Bucking on the trail....Help

[MDLawGirl]

Ok...so my big guy has started to do something I really don't like: getting strong when we are out on the trail with more than 2-3 others and bucking when I won't let him open up and RUN.

Today I got bucked off twice. I got so angry that I walked him back to the farm, about 2 miles.

He tucks his head to his chin and I think he is evading the bit..and he feels like a dynamite keg under me...prancing, jigging, snorting and finally exploding, leaving me in a heap in the leaves. I ride him in a mullen mouth 3 ring elevator.

Fortunately, I have not gotten hurt, but I am wondering what is going on. He was a gem all summer on the trail and in the ring and I wanted to hunt him this fall.

Help...he is 6 years old and a draft cross.

:(

*thank goodness for a DH who draws me warm baths and makes killer martinis!*

Is it the cooler weather, rider error, the bit, the group of 9??? I was thinking of clipping him, but now I am not so sure...

Help...

[MistyBlue]

Thats' got to be frustrating. Without going out on the trails with you and watching it's hard to pinpoint what the issue might be though.
I can say the cooler weather does make many horses more "up" when being ridden.
May I ask if he's been in trails often before? Are the other riders going for canters or gallops and he wants to join in? Is he trying to get to the head of the line/ahead of the other horses? Is he trying to turn and head back for the barn? Has he always been ridden in that bit or is it a new one to him? What's his normal personality like?
I'm sure there are a hundred other questions that could be asked, but those might help ferret out an issue.

[Prieta]

There have been many threads about it on "Endurance" forum....you'll find many helpful but different answers there on what you can do to help with your bucking problem.

There are questions though....how long have you had him? What was he trained for? What are you planning to do with him?

[MDLawGirl]

I've had him for a little over a year. He foxhunted 2 seasons...he has tons of trail mileage.

Today on the trail, we were third in the line of nine...the two TBs in front of us were jigging and bucking the whole way....but their riders did not get bucked off. :no:

Everyone seemed to be having issues today, for sure, but my guy is incredibly strong. I get the sense he wants to be first. And he wants me to let him run.

After the trail ride, which lasted about 2 hours, I brought him back to the round pen and longed him....he went for about 20 minutes at the trot and the canter.

He is so lazy when I school him in the ring, but on the trail he is superhorse...in a bad way.

[equinelaw]

A long long time ago in another life I had a WS job at Foxcroft where we had to get the school horses ready for the school year. They had all summer off and started up in the fall.

The standard practice was to leg them up and when they got fit and started wanting to take off with us we turned them up a HUGE big hill and let them run all they wanted. They can't buck up hill very well and they soon decided they had had enough of forward on their own.

Because it was their idea to not want to run all over we never had to fight with them. We just stayed on trails in valleys and if one started acting up we turned up the hill and let them figure it out.

This was how they got the horses settled in for the school year for about 70 years. Even not strong sticky riders could do it because up wears them out and its hard to buck or even run that fast. It was also how the TB trainers got the young race horses to stop running off with people when not asked to. Some days there would be our group of schoolies and several strings of young TBs from the training track. Quite a site but even our hot TB eventers and hunting schoolies got it out of their system and just decided cool weather and large groups were nothing to get excited about.

Your location in Md sounds like a place with lots of hills.:)

[Evalee Hunter]

Turning the horse & letting it run up hill is an excellent suggestion.

In addition, I would use a traditional gag bit - in other words, a bit with a snaffle mouthpiece, & rings on each end that slide on round cheekpieces. A gag of this type tends to force the horse to lft its head, because of the pressure on the corners of the lips. It is hard for a horse to do much bucking with its head up.

[silver2]

Two words: shoulder-in. Or is that one word? Either way it is your friend when you are stuck on a narrow trail with nowhere to go and your horse decides he is a rodeo bull. Alternating shoulder in with making him extend at a slow gait (so really active walk) and at the very least you shouldn't get dumped off him.

Going on really really long trail rides usually settles them down too. If you can get him out more than once a day for a while so he starts thinking about conserving energy instead of wasting it that'll help too.

[jerry]

Make him work the big hills, go at it a bit longer than he cares for. He'll get over it.

[matryoshka]

It's gotta be said: check your saddle fit, even if it seems like that isn't the problem. If nothing else, rule it out as a cause.

I had an OTTB that would buck in similar circumstances and whenever he'd see an unfamiliar horse on the trail, no matter how far away. Even though he'd kick his feet pretty high in the air (above my head), it wasn't hard to sit. BUT, I learned to get up off his back when he'd gather himself to buck. That way the saddle would barely hit my butt when he reached full height. It seems strange because we usually want to sit deep, but if I tried to sit deep during one of those, I'd have ended up with whiplash or on the ground.

I think the chin tucking is helping him get more power into his buck. Is there a way you can get his head up and put him on his hindquarters instead of his front end? I sometimes had to really give a strong tug on one rein, then the other, and so forth until he'd bring his head up. It wasn't sawing, because I used a rhythm and a pause, trying to get his brain engaged. The bucking didn't stop, but they got easier to sit when his head was up.

For my horse, it was excitment, fitness, and frustration. At least, I think that was what caused it. At the end when his bucks got nasty, I think he was sick of the trails. He's now in another home where he'll get more variation in his routine and some jumping to keep his attitude fresh.

Having said all of this, there are some bucks that are practically impossible to sit. I'm impressed that you got back on after the first one!

[Woodland]

After you check everything out, if all else fails ride him in an overcheck - that is what I would do :cool:

[matryoshka]

My OTTB could buck me out of the saddle going up steep hills. But I'm sure he'd only put the effort into one or two rather than induging in a spree. I tried to just ride them out, but sadly, he never learned not to do it. If I took him on longer rides, he just got fitter, which contributed to the problem. ;)

Let's hope it was mostly a bad day for you and your horse and that you'll learn a way to discourage/distract him from doing it. My guy was very determined about bucking, which is why I gave up on him (after three years his bucking turned nasty). Hopefully, your outcome will be better.

[LostFarmer]

Being the cruel heartless sob that I am I love it when a horse shows me that they want more work. If he were mine I would check the saddle, teeth, etc to make sure he is not hurting. Then I would put a pack saddle on him with a few blocks of salt in each side. I would guess a 100 to 150 lbs on each side. I would then head to the hills and wear his sorry back side out hoping for a bucking fit somewhere along the way. See that salt goes up with the buck but comes down on the guts with a whump. I have seen many spoiled buckers cured with this method. I buck I get whumped, buck whump, buck whump. Hey this isn't near as much fun as it used to be. Make sure there are no other issues first then let him teach himself. He sounds like he is broke and knows the drill just testing the boundries.

Good luck, LF