bucking problem

[BroadfordQueen]

my new pony, who i got for very cheap because of said reason, has a bucking issue. he is a perfect hack and perfect in the stable etc., and doesnt buck when we are doing flatwork.

however, he bucks when showjumping when you try to pull him back, but we are slowly getting past that and he hasnt bucked for the last few days. the problem is x-country- he bucks his brains out right before a fence. sometimes he stops at the fence because he isnt concentrating, but he usually jumps it and i can calm him down after each fence, but its a nuicense going into a fence with him bucking. he doesnt do huge bucks, just little excited ones. he has won alot of money BSJA so its not the height of the fences etc.

he is on a calming supliment, and has had his back/teeth checked.

does anyone know how we can prevent his bucking? many thanks

 

[Frazer]

That sounds exactly like one of my bsja ponies, i got her when she was 10 years old so she had obviously told this is ok to do! I competed her straight away and just had to put up with most of the bucking. What I did at home was just introduce poles to flatwork, and instead of getting your pony hyped up for jumping include little raised poles in your lateral work too. Also you could try ciricling a few times before the jump, and when he is starting to get a handful (obviously when it is safe too). At shows and when jumping courses, was to just sit back as much as you can (Im pretty big, probably too big for ponies now) so had a good weight advantage, and keep them concentrated on the fence, with lots of half halts etc.. Hope this helps

 

[beaconhorse]

I will no doubt get shot down in flames for this BUT I will say it anyway.

i bought my horse as he used to buck his old owner and instructors right over his head. First thing I did was to fit a strap between the drings on the saddle, so that he could not buck me over his head!! next everytime he bucked I smacked him on the shoulder with the whip and told him off, at first this made him buck more but after only a couple of days he stopped bucking and rarely bucks now.

 

[serena2005]

ill probably get shot for saying this too.

when we first broke my cob in he use to buck going into canter, and a friend who is an instructor got on him and went into canter and everytime he bucked she smacked him... evently he learnt that it was much easier not to buck... but then from the other side of the coin, my new ones bucks and bronks and if i hit him he throws me flying.... i just have to shout no and he stops.

if its an excitement thing, then school jumping at home and just trot over a really simple jump, untill he goes over it calmly then raise it, if he gets excited and starts bucking put the jump down and returning trotting over it again... that didnt take my old mare very long to work out that when she started taking off over jumps it would get more boring, she soon started to concerntrate.

its really trial and error didnt things will work for differet horses.

 

[Vey]

I got my lad over bucking which he used to do going into canter by pulling him back to trot, trotting a stride, asking for canter, and if he went without bucking praising him, and if he bucked, pulling him back, etc. he wanted to canter, was just getting over excited, and so soon learned to stop bucking.

The calm schooling over low jumps thing sounds like good advice on the same lines.

 

[Hanz]

My mare has the odd excited buck when I ask her to canter, I just kick her on and tell her not to be so silly! With a pony I was schooling I just sat i out aswell. Hopefully Harry will just grow out of it when he realises he is wasting energy! I read on here once that Sunflower seeds are supposed to be really good for calming.