# Bucking problem, please help!



## Janet Cherry (Jul 13, 2009)

Young Arab x gelding, 5 years, bred for endurance - I have had him for over a year now, schooling and hacking him out. When I bought him I had tried him out and had no indication he even knew what a buck was. After two months I was bucked off for the first time, taken completely by surprise. All was well for a while. Then last week the same thing again, he exploded and did a huge really nasty buck, throwing me off. The context is hacking with another horse, where the other horse is in front, and starts trotting or cantering, and he gets excited. The problem is that he is often fine, and leads happily, although he does spook sometimes. I can't identify any pain, saddle pinching etc as there is no link between his tack and his behaviour. He is being regularly lunged, schooled and hacked. Some people say he is 'just young' but my problem is that I am too old to be thrown from a horse that really bucks; and I mean, really bucks, quite unpredictably. The other problem is that he is a pleasure horse, and if I am always tense and worrying about when the next buck will come, well, the pleasure is gone.....any advice please? :sad:


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## gssw5 (Jul 30, 2013)

I am to old to be getting launched off horses myself, I feel your pain and frustration. I hate the excuse he is young, if he is being ridden he ought not be bucking, IMO. A young horse that learns to buck people off becomes an old horse who knows how to buck people off.

My advice is if you think you know what sets him off,* "The context is hacking with another horse, where the other horse is in front, and starts trotting or cantering, and he gets excited."* When the situation arises get his mind on you. Do leg yields, circles, move his hind end, move his front end, do serpentines ect, keep asking him to do things that are keeping his feet moving, but his mind on you. 

On the other hand if it completely random that is different. I would say generally horses give warning, they slow down, tuck their hind end, drop their head ect, it may only be a split second but there is warning. That is when you have to be paying attention and take action. The biggest thing would be to disengage the hind end, and keep the feet moving in a circle making it difficult for the horse to try anything. That all takes timing and being able to react in a split second, understandably not something you want to have to be ready for all the time.

The more time he bucks you off the more practice he gets the better he will get at it.

Another option might be to find someone who can either ride out the buck, or preempt it and convince the horse that keeping the rider on his back is a better option then getting them off.

Someone posted a link to a video, by a trainer named Larry Trocha, not to long ago and he discussed bucking, you may want to look him on his website and maybe get some insight on how to handle the bucking.

Good luck.


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## BiologyBrain (Jul 9, 2015)

I went to an old cowboy's site that I can't remember right now (sorry) it had instructions for hobbling as well as for horses that buck. This is my paraphrase of what the site said... 

Using a western saddle fasten a strong rope to the swell of your saddle on one side. Then take that around the front of the horse pretty tight (not enough to interfere with their wind, but not lose like a breast collar either) and tie it off on the other side's swell. When the horse tries to put his head down to buck, he'll cut off his own wind and meet that resistance without you having to do anything. The site indicated that a horse would only try once or twice and then give up on bucking as long as the bucking was only for behavior issues not pain or whatever. 

I'll try to find the site so you can read the old cowboy's description yourself. This was his 'cheater' for when he reached the age he no longer wanted to hit the dirt or risk it. 

On the other hand, it sounds like your horse is kind of buddy sour in a way. I had a mare that would buck if other horses were allowed to canter and she was held back. She would buck until you fell or bailed and then she'd stop and look at you. She also bucked when held back when ridden by herself sometimes. When I was riding alone & she bucked (I was young & dumb) I pushed her to run faster until she was asking to slow down. Then I continued pushing her until I decided it was time to stop. She ran for almost 2 miles flat out before she started asking to slow down. I don't know that you'd want to do someone thing like that though.


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## BiologyBrain (Jul 9, 2015)

Here's the cowboy page with the Cheater on it. Cheater


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## Pokey300 (Jul 12, 2015)

Have you tried having him adjusted. Worked on my big grey.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

He's worried about being the last horse and someone's dinner. As soon as the rider ahead begins moving away, ask him to trot to keep up as it's hard to buck when trotting. If you think he's going to try to break into canter, just bump his mouth on one side only, alternating if you wish but never together. This will change his focus briefly.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

It's his way of releasing tension when he gets over excited - doesn't make it right, he has to learn self control - some horses rear in that situation which is worse
Are you trying to hold him back too much? 
You need to keep him moving forwards with his head up and 'on the bit' but not so much that he feels overly restricted
If he's moving forwards actively he's not going to be able to buck so easily - you have to control the speed without holding him back too much
The more he goes through the scenario of coping with horses in front setting off at trot or canter the sooner he'll get used to it and it won't be exciting any more


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## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

I have a bucker. He learned he could buck my dd off. He did that little number 3 times.

He went to 60 days training then I rode him about 30 miles before he dumped me.

Since then I keep his head up and when I sense he is thinking about bucking I get his little brain busy. No more bucking. Rode him a fair amount the last 2 weeks in new territory with lots of potential spooks. He was fantastic but the trails kept him super busy now we are just back to riding the prairie.

I think he has just learned that if he doesn't want to do whats asked he can buck and rid himself of the 'problem'. It worked with dd( because she didnt know how to read that he is going to buck or to keep his head up) but not me.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

you will have to work him through this situation, bit by bit, like Jaydee said. so, work with someone who will help you by starting off ahead of you, but then pulling back to a walk before things get heated. and you allow your horse to go forward a bit, , but then come to a walk BEFORE he gets excited. do this start and stop a LOT. a LOT. so that your horse goes, "not this again", when the hrose in front of him starts to trot or canter off.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Chitchatchet, out pony would get his head between his knees and mimic a rodeo bronc. I rigged a check rein from his bit, over the pole to the saddle. It was set so he could stretch his neck but not get down to where he'd start bucking. Problem solved.


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## 4horses (Nov 26, 2012)

If it was my horse I would probably sell. I hate unpredictable buckers. 

I had one horse for training who would buck, rear, do the airs above the ground, out of the blue. His owner ended up giving him away to a girl who exercised racehorses. She took him on a ride with me, and the first thing he did was dump her off. Despite all his antics, he never got me off or my trainer off. He wasn't rewarded for bucking. He would get a look in his eye and you knew you were in trouble! It was just him being himself. It wasn't pain. It wasn't fear. He was a prankster and I think he did it for fun! But not even riding him seven days a week was enough to prevent his random fits.

I know two other horses who bucked and had stifle problems. The first was a pony I was thinking of free leasing. Supposedly he only bucked every three months, but when he did buck he got the rider off. About the third ride on him, he ripped the reins out of my hand, took off and bucked me off. I have a feeling the child who was riding him thought it was fun to run the horses back to the barn. But his stifle did lock up one time bad enough that he couldn't lift his leg for his hooves to be picked. Not sure which was truly the cause.

The next mare I tried free leasing had the same issues. The owner told me her stifles were loose. After she tried bucking me off, the owner told me they never canter her if she crow hops on the lunge... nice to know that after almost getting thrown off. Thankfully I got her stopped without leaving the saddle. I think with very consistent work hers might have been fixable, but she definitely had stifle issues as the vet said, and definitely needed to be worked daily.

The only mare I've had who had a fixable bucking problem was a mare I rescued. She was terrified of being ridden and was definitely abused or severely beaten prior to being rescued. The person I got her from told me she was rideable. Hah! After she bucked me off twice, I spent two months clicker training her to accept a riders weight. My guess is someone cowboyed her, was bucked off, lost his temper and whipped her for it. She had very serious fear issues regarding men. The barn owner tried deworming her once and she threw him into the wall of the barn! This was after I had spent months working with her and she was going well for me.

Unpredictable buckers are the worst as they don't do it consistently enough for a trainer to correct. As your horse is bucking when going into the canter, I would get his stifles checked first. Just because you haven't observed his stifle locking doesn't mean they aren't loose. Sometimes the only sign of loose stifles is a random bucking problem.

Horse Problems Australia talks about stifle problems in horses and their reprocussions


My other suggestion would be to get a rider who can stay on when he bucks and make the horse follow another horse at the canter. See if you can get the horse to exhibit the behavior and have the rider shut him down.


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## BlueSpark (Feb 22, 2012)

So it's 
1)pain
2)fear
3)disrespect.

Let's say you've ruled out #1

#2 He may be fearful of being alone and doesn't fully view you as his leader. When the other horse moves off he panics and you try to hold him back, thus you become enemy number one who is the only thing putting him in a "life threatening situation" so off you come.

#3 kind of goes hand in hand with the above scenario. No trust or respect. You are veiwed as a lower herd member that is over stepping your boundaries and he's acting accordingly.

I would like to see this guy on the ground to evaluate where he's at. He needs a good course in respect building ground work and a one rein stop to disengage his hip so you can shut the bucking down and if necessary dismount.

If you are not willing to put in the work it may in fact be better to rehome this horse. Everyone has to decide what is worth it and what is not.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Janet Cherry (Jul 13, 2009)

Thanks 4horses, that is very helpful. It is the unpredictability that is the problem with this horse. I think he may have a problem in hip/stifle/other joint. This horse has good relationship with me and other humans, good manners, responsive groundwork, is lunged and schooled - and has not been illtreated. I do not think it is pain because of the erratic behaviour. I do not think it is fear, likewise, because 90% of the time he is a bold, trusting, outgoing type of horse. He likes to be in front. Disrespect, maybe. But why so erratic? He tries so hard so often. He is an interested, up for anything, curious type - as I believe Arabs often are. Thanks for all the input, it is much appreciated. The bottom line for me is not the time, it is that I am too old to take the risk of getting seriously injured, so I am getting scared of riding this horse. Not of the horse himself, but of riding him.


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