# Rusty bucking on trails



## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Could it be he heard the partridge and that set him off? If it's been in the same spot twice, and you saw the bird on the trail right after, maybe there's a nest nearby? We have grouse and turkeys that fly up into us from seemingly out of nowhere and the horses always know they're there before I do.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Yellow-jackets, wasps, giant green-headed flies attacking him or he hears the buzz, feels the wings in areas you not when astride would be my immediate thought especially when you say near same location.
Either that or bear and he wants to go home where he's safe and he is taking you with him...
If not being stung he senses something threatening...
Heed his warning and if you want to try, go the opposite direction next time so you have a different vantage point seeing that spot before arriving in earnest might be eye-opening.
:runninghorse2:...


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## ksbowman (Oct 30, 2018)

horselovinguy said:


> Yellow-jackets, wasps, giant green-headed flies attacking him or he hears the buzz, feels the wings in areas you not when astride would be my immediate thought especially when you say near same location.
> Either that or bear and he wants to go home where he's safe and he is taking you with him...
> If not being stung he senses something threatening...
> Heed his warning and if you want to try, go the opposite direction next time so you have a different vantage point seeing that spot before arriving in earnest might be eye-opening.
> :runninghorse2:...


 I thought the same thing. hornets, bees , horse or deer flies. I had mine do the same thing the other day . She bucked and kicked out and then a horse fly flew past , I'm sure he was biting her. After that she was perfect the last 45 minutes of the ride.


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## SteadyOn (Mar 5, 2017)

He may just have a "thing" now about that spot, even just after that first time. It's amazing to me how much they associate certain emotions and behaviours with a certain place. On Elle this past winter, she had one day where she wasn't feeling good on a left canter lead and kept swapping to the right... and for WEEKS she would swap leads in the exact same three spots in the arena no matter what I did. Just because of ONE ride.

The bucking in the arena could be because he's young and fairly green and finds those transitions really challenging still, maybe? I'm currently riding a four year old in addition to my lease horse, and this youngster CAN canter under saddle, but I feel like a buck is in there if I keep pushing for that transition. So for now I'm working on building his strength and carriage in walk and trot and ignoring the canter until I feel like it's "there" for me to access.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

Tucker and I had a really tense ride yesterday evening. He was fine until I asked him to stop so I could take a picture. He did not like that idea at all and pretty much lost it. Almost 4 miles and he never did calm down- this in my brother's cornfield where we ride pretty much every day.

This morning we rode again and he was fine. Who knows?


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Thanks all! I will go take a walk down that path to see if there's a wasp nest nearby. We have found more than usual this year so that's entirely possible. He might have gotten stung the first time, and just remembered it and/or heard them buzzing in the nest. I noticed he also reacted slightly when we rode by our bee hives. They are honey bees and are completely harmless, but he would undoubtedly hear them buzzing and he was already on edge. Or perhaps he can smell something in that area... who knows. We don't have a lot of large predators, but horses are not known for the logic of their fears. 

I may try him with another horse next time just to see if that helps reassure him that the killer partridge are nothing to worry about, lol.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I can almost guarantee it's yellow jackets. Its' that time of year again, when they are closing down and literally denying food to unnecessary workers, which makes them aggressive. I got into 'bees" (hornets) last August. It was a freakin' circus!!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I had someone else ride him on the same trail, going in a different direction, in the morning rather than evening while I walked beside them. Nothing happened. Go figure. I'm also thinking insects because they aren't active in the morning. 

I did notice he had a nasty bug bite on his sheath. It seems to be going down now, but that had to hurt, and would make sense with the bucking motion since he can't reach under there while I'm riding. Poor guy.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

Years ago, when I lived in Maryland, one of the trails I liked to ride had some puddles on it. And in one of the large puddles lived a frog. My horse Magic was quite brave and rarely spooked, but one time, when we went through the puddle, the frog jumped . . . and Magic jumped, not expecting a frog.

The next time I rode through there, Magic put her nose down at the puddle, worried the frog might jump. And then, it did! And she jumped. With each ride, the more she expected that frog to jump, the more upset she got. This went on for about a year. It was the funniest thing. Magic wasn't afraid of frogs, but she began anticipating that frog jumping up when she began smelling the puddle. And it always did.

Finally we had a drought, the puddle went away, along with the frog. But Magic was always a little leery of that area for the rest of her life.

Someone years ago, on Horse Forum, or maybe it was Horsetopia, joked that horses can see those Pokémon characters that people find when playing Pokémon Go, and horses spook at them. I know that my horses leap sideways at what appears to be nothing. Maybe Pokémon?


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