Napping,spooking,rearing, bucking and bolting?

eml

eml

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Apr 29, 2002
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There have been a lot of threads recently and as an RI I am frequently asked to help with horses who do one or more of these things but there seems to be no consistant explanation as to what they are (let alone how to deal :rolleyes:) . Just thought I would start off with my definitions and see how much you agree.

Napping - refusal to go in direction requested despite riders best efforts, does not include 'I think I would rather follow my friends or leave this school' unless accompanied by major tantrums. Examples: horse when hacked out stopped, would not move and when argued and sat out tantrum was still in same place after an hour (stroppy pony on trial for client) , or horse went into rapid reverse until met solid object (car:eek:) behind it.

Spook...sudden and unexpected reaction to 'scary' object ...(OK perhaps it was a funny coloured bit of grass :D) generally leaping violently sideways or doing a 180 degree turn. My old horse was an expert in the 180 turn, it generally took three or four paces for me to realise we were cantering in the other direction!

Rear..horse raises front hoofs above the normal level of its elbow and stays there for a moment..or more. When I was young I used to ride 'problem ' jumping ponies for others and met the 'I can stand on hind legs until eliminated ' ones, one minute vertical seems like eternity.

Buck..hind end is raised so both hind hoofs are above normal stifle level. I personally am more scared by a buck than any other rebellion, launching into space always hurts :)

Bolt ...uncontrollable gallop both in speed and direction with no response from horse to any aids. At its worst this is the scariest vice as a true bolter is just as likely to run straight out in front of traffic. I have frequently over the years been run off with but fortunately never met a bolter.



I am often asked to help with horse that do no more than briefly pause in going forward or get a bit over excited when cantering in an open space...those to me are just being horses.

What do you think?
 
I'd agree with you. Minor spooks, planting for a few seconds, even the odd excited little buck are all really just part of having horses imho.

The way we were brought up was to expect that kind of thing, obviously the more serious behaviours are not desirable but the lesser ones we were just expected to sit out and get on with.
 
Good definitions. Since you're so good at them :) what would you call deliberately terrifying the rider until they either get off or fall off? Our pony does that if she doesn't like or doesn't know someone and they're riding her when neither I nor OH are there. She acts the same in hand (took my poor YO 20 mins to catch her once - in her stable!). I've seen it in other ponies too...
 
Bronya its a brat :D

I have some of those ...weekend helpers cry for help....'X wont lets us tack him up' ! I have a bag of tempting carrots for brats to be caught in stables by helpers. Great game for ponies (its inevitably the ponies :confused:)
 
I'm with you on the bucking. I can even live with a little bit (or even a bigger bit) of a rear but the tiniest buck reduces me to jelly:o

I'm just a wimp these days though:)
 
I agree completely.

There's a couple of things to keep in mind, to help avoid situations though (or to make them better) For rearing, a horse cannot rear if its going forward. So if you know your horse is a rearer, never allow him to slow down or stop. Keep driving him forward. If you feel him tensing, just get him going. And if he does go up, hug the neck.

For a bucker, again, forward is usually a good idea, but remember to get the head up if they do buck, and get it up quickly. They can't build up the momentum if you're holding their head up with a tight grip.

Bolting. I've had a bolter. And I would never wish it on anyone, because the feeling that you get when you know you have absolutely no control is so frightening. The best you can hope for is to try to force them into a circle, but if its a true bolt, you really don't have much hope, so the best advice I can give is pick your landings.

Spooking I think is just a natural part of riding an animal who is a prey animal. Some people say the best thing to do is let them look at it, but I like trying to ride past as if nothing is there/happening. Guess it depends on the horse.
 
So what are those little jumps that look like either an advanced dressage movement, circus trick or some sort or a half-hearted buck? Is that also being a brat? :D
 
So what are those little jumps that look like either an advanced dressage movement, circus trick or some sort or a half-hearted buck? Is that also being a brat?
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YES! Kalli was demostrating them perfectly today:rolleyes: Front end lifts about a foot off the ground then back end lifts about a foot off the ground, doing a lovely dolphin impression. Also heard it called 'pig rooting'. 'Brat' wasn't really the word that came to mind though - something a bit stronger may have passed my lips..............

EML - you're definintion are pretty much same as mine. I have the differentiation of 'proper ......' as yours are, or 'little .......' which is usually just bratty behaviour.

But to those who can't cope with the behaviour, little bunny hops on the spot feel like big 'rears'. If you're an expereinced, confident rider, that kind of behaviour just becomes 'high spirits' or 'brat' behaviour, but if you're not, they're pretty big deals that are serious problems.
 
Have to agree with you too. And I dislike bucking too after one spectacular rodeo session couple of years back. Still don't have full use of index finger, ha ha !
Never had a true bolt, just some determined bloody mindedness at speed. Regarding your definition of spooking, I found a sway backed horse is a tremendous help - more difficult to fall off :rolleyes:
Oh for the joys of a well trained,lazy horse...
 
I never really had a bucker before Spirit but by god he can put them in. Sometimes he is so bad he will go round in a circle on his front legs whilst continuely bucking over and over again...and then he will just carry on like nothing happened. Really big powerfull bucks aswell. It actually does unnerve me sometimes because if i try and push him through it he just puts another in for good measure. I dont know why he does it...went through everything a few months back and nothing came of it...posted it all on here in fact :D

Sometimes he does it...sometimes he doesnt...its a mystery :confused:

S x x
 
I think these definitely qualify as a series of bucks?

courbette3.jpg


buck.jpg


buck1.jpg


buck2.jpg


I think I spent too long riding evil welsh ponies for bucking to really seem like a problem to me. In each of these cases it was just high spirits, or in the last case, being cross because he had just knocked a jump down. In reality, his weren't that hard to sit to, because he didn't wedge his head between his knees (now that was the pony's speciality...)

Having worked in a riding school for the best part of 2 years, the amount of times you hear so and so bucked, so and so bolted (possibly the most mis-used term?) and so and so is a terrible spooker... when in reality the problem is minor, and simply a case of novice rider unable to deal with situation...
 
Nice pics :)

Agree with EML ... but also agree with PL that "little" behaviours can feel like big behaviours when you're not used to them.

I thought I'd ridden a bolter ... He would take off with me and it was terrifying ... BUT I could actually stop him after a while. I just thought that was what a bolt was. And it was very scary! When my 100% bombproof cob bolted across the main road ... WOW - it put everything into perspective. I don't know how or why and NOTHING worked on her. I ended up clinging to the reins, yanked and panicking and in the end she stopped when we hit the 10 ft gate of the Southern Water Reservoir. I managed to ride her home, but when I got off I felt shaky rather than exhilarated. It was not exciting and not funny at all - I thought we were going under a bus!

I love high spirit bucks -- they make me feel as happy as the horse :D :D
 
To me that isn't a proper buck, that's the kind of thing that makes me laugh (so long as they are doing it and doing it with a smile or a smirk, a sore back isn't funny)

A real buck is out of fear, pain temper and the horse is really telling you he's peed off and no longer wants you on his back. A real buck is when the horse foldshimself in half, bends his back so the frnt end disapperas and then they bronc from front to back.

A little kick back is something horses often do for a number of reasons, often through excitment or pure joy.

Those photos wouln't put me off riding your horse RachelEvent, they don't look a problem or malicious.
 
My firdt loan pony (a sod of a cob;)) was a real bucker, he would stick his head between his knees and catapolt you into what felt like outer space:p

I also agree with the "little behaviours feeling like big behaviours" when I first got my old horse and he used to bunny hop I was like "OMG he's rearing!", it was until he started properly rearing and going vertical that he was just p*ssing about before:rolleyes:
 
Wally said:
To me that isn't a proper buck, that's the kind of thing that makes me laugh (so long as they are doing it and doing it with a smile or a smirk, a sore back isn't funny)

A real buck is out of fear, pain temper and the horse is really telling you he's peed off and no longer wants you on his back. A real buck is when the horse foldshimself in half, bends his back so the frnt end disapperas and then they bronc from front to back.

A little kick back is something horses often do for a number of reasons, often through excitment or pure joy.

Those photos wouln't put me off riding your horse RachelEvent, they don't look a problem or malicious.
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all i can say wally is that you must be a very good rider:) i would definately be on my a***:eek::D
 
I think the first time anything happens that is out of your realm of experiences it can be very scary.

I used to ride a bunny hopper and at first it scared me senseless. I thought we were about 6ft off the ground. After a while (and some lessons) it just became very frustrating that she would feel the need to 'test' me for a few minutes during each schooling session. She really did look like she was performing some super duper advanced dressage moves when my RI was riding her though.
 
Wally said:
To me that isn't a proper buck, that's the kind of thing that makes me laugh (so long as they are doing it and doing it with a smile or a smirk, a sore back isn't funny)

A real buck is out of fear, pain temper and the horse is really telling you he's peed off and no longer wants you on his back. A real buck is when the horse foldshimself in half, bends his back so the frnt end disapperas and then they bronc from front to back.

A little kick back is something horses often do for a number of reasons, often through excitment or pure joy.

Those photos wouln't put me off riding your horse RachelEvent, they don't look a problem or malicious.
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I agree. I was looking at those piccies and thinking that they looked like Moss' highjinks yeehas. Con when she wants you off cos her back hurts will buck. A half rear, followed by a leap off her haunches, a twist in midair so that the head goes between the front legs, the ears vanish and the back end comes up and the shoulder drops, all at once! In all fairness to her she only does that if she has previously told her rider, by initially polite subtle means, that she is not comfy. If you don't listen then she will SHOUT!!!!
If you sit the first one she does it again.
 
Rachel Event I wish I had your legs .... my short ones attached to a long body are made for being launched :o.

I agree with PL that even tiny versions are scary and the cause of many a problem and disappointments particualarly when people get their first horse.

Wally ... the cause of my dread of bucking always had a smile on his face and snuffled me anxiously when I was on the ground at this feet ..just never seemed to learn that joyful rodeo act was fine loose in field but not with Mum on top, classically started a dressage test once with 'enter at working rodeo and launch rider to judges feet.' :D
 
having had a bucker i think i agree it is one of the worst things. My pony was a proper put his head inbetween his legs and launch you bucker, the amount of time i would clear jumps whilst my pony was still on the other side was too many to count.

I have only been bolted with once by a little 12hh riding school pony and luckily it was up a steep hill in the middle of a field but that was pretty scary too.

the other day i hacked my share pony out on my own and on the way home i just knew he was going to bolt, he was joging more and more and starting to spin and rear and i had absoltely no brakes whatsoever so i got off and led him home as i couldn't risk getting injured as my husband was away and i was hte only person around to look after my kids. He dragged me home and when i spoke to his owner she confirmed my thoughts that he would have gone as he has done it before. Needless to say i won't be hacking him on his own again for a while
 
That is the sort of thing your loaner should have told you! I had Moss out on share a while ago and the auntie new all of his in and outs and quirks. I considered it no less than my duty to tell her!
 
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