The True Definition of Bolting?

I've been run off with several times, but only bolted with once (and have no wish to repeat the experience!). A car skidded and overturned in the lane in front of us, the horses just spun round and bolted. I did look at the hedge and thought of bailing out, but kept trying to stop. As we went downhill towards a busy bus route my friend threw herself off onto to the road, but her horse followed mine - we went straight across the road and finally stopped on someone's front garden. My friend came round the corner expecting to see me and the horses under a bus :eek:

This was on a hack from a riding school - I think if the same happened with one of my horses they would trust me enough to listen and slow down, even when the Ginger Thing was absolutely petrified of a herd of mooing cows approaching he listened to me and stood still, but I don't think the RS horses had enough trust in us in that situation and so reacted instinctively.
 
a timely bump?

When I learnt to ride, the riding school I went to was run by a fantastic horsewoman, who was most definitely of the old school. She would have had my tongue if we claimed that such and such a pony had bolted - her retort would be that we had simply lost control of the pony, which was always the case.

When I taught in a riding school, I was horrified to find, that not only was the word bandied about by all the teenage helpers, but even the trainee instructors seemed to claim that one or other of the horses had bolted on a seemingly daily basis. Once again, whether through fear or excitement, it was a case of riders losing control, being p***ed off with and horses getting very strong.

I've never been bolted with, although have had plenty of lost control incidents. I hope, frankly, that I never am bolted with!

But if we have endless posts with so called 'bolting' horses, when someone does arrive on the forum, genuinely frightened or upset by a bolting horse, we are in danger of actually losing the meaning of the word.

Sure it looks bad on me for being infuriated by improper use of the word, but equally as previous posters have said, it looks pretty silly for those who are using the word in it's most histrionic sense... and belittles those who have genuinely had serious issues as a result of such an incident.

So go and use your words as you wish, but I can't help but think a little of the boy who called wolf...
 
How would you define true bolting? - Panic fleeing that you have absolutely no say in.

Have you ever been bolted with? - Yes, we were in a group of about 15 horses/ponies, something spooked one near the front who span and bolted and about 5 of us bolted with it. It was a true herd bolt where panic spread in a heartbeat and most of them probably had no idea what they were running from.

How would you describe a horse who is 'running away' but is NOT truely bolting? - Tanking off!
 
Thank's Rachel Event for posting this!

I have only ever been 'truly bolted' with once - this was a few months back on my luso (who came to the UK in Dec). I can tell you that I did not find it at all amusing.

I can only describe it as one of the most horrifying experiences of my life - I really thought that both my horse and myself were going to end up seriously injured or worse.

I would describe bolting as the horse being in a blind panic with no regard for his own safety (or his riders, but then he wouldn't be thinking of the person on board) at break neck speed with no brakes and no steering, totally out of control - I was in woodland and jumping over obstables and then downhill - thank god we did not hit any trees.

Many times with both my horse I have had the excited moments where they 'tank off' - yes, those are funny and you can laugh about them.
 
RachelEvent said:
When I taught in a riding school, I was horrified to find, that not only was the word bandied about by all the teenage helpers, but even the trainee instructors seemed to claim that one or other of the horses had bolted on a seemingly daily basis. Once again, whether through fear or excitement, it was a case of riders losing control, being p***ed off with and horses getting very strong.

Sure it looks bad on me for being infuriated by improper use of the word, but equally as previous posters have said, it looks pretty silly for those who are using the word in it's most histrionic sense... and belittles those who have genuinely had serious issues as a result of such an incident.

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I agree with you 100% Rachel, I know this is one of your bugbears and it's true, sooooooo many people claim to have been bolted with when all their horse/pony has done is get too strong or too fast. There is such a difference with this and being properly bolted with.
 
i have been bolted with just the once --luckily on a beach and EVENTUALLY i managed to run him into the soft sand which slowed him down -- it was damn scary and i thought i was gonna end up broken !!!



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quoted ------ "a timely bump?" -- have only added this bit because of the bumping up of this thread -- the thread itself is goodnatured but resurrected for what purpose ???



i can understand people having a bugbear about words -- my own bugbear is spelling (though sometimes what i think is a spelling error is simply typing too fast) BUT i maintain it is bad manners and churlish to pick people up on their grammar, terminology and/or spelling! you wouldn't do it to someones face so why do it on here

unless someone asks you do do so , or you are in a teaching situation it is simply uncalled for and unfriendly

the whole tone of NR has changed for the worse in the last few months -- i seem to find an unfriendly or argumentative post at least daily

i love a good debate, i love to hear peoples advice on thorny subjects but i am sick to death of meaningless unimportant nit picking on here --- not just the 'bolting' issue but in general

people please abide by the old adage

'do as you would be done by' and cut other folks some slack
 
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ali cat said:
the thread itself is goodnatured but resurrected for what purpose ???
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I suspect to prove a point following from earlier thread by yours truly.

ali cat said:
the whole tone of NR has changed for the worse in the last few months -- i seem to find an unfriendly or argumentative post at least daily
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AC, the forum is generally great - don't be put off by threads that go awry. But thanks for sticking up for me.
 
I had a horse bolt once with me, and honestly was the scariest experience of my life. The experience was so bad, that had the horse done it again I would have had it PTS.

It is used too often and most times, the horse is just running through the bridle. A true bolt is nothing to be laughed at and I would steer clear from any horse if the owner said it bolted. So I can see where Rachel is coming from. People that say their horse bolts when infact it doesn't, are doing their horses reputation a terrible injustice.
 
DITZ said:
true bolting where the horse listens to nothing not even itself. Have been bolted with a couple of times, the most notorious ended up with horse jumping over a 5 bar gate onto a railway line with me on top.:eek:
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This also happened to me on one of the racehorses - thankfuly for -me there was no railway line, and he didn`t really pick up to clear the gate so we kinda crashed throught which ultimately stopped him, both horse and jockey lived to tell the tale- but not a nice experience
 
An incident I had with Tillie definately wasnt (true) bolting but not sure if it was tanking off either.

We were doing trotting poles and I wanted her to go over them but she wanted to go over them in gallop. I was doing half halts but as soon as she went over the first one she bumped me out the saddle abit and I lost concentration ending up with me no long doing half halts and her galloping off over the trotting poles and then slipping (back end almost on the floor) on some mud. She then came to a stop and calmed down.

Would you still count this as tanking off or just a fizzy moment?
 
Kewl. Thank you. During the same lesson she also spooked at something and just set off in a gallop till she was far enough away to be at a happy distance from what scared her. Even then it was only about 20ft away.
 
How would you define true bolting?

Bolting is a blind panic so a horse that stops for nothing, whether it be a lorry or a 8ft brick wall. You cannot turn either :(
Have you ever been bolted with?

No, thankfully. I prefer the bale out option pre fifth gear so to speak. I have however been around when horses have bolted and it was scary enough being a witness, let alone a passenger :eek:

How would you describe a horse who is 'running away' but is NOT truely bolting?

A horse that is merely (ha ha) running away will stop if pointed at an indor school wall, or a suitably large structure and if you're in a large area you can turn (although at speed).
 
I understand a bolting horse to be one that takes off, usually at a gallop, out of fear or pain and very occasionally can start with excess adrenalin caused through excessive excitment. The Horse takes off as it fears it is in iminent danger, there is no control over a bolting horse, the horse has no self preservation and will often charge through things such as hedges, fences and if faced with a solid object such as tree or gate is more likely to plough through.

A horse that is taking the rider with them is one that conciously decides to and it is a display of dominance over the rider. The horse is in control mentally and is aware of it's surroundings.

I have been bolted with twice and once you have experienced it there is no mistaking it for taking off with you.

The second occasion of bolting required my horse to have repeated chiro treatment, vet attendance and 4 weeks of work due to the damage he did to himself!

He does occasionaly take off with me, which quite frankly is the height of bad manners and not a laughing matter either.
 
I've been run away with quite a few times, had the horse run through the bridle. I've been bolted with twice. Both on the same horse.
A true bolt, there's not a hell of a lot you can do about it. You MAYBE have 1-2 strides before its a full fledged bolt to try to force them into the circle, but after that, you're SOL. If a horse takes off with you out of naughtiness or somewhat scared, you still have a chance to try to regain control, because in his mind, he's still mostly with you. You can try circles or ever steering into a wall. With a bolt however though, you could be a fly on his back for all the notice he pays to you.

When my old guy bolted with me, he didn't care what happened-in fact, we took out a fence as he ran out the arena fence and it didn't faze him. Went right through the wooden fence. I bailed, as we werent too far away from gravel road. Second bolt, he didn't take anything with him, but was just miles gone by the time he stopped.
I would NEVER EVER EVER get on a horse knowing that he was a bolter.
As it is, if I ride a horse that tries to take off for a couple of strides, I get a really sick feeling in my stomach
 
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My first serious competition pony 'bolted' with his previous owner for 5 miles!

Well no he didn't but he was a sensitive chap who took clingling on a legs and screams to mean 'go faster'

I used to ride an ex racing pony with absolutely no mouth and yes we did several unasked for 'go very fast' even after I learned to put knots in and bridge the reins and hang on.

My current young cob does blind panic canter round school if I wobble., and my old one specialised in 180 turns and canter off in other direction.

A new RS cob I took out hacking wouldn't stop until the one in front did no matter what aids I gave.

None of these is bolting which thankfully I have never experienced!
 
I do think its over used, a few people have said in the past that alex has bolted with me, when in fact he has just ran away a little but i have ultimatley had breakes. He has bolted once, and i literally could not stop, it wasnt until he was rammed into a tree and then realised he had to turn that i managed to 'grab' him and pull him up. Im glad its only been once and hope to never repeat it ;)
 
RachelEvent said:
a timely bump?

When I learnt to ride, the riding school I went to was run by a fantastic horsewoman, who was most definitely of the old school. She would have had my tongue if we claimed that such and such a pony had bolted - her retort would be that we had simply lost control of the pony, which was always the case.

When I taught in a riding school, I was horrified to find, that not only was the word bandied about by all the teenage helpers, but even the trainee instructors seemed to claim that one or other of the horses had bolted on a seemingly daily basis. Once again, whether through fear or excitement, it was a case of riders losing control, being p***ed off with and horses getting very strong.

I've never been bolted with, although have had plenty of lost control incidents. I hope, frankly, that I never am bolted with!

But if we have endless posts with so called 'bolting' horses, when someone does arrive on the forum, genuinely frightened or upset by a bolting horse, we are in danger of actually losing the meaning of the word.

Sure it looks bad on me for being infuriated by improper use of the word, but equally as previous posters have said, it looks pretty silly for those who are using the word in it's most histrionic sense... and belittles those who have genuinely had serious issues as a result of such an incident.

So go and use your words as you wish, but I can't help but think a little of the boy who called wolf...
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I know how you feel about this word, RachelEvent, but fighting against misuse of words is a battle you can't win. Language change, for better or worse, is an unstoppable force .... The two that bother me are cob and manege, but I've given on them now.

Still I can say truthfully (and thank goodness!) that although I've been tanked off with quite a few times, and even galloped off with once or twice, I've never ever been on a horse that bolted.
 
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