Pony Problems

[Sarah Anne]

I am currently in charge of the training and care of a welsh/quarter horse 13.3h gelding named Louie. I believe he is around 7 years old. He has amazing ground manners and loves attention and is very food motivated. Under saddle is different. He has a habbit of bucking (not the little hops, but the big kind that means to get you off fast) and bolting. He is not lame or stiff, we stretch before, warm up thoroughly, and his saddle has been checked. He is fine at the walk, doesn't settle at the trot, and goes full out at the "canter". I havn't fallen off yet, though we have galloped with lost sturrups and I have lost count of the bucks, which are huge according to everyone.

In order to fix this, we have done LOTS of trot work these past few days, lots of serpantines and circles to keep his mind on the work, half halts, and downward transitions. The past few days we have done some cantering, near the end of our ride when he has used up most of his energy... sortof... we will canter the short side, circle, to bring him back in control, and then trot.

We seem to be making some slow progress, my biggest goal would be to have him walk, trot, and canter in a nice, relaxed frame and go quietly.

If anyone has any experiance with this sort of behavior, or similar horsie experiances, it would be great to hear! You got to love them

[Angela Dee Cochran]

Ive had those same problems before and I did the exact same things your doing. It did work but its a long road. Consitancy is key. always refusing to let him get the upper hand, once he actually gets that "refusing to settle" means lots of circles and alot of hard work. It just depends on when relaxing=easy and restless quick and bucking= hard work gets through his head. Stick with it!

[IsaP]

Also.. always end on a good note. I've helped with some problems before, and sometimes, a training session can be ten minutes long.. as long as the horse behaves the entire time. That way, he learns the good behavior gets you off his back rather than the bad.

[Sarah Anne]

Good advice! Thanks.

[Jarrn Shikage]

I've got a horse that does the same thing. He's gotten loads better. He's really lazy, so whenever he'd bolt, and just make him keep going until I decided to slow down. And it's worked, actually xDD

And the bucking? He does that because the place where I got him had kids that would take him on trail rides. He learned that to go home, all he'd have to do was buck the kids off and they'd take him back. He bucks because he doesn't want to work anymore. So, I did/do the same as when he bolts: I just make him keep going.

And honestly? It works .

And I agree with Isa: end with the horse doing something right. Even if it's going around the ring at a relaxed trot. That, I think, is the most important thing to remember.

[Sarah Anne]

Yeah, I have no idea how Louie started acting the way he does. He was given to my trainer to be worked on, but she is too tall, and so he became my special horsie project. I'm learning a ton with him though. The problem is that he isn't like most every horse I've met so far so I guess tune the training to the horse. At least he stands still now to mount

[Amanda Clark]

My horse bucked alot when we first got him and we started alot of basic things with him. We redid some of his training and also we were very consistent in following up with praise for the good sessions like a quick 10-20 minute session or if we've been battling with him to get him to do something like get his pockets on the barrels which lately he has been really bad about (we've knocked barrels down in the last 3 barrel races!) and so as soon as he even takes a good pocket we either end the session or go for a trail ride to relax. He adores trail rides and loves to be able to stretch out and relax. I've found that I'm able to accomplish things on the trail that I sometimes wasn't getting accomplished in the ring because he was relaxed and just did it without thinking about it. I don't know if any of this helps but I just thought I'd share some of my experiences with my horse.

[Teri Lawrence]

It sounds like you're already doing exactly the right thing...you can't get a good, relaxed canter until you have a good, relaxed trot.

When he bucks, ride him *forward* into a resisting hand...I've often found that helps with buckers. The fact that you stay on is going to help a lot. If he does drop you, get back on unless you're actually injured, and if you are, try to get somebody *else* to get on him...he needs to learn that bucking somebody off is never going to get him out of work .

[IsaP]

And the bucking? He does that because the place where I got him had kids that would take him on trail rides. He learned that to go home, all he'd have to do was buck the kids off and they'd take him back. He bucks because he doesn't want to work anymore. So, I did/do the same as when he bolts: I just make him keep going.

Heh.. he wouldn't have liked our trail barn. A trip like that would have gotten Tom on him, and I don't think I've ever seen Tom get thrown. I maintain he's one of the last real cowboys.


Anywho... my horse.. my one and only.. was a bucker. He threw tantrums whenever he lost, and it was a pain to ride him in a pleasure class, have him loose, then have the judge watch him be a dork on the way out of the ring. The only thing I could do was work it out of him. Let him run without me on a lead for a while, then when those were worked out, he ran with me for about an hour before every class. I swear.. that horse could have been an endurance horse if my folks hadn't insisted he continue to train in the froo froo barn.

Back to ending on a good note.. he had this thing where he'd bolt back to the barn and haul butt back home, picked it up from my trainer insisting that we trot as quickly as possible back to the barn after a class. After a while, it became a problem, so we had this long driveway to the barn. I would run him down then turn him and walk him back. First it was one trip back at the walk would get him put up.. or we would play tag (his favorite game). Then it was two.. then it was more.. until it didn't matter how many time he went back, he was going to walk. Good notes are SO important with horses.

[Jarrn Shikage]

Heh.. he wouldn't have liked our trail barn. A trip like that would have gotten Tom on him, and I don't think I've ever seen Tom get thrown. I maintain he's one of the last real cowboys.


Anywho... my horse.. my one and only.. was a bucker. He threw tantrums whenever he lost, and it was a pain to ride him in a pleasure class, have him loose, then have the judge watch him be a dork on the way out of the ring. The only thing I could do was work it out of him. Let him run without me on a lead for a while, then when those were worked out, he ran with me for about an hour before every class. I swear.. that horse could have been an endurance horse if my folks hadn't insisted he continue to train in the froo froo barn.

Back to ending on a good note.. he had this thing where he'd bolt back to the barn and haul butt back home, picked it up from my trainer insisting that we trot as quickly as possible back to the barn after a class. After a while, it became a problem, so we had this long driveway to the barn. I would run him down then turn him and walk him back. First it was one trip back at the walk would get him put up.. or we would play tag (his favorite game). Then it was two.. then it was more.. until it didn't matter how many time he went back, he was going to walk. Good notes are SO important with horses.

My horse is a real pushover. All you have to do is show him he's not going to get away with it, and he folds. He tries to intimidate you, but once you call him on his bluff he's perfectly fine.

And honestly? I love horses that buck or have some other sort of problem. I get ridiculously bored with well-behaved horses.

[IsaP]

I'm with you, jarrn.. give me something fun but not stupid about it, and I have a good time.

[Sarah Anne]

We're making progress! He is starting to stretch down and relax into the bit and has developed a more balanced canter and only has the occasional temper tantrum. (he's building some amazing muscles pony jumpers anyone?