Help! What can I do to stop my horse bolting, bucking or rearing?

Question

My horse has recently started racing down hills to get home and bucking and rering to stop himself. I recently fell off and he just kept running until caught by anouther rider further down the lane. He is usualy a very lazy cob and is so sweet that i dont want to sell him. I know he has potential and is only 6. Please Help Me! What can i do?

Answer 1

Okay well there are many different reasons why your horse could be doing this. I myself have had some horses like this and i was able to fix it. It takes some work but it pays off when you know you can have a safe ride.

1example: Okay it may be a bit your using. I used to use a hackamore on my qh and had used it for years on him. He started getting tough spots where the hackamore was used, and we would go on rides and he would take off home. We got him a bit and he was better. But thing was it wasnt just a normal bit it had a copper roller in it so he was more paying attention to his bit than going home.

2example: Barn sour. Usually any horse that is running home all the time is barn sour. This comes from the horse thinking that if they just run home they can just be done and get in a little trouble then get their food and go back to their stall. I used to have a mare that one day decided she was going to run home and i pulled on her the whole time while she was running and the first thing i did when she finally stopped was get off give her a spankin and lunge her until she didnt want to run anymore. She would still speed up when going home but she didnt become barn sour anymore.

3example: The rearing and bolting is all a really bad thing for a horse to learn. But dont jerk back hard on the reins when they rear or the horse WILL fall over on you go with them at first but smack them on the top of their head with your hand or a crop. If you jerk on them while they are rearing they will loose their balance and fall on you. If they bolt their is a manuver called the pully rein. You drop one rein and grab with both hands onto the other rein and pull her head over and keep pulling until they stop. Once they do that have them back up and then turn circles as a disicipline.

I hope i helped you and i hope that you dont get hurt.

Answer 2

It sounds like you have a major respect issue with your horse. Here's how to correct the problems you are having-

to stop him from being so barn sour try riding him at a time where he's not expecting to be fed- IE...before your regular feed times. Also if you are at a stable- try and ride your horse at a time where other horses aren't being fed either. Next, ride him where no other horses are. If another horse is ahead of him- he may take this as a challenge and try to "beat" the other horse. And from now on- if you are going to lope or canter....do this heading away from the barn, or horizontal to the barn. Lastly, when your horse goes to bolt. Turn your horse in as tight a circle as you can- he will not be able to rear or buck when doing circles because his body will not be in balance. Do this every time he goes to bolt. Let him take a few strides, and then turn him so he knows you are wanting him to walk.

You may also want to spend more time doing ground work before getting back in the saddle. If you fall off your horse- no matter if it was his fault or yours- he should have enough respect for you to stop. A well trained horse with respect for his owner will not even think to bolt on a fallen rider. Set higher expectations for your horse and enforce them and soon he'll start to respect you.

If you still can't handle your equine- seek professional help.

Answer 3

Okay, so what I'd say to do is to just be stubborn with him. I know, sounds scary, but when I had my first horse, a retired Thoroughbred mare, she liked to buck whenever asked to go into anything other than a walk. Wanna know what helped? Getting to know her. And she to me. But that took five months, but if you want faster results, they say to crack an egg over a horse's head to stop from rearing, since it feels like they are bleeding, and then there is this, oh, what did they call it, it's something that is attached to the bridle, I can't remember it off-hand, but it's supposed to keep their head in a position so they can't rear. Bucking, I don't know, I rode through all her bucks, so I pretty much didn't have anything to help her. Bolting, I usually try to pull a horse into a circle, so try circling him all the way to the barn. My mom told me to do that after I walked a mare home so she wouldn't bolt home after the carriage, seeing as we were on a road and she had started limping. I'd say take him all the way back home walking backwards, see if that helps any too, but I've never tried that, so it would be just an experiment if you were to ever try it.

Don't give up on him just yet, he's probably going through one of his six-month tests to see if he can control you or if you control him.

Answer 4

Sometimes it might be what your feeding him. I used to have a mare that done the same it is really frighting i know how you feel! But when she started to bolt i would quickly turn her and ask for walk and i kept doing it until she done what she was told! (it worked eventually!) I also sometimes just used to let her bolt and then when we got home i would turn her around and make her keep doing it until she learned! I also found that if i went out with a friend she would be calmer (but sometimes horses see it as a competition so be careful with that one!) With the rearing and bucking i would just sharply tug at the reins and she would stop it! Good luck with these tactics xx

Answer 5

Get a trainer to fix your horse and teach you how to avoid these problems in the future.. It is near impossible to just talk to someone and get a solution. Most amateur horse people, do not have the skills needed to deal with these problems... Having to pay a trainer would give you the education you need.

A lot of well meaning people on this line do not realize the true nature of this problem. A few have a clue, but the best advice you got early on was from x. Good luck and don't get killed.

Answer 6

The best way to stop him from bucking, rearing and bolting is to spend time with him become his best friend. I have a 7 year old ex-race horse he is extremely quiet but can be full of energy best thing is to become his best friend and give him time he is only young he just has excess energy. Hope you and your horse find an answer. Hope i helped. Good luck.

Answer 7

your probably one of those people who after they ride their horse give them a treat of alfalfa or grain in the barn or where its their "home". we usually don't realise this but the horse will eventually realise that going to the barn means food. this can be a huge problem while going back home from a ride. one trick that i have used with my horses is not give them the treat when i get back to the barn, but give it to them at your destination point. that way whenever you go out they would be more eager to go out then come back into the barn. another thing you might consider is keep your horse at a walk while going back to the barn.

Answer 8

well,
obviously he has been allowed to run home before, so you need to tire him out on the way out and then walk him the ENTIRE way home. if u are scared hes gonna bolt u need to get off and walk him. do not let him run ever coming home.

when he bucks, pull up on his head and use ur fist and pound his rumpish area so he realises it hurts when he does that.

u cant do much for rearing other than get a professional to get it out of him.

oh b4 i forget also if u can lounge him for A LONG time b4 u get out because he will be tired and then you can have a safer ride because he will be too tired to run home!!!

GOOD LUCK :)

Answer 9

Sounds like you have a barn sour horse on your hands; unfortunately you can't correct it overnight, but this is a great article to read:

http://www.alphahorse.com/sour-horse.html

Answer 10

Pet it gently, feed it carrots and comb its hair with a gentle brush. Make sure the stall it clean. Talk to it or at least give it a TV in its stall, it probably gets bored unless there are other horses for it to talk to.