Bucking when tapped with schooling whip - advice?

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sloulou

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I have a 5yr old gelding who I bought in October last year. He is an absolute star and is coming on so well... but am just after a bit of advice...

Basically most of our schooling has been about getting him to go forward in the school (he is fine on hacks etc. just switches off int he school a bit). So I ask him to go forward (either for a transition or just to increase his speed a little) first with my legs and if he doesn't respond I flick him with the schooling whip as I want him to be responsive to my leg aids (don't want to nag with legs).

This has worked - he now moves away from my leg first time, most of the time.. the only problem is that on the occasions I do flick him with the whip he now puts in a buck
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as I am
1) Unfit
2) a bit unbalanced

this has the effect of making me lose my balance for a bit - and essentially he wins as he gets away with not going forward until I have regained my composure! I have tried to 'ride through' the bucks as best I can.... is that what I should do?

any other tips?

incidentally, this behaviour is reseved for schooling only.... not out on hacks... and the bucks don't bother me - they just make me lose balance.

extra info: Has had back/ teeth checked recently and saddle is regularly checked/ altered as he is changing shape alot.
 
I would hazard a guess at 5 yo behavoiur!
My mare will buck if she doesnt belive the tap is needed!-but thats smart mares for you!
 
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5yr old gelding

- he now moves away from my leg first time, most of the time.. the only problem is that on the occasions I do flick him with the whip he now puts in a buck
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I hd a young chap that wud do this if he wasnt sure y he was getting it or to say 'i am trying'! i put it down to just a baby horse response n a bit of adolesance!! n tried to mk everything v obvious, i was told that for each buck i cud try a tap until they got bored!! i felt that the bcks mite get bigger n more of a issue n just ignored it and it stopped as he became more off my leg and he got more balanced able to cope better!!
 
Give him a lesson to the leg- small leg aid, no reaction= pony club kick, allow him to move forward without pulling up. Try again, small leg aid, no reaction= PC kick. You can smack simultaneously if you really need to but it's the best way for getting the horse off the leg.

Small spurs will help, you can also tap shoulder then behind leg in quick sucession- confuses them and often they dont buck against it. The other thing to tap harder as he bucks but be warned, this may increase the size of the buck!!
 
Thanks bounty - hadn't thought of that - is definately being touched that makes him cross.

pinktiger - am with you on not trying the tap each time they buck
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my both is very short coupled - he could REALLY buck if he wanted to
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I do hope he will grow out of it tho...

the_watcher - how do you use one of those? Do you touch the horse with it - or just wave it?
 
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Give him a lesson to the leg- small leg aid, no reaction= pony club kick, allow him to move forward without pulling up. Try again, small leg aid, no reaction= PC kick. You can smack simultaneously if you really need to but it's the best way for getting the horse off the leg.

Small spurs will help, you can also tap shoulder then behind leg in quick sucession- confuses them and often they dont buck against it. The other thing to tap harder as he bucks but be warned, this may increase the size of the buck!!

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Might be me being silly - but if I PC kick him - might that just mean I always have to kick like that to get him to move forward?
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am not trying the smacking while bucking thing - he has the potential to really buck... don't want to test it
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No suggestions I'm afraid, just hope for your sake he stops soon. My 4yo does it on occasion too, just to show his annoyance at this unecessary intrusion
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But I don't mind too much so it's not a problem and it's pretty rare these days. He's virtually stopped doing it (maybe because it got no reaction from me??).
 
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Give him a lesson to the leg- small leg aid, no reaction= pony club kick, allow him to move forward without pulling up. Try again, small leg aid, no reaction= PC kick. You can smack simultaneously if you really need to but it's the best way for getting the horse off the leg.

Might be me being silly - but if I PC kick him - might that just mean I always have to kick like that to get him to move forward?
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No, the point is you make the horse a bit scared of the leg so that when you next want forward you actually lighten the leg away from his side and thats the aid- it's instead of building up slowly from a nudge to a bigger nudge, to a kick. The horse should go off the lightest pressure- if not, take leg off side and boot him!

It wont last for ever- you'l have to remind him every so often but it's really nice that you will get an instant effect.
 
You carry it in one hand and flick it from side to side over the wither down the shoulders - I've done similar with long western or endurance reins to get horses moving forward and off the leg....but really send it forward and allow the horse to go forward too
 
i can second the PC kick...........i had a lesson last week and my instructor saw me nagging and told me to give him a boot.......has worked so far - he is working much for ward and responds to my leg. sometimes he needs a reminded but only once or twice at the beginning of the schooling sesh
 
my 5 yr old does this too, i think its just them testing you to see if you'l stop using the stick if they keep throwing a buck in, my boy doesnt do it nearly as much now as iv just always ignored the fact that he does it!
 
My horse does it in protest sometimes, mainly when I am schooling him really hard or having a lesson. He does it in protest, so when he does it I tap him again, not smack just tap. He usually gets the idea. But I do tend to do a bigger kick rather than use the whip. He is very sensitive and there is no way I could ever smack him with a whip, usually just a tickle is enough with him.

I also wear spurs, but I have to carry a long whip to remind him to use his back end.
 
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my 5 yr old does this too, i think its just them testing you to see if you'l stop using the stick if they keep throwing a buck in, my boy doesnt do it nearly as much now as iv just always ignored the fact that he does it!

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thats sort of why I thougth he was doing it - to try to put me off using it again!
 
Well, he isn't bucking to the whip - he is bucking in resistance to your requests to go forward.
(Unless he's bucking through the canter transitions which is different).
You can ignore it and see if it gets better....but the recommended procedure is to smack for every buck til he stops. If you're not confident, this option is not for you
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Another point is that you may be using too much leg...if you over grip in the leg aids on some horses, it has the effect of making them stop and buck rather than going forward....so lighter rather than stronger leg aids are the key...
S
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If he is not going forward generally then I would first really get him going on the lunge. We found that throwing a little rubber from the school in the air helped.
My horse doesn't like the whip either, the flick irritates him. I'd go with the PC kicks or maybe try small spurs though you may get the same reaction with them.
 
Really? I thought it was the whip
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this is my reasoning: I use my legs more strongly (or I nag at him) - get goes forward without bucking - but this is shortlived and I want more response to my leg... however when I tap with the whip - he bucks - when I click my tongue - if he bucks it is because he is anticipating the whip... (I thiought... but could def be worng!)

Although I do agree that it all stems from him not wanting to go forward!

Is not that am not confident - is just that am not as balanced as I used to be
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- I need to be fitter and to be riding more - have pretty much been in happy hacker world until I got him - my last BE event was 1995
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and i nowdays i have a desk job and don't do enough exercise....

he doesn't stop dead and buck - he keps moving... but no faster than before. Ligher aids are def the way forward - I want us both to enjoy it
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thanks
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Well, he isn't bucking to the whip - he is bucking in resistance to your requests to go forward.
(Unless he's bucking through the canter transitions which is different).


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WHY? (sorry having a numpty moment)
 
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Well, he isn't bucking to the whip - he is bucking in resistance to your requests to go forward.
(Unless he's bucking through the canter transitions which is different).


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WHY? (sorry having a numpty moment)

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Me too.
He is bucking in resistance to forwards movement...as evidenced when he bucks when she clicks. If she uses a wip wop or spurs, I reckon he may well buck to them too.
Or were you asking me about the canter thing?
S
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My mare does this sometimes - the PC kick works great but if she's being stubborn which is 75% of the time I've fashioned a schooling whip which I don;t use on her just flick it where she can see it to make her go forward. I cut the end of the schooling whip so it flapped then added a shredded hankie - she went forward VERY quickly the first few times and now I just need to lift my hand with it in and she goes forward v nicely.
I did try the smack everytime to reprimand but she developed the art of running backwards while bucking
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