Bucking horse!

[hammie]

So Snowstorm has developed a buck... and I hate it!

He doesn't do it very often - maybe once every couple of months. If it was a regular thing I could maybe get someone more experienced to work on it for me. It tends to be in the following situations:

- in a big spook, he may buck and then either run off or just stop. He has always been spooky but his first spooks didn't involve bucks, he preferred whipping round/running off/leaping sideways. There's just the one buck at the start of the spook (so far...). He spooks at various things, but the main problem is surprises, e.g. a cyclist that he doesn't see till the last moment, or a bird flying out of the hedge in front of him.

- when he is excited and confused he will sometimes do little bucks at intervals, e.g. in dressage warm-ups

- once he has bucked in temper (with my instructor, when she made him do something he didn't want to)

So, my question is, can bucking be discouraged/trained out of them? What do you do when your horse bucks? Snowstorm is not a fizzy joggy horse, and I don't get any warning of his bucks, so all I do is try and hang on... But really, I'd like him to stop!

[nomdeac]

Snowstorm looks like a connemara, is he?
I'd check that his tack was comfortable and ok if I were you. It might be that he can stand it for so long and then bingo, a great big buck because he can't stand the pain anymore.. I'd also have his teeth and back checked for the same reason.
Have a think and see if there was any warning to the bucking, or talk through the circumstances with someone else just to see if they can see a pattern.
Have a good think as hard as you can about he situation and see what you can come up with.

[hammie]

He's from Ireland but don't know his breeding. I think he looks more like a Highland but who knows?

Re the tack etc., he has had regular checks and I don't think it's a pain or discomfort issue. It's not related to the length of time he's been ridden, and it happens only rarely anyway. It's a reaction to circumstances - e.g. he has bucked when a bird flew out of a hedge, when a horse tripped behind him (normally he'd shoot forwards at that I think but he was trapped by another horse in front), another time he bucked when a plastic bag surprised him...

So it's basically a spook or defensive mechanism (apart from the warmups etc. when I think he's overexcited and confused). No warning as he tends to spook at surprises, if he can see the scary thing from a way off he's usually OK. The thing is just that I'd like him to spook in a less dramatic way!

Maybe more spookbusting is in order. He spooks less than when we got him (as a 4 year old), but they can be big ones.

[lisap]

He looks like a Connie to me rather than a Highland.

Bucking is caused by all sorts of reasons. First question I always ask is "Does he buck in the field?" A horse will quite often replicate behaviour in the field under saddle, naturally, so if he blasts off in the field bucking away, it's not a surprise that he will sometimes forget himself and buck under saddle as well.

If he doesn't regularly buck in the field then it could be a loss of balance, - very common in a young horse that gets itself into a bit of a tangle and then puts in a big buck. The answer to this is correct work with the horse to help them balance better under saddle.

Frustration with a rider who hangs onto the head can also cause bucking as the horse yanks the reins out of the riders' hands, throws its head down, and then ends up almost bucking by default.

Pain and injury can also set off bucking as well.

Lots of horses put a bit of a buck in when they set off into canter, especially young ones, and they usually grow out of it when they are in regular work. Quite often, the riders' job is to sit tight and enjoy the ride!

[hammie]

Thanks for the comments Lisa.

He did go through a stage when he was 5 of putting in a little buck going into canter, but only on a hack so maybe excitement. He doesn't do that now.

He doesn't buck much in the field - though who knows what he does when I'm not watching lol. Staff at the yard have said he sometimes bucks when they're moving the horses to new fields - excitement at more grass to eat I should think!

Loss of balance is an interesting one - the bucking occurs when he's reacting to something. There is nearly always an observable trigger. Other reactions include leaping sideways, whipping round and running off (had one of these the other day, at a very scary tyre jump lurking in the undergrowth ), shooting forwards... never know which one I will get! But I hate the bucking the most, which is why I'd like to improve that one.

Connie/Highland, who knows? Most people assume he's a Highland, but then we are in Scotland. He regularly gets mistaken for two purebred Highlands on the yard - he looks very similar, but to my eye he's not as compact and rounded. More chunky though than your typical Connemara.

[mags]

My gelding has bucked me off a couple of times. He does it very intermittently (handful of times over the past 4 years), and usually when something blows his mind (canter/gallop in a group, seeing his best buddy disappear in the distance etc.). Since he has a huge buck and does it at speed without much warning, I desperately wanted to get him to stop!

My approach was to avoid situations that blow his mind (and thus make it likely he'll buck). I stopped going on large group rides and picked my hacking partners carefully (no people who can't control their horses or enjoy an unannounced gallop). At the same time, I worked on making my horse stay more relaxed in stressful situations. He's a bit herd-bound (slightly nappy) and did struggle a lot with losing sight of his hacking buddies around corners when out and about. I did a lot of ground work, some long-lining and also practised hacking with a 50 or 100m gap to my friends. Also cantering at nice controlled speed and in a relaxed manner, first alone, then just two horses, then more horses.
I also had his back and saddle checked, and did indeed find that his saddle didn't fit very well.
It's now been about two years since the last major buck (knock on wood!), though I've had a few occasions where he's pulled up his bum a bit in excitement during a canter. But those are easy-to-sit bucks and don't go together with general headless-ness. I still don't hack in large groups in with people who can't control their horses, but I've been doing a few fun rides (with a steady partner) and a bunch of trecs without problem.

I guess from my own experience, I'd recommend ruling out anything pain related (saddle, ulcers, teeth etc.) and otherwise working on teaching him to keep his head. He sounds a bit insecure at times, so maybe some ground work or desensitizing might help to teach him how to stay relaxed when surprises crop up?

I hope you'll figure something out. In the meantime, try and stay safe!

[hammie]

Thanks Mags, nice to know someone else has the same problem! I tend to avoid group rides, daughter and I have both been bucked off in a group of 5. But - not cantering or anything exciting at the time! They were both spooks, one when the horse behind him tripped, and one when he saw a plastic bag. Silly pony... Other bucks have been when he's on his own, or out with someone on foot, and the triggers are hard to avoid as they are general spooky things. A couple of times he's spooked at *me* when I've been walking next to him and daughter riding, and I've tripped over a branch or something.

I guess it's a long-term thing really, getting him more confident and less likely to have a sudden panic.

[carol666]

My connemara gelding likes a good buck sometimes - usually when going into canter. He is only 6 years old. I find best thing is to just sit quietly through it and not make any issue of it. He will quickly get it out of his system and work lovely for the rest of the session.

I do agree with the comments on doing some general desensitizing groundwork should help with the spookiness.