I jumped off the horse

[Norhan]

Hello everyone. I've been riding 3x/week for 7 months now on school horses. In the 6th month, I started riding an ex race horse who's not fully trained, so I was told. Another problem is no one else seems to be riding him which is why I took him as he's always free.

I can canter on other horses but I'm not allowed to with this one as I've been told I'm not firm enough with him. He shakes his head almost everytime I squeeze the reign and I find it quite difficult to control him. He lacks impulsion but hates to be pushed. Last week as I was warming him down in walk, he started bucking and I decided to jump off and he immediately tried to kick me but I stayed on the ground to avoid his kick before running away :eek: . He continued bucking and ran off on his own around the paddock. Fortunately I'm just suffering from a minor whiplash :( . I know he threw off one of the trainers just the week before.

I'm not sure if I should have pulled back on the reign or it was right that I jumped off. Meanwhile I'll go back to riding the nicer horses until I'm ready to go back on this one and I just need to know what I should have done. Tx!

[Dizzy]

Are you paying to ride this horse?

[kedwards]

Yikes, it sounds like this horse was completely inappropriate for you.

As to the question, I generally feel that I am safer on a horse rather than off of him, so unless a horse were about to do something suicidal, I feel safer riding it out than I would jumping off. However, this issue has come up on the board before and some say they'd prefer to jump off in a controlled way rather than risk getting thrown.

In the case of bucking, I sit back, then get the horse's head up (if it's a big head-down sort of buck) while sending him forward. Taking one rein and riding into a small circle can be effective in some instances.

I wonder why he was bucking in the walk?

[Bay Mare]

If you're paying to ride this horse then I think that you should be looking for a different school :eek: I'm glad that you're ok but it could have been far, far worse than it was.

I also feel safer 'on top' and am not sure that I could actually 'do' a 'controlled dismount' anyway ... I guess it's what you're comfortable with.

It sounds like he has a problem, either physically, tack wise or mentally. You shouldn't have been on him to start with especially as you were told that he wasn't fully trained and that you couldn't canter on him :eek:

Sorry ... not much help but I'm shocked that you would be put on a horse like that!

[*Sez*]

How long has he been off-track? Race horses are trained differently to riding horses, and (as people keep warning me :rolleyes: ) pressure on the rein may be a signal to slow to other horses, for racers, it's a sign for a gallop! :D

It sounds like this horse hasn't had a lot of reschooling - and he'll need a lot to make him a sensible riding horse if he's only recently off track. I have a fab book "Buying and Retraining the Ex-Racehorse" which has been really useful for my OTTB. TBs tend to be quite sensitive horses with a lot of spirit, and personally I wouldn't have thought an ex racehorse would be particularly suitable for a riding school horse - my TB is a fairly chilled out little man but he can have a mental moment at the drop of a hat, and the littlest things get him worked up.

If you're paying to ride this horse, you shouldn't be! He sounds totally unsuitable for a RS, and shouldn't be used for clients if he's throwing members of staff!

I've found from my cob, the bronco, the best way to ride out a bucking fit is to lean back with your shoulders, relax your hips (if they're tense, you'll just bounce around even more), brace your feet in the stirrups and work the rein - don't pull as it'll only induce a battle of who can pull the hardest (I guarantee it's almost always the horse ;) ). If you ride this horse again, please be careful and be aware that OTTBs tend to be quite unbalanced (mine worries himself silly if he feels he's off-balance) so be careful of tight circles, serpentines and "out of control" trotting - especially around corners. While circles, serpentines and bending exercises will eventually help improve his balance, they need to be approached slowly and you need to be aware that these sorts of exercises might make him worry if it's done too quickly, or if he doesn't get a chance to build up to it.

I hope some of this is useful for you. There's people who have retrained ex racehorses from the track on here and I'm sure one of them will be able to give you better advice. Good luck, and if you plan to ride this horse again, keep practising your emergency dismount!

[Norhan]

Yeah I must be quite mad to ride him with my experience but I was getting too comfy with the other horses that this one taught me a lesson - that there are horses out there that I can't handle! But just in case this ever happens to me on another horse...you'll never know!

[Linzi x]

I don't have any advice for you as I'm only just getting my own confidence back, but take my hat off to you for even getting on this horse. I must say I am suprised at the riding school for allowing you to ride this horse in the first place

[horseXgirl_]

Hmm.. I'm not really sure what to say to you. Just get your confidence back on some quieter horses like you said ;).

The same kinda thing happened to me last weekend. I was on a hack with my friends crazy mare who I thought I could handle and she started being weird, so I got off, and just as I was getting off she took of bucking and I hurt my arm.

Hope things work out for you!