The True Definition of Bolting?

RachelEvent

RachelEvent

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Bolting - perhaps the most overused word on NR?

How would you define true bolting?

Have you ever been bolted with?

How would you describe a horse who is 'running away' but is NOT truely bolting?
 
gettin on a race horse and going on a never ending run until you reach a road, jump accross little road(lane) and over a fence to continue running in the field, all the while trying to turn and slow down, hilarious NOT
 
Where it feels like the horse's head and neck have suddenly been turned into steel and you are being carted off at high speed with neither steering nor brakes.

When you finally come to a halt (whether you have parted company or not), it is necessary to change your underwear.

:eek:
 
I would describe boltng as a horse galloping off with no thought for its OWN safety ie going through barbed wire fences. A horse doesn't have to have a rider on board to bolt IMO.
 
My vote is for naughty as the most overused word :p

I've never been bolted with. I have been carted off on several occasions, when my horse's determination exceeded my skill as a rider :D There has never been an occasion where I couldn't have regained some influence over speed and direction if I'd been in a safe place to do so (suggesting circling to a horse when cantering along a road is probably less safe than allowing him to run in a straight line ;)).

I would define bolting as a situation where nothing I did would have any effect on a horse who was in full-on flight mode. A surge of adrenalin is designed to override pain and minor discomfort, so no amount of hauling on mouths or sawing would have much effect ;)
 
Bolting - where nothing I do has any affect on the horse because they're in full on flight mode. With Ziz it's happened once, and every other episode has been her tanking off.
 
True bolting to me is a horse galloping off who is literally in the mindset that he has to run or he will die, I guess like the ultimate flight response. They will literally go through anything and everything to get away from whatever set them off and seem to lose all consideration for their own safety- fences, walls, traffic, etc will not stop them.

A horse that is running away but not truely bolting... I'd say the horse buggered off with me if I was telling someone about it! There is definitely a distinct difference between the two. I have only been bolted with once and that was a scary experience. It's actually the only time I have ever considered throwing myself off a horse. It's honestly like the horse 'isn't there' and nothing I did made the blindest bit of difference but luckily at the last min something seemed to switch on and I managed to circle before we colided with a fence.
 
To me a bolt is when a horse is so panicked that he's switched off completely & is running blind - no regard for his or your safety, liable to run into anything in his path, all his schooling gone, any reaction from the rider likely to make matters worse as it just adds to his panic.

Yes I've been bolted with more than once & that's why I get annoyed when the term is used too freely. If I sneeze I don't immediately claim it's pneumonia!

I'd say a runaway is a horse that refuses to stop when the rider wants BUT he's still sane & aware of his surroundings. You're probably safe if you can stay on. If you manage to wrench his head & neck round he'll either circle or slow eventually because he isn't willing to bring himself down, if you point him at something he may chose to jump or swerve rather than stop but he won't plough straight into it :eek:. An experience, confident, strong rider may manage to stop a runaway but not a bolter.
 
I "thought" I'd been bolted with once, but in fact, it was more like a response of spookiness / fear in sTorm, as we were going past a footie match - she cantered all the way back to the yard (on the tarmac eeeek!!!!) put in a mashooosive buck at the gates and tried to dump me. I think it was a combo of my rubbish riding (think legs clamped on tight!!!) and her genuine fear of the noise and such from a football match. Don't ask me why I even tried to get her past it - I'd only had her a few months - what a numpty I am!! It was scary tho as we were right next to a 60mph road and I did wonder at some point if she was heading directly for it!!! Anyway, I lived to tell the tale. I guess true bolting is much rarer - but we all have our definitions / versions of it.
 
Basically a horse in true flight mode who will go through/over anything in its path.

Unstoppable until it runs its course.

Been bolted with before and I managed to stay on until it flew a hedge with a masive drop on the other side and we both went head over heels.

Very scary and totally different from the usualy naughty-ness of tanking off!!

Nikki xxx

ETA this may be a short run or a long one depending on the horse and its fitness. Yes adrenaline does kick in but if the horse bolts uphil for example it will tire quicker than on the flat etc. So a bolt can be a short affair as well.
 
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Agree with all the above -Blind panic, rider has no effect.

Yes I've been bolted with once and it scared the hell out of me. At least with a buck bronc or rear it's over and done with but with a true bolt it feels like it's never ending, you can see the danger but powerless to stop it, the only option is to bail out at full speed gallop.

I've been tanked off with many times but have always managed to slow/stop/calm the horse so I wouldn't class any as bolting.
 
I've only been bolted with twice...both times both horses had in the mindset that they just had to get away from where they were and FAST.

The first time was on a walk hack with a leader on foot...we turned for home (it was only a 15min hack cos this horse was not meant to be hacked out but I BEGGED) and he literally took off and only stopped when he got back to the yard. Thank GOODNESS it was only low branches in my way but my goodness my hands were ripped to shreds and he was a nervy wreck when he got back to the yard. Poor RI was screaming after me to make sure I was okay :s

Other time was when my old share horse was racing her field pair whilst my friend and I were out on a hack. The only reason I've defined this as a bolt it because despite the fact we were heading for a single track lane and my route on the left was going into brambles/barbed wired/hedges and this pair would just not stop. We eventually came to a grounding halt when my friend physically ran her gelding into a tree so I could slip down the single track lane before the scary looking mess I was going to end up in.

Thank goodness I've never been bolted off with someplace REALLY dangerous, and I feel sorry for anyone who ever has.
 
As others have said: Bolting = horse in a blind panic, no rider intervention has a chance of stopping it.

99.9% of the time, horses aren't "bolting" when they suddenly put on a burst of speed. I'd usually describe it as taking off or tanking off - the former usually if it's a fear reaction (spook, spin and run, but stoppable), the latter if ponio is just being a disobedient, naughty little b*gger!

(It annoys me too when people misuse the word - bolting has happened to me only once in more than twenty years of riding and I hope it never happens again! To be fair, beginner riders in particular may not know the difference - and for a beginner, even the mildest incident of being tanked off with can feel like the end has come. But more experienced people should be wary of bandying the "bolting" word around - it makes them sound like the hypochondriacs that carthorse describes!)
 
Zayna said:
Where it feels like the horse's head and neck have suddenly been turned into steel and you are being carted off at high speed with neither steering nor brakes.

When you finally come to a halt (whether you have parted company or not), it is necessary to change your underwear.

:eek:
Click to expand...

I agree with this, it's never happened to me (I dont ride enough for it to have) but it happened to the daughter once, Solo ran all the way down the lane at full speed and would neither slow, turn, or respond in any way until he was turning for the stables. She was only about 13 or 14, it took her a while to regain her confidence. We think it was a combination of a stormy day and a saddle that had become too narrow without us realising.
 
Agree with previous posters, true bolting is where horse moves at speed, nothing riders does can stop it, no obstables are taken in to account, the horse just runs through them regardless.

Tanking off or getting tanked off with is the non-true version of a bolt in my opinion. Where the horse is disobeying the rider and is not past the point of reason or in a blind panic.
 
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:
 
Zayna said:
Where it feels like the horse's head and neck have suddenly been turned into steel and you are being carted off at high speed with neither steering nor brakes.

When you finally come to a halt (whether you have parted company or not), it is necessary to change your underwear.

:eek:
Click to expand...

ROFL

That really made me giggle :D
 
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