small, fat pony with nearly no withers in a juming lesson. I was miles too big for her but was demonstrating because the instructor refused to get on her. The jump was a fairly easy grid used for teaching the little children. So anyway, I had plenty of impulsion, did the jumps beautifully, then on landing over the last, she yanked her head forward and started bucking – proper big bucks. The crupper snapped, the saddle shot forward, and I stayed on. Eventually she stopped bucking, everyone clapped, she shied and put in a diddy little buck, and I rolled off over her shoulder. Oh The Shame!!! :rolleyes: All I can say is Enjoy The Time You Spend Mounted – It’s A Lot Less Painful Than Being On The Ground.

[floppy]

hehe impressive...maybe you loosen up too quick after a big buck and forget about the little ones :)

[Showjumper]

maybe

[JackiAH]

Yes I have a friend who can do this as well. Nikki looks like she has tape on her bum!!!

I remember once when she was riding this green 16hh TB and he started bucking, and i mean BIG bucks, she just grabbed onto his mane and stayed on. I remember sitting there on Star thinking "Oh my god, she's gonna fall" and she didnt. The best part was when she dismounted and took a huge bow, then, while she was bowing, the TB pushed her over with his head!!!!!!

I was laughing sooo hard....

[Maci]

I'm one of those people who can stay on when a horse bucks. I don't know why, but I find them comfortable and easy to sit to when their hind end goes up. I guess I can easily "go with the bucking flow".... It's the bolt that sometimes comes after the buck, I don't like!

Maci :)