# Horses took off while riding!



## Walker owner (Jun 7, 2009)

The other day my 10 year old and I were riding our horses on a trail near one of the pastures for other horses. There was a line of trees between the pasture and the trail. The horses in the pasture took off running because they were getting fed hay and that caused my daughter's horse to take off running. Because my daughter is only 10, she wasn"t able to get her to stop (lack of strength I think). Her horse ran by mine and mine took off after her. We both jumped off as that was the safest thing to do at the time and place. I am wondering if this a normal response from a horse that is trail riding - I don't think they should run just because other horses in a pasture do so. Any feedback would help! What is the best way to train a horse not to respond by taking off in that situation?


----------



## Solon (May 11, 2008)

How much horse experience do you have? Are these your personal horses or were you borrowing them?

There is a thing called an emergency stop. This link has some pretty good info with some pictures on how to do it.

MyHorse.com - Emergency Stop with Lynn Palm


----------



## Joshie (Aug 26, 2008)

I would say that your horses are not ready to trail ride yet. My daughter is 11. She and I both have muscle weakness. We are able to do an emergency stop. To do an emergency stop, you loosen hold on one rein and shorten the opposite rein. This basically turns the horse's head so that it's turned toward you. A horse cannot run when it's head is pointed more towards you. This does not take a lot of strength. 

I think it sounds like you need to go to ground work. Your horses need to respect your whoas. You could easily be hurt if your horses bolt.


----------



## sandy2u1 (May 7, 2008)

My horse bolts too. The one rein stop works great for him too. Even though he knows what woah means and is normally easy to stop....when he gets scared all that goes out the window. The one rein stop is a life saver in those instances. I also wanted to add that when I use that on my horse...he doesn't just stop he spins a very quick circle and then stops, so be ready. I've had to go to just doing groundwork with my horse for a while because he bolts so bad and is so fearful. I'm hoping to get him used to the stuff we will encounter while in the saddle with both my feet planted safely on the ground


----------



## Velvetgrace (Aug 17, 2008)

I have had the same thing happen. I was riding along the road when three horses in the near pasture come running up. One was a mini stud, the others where full grown paint / quarter crosses. The mini started to at stupid and my mare was not in heat but erritated. The other two horses came up and took off causing my paint mare to bolt. I quickly got her to slow down in a circle, but she kept spinning in circles and ended up in the road. I was set in the saddle good but there was a van coming and my mare was not paying attention to me, she kept going in circles. The guy almost hit my horse. Luckly the mare and I end up on the other side, but she was very wound up and started acting like she wanted to go go go go. I fought her the entire way home to keep her slowed down, 2 mile ride home was very exhausting. I never took her out again except just around the yard, pasture, or the trails behind the house that had no other horses around. The one rein stop saved us, but still could have been bad since the mare was acting hot blooded.


----------



## ShannonSevenfold (Oct 11, 2008)

I think it's probably the herd instinct kicking in. But good, been-there-done-that trail horses generally will not bolt. Ground work to work on their respect for you and your commands.


----------



## barrelracer (Nov 5, 2008)

*Hmm*

I think to make more muscle is maybe work out or just go riding everyday. if you can not stop you'r horse good enough maybe try letting it run in like an arena and then make it stop if it dose not stop easy enough and takes awhile back him right up. and then go arround agian. and just keep doing that get to know the horse alot and become its buddy so he/she gets to know u better and who's on its back. when i go out to o riding or just go give my horse some oats or somthing like that i always let her sniff me so she knows who is giving her the treat and she/or he will probably really like you.... and if you have not fed the horses befor you guys went riding thats kind of a bad thing because obvisualy they want to go eat or run with there pack. A clinic would be awsome for u guys! 

- barrelracer


----------



## Chickerdoodle13 (Jun 15, 2009)

Yep, I definitely agree that some good old ground work could be in order. However, you can definitely work on your whoahs in the saddle either in a round pen or an arena. 

When I'm working on the ground with just a lead roap, I typically devote an entire session to stopping and backing up. Basically I want the horse to get used to my voice and what the commands mean. Recently I've found one of the best places for teaching "whoah" is the round pen (If you happen to have one).

When I'm on the horses back, again I will devote an entire training session to moving and stopping. One of my favorite methods for teaching whoah is to have the horse move forward (most likely at a walk to begin with) and then verbally say whoah about three times before pulling back on the reins. This gives the horse a chance to respond before pulling on the bit. After doing this over and over and over, the horse will recognize "whoah" to mean stop and you should not need very much contact with the bit to stop. 

Things like this happen though, and its always good when no one is hurt. I think the biggest problem is that these horses neglected to remember you were on their backs. A little bit of respect training should get that in order!


----------



## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

Emergency stop might be something you'd like to learn. =] Joshie posted some easy directions, so.. yeh.
I don't really think your horses are ready for trails.


----------



## Maynme (May 15, 2009)

Learning the one rein stop has helped me immensely with my horse!


----------



## danastark (Jul 17, 2008)

Another thought is, if your daughter hasn't ridden much, you might want to pony her off your horse (lead) so that her horse can't take off.

Riding next to a pasture with horses running, playing is difficult. We were next to a pasture once with a bunch of horses crowding the fence as we went by. Suddenly one of them let out a very loud fart and it scared all of them!! Once we got our horses under control, we were laughing, it even scared the horse that did it! You never know.......


----------



## dynamite. (Jun 21, 2008)

danastark said:


> Another thought is, if your daughter hasn't ridden much, you might want to pony her off your horse (lead) so that her horse can't take off.
> 
> Riding next to a pasture with horses running, playing is difficult. We were next to a pasture once with a bunch of horses crowding the fence as we went by. S*uddenly one of them let out a very loud fart and it scared all of them!!* Once we got our horses under control, we were laughing, it even scared the horse that did it! You never know.......


LOL! That happened to me once. My sister and I were riding together in the ring once, when her horse lets one go. Willow took off running bucking, and was so nervous after because she had no idea where that noise came from. :lol:


----------

