# Horse bucked me off hard



## Autumnlove (Jul 17, 2014)

So I've had my mare for about 2 years, and have done a lot of ground work with her and did some riding in that time. But didn'aso a ton of her because I had my daughter and had some health stuf for a bit. She has always been a sweet girl, follows me around in the pasture, but not what I would call a "beginner" horse as we were told. I had wanted a beginner type more so because I was getting back into riding after about 4 years off and wanted an easy horse to just relax and ride. We were told when we got her 2 yrs ago that she was 7 years old. 

The vet has checked her and said she looks to be 7 now, so she was only about 5 when we got her. She didn't know how to lunge at all when we got her, and didn't have great ground manners, which was, we were told, from her not beig ridden for several months by the previous owner. Now I believe maybe there was some training missing...well she bucked like crazy several weeks ago after being asked to lope by my brother. Which I believe was because she hadn't been consistenly ridden in afew months. Well she bucked on me a few times, they were mild bucks, and I started riding her almost every day and just getting her tuned up basically.

And she has been doing fantastic, very responsive and wonderful, no more bucking.....until the other day after only riding for about 20 minutes maybe, walk, trot, brief lope, we were walking along, relaxed and good, and she bolted for a second then proceeded to buck like crazy! I held on as tight as I could, but she threw me and I broke part of my back, and have a bruised tailbone. So....what the blast was that? We are having a chiropractor come to look at her in a couple days....but she hasn't been showing any signs of discomfort at all, saddle is fine. I am wonderig if this sounds more behaviour/pain related. She has been listening so well and I have softened her up again, so she only needs very light cues for w/t/c, and she has just been awesome. 

A other thing, the spot she had thrown me, she was acting more alert and tense when we went over there before at one point in the ride, but then seemed to calm down, u til we turned away from it(didn't see anything there), and then withou warning she flipped out. The bucks were INSANE. She wanted me OFF. Any help/advice would be great. I love this horse and wi be checking into everything that could have caused this, but just wondering what your thoughts are?
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## Autumnlove (Jul 17, 2014)

Also sorry for the typos, I'm on my phone, and perocet lol.
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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Any time a horse begins to go on alert, that's the time to divert it's attention with tight circles this way and that until you feel her relax. Now the thing is, you must not look at yet stay relaxed where she went on alert or it confirms in her mind that she was right to be worried. As long as you keep her feet busy with bending she won't think about anything worrisome. If you do this and you feel her tighten, just keep doing it. She'll get tired of the circles as it's harder work for her.


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## TessaMay (Jul 26, 2013)

It sounds to me like there was something in that spot that you could not see that set her off. I would guess, since she bolted a little then started bucking that something hurt her, like bees or a horse fly.


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## BlueSpark (Feb 22, 2012)

there are certain horses(and people) that are really good at hiding or putting up with things, until one day they hit the breaking point. Up to that point, they will show only very slight signs that they are nervous/anxious/irritated. So break it down. There are 3 reasons horses buck;

-pain
-fear
-disrespect

if its pain it can be solved by checking saddle fit, teeth, a chiro appointment and maybe a vet check.

if its disrespect it would likely show up in tail swishing, ear pinning, resistance to basic commands, refusal to do what's asked, head tossing and often general bad manners on the ground. This can be fixed by respect building ground work and under saddle work, ideally under the guidance of someone experienced.

if its fear its solved by teaching trust building exercises, and desensitizing to remove the fear. A fear bucker needs to feel the rider is trustworthy and a good leader. When they trust you, they stop bucking.

I strongly suspect fear for this mare. My guess is that she is a naturally sweet, compliant, lower to middle herd type mare that's never had consistent leadership from a human. She's got to the point where she is willing to cooperate for riding, but when the going gets tough and she's scared she feels she has no one to turn to but herself, and when she tries to trust her instincts(RUN FROM THE SCAREY THING!!!!) you stop her, and she panics. The only way out in her mind is to get rid of the thing keeping her in the unsafe situation(you) so she can get back to safety.


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## Autumnlove (Jul 17, 2014)

Thanks for the replies. It honestly was so random she didn't give me warning and flew forward then bucked way hard, when we were previously just walking along perfectly fine. She only barely started running when she started violently bucking. It was just so random. I probably could have one rein stopped her in a split second when she initially started bolting but it happened so fast I didn't use the small window of opportunity I had quick enough. And before when she has spooked I have always been able to talk her through it and she will stop immediately, same with the bucking I tell her no, and she would stop. I was trying to stay calm and have her feed off that to calm down and I told her whoa its ok which always works but this time she just went nuts.
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## Autumnlove (Jul 17, 2014)

@BlueSpark I posted before I read your post. I feel it may have been fear as well. She always trusts me though....even if she has gotten scared in the past by snakes, blowing bags, whatever shes been almost 100% trustworthy of me telling her its ok and staying calm and she reacts by calming down as well. She always calms when I do, even mid bolt. It must have been something pretty scary for her to have ignored me completely I think. That makes sense though that me trying to make her stop was keeping her next to the scary thing, whatever it was, so she reacted by bucking. 

She comes up to me in the pasture and puts her head into the halter and she seems to enjoy being worked with honestly. She was being a little stubborn initially when I started working with her again but now she has been so responsive both on the ground and in saddle.
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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I would not assume it is bees. I would say that she has it in her to buck when she is upset, either from fear, or from being asked to do what she doesn't want to do. inside her is this response, the bucking response. some horses are more prone to go there, and others will almost never buck.

A horse I used to ride did this only very rarely, and it was either because he could not run as fast as he wanted, or becuase he didn't want to leave his buddies.. I was usually able to shut him down, or he only bucked once as a form of temper tantrum. Had he really set to bucking, I would have been off in no time. that is not something I have the skill to deal with.

the more you ride, the better you are able to feel when the horse is thinking about bucking, and you have a bit of a warning so you can get them busy doing something else. or, if they start bucking, you get better able to One rein stop them and get them to quit, pronto.

But, since you are injured now, you will need a trainer to help you with this horse, anyway, and I suggest that this mare does not know how to handle stress or pressure without going pretty easily into bucking. she needs to be taught how to deal with pressure without that response. that is what a good trainer can deal wtih.

her being "sweet" on the ground is no indicator of how she will behave when she gets amped, or troubled. the trainer should actually take her to the place where she is amped or troubled, and help her move through that without falling apart and bucking.

with a horse that goes into the mental place where they just kick into buck mode so quickly, you might want to get a trainer to help you work with her.


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## BugZapper89 (Jun 30, 2014)

How did this horse ride when you got her? You said she was being sold as a
Beginner horse , so when she was rude on the ground why didn't you walk away and continue to look?
A 5 year old at my place would not be considered a young horse and if being sold as a youth or packer horse it sure as heck would have impeccable manners no matter how long it sat


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## Autumnlove (Jul 17, 2014)

Honestly she rode fine when I got her, but I hadn't asked much of her because I was a little more nervous since I hadn't ridden in a while, and had odd and end health problems, so I wasn't feeling as invincible as I used to when I was younger and riding. But recently I have just gotten my riding confidence back and it feels good. I hadn't frankly even asked her to lope until recently. There has been a lot going on the past couple years so time was limited too. She was a bit pushy on the ground but I guess I got so caught up in getting a horse and figured it was something I can work on. And I have. She is great now.

And tinylady I know being good on the ground doesn't equal good in the saddle. I was just trying to give insight to how she is in general. She has been great in saddle too once I made her listen as far as loping goes. Now its a light cue to get her to do so. Things have been going well and I am feeling a bit discouraged by this incident. I still plan on getting back on eventually once healed, after someone else tests her out first...it kind if has made me loose some trust in her now.

I hope we can figure what exactly is going on. And I normally can tell when she is going to buck but it happened so fast like I said so there was no real time to think about anything.
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## Autumnlove (Jul 17, 2014)

Sorry @tinyliny, I got the name wrong .
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## Autumnlove (Jul 17, 2014)

Also tinyliny I was wondering that too, if she is just a bucker and that wasn't disclosed to me...I don't know. Does it seem likely based on the info that its a pain thing? When it has been very inconsistent bucking and only a few times total?
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## DreaMy (Jul 1, 2014)

Autumnlove said:


> Also tinyliny I was wondering that too, if she is just a bucker and that wasn't disclosed to me...I don't know.
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Every horse has an "MO" this is what their little temper tantrums look like for some horses its bucking others bolting, rearing, charging, biting, striking, kicking etc. Sounds like her MO is bucking. Grant it, it isn't pain start working on one rein stops. A LOT. In case you didn't get that: A LOT. As soon as she starts grab a rein and pull it around to your hip and keep it there until she stops and immediately ask her to keep her butt moving by pivoting on the fore and completely disengage until you feel her stop resisting you. This is one of those "you paid for the whole rein so use the whole rein" sometimes you can be on the buckle and sometimes you have to be all the way near the bit/clip


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## Autumnlove (Jul 17, 2014)

I will work on those more DreaMy. I will be making an apt with a chiropractor today and will keep you posted on what they say.
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## ecasey (Oct 18, 2013)

Sounds like a fly bite to me, but I'm probably the least experienced person answering right now. lol


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## WesternRidingCowgirl (Jul 20, 2014)

If she was beginning to become tense and alert in that one spot, she may have spooked at something she couldn't see. Are you sure nothing on the saddle was pinching or hurting her?


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

I've seen horses feign a spook in order to go home. DreaMy is offering excellent advice. Why it works well to regain a horse's attention is that the lateral movement of the hindquarters is tiring. Horses are designed to move forward in a straight line and this is how the muscles have developed. When the horse relaxes, it's reward is to be able to move forward in a straight line, not a par or "good boy".


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## Autumnlove (Jul 17, 2014)

So the chiropractor came out and her hips did need to be realigned. He did that and she stood there perfectly still. The chiropractor said it hurts when he realigns them and she is the last horse he would suspect of having a behavior problem, which is also what our vet had said. I am so glad my girl is fixed and it is not behavior related. He also said she must have been hurting pretty bad to have bucked me off when I was telling him about her and how she rides normally. I should have known too. 

When she does spook I can talk to her calmly and matter of factly and it has always worked immediately. Also her go to reaction to a scary thing is to maybe jump a little or a couple times, she bolted forward for a moment, but always stopped immediately when I asked her. Even when shes had wire wrap around her legs. 
I feel bad I was doubting my girl there for a bit. She really is a good girl. I am so glad she is all fixed. Now I just have to wait til I am. The chiropractor was telling me to wait til I'm ready to ride(after I heal of course) because I might be a little nervous after this, but honestly, I would hop on her now if i hadn't broken part of my back. I am not nervous to get on because it was such a weird fluke thing and unlikely to happen. I am so relieved though. 
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## Autumnlove (Jul 17, 2014)

Thank you for all the replies everyone .
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