Can bucking be "cured"

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tubby1

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Was just pondering about my horse, she is are really good girl but can occasionally throw a buck going into canter. On a couple of occasions she has had a massive bronc and threw me off. As a result I have not ridden her for a couple of months. ( I'm paying somebody to ride her just now) . Teeth back etc all checked & ok. Coz I'm not riding her I've decided to sell her. In most aspects she is great but a little challenging for a first horse . I've had no interest in her & am desperate to ride I've taken a coupe of lessons on a schoolmaster & ridden other people's horses. I just can't seem to get back on her coz I think she is going to buck me off.My question is really as above can you stop a horse from bucking or is it inherent in their make up. I would be interested to hear other people's stories of cured buckers if they have them.
 
All horses can and do buck, some do it more than others. If your happy that shes physically well, is she mentally and emotionally fit. Come to that are you, or are you making her buck in the way you approach riding her.

No one can really put you right without seeing whats happening and what stage your horse is at. I'd get a good sympathetic trainer to help you with this.
 
I can't help you I'm afraid, but Ned cured himself of bucking.

When he first came to us, we did everything very slowly.
He bucked a few times when he was ridden out and that's one of the reasons I didn't get on him at first (I can't stand a bucker). However, one day he bucked so high and so hard that he nearly fell on his knees. The rider stayed on, but I have no idea how. I think that buck would have challenged a few rodeo riders.
He was clearly frightened by what happened and hasn't bucked since. Not once.
 
I don't agree that all horses can and do buck. Yes, all horses can, but not all horses do.

My daughter's saint of a pony has never bucked in any situation. He knows his job, which is look after annoying children in a martyred fashion. Similarly, my wee mare has never bucked with me and I have had her for years and ridden her in many different and exciting situations (she has shied, spun and run off with me, but never bucked).

Some horses do have a buck in them, as to whether it can be cured, I am not so sure. It can certainly be improved, so it happens less, but if that is your horses resistance of choice you will be hard pushed to eliminate it entirely, I think.

I will be interested in the views of others who do own/ride buckers.
 
Years ago we had a bucker. Had all the checks and no problems, was just a little s**t. He also bucked going into canter and nearly always carried on till you came off.

My dad made a guy type dummy and strapped him on board, put him on lunge and made him go. Bucking like joey the rider didn't come off. After a week or so doing this everyday he gave up and never tried it again.
 
fizzer said:
Years ago we had a bucker. Had all the checks and no problems, was just a little s**t. He also bucked going into canter and nearly always carried on till you came off.

My dad made a guy type dummy and strapped him on board, put him on lunge and made him go. Bucking like joey the rider didn't come off. After a week or so doing this everyday he gave up and never tried it again.
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If they do it 3 times its a habit, lol.
 
My old mare loved a good buck. Resulting in a number of broken ribs. Bucking was her first reaction to any issue, we did discover she was muscled a little wonky which we believe caused the bucking when schooled on one rein which was obviously resolved. She did however get alot better and bucked a lot less as she got a bit older and more capable of dealing with exciting situations.
I know first hand how scary it can be though, I flat out refused to hack her for about a year after she fly bucked down the road with me. I think because I was nervous of her sometimes this made her more tense and therefore more bucking. Once I learned to relax and ride her forward the bucking got a million times better, alot easier said than done, it took a lot of time and patience!!
 
Well, there's bucking and then there's proper I-want-to-get-you-off type bucking, isn't there? Many novice riders will fall off the first type, whereas a more experienced rider might even enjoy a little whoopsadaisy moment; the second type isn't fun at all and needs to be sorted out (medically, behaviourly, saddlery, whatever-ly) or the horse disposed of and a more suitable horse found.

P.S. many people don't know the difference between falling off and being got off.
 
My boy does bunny hops, sometimes quite big bunny hops!

Never meaning to get me off, just high jinks, you gotta love 'em!
 
I admit to using a daisy rein when Shy was first ridden away , and he used to think that canter was his cue to bronc. It worked a treat, and I used it last week when he was going for it during his nuts phase. I highly recommend them even tho they may look "childish" - mine is elasticated so has "give", but he knows it's there.

Also, make sure you sit back, and try and keep your reins up higher than normal in a situation you expect the buck - don't put any more pressure on, just raise your hands and see if that helps.

I have been on the floor quite a few times (I started Shy bareback cos we couldn't afford a saddle :o), and a neck strap is also a huge boost.
 
One of mine is a bucker. He has got better as he's got older but still you can be walking along on a loose rein and whoosh a big buck comes out of nowhere. He will buck if excited when hacking in company. If not ridden for a week or 2 he will buck a fair few times in succession. The first few times I fell off it knocked my confidence, but in the end I learnt to deal with it. And they did get smaller as he got older.

His back was regularly checked as was his saddle. He also did it with other riders. Has bucked 3 of my friends off. It was just him. To be fair when I bought him they did say he had a buck in him.

The only time he would never buck is out hunting. He took that far too seriously to think of misbehaving.
 
Cortez said:
Well, there's bucking and then there's proper I-want-to-get-you-off type bucking, isn't there? Many novice riders will fall off the first type, whereas a more experienced rider might even enjoy a little whoopsadaisy moment; the second type isn't fun at all and needs to be sorted out (medically, behaviourly, saddlery, whatever-ly) or the horse disposed of and a more suitable horse found.

P.S. many people don't know the difference between falling off and being got off.
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Absolutely agree big difference between the two and that there's also no one size fits all with why they do it.
 
Completely agree Cortez. The head between knees rounded back bucks/hops are the hardest to sit to, I have become experienced in all kinds of bucking. We completely irradiated the school bucks after realising she was wonky and straightening her out. The other kind are much much harder and although pretty easy to sit to they are extremely inconvenient during hunter show classes, bucking is extremely frowned upon there :) her bucking got better the braver I got.

I do think some types of bucking can be cured but it will always be my old mates first response to anything so I think it's more learning to sit to it rather than curing it :)
 
i own a bucker he only does it in school and there lazy i dnt want to do this bucks or this is to hard bucking easier types but they can get fariley big and have a novice of easily...never had me off with one though but had few near misses... with carful slow schooling and sheer stubborness from me i have almost eliminated it he niw ownly bucks when hes sweaty and tired so i ussually make him do another 10 minsnor so untill he doesnt buck akd then take him in... hes good as gold in evey other way!!
 
My horse bucks, she is 9 years old and has always done it. Teeth, back, saddle etc all checked. She doesn't buck in the school or when hunting, only when cantering on a hack. I haven't fallen off her (yet!), they are more happy bucks and I don't think she'll grow out of it.
 
I have had my current horse for 3 yrs and he goes through bucking phases - sometimes not doing it for mnths, to only return to the behaviour if too fresh. He has all the relevant checks done, so can only put it down to his personality!

I don't think bucking can be cured - all I have learnt from mine is to keep him in regular work, and if I can feel he is going to buck, too push him on, as holding him back allows the energy to come out in a buck. They don't bother me and if anything have made me a stronger rider, but would never trust him with a novice.

He is a cob - I have always owned cobs, and they all have had a 'buck' in them, but this one is the worst!
 
Cortez said:
Well, there's bucking and then there's proper I-want-to-get-you-off type bucking, isn't there? Many novice riders will fall off the first type, whereas a more experienced rider might even enjoy a little whoopsadaisy moment; the second type isn't fun at all and needs to be sorted out (medically, behaviourly, saddlery, whatever-ly) or the horse disposed of and a more suitable horse found.

P.S. many people don't know the difference between falling off and being got off.
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Also agree!
My friends horse wants people off. He will not stop until you are off and as soon as you hit the floor, he's as friendly as ever again! She's checked him for pain and found none while not being ridden, so she's giving him a holiday while she's preggers.
When another friends horse bucked, she really didn't want you off, she just liked to kick up her heals when excited!
 
I'm another who agrees with cortez. And whether its able to be cured depends on the cause. Bucking in the transistion to canter is quite likely a balance issue, its not unusual for a green horse to do it, likewise if the trot itself isn't forwards enough the horse will have to get a spurt of energy to get into canter. Really, as pr says you need a good trainer to help you identify why & how it can be changed.
 
My friend has similar problems with her cob. It was initially thought to be because of his saddle not fitting correctly but he's bucked her off since it's been changed and also her friend. He's never once bucked with me even before we found the problem with his saddle. With regards to why he does this, we think he is taking the proverbial because he knows that he can unseat her. He only however starts to get like this because of how she rides him and because she gets very tense and anticipates him playing her up. Each time he succeeds in dumping her or anyone else makes him more powerful so I can see it developing into a bad habit. And it's probably only a matter of time before he tries it on me. :eek:

There is definitely a big difference between the "I want you off my back right now" buck and the "wheeee let's go! look what I can do, yippee" buck. I've sat both types of bucks so far and was in no doubt that something was wrong when I got the "get off my back now" type.
 
Agree with all who say theres a difference between the "woohoo" happy to be out bucks and the " pick a windae yer leaving " nasties, an experienced rider can usually sit the first and sometimes the second type if theyre really "sticky". I dont however agree all horses do buck as in my experience, while theyre capable of it, many dont, 2 of mine tb never bucked under saddle but threw belters at liberty, 1 warmblood, could leap and buck and if you were unlucky corkscrew for Scotland at liberty and under saddle, imo if a horse REALLY wants you off youre gone
 
I have a cob who has a buck on him.

He generally bucks from excitement and doesn't want me off. It is just a big 'wahoo, this is exciting' as we bronc around after jumps or during the first canter on an endurance ride. But he is so much better now with lots of work and doing plenty of different things, so nothing is quite so exciting. But we still have the occasional buck.

He has twice bucked to get me off and it worked. Both times we were schooling in a field next to his turnout field and his mates were out. Bronced up the field, dropped his shoulder, deposited me on the floor and galloped to his field gate and stood there. Twice!

I don't mind his bucks now I have learnt to sit them. I did fall off LOADS though until I learnt to sit them and he learnt that bucking meant lots of work.
 
Mine does it in defiance. We had everything checked after he put in a few clangers. We looked at all the options, but found nothing. Once day out on a hack he got nappy so I borrowed a stick from the girl I was out with and tapped him on the bum. Little buck but not going forward. Another tap.. massive buck.

I realised from then that if he's having a lazy day / doesn't want to do something / doesn't understand what I'm asking he'll object and that's his chosen method of communicating. They're rarely big ones but it's a surefire warning on his part. He usually squeals when he bucks - loud mouth riggy appy to his core, lol.
 
Hi everyone, thanks for all your replies, some interesting points of view . I think she is bucking when she is unbalanced in canter I can sit to those ones.She has done some get off ones & they are the ones that bother me . :)
 
This is an interesting question. Was pondering similar thought when I couldn't catch stupid horse who was flying around field bucking like a maniac. And yet, when (if you do ever catch him) out on a hack, he would never, ever think of putting in a buck, no matter who tears past him or how exciting a situation. How did he learn it's fine when turned out in the field, but not when someone is on his back? I am genuinely intrigued to know.
 
madmav said:
This is an interesting question. Was pondering similar thought when I couldn't catch stupid horse who was flying around field bucking like a maniac. And yet, when (if you do ever catch him) out on a hack, he would never, ever think of putting in a buck, no matter who tears past him or how exciting a situation. How did he learn it's fine when turned out in the field, but not when someone is on his back? I am genuinely intrigued to know.
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Generosity of spirit :) or maybe like ASBO cob I ride, they have to learn that bucking will rid them of the annoyance on their backs. :)
 
We have a young chap on the yard - 5 YO Percheron who throws a buck if he's behind and not in front - and canters lovely in front but with a pony about to over take.

We're talking happy-buck here not - dump you off buck.

How old is your mare BTW? May just be high-jinks.
 
madmav said:
This is an interesting question. Was pondering similar thought when I couldn't catch stupid horse who was flying around field bucking like a maniac. And yet, when (if you do ever catch him) out on a hack, he would never, ever think of putting in a buck, no matter who tears past him or how exciting a situation. How did he learn it's fine when turned out in the field, but not when someone is on his back? I am genuinely intrigued to know.
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Sounds like my girl
 
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