|I am a new riding and have a 7 year cob. She is in a field with 4 other horses and has now bolted when out, several times, The first were on the way back and she was deperate to get back to her 'pals' This last time, she got a bit spooked by a big lorry, and the signs of her trying to rear (which she also does) were there so I dismounted. There were two of us and we held her and calmed her but she just took off and headed about half a miile down the road back to her field and for the first time in her bolting history was very calm to catch and return to the field. We do lunge work and excersises before going out, and have had natural horsemanship help. Now I am nervous and should I carry on or once a bolter always a bolter?
Horse is prone to bolting
- Thread starter Wanda
- Start date
Hmmmm - not sure if this is a true bolter or just a horse taking the pee and clearing off home when it feels like it. I have to ask and sorry if it seems a tad unkind, but how experienced are you? The fact she is just heading home doesn't sound like a true bolt to me...when a horse really loses the plot he will gallop flat out in any direction and will not stop for road, railway line, densely wooded area etc. etc. Quite happy to kill itself and anyone on board. The fact that yours seems to just go straight home is a different thing altogether IMO. How long have you owned her and what is her previous background.
Do you have an RI or people at your livery who might help you ascertain what is going on. I am always very sad to see young horses labelled with this sort of tag, when very often (not always so forgive me if this isn't the case with you and your cob) they are just going through a difficult stage with a very inexperienced owner who can't get the problem under control....so horse is labelled a bolter, a rearer, a napper or whatever else makes the owner feel it is the horse's fault and not theirs.
Do you have an RI or people at your livery who might help you ascertain what is going on. I am always very sad to see young horses labelled with this sort of tag, when very often (not always so forgive me if this isn't the case with you and your cob) they are just going through a difficult stage with a very inexperienced owner who can't get the problem under control....so horse is labelled a bolter, a rearer, a napper or whatever else makes the owner feel it is the horse's fault and not theirs.
Wow there! This is exactly my point, someone who we don't know from Adam posts a thread that they are new to riding and have a 7 year old cob (the Kevins lets not forget!
) that is a bolter and a rearer. So why would more experienced horse people immediately assume that this is black and white and the poor flipping horse is dangerous and a confirmed bolter and not suitable for a novice? I have to agree that the horse is probably not suitable for a novice but the rest is very questionable to say the least. If this horse is truly a confirmed 'bolter' the novice poster would either be dead by now if it has 'bolted' several times, or would have experienced a true bolt just once on it and never have got back on it again!
Poor horse, here we go again, same old story.
Wow there! This is exactly my point, someone who we don't know from Adam posts a thread that they are new to riding and have a 7 year old cob (the Kevins lets not forget!
Poor horse, here we go again, same old story.
I'm not labelling the horse a 'bolter' but she says she's new to riding, and it sounds like the horse needs someone more experienced riding it. That doesn't mean the horse will end up at the knacker's yard. It worries me when I read about people struggling with horses that could actually end up killing them. I know what it's like to be over-horsed as a novice.
Ermmmm....pardon me, but I think if you re read your own phrase above you are doing exactly that!
Your horse is not a bolter and seems to be discovering how to get you to dismount and to get away from you to get home more quickly, neither of which will be solved by exercises or lunging at home. Get a good competent rider to take her out and ride away from, towards home and past home repetitively and have lessons on her to learn how to ride through these issues or sell her , not because she is naughty but is not the horse for you. What has your NH traienr advised you to do about these issues, what happens when they ride her?
She sounds incredibly insecure with you. Horses are herd animals, they need reassurance, and they will run if worried. Its a vicious circle when you're a nervous novice - the more afraid you are, the more your horse gets scared, the more you get scared and so on. How long have you had this horse, what have you done with her, what had she done workwise before you got her? Some horses are self assured, unflappable, unbothered regardless of the rider, whereas others will spend about a month settling in and then start to test out boundaries, find out who's in charge, who's herd leader. If you don't step up and show you're the leader (often by just being a bit passive rather than doing anything obviously weak) then they will take it that they have to step up and be in charge, hence out on hacks if there's something to be worried about, they will take control and choose to run.
If I were you, I'd get lessons, I would be very careful with the hacking as it could further damage your relationship if you have more bad experiences - walk her out in hand, do some more groundwork, work her in an enclosed space - getting her to listen, moving her feet (herd leaders move feet.....you move her feet, you're the herd leader).
If I were you, I'd get lessons, I would be very careful with the hacking as it could further damage your relationship if you have more bad experiences - walk her out in hand, do some more groundwork, work her in an enclosed space - getting her to listen, moving her feet (herd leaders move feet.....you move her feet, you're the herd leader).
I said she COULD be a bolter. Which she could. As you said, we are on the internet where we don't know anyone from Adam. All we can go on is what we're told, plus our own experiences. It would have saved me a year of heartache if someone had told me right from the start that I was over-horsed with Poppy. Not that I am blaming anyone else for what happened there, nor am I telling some random person what to do with their horse, that's up to them. But there's no shame in anyone admitting that a horse isn't right for them if they're struggling.Ermmmm....pardon me, but I think if you re read your own phrase above you are doing exactly that!
Just because the horse may not be the right horse for her, doesn't mean it's a bad horse.
Many horses will get faster and stronger on the way home and the rider needs to be able to control this. Your horse sounds insecure and wants to get home which is perfectly natural behaviour.
When you say you are 'new to riding' what do you mean by this? I presume that you have some prior experience with horses? And what do you mean by 'bolting for home'? The term 'bolting' gets banded about and can mean anything from full blind gallop, to a horse being slightly stronger than normal. How much experience does your horse have out hacking? Is he used to hacking out and has he been trained to do this?
The obvious answer is to get a good riding instructor to work through these questions and your issues with you. All new owners have teething problems with new horses and all competent horsey people would have had hours and hours of lessons to teach them how to handle these situations. Riding is a skill that takes time to learn and investing in lessons is a real necessity if you do not have the prior experience to cope.
When you say you are 'new to riding' what do you mean by this? I presume that you have some prior experience with horses? And what do you mean by 'bolting for home'? The term 'bolting' gets banded about and can mean anything from full blind gallop, to a horse being slightly stronger than normal. How much experience does your horse have out hacking? Is he used to hacking out and has he been trained to do this?
The obvious answer is to get a good riding instructor to work through these questions and your issues with you. All new owners have teething problems with new horses and all competent horsey people would have had hours and hours of lessons to teach them how to handle these situations. Riding is a skill that takes time to learn and investing in lessons is a real necessity if you do not have the prior experience to cope.
At 7 he/she still may be fairly green, the problem with that for you is your horse needs you to be the boss/leader. I certainly don't mean beating him/her but you need to be confident enough to have ground rules, on the ground and ridden. If any 7 year old horse/pony is given a inch they will happily take a mile.
Imo you need a excellent ri or very experienced friend to assess the horse for you, do you know how/where he/she was broken? Things not been done right early on can cause issues later. Personally if he/ she was mine I'd does lot of work on lunge with voice commands, maybe some long reining too as it won't hurt.I'd then look at tack (strong bit sometimes causes rearing and horses to try and evade the bit, also check teeth) if possible I'd ride in a copper roller fulmer snaffle with a flash, or grackle( if not using standing)if the rearing un- nerves you use a fairly tight standing martingale and if when ridden it tries to jog, threatens to rear, work round in a circle, don't just turn on a sixpence make him/ her walk the small circle, if you don't feel confident doing this enrol someone either a ri or experienced friend who does , if you really feel out of your depth then that's fine too, but although easier said than done, you need to ride though the issues as jumping off won't help your situation imo. At least once you have the support of a good ri, if they feel you too over horsed to work through the problems he/she will tell you, confidence is precious and you dont want to end up losing what confidence you do have.xx
Imo you need a excellent ri or very experienced friend to assess the horse for you, do you know how/where he/she was broken? Things not been done right early on can cause issues later. Personally if he/ she was mine I'd does lot of work on lunge with voice commands, maybe some long reining too as it won't hurt.I'd then look at tack (strong bit sometimes causes rearing and horses to try and evade the bit, also check teeth) if possible I'd ride in a copper roller fulmer snaffle with a flash, or grackle( if not using standing)if the rearing un- nerves you use a fairly tight standing martingale and if when ridden it tries to jog, threatens to rear, work round in a circle, don't just turn on a sixpence make him/ her walk the small circle, if you don't feel confident doing this enrol someone either a ri or experienced friend who does , if you really feel out of your depth then that's fine too, but although easier said than done, you need to ride though the issues as jumping off won't help your situation imo. At least once you have the support of a good ri, if they feel you too over horsed to work through the problems he/she will tell you, confidence is precious and you dont want to end up losing what confidence you do have.xx
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Sorry can I disagree ...if a horse seriously rears a tight standing martingale is the last thing you need and is dangerous advice as the horse needs to use its neck to balance. If a horse threatens to rear flex neck and put weight and hands forward. The best thing for a confirmed rearer is a balanced rider who will stay on and not interfere. Rearers are defianately not for novices but in this case the owner says the horse threatens to rear which a totally different matter
..and I consider a copper roller and Grackle or flash a severe bit in novice hands!
..and I consider a copper roller and Grackle or flash a severe bit in novice hands!
Not a bolter just a horse that isn't feeling great about a situation and is deciding it's going for home. Some of it could be fear and some of it could be piss taking.
Get a more experienced person to rise the horse for you for a bit and see what the horse does.
A true bolter I would PTS im afraid.
Get a more experienced person to rise the horse for you for a bit and see what the horse does.
A true bolter I would PTS im afraid.
Sounds like the horse needs courage and looks ot the rider who is not sufficiently experienced to give the horse courage so she drags the rider back to where she feels secure, in her herd. Maybe not bolting, but being dragged home in a rude manner because the horse needs security.
I aggree with everything eml has said
I aggree with everything eml has said
Maybe, standings arent good but I have seen many rearers ridden in them.I used to have a rearer and she just had a running as if you dropped your arms she would generally comply but my ri at the time had me ride without a martingale and in draw reins as on a certain route I really struggled with keeping her down.Although to use draw reins correctly takes a lot of practice. Ive used copper rollers quite well on a lot of horses and as eml says maybes there not the mildest bit but there are far harsher bits out there imo and sometimes for a novice the natural reaction could be to opt for a gag which could potentially make the rearing situation far worse. x
I would assume anyone knowing enough to cope with a rearer would know a gag raises the head so is totally wrong. Perhaps that is wishful thinking!
We use copper rollers on some of our RS horses when going out in fields etc as I believe in a stronger bit in light hands is better than causing heavy hands for the sake of using a mild bit but would only couple them with a grackle or flash for rider with a balanced position and good hands. For novices it is actually a good idea for the horse to be able to evade heavy/holding hands by opening its mouth.
I have never met a true rearer that was stopped by holding its head down by any means involving the bit or noseband, more likely to pull them over backwards.
We have a lovely ex racehorse ( one of many!) who has had a horrific past including being systematically starved to make her behave in her first home out of racing and rescued and sent to us for rebacking . When rearing didn't scare us she tried tactic 2 lie down! We had an attempt at a dressage test at local venue who knew she was a problem horse so let us complete the effort which was basically punctuated by trot to rear to trot , canter to rear to canter and walk to fall on floor. We are not being cruel she has been tho roughly investigated by vets, had pain trials etc... verdict nothing physically wrong just in her mind. If however we tried to tie her head down I suspect my daughter would not have lived to tell the result.
We use copper rollers on some of our RS horses when going out in fields etc as I believe in a stronger bit in light hands is better than causing heavy hands for the sake of using a mild bit but would only couple them with a grackle or flash for rider with a balanced position and good hands. For novices it is actually a good idea for the horse to be able to evade heavy/holding hands by opening its mouth.
I have never met a true rearer that was stopped by holding its head down by any means involving the bit or noseband, more likely to pull them over backwards.
We have a lovely ex racehorse ( one of many!) who has had a horrific past including being systematically starved to make her behave in her first home out of racing and rescued and sent to us for rebacking . When rearing didn't scare us she tried tactic 2 lie down! We had an attempt at a dressage test at local venue who knew she was a problem horse so let us complete the effort which was basically punctuated by trot to rear to trot , canter to rear to canter and walk to fall on floor. We are not being cruel she has been tho roughly investigated by vets, had pain trials etc... verdict nothing physically wrong just in her mind. If however we tried to tie her head down I suspect my daughter would not have lived to tell the result.
Totally agree on the bits, I just think if I was a total novice with a horse that I felt was taking off home with me I would maybe naively go into a tack shop and buy a really strong bit hoping that I'd at least be able to stop. From what I read I'm guessing the horse is threatening to rear more than rear, although it doesn't say to what height its ever reared before, whether its like a bunny hop rear ( a horse held back jumping may do) or a full standing on two legs job! The rearer we had came from the horse sales, after vet and teeth checked we realised why she had gone through the sales, she was a very marish mare though and had good days and terrible ones too, ashe didn't leap just rear and never threw me off as she was really comfortable thankfully and you always had warning, which helped. Think either way she needs to get a ri on board even if its to help her decide what's the best way forward.x
I used draw reins to stop a rearer. She had gotten into the habit of rearing to make the rider dismount. When she realised I wasnt dismounting after her feet hit the floor she then would rear and spin and if we had managed to get to the road she did it into oncoming traffic. Needless to say I tried all other avenues, once we took over an hour to get down a 200yrd track from the yard to the forest
Eventually after having things checked out we stuck on the draw reins and went out, after about ten botched attempts she gave up on that particular ride. To school in an arena field or stubble she was perfect soft, compliant beautifully collected, she had just gotten used to getting out of hacking. Took me all in all about 12 weeks to break this habit and as far as I know even in her new home it hasn't returned
Different methods work for different situations and horses.
Eventually after having things checked out we stuck on the draw reins and went out, after about ten botched attempts she gave up on that particular ride. To school in an arena field or stubble she was perfect soft, compliant beautifully collected, she had just gotten used to getting out of hacking. Took me all in all about 12 weeks to break this habit and as far as I know even in her new home it hasn't returned
Different methods work for different situations and horses.
Hi, Firstly I totally respect everyone else's opinions and valid points but I'm only saying what Ive found that worked on mine. Although at the time I was apprehensive about using them, draw reins worked on mine but I wouldn't advise a novice to use them. I remember my ri asking if I had a market harbough and as I didnt he said, it doesn't matter we will use draw reins. I suppose in this situation though it would be useful to the owner for someone to take a good look at the horse, tack, riding ability then decide the best way forward. If she is nervous she won't be riding to her best ability anyway, I know if I'm nervous I don't. As I said in earlier post confidence is precious, and as a novice if she keeps having negative experiences it will be very hard to regain, especially with that horse.x
@Wanda are you hacking with another horse? If your horse is nervy and taking herself home when she gets unnerved you might find only hacking in company for a while will help her confidence grow
My girl buggered off a few times when she was younger, it was generally if something had really unsettled her or if I had asked too much of her physically (Jess thinks the answer to anything being difficult is to muscle her way through it), now days she is very good, she hadn't buggered off in years but did a few months ago and it turned out her saddle was not quite right even though it had been recently checked and her teeth were sharp, since getting those sorted shes back to her happy chilled self. So I don't think a few instances of buggering off home makes a horse a confirmed bolter.
My girl buggered off a few times when she was younger, it was generally if something had really unsettled her or if I had asked too much of her physically (Jess thinks the answer to anything being difficult is to muscle her way through it), now days she is very good, she hadn't buggered off in years but did a few months ago and it turned out her saddle was not quite right even though it had been recently checked and her teeth were sharp, since getting those sorted shes back to her happy chilled self. So I don't think a few instances of buggering off home makes a horse a confirmed bolter.
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