Rainhead
New User
I have shared a horse with my mother for just about 8 years and on the whole, she is a good girl. She is great to hack in traffic and is a calm animal in most situations, I can trust her in most situations while walking or trotting.
However, a few years back, she got very excited in canter and bucked me off in a stubble field. With nothing injured except my pride, I got back on and took her out for a canter around a farm until she was pretty tired out. Because of this incident, I don’t do a whole lot of cantering on her, especially around stubble fields. She has done this once or twice since, and generally I now avoid cantering on stubble and on very wide open bridle paths. I’ve asked friends and further afield about this, and the only solution for excitable bucking I’ve received is to gallop across a field with her, keeping the leg on until she’s exhausted. It’s all very well when you’re not a bag of nerves, so I haven’t taken this advice. Also, I don’t think there’s a field long enough to do this without her tripping and breaking her leg on a tramline (our fields are rather small), so I’d rather avoid the vet bills.
I haven’t seen or heard any advice that doesn’t include that, and I have had her back and teeth checked and the vet out as well to no avail. She generally only does this when she’s excited and the sight of an open field goes to her head. I have braved the odd canter when I’ve been accompanied by someone on a bike, and she’s generally fine, mostly because she doesn’t want to leave her best friend behind (the bike). It’s just the little ‘what if’ voice that’s getting to me.
Unfortunately, the bucking seems to have stayed in her mind and she will enjoy a little buck while schooling as well. To be fair, I was sort of prepared for this because she was sold from the riding school because she would get very strong in the school. But she doesn’t get strong, she gets very grumpy, and tries to catch you unawares. We don’t compete, so in truth schooling is not a hugely important thing in our lives, but every now and then, it seems like a good idea. And she enjoys a spot of jumping, nothing taller than knee height, and she behaves perfectly then.
Looking back, the incidents are free and far between, but it’s chipping away at my confidence, so I wondered if anyone had any advice as to how to combat either the bucking or the nerves, or whether I just need to pull myself together. I’ve obviously left this behaviour unchecked for far too long, but I’ve been trying get help and nobody really takes me very seriously on it and I wonder whether it’s just me. I apologise for the length of this post, anything will help.
However, a few years back, she got very excited in canter and bucked me off in a stubble field. With nothing injured except my pride, I got back on and took her out for a canter around a farm until she was pretty tired out. Because of this incident, I don’t do a whole lot of cantering on her, especially around stubble fields. She has done this once or twice since, and generally I now avoid cantering on stubble and on very wide open bridle paths. I’ve asked friends and further afield about this, and the only solution for excitable bucking I’ve received is to gallop across a field with her, keeping the leg on until she’s exhausted. It’s all very well when you’re not a bag of nerves, so I haven’t taken this advice. Also, I don’t think there’s a field long enough to do this without her tripping and breaking her leg on a tramline (our fields are rather small), so I’d rather avoid the vet bills.
I haven’t seen or heard any advice that doesn’t include that, and I have had her back and teeth checked and the vet out as well to no avail. She generally only does this when she’s excited and the sight of an open field goes to her head. I have braved the odd canter when I’ve been accompanied by someone on a bike, and she’s generally fine, mostly because she doesn’t want to leave her best friend behind (the bike). It’s just the little ‘what if’ voice that’s getting to me.
Unfortunately, the bucking seems to have stayed in her mind and she will enjoy a little buck while schooling as well. To be fair, I was sort of prepared for this because she was sold from the riding school because she would get very strong in the school. But she doesn’t get strong, she gets very grumpy, and tries to catch you unawares. We don’t compete, so in truth schooling is not a hugely important thing in our lives, but every now and then, it seems like a good idea. And she enjoys a spot of jumping, nothing taller than knee height, and she behaves perfectly then.
Looking back, the incidents are free and far between, but it’s chipping away at my confidence, so I wondered if anyone had any advice as to how to combat either the bucking or the nerves, or whether I just need to pull myself together. I’ve obviously left this behaviour unchecked for far too long, but I’ve been trying get help and nobody really takes me very seriously on it and I wonder whether it’s just me. I apologise for the length of this post, anything will help.
