# Spooking and bolting



## howrsegirl123 (Feb 19, 2012)

My horse has a tendency to bolt when he sees something he doesn't like. He'll jump sideways a little then turn around and try to run the other way. I can usually get him under control by bringing him in a circle, but yesterday I was riding and he spooked at a deer that jumped out and took off towards home and I fell off. He was alone then, but he's done this with other horses on the ride too. If he sees an animal in a field way out in the distance he's okay, but when they surprise him in the woods he freaks. How can I get him to not be so afraid of things like this, and to not bolt?


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## GoWithTheFlow (Mar 9, 2011)

I may not be much help .But I've always heard a horse thats intune or busy listening to it's rider it ,should be much more controlable .No matter what is going on . Don't matter what kind of bit it's packing, or if it needs a bit at all .

Maybe you and your horse need to have a little more trust with each other ? I don't know . I've never really delt with that level of spookyness before .Only spook in place horses and horses that just spook to the side .


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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

Horse may have learned to do this, as a way of ending ride too, if ride has been cut short before.

But I would say that you need to spend more time on the basics with this horse, and also have a good vet rule out any type of pain too.

Good be your saddle is not fitting right with your weight in it, and horse is hurting and more spooky because of that?

Could be you are not reading what horse is up to fast enough to head this off too.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

I would do a lot of work in the arena. I want to be sure that I can stop my horse before I get out on the trail.


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## xxBarry Godden (Jul 17, 2009)

'How do I stop a horse whirling and bolting'? A simple enough question which demands a very complex answer. I once wrote a booklet about it.

The only advice over the internet can be: 'go find a good professional horse and rider trainer who can visit locally and assess the depth of the problem'


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Make home not so pleasant. He may be looking for excuses to head home. Take him only until you feel him begin to tense then turn and walk back but when you get there, work his tail off in the yard, driveway, whatever. Circles with lots of change of direction. Really push his butt around. When he's puffing hard you'll feel him want to quit. That is when you start riding him away again. You may not get far but just do as before. It often takes 2 or 3 times before a horse catches on that he gets to relax at the walk, and breathe, when he's leaving but has to work like hell at home. If you do this every time you trail ride, as a refresher, he'll quit looking for excuses to go home.


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## xxBarry Godden (Jul 17, 2009)

TOUGH HOMBRES
Over the years I have met with a type of horse which does not bow easily to man. I call them ‘Tough Hombres’. They are not aggressive in that they bite or strike out, nor need they be permanently ‘difficult’ and often they have redeeming features but they are horses which call for special handling. They are for competent, experienced riders only.
These are the horses one often meets in the hunting field fitted with double rein bridle sets incorporating fierce bits. How the horse gets to be as they have become will vary but usually it boils down to the fact that somewhere in their lives the horse has met with an unsuitable owner. Such ‘difficult’ horses get passed on regularly by owner to owner.
I once owned such a horse named ‘Joe’.
He’d been bred by gypsies and sold on as a youngster to a trekking centre. Whilst only 15h2 he was tough – cart horse tough - but with little feather. He showed lots of bone, a powerful butt and a thick neck. Relate him to a car and you would define him as a 4WD, 5 litre, turbo charged diesel, pick up truck. He was a lot of horse. He wasn’t fast, he wasn’t tall but he was as tough as old boots and it was noticeable that other horses were wary of him although I never saw him fight them.
I acquired him largely because he was unsuitable for trekking work. If he was used by a heavy handed novice then during the ride Joe would revolt. He’d balk (refuse to move), he’d allow the rider time to dismount, then if the rider persisted in staying in the saddle, Joe would go down on his knees , then onto his side and begin slowly to roll over - even if the rider was still on his back. He never actually hurt a rider, but he broke several saddles. Invariably the rider dismounted and quickly once it was realised what was happening. At first the disobedience was just with the heavy handed or badly sitting novice but gradually it got to the stage where the riding centre could no longer use Joe for paying customers. But not all of the trek leaders were competent to cope with Joe, so he had to go.
Eventually he found his way to me, who knew him and who felt Joe was worth the effort. He was an extremely sure footed horse even on the steep slopes of the hillsides. He was also fearless in traffic. He had his good points and I loved him for them. But a few years down the line he nearly killed me in the process of whirling, and bolting down a steep tarmacced lane. Over a couple of years with me and my wife Joe had morphed into becoming what used to be known as ‘lawless’. Once he had discovered a rider’s weakness, he stored it up for a rainy day. Put simply he became unfit for use in a modern environment where close control over the horse is mandatory at all times. Joe and Tough Hombres like him need special handling, understanding and training.
What eventually destroyed him was a torn check ligament, but that is only the last chapter of his story. I can publish his story on a thread but the tale will amount to a few thousand words.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

The only thing you can really do is ride out the spook and prevent the bolt. You can't stop him from reacting from a deer jumping out in front of him, but you can keep him from bolting if you stop it in time. Instead of letting him turn around or bringing him back via a complete circle, turn him back the way he tried to turn away. I don't know why this makes such a big difference to a horse, but when I make my horse turn back the way he tried to escape, he settles down. If I let him make a complete circle, and he gets his butt facing the barn, I'd better be holding on. 

Next time he finds something to spook at, keep him facing the object using one rein and then the other. You don't need to try to make him approach it, just make him face it. When he tries to spin around, straighten him back out. Just sit there and be patient. Once he decides it's not there to kill him, then ask for him to move on past it. Good luck! Spin and bolt is so much fun, isn't it?


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## EvilHorseOfDoom (Jun 17, 2012)

My instructor taught me to keep the hands soft and sit calmly through a spook to let it know everything's OK, then immediately get the focus back on you by changing direction or leg-yielding. Haven't had a big spook or bolt since - the horse will just scoot a step or two, or take a little leap, realise I'm not worried about whatever it is and allow me to regain his/her focus. Just stay calm, balanced and quiet through the spook.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

I may keep my hands soft, but they are softly going to insist on the horse stopping. They may not can help getting startled. They can help running off.


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## EvilHorseOfDoom (Jun 17, 2012)

Celeste said:


> I may keep my hands soft, but they are softly going to insist on the horse stopping. They may not can help getting startled. They can help running off.


I agree you need to stop them when they run off - but the idea is to not have them run off in the first place. If you tense the reins, the horse feels trapped and panics. If you provide calmness and give him half a second to work out that it's not a gremlin, he's not going to bolt. But you have to then _quickly but calmly_ ask something else of him to get his mind back on the job. If that's a one-rein-stop then so be it. You can do that from a rein with a little slack in it (not dangling obviously).

By the way, this is the ONLY way to deal with a spook with my horse. Use your hands and he'll just throw a huge buck. I forgot my training one day, I haven't forgotten the bruises I got.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

I can just pull back and my horse will stop within a stride or two in a panic. I don't jerk her mouth. I just ask for a stop.


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## EvilHorseOfDoom (Jun 17, 2012)

Celeste said:


> I can just pull back and my horse will stop within a stride or two in a panic. I don't jerk her mouth. I just ask for a stop.


What breed, may I ask? I've had this work on some horses, mostly ponies I rode when I was a kid, but it has never worked for me on an OTTB, no matter how many years and how much retraining they have. When they panic they just go right back to their racing brain and run through the reins. The more you pull, the faster they run and the more worked up they get. If you're unlucky, they throw their head in your face. I don't really use the reins anymore when asking for a stop in normal circumstances, though - I use my seat and just close my hands, maybe 0.5cm difference on the rein, 1cm at the most. But obviously it matters what style you ride and what methods you were taught. More than one way to skin a cat, as they say


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

EvilHorseOfDoom said:


> What breed, may I ask?


Celeste rides a bat-poo crazy ayrab, of course! :lol:


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## EvilHorseOfDoom (Jun 17, 2012)

phantomhorse13 said:


> Celeste rides a bat-poo crazy ayrab, of course! :lol:


Fair enough, can see how it'd work on an Arab! And they're not crazy...ah, who'm I kidding? LOL


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## ThursdayNext (Oct 18, 2011)

Celeste's approach works with my Dutch Warmblood. He's fairly "hot" and spooks fairly easily. Maybe 75% of the time I can tell he's in Spook County because of the way he's carrying himself, but about 25% of the time, there's no warning at all. He'll be going along in the ring at the trot or canter, next thing I know he's leaping sideways and wanting to run.

I find that if I sit VERY firmly, as if I am requesting a full stop with my seat, and take up a lot of contact with the reins - flexible contact, not making a brick wall with them - it will keep him from bolting long enough for his Thinking Circuit to kick in and stop the panic attack. Last week we were out on a trail ride with another wiggy horse, and just as we got back to the barn my horse missed his footing, spooked, and tried to bolt, at which point the other horse spooked and did bolt, dumping his rider. This set my horse off again, and I had to do the circle/single rein stop, but I was definitely keeping a lot of contact the entire way.

OP, I have not found a way to keep my horse from spooking in the first place. Plenty of times I can't ever figure out what made him spook in the first place - some tiny noise made by a chipmunk, or an unexpected stick, no telling. I try to keep him desensitized to the obvious stuff, and for the rest of it, I pay attention to his body language that tells me where his head is, and I pay attention to the environment for stuff that I know spooks him. 

Sometimes if I make him focus on me by working him - lots of transitions, that kind of thing - I can get him out of Spook Country. For me, it's always worth a shot. I have also found that sometimes even that doesn't work, and then it can make the problem worse...so I'll try it a few times, and if it's not working, then I go to Plan B. Plan B could be something like getting off and lunging him, or it could be riding in the arena instead of riding on the trail, but it is NEVER getting off and letting him go back in the barn or paddock. 

I saw a piece of advice above that if your horse dumps you like that, make sure that he works good and hard when he gets home - that sounds reasonable to me. Whatever else happens, he shouldn't be getting rewarded for this behavior.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

Yes I ride a bat poo crazy ayrab.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

We need to be careful with terms. When a horse bolts, his fear is so great he is out of control. He perceives his life being in great danger and is in total panic. These horses can have their head pulled to the riders boot and still gallop full tilt in the direction they need to go. The rider has no influence. One can only hopefully ride it out until the horse tires, or bail off. Then there are the horses that looking for any excuse to return to the barn will seemingly spook, spin around and pay little attention to the rider altho there is a modicum of control. With a horse like this I've even grabbed the bit and hauled him around. I let him think I'm going to rip his head off. This won't work with a true bolt.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Desensitizing.

I honestly think it takes an experienced horseman to do it right. Done wrong, you can take a spooky horse and ruin them. Done right, it teaches the horse to allow the rider to determine how to proceed. But doing it right requires the trainer to read the horse's tension very quickly and accurately, which is why I'm not big on desensitizing books or videos.

The two times I've hired someone to do it, it took 4-8 weeks at 4-5 sessions a week to accomplish the goal. The 8 weeks spent on my mare included teaching her basic bit cues and yielding to pressure. 

In both cases, the money spent was worth every penny. When my crazy mare now sees something that scares her, she gives a hop and then either freezes or backs up 10-15 steps and then freezes. Then I can scratch her neck, assess the situation, and decide if I want to push her forward or get off her and lead her. Either way, it beats the days of "turn & burn"!

Done right, desensitizing is not about creating a laundry list of 79 things that no longer scare your horse. The horse can always find 100 more. It is about teaching the horse to respond to 'scary things' in a way that gives the rider control over what comes next.

Also, with my mare, 'punishing' her for a bolt was counterproductive. Making her work hard after a bolt merely raised her fear and convinced her she really WAS in danger and thus that it was a good thing she ran away as fast as she did. It also taught her that her rider was an irrational being who, after she saved his life, responded by being mean. 'Making the wrong choice hard' can be good for training, but it doesn't work well when a horse is truly scared. IMHO.

Edit - just saw Saddlebag's post. Totally agree. There is a difference between a bolt (I'm terrified) and 'I'm running to a place I like better'.


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

I am a HUGE fan of teaching a 'one rein stop' or as I have always called it 'taking a horse's head away from him' if a horse bolts, whirls around or gets out of control for any other reason.

When you teach it right, you can take a horse's head to your knee and he will instantly stop and give you his head, no matter what the circumstances are. 

If you want to teach this maneuver, you have to teach it beforehand in an arena and you have to repeat it about 100 times at each gait and taking a horse's head each direction. You absolutely must teach it to a sane and quiet 'responsive' horse so the the same horse will instantly do it when he is 'reactive' and going out of control.

I absolutely works on any kind of horse under any circumstances IF IT HAS BEEN PROPERLY TAUGHT BEFORE YOU NEED IT!

I have saved an old post on how we teach it. I can re-post it if you like. We teach it a lot differently than a lot of people like the modern Clinicians. It really does work. I would not ride a difficult horse or one prone to get reactive without teaching it. I am too arthritic and crippled to fight with a horse. I need every one of them that I get on to stop and give me their heads immediately when I ask. Having it taught right to a horse is like installing an 'off button' in any horse, I do not care what his past job description was. It works with OTTBs, Arabians and bronchy QHs.


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