Bucking WWYD

[Courbette]

Very gutted to be writing this but my new share horse has started bucking with me. He has a reputation for being cheeky / spooky but a very good pony with it. I've been riding him just over 2 months and although he has been extremely spooky on occasion I have always felt within my ability level and have been really enjoying riding him. This week he has bucked me off twice, the first on landing after 1ft cross pole and today when another horse spooked and which caused him to spook and then launch into a series of bucks.

When speaking to his owner and people that know him it seems that this is something he is known to do on occasion and I think the view is I need to learn to ride them out. I have ridden horses that have bucked in the past and I'm not used to being unseated so quickly, he seems to really want me off. Obviously I can't rule out pain etc but it does seem to be exuberance and cheekiness as well as one of his known habits. I was told he could buck but I wasn't prepared for him to buck like he has this week. Any tips?

 

[stormox]

Make sure you sit back on landing after a jump and approach the fence in a strong canter, legs on. Horses will often buck after the fence with pure excitement.
If you approach too slowly they will cat jump and a buck after is much more unseating than after a smoother jump with more impulsion.
Try not to ride out with other spooky horses until youve learnt to sit the spooks and bucks.

 

[Courbette]

Make sure you sit back on landing after a jump and approach the fence in a strong canter, legs on. Horses will often buck after the fence with pure excitement.
If you approach too slowly they will cat jump and a buck after is much more unseating than after a smoother jump with more impulsion.
Try not to ride out with other spooky horses until youve learnt to sit the spooks and bucks.

It surprised me as he didn't buck on the get away. He planted and bucked at a standstill with quite some force. Jumping is off the agenda for a while! With hindsight I was on my own so shouldn't have been jumping at all but my RI had advised me to try popping a few small jumps at the end of our schooling sessions and my last horse was so sensible I forgot I was alone.

 

[Tiddlypom]

He’s a share horse? How desperate are you to keep the ride? Its one thing sitting a cheeky buck or two, but quite another being decked by a horse who ‘really wants me off’.

Next time you may bust yourself up. As I learnt better to sit the late chestnut gits random explosions and I was able to stay in the plate for longer, he still always ditched me in the end, and the falls actually got worse.

 

[shortstuff99]

Sorry to hear that . Depending on how he bucks I would make sure he can't get his head down and soon as he thinks about it, head up push on. BUT if he is really trying to get rid of you and it doesn't have to be your problem I would be inclined to not make it your problem.

 

[popcorn1]

It's hard when it isn't your horse. Normally I would say to strip back to basics, so no hard feed, up the exercise etc but I guess you can only do so much.

In honesty, I would just find something else to ride, rather than eating dirt all the time. A horse that bucks after a jump is going to make you ride defensively and if you aren't an established rider then it can easily wreck your position over a fence.

 

[Courbette]

I was told he could buck but it was a throw away comment so I thought we were covering all the bases and I was expecting a cheeky buck if/when it hapened. I wouldn't put these in the cheeky buck category and the fact that one of the bucks was triggered by spook is concerning as he spooks a lot. I understand anybody can fall off but knowingly riding a horse that has an easy way to unseat me (even if the bucking does turn out to be an occasional bad habit) makes me question if this a worth while way to spend my time.

 

[ycbm]

but knowingly riding a [loan] horse that has an easy way to unseat me (even if the bucking does turn out to be an occasional bad habit) makes me question if this a worth while way to spend my time.

The answer is no.
.

 

[Dwyran_gold]

I agree he’s a loan horse not your project horse. It’s meant to be fun. Find yourself something you can enjoy. X

 

[stormox]

It surprised me as he didn't buck on the get away. He planted and bucked at a standstill with quite some force. Jumping is off the agenda for a while! With hindsight I was on my own so shouldn't have been jumping at all but my RI had advised me to try popping a few small jumps at the end of our schooling sessions and my last horse was so sensible I forgot I was alone.

So he popped the jump, stopped dead and bucked? Ride forward into the fence bit you must remember to keep your legs on after the fence to keep him going forward on landing. Sit back with your upper body but don't let your legs shoot forward. Maybe practise over poles on the ground to start, and make sure you position the jump in a place wher the horse is encouraged to keep going forward, not too close to the end of the school.
The bucking because another horse set him off is common horse behaviour - ride out on your own or with a quiet one.

 

[shortstuff99]

I was told he could buck but it was a throw away comment so I thought we were covering all the bases and I was expecting a cheeky buck if/when it hapened. I wouldn't put these in the cheeky buck category and the fact that one of the bucks was triggered by spook is concerning as he spooks a lot. I understand anybody can fall off but knowingly riding a horse that has an easy way to unseat me (even if the bucking does turn out to be an occasional bad habit) makes me question if this a worth while way to spend my time.

To me if a horse takes advantage from a spook etc then it is not a particularly honest horse and may always have half an eye on how to get out of doing work. If this is something you are confident with then I would crack on if it is something that will start chipping your confidence away then I would have a serious think.

I know what you mean with a cheeky buck, I rode a horse for someone once where they told me could have a small buck into canter when unfit. When I first put the horse into canter it bronced massively and I was off! I was annoyed because I would've ridden differently if I had known that would be the response. After that in was prepared and it wasn't an issue, but very annoying as could've ended badly!

 

[mariew]

Life is too short, I'd find something else. Sounds like it's a habit and if you are going to be worried about it you are not going to enjoy riding and he'll eat away at your confidence. I don't mind bucking, but I don't love sitting on horses that want you off, they generally manage in the end if determined enough :/

 

[Courbette]

Thanks all, this would be my advice to if this had happened to a friend. Being realistic I've come off twice and had a very very near miss so I'd expect this to get worse before it gets better as I'm getting unseated straight away. He seems to be known for this and while he might work fantastically 90% of the time I ride alone a lot in the evenings which probably wouldn't be the best idea under the circumstances. Bit gutted as I have invested a fair amount into this share in the short time I have been loaning him and I know previous loaners have had a lot of fun.

 

[CobletOfFire]

Have you seen the owner ride at all? That would be my next port of call if you do want to give the partnership one last chance to see how the horse reacts to them.
Is the owner aware of the scale of the problem as well? Appreciate you've said they have already mentioned the bucking, but bucking out of pain to get someone off is different to a cheeky fling.

Only you know how much this is affecting your confidence, don't hurt yourself trying to ride something which isn't yours, but equally this may be a hurdle which (if crossed) may become a horse that you can have fun with like the last sharer did.

 

[Courbette]

Have you seen the owner ride at all? That would be my next port of call if you do want to give the partnership one last chance to see how the horse reacts to them.
Is the owner aware of the scale of the problem as well? Appreciate you've said they have already mentioned the bucking, but bucking out of pain to get someone off is different to a cheeky fling.

Only you know how much this is affecting your confidence, don't hurt yourself trying to ride something which isn't yours, but equally this may be a hurdle which (if crossed) may become a horse that you can have fun with like the last sharer did.

The owner didn't see me come off but I have seen her ride him since and he behaved. I had a good ride in between the first and second falls but the owner has already said this is what he is like and that she has come off him quite a few times. He was advertised as cheeky and his spooks can be quite hair raising but (so far) I've been able to work through these and was really happy with him. I'm a fairly confident rider but I have a very strong sense of self-preservation and I've already torn muscles in my arm in the first fall. If I give him up I'll never know what could of been but it's probably better than kicking myself if I did go on to have a bad fall. As much as I feel a bit frustrated to admit it I'm sure if/when he next does it I'll come off again as he is unseating me before I have time to even think about putting my leg on or getting his head up and both times he has continued bucking after I've fallen.

 

[Polos Mum]

Coming up to winter and with redundancies looming for so many there will be a tonne of share horses available.

Life is too short, it's a hobby and supposed to be fun. It could be saddle fit, pain somewhere, being overfed or just his work avoidance technique - none of which you can do anything about. If he's learned to get people off it's a hard habit to unlearn without putting yourself at risk of more falls.

 

[LaurenBay]

plenty of nice Horses looking for a sharer out there, I'd be looking for one of those.