Do you get scared when your horse bucks/rears/bolts/bronchos/tanks off?

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almrc

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Or how do you not get scared? Or are you scared? What have you done or do you do to overcome this?
 
When my last horse reared with me I wasn't scared. But it wasn't huge rears and I knew I could just sit it out. I didn't like the napping as it was unpredictable. I have only ever been bolted off with twice and both times I was petrified :eek:

I would imagine that if you had a horse that did these things often, you would lose some fear. But in reality the fear is there for a reason. :)
 
When i first got my mare she used to rear alot, not very high but high enough to scare me! it was her being nappy when she didnt want to do something she would rear and i would end up getting off :(
Now we have (almost) overcome this, i have learnt to not give into to her and push her on when she rears, she hardly tries it anymore. My instructor got on her a few weeks back XC schooling as she was being a bag and refused to go in the water, she reared again and again with me really high and yep she frightened me, instructor got on and she did the same with him, but he didnt let her get away with it and after 5 mins she was fine. I got back on her and she jumped everything :)
When shes having a moment or gets stressy or excited she does go light in front. Also she can throw some mean bucks from a walk when shes excited!!!

ETS everyone comments on how laid back she is for a TB, thats until they see her jump!! she litrally leaps and bounds like a puppy all the way up to the jump and gets waaaay to excited!
 
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It depends on the horse. Herc'l freaks me out a bit when he tanks off, because if he's off on one he's impossible to stop.

I usually remain calm when it happens then freak out after.
 
For everything but bolting, no, I don't get scared.

But generally if my horse bolts it is in blind fear and I know he won't listen to me. Then again, he is pretty bombproof so hasn't ACTUALLY happened yet! :D
 
My mare used to bronc me off daily for the first 18 months :( I was ***** scared of her but she turned out to be the best horse ever:) My old boy used to buck and bolt and oc rear he was 17.2 but he never scared me I just got on with it and he also turned out to be a complete star he was trying it on :D
 
Kelly's just very easy to sit to and I know her fairly well now...so it doesn't scare me anymore, but a new horse tends to. However, hacking my YO's 6 y/o ID out the other day and he started to bunny hop - somehow I just kept thinking "silly boy, what is he doing that for? Let's stop this now" and managed to get him calm and walking forwards again. I've ridden a few horses lately for YO and have heard stories about them broncing bucking etc and been nervous for the first part of riding but soon settled down and it goes out of my head. Just concentrate on what you're doing and if somethin does happen, try to think of it as a "what was that! silly horse, let's get on with it" rather than "oh my god she's broncing what do I do!!" - your body language will change for the better.
If my horse bolts with me - say we're in the school and she shies at something and shoots forwards - I'll make her trot on and stay in trot for the rest of our session then - note, it may not work on all horses but it certainly does for her! :)
 
No I'm too lazy to be scared even when I was bucked off last summer so hard and fast I did a complete forward somersault before landing on my knees in the direction I'd been travelling. Briefly I thought I'm too all for this a second later I was on my feet, then on the horse then over the nearest jump.
 
No I kind of expect it, you can't expect them to behave all the time! i used to get uptight when i was really young and did lose my confidence a bit after a bad fall but i think it was experience and being chucked on anything that did it for me!
 
Rearing - no, Bucking - no, tanks off - no
Bolts - yes if it is a true bolt and not a tank
Broncing - yes if they twist at the same time like my baby pony did last night and deposited me neatly on the floor, i sat 4 big ones then the 5th was a twister...........

Oh and that was after he'd done his good stallion impression for an hour, side pass, nearly a levade, bounced, napped, jogged, leaped all 4 and anything else he could pull out the box of tricks - LOL And he doesn't even know what the word dressage is................!
 
The only thing that really scares me is bolt upright rearing, because you have virtually no control and it's just a case of praying the horse doesn't come over backwards on top of you! I've seen several horses go over in my time and in every case the rider was badly injured to some degree.

Anything else I can ride through and sort out. Obviously I don't like it, and I've had my fair share of falls and broken bones over the years, but rearing is the only vice I wont tolerate in a horse.
 
Hmm worries me a bit yes. Depends on the horse and if we let our paranoia run away with us. A bit of fear may be good I guess. Id rather be un-phased. My fear is of the unknown. I have a new horse who I trust but he did get scared on road today I knew he had no malice in him but road work in future will worry me mainly in case i came off and couldn't keep him safe. I will do a little and often to help build his confidence and take a more experienced horse and rider too if I can.
I guess i am not too bad with most but bolting would be a no no Not nice been there a few times on different horses over the years and happy not to experience again
 
Everything but bolting I am fine with.

After having a confirmed bolter who led me to be airlifted out of a Dyke by the Dutch equivalent of the Air Ambulance with a Broken shoulder, fractured hip, broken knee and fractured ankle, and a head injury that caused me to be blind in one eye for a month it is the one thing I would never ever put up with again.

Took a year off riding with injuries and a year after that to get some semblance of confidence again.

Shudders....
 
The feeling of no control scares me. Bolting is the worst, although this has only half happened to me - on the road. I managed to keep the neck bent, so he couldn't get a 'straight' hold. The lights were on, but nobody was home moment!!
I've got loads more 'windy' since having children, before that I was more of a 'lets see what happens' kinda person. I wonder how on earth I had all those guts back then!??
 
True bolting is scary as hell, when they lose all sense of self preservation and you have no idea how it is going to end without injury.

Rearing scares me a bit, which is strange because i rode a rearer for a long time and was never bothered, it just annoyed me more than anything. Nothing bad ever happened due to it, so not sure why it scares me now.

Other than that, i don't care what they do as long as it's not on a road. I have a massive phobia of being fallen on after it happened a few years ago and my foot is now very messed up and dysfunctional. Whenever they mess about on the road now i just sit there thinking *please don't slip*. I get rather annoyed at myself but can't seem to cure it.
 
I'm right with the crew that doesn't like true bolting - had that happen just once and the darn horse ran flat out for 2 1/2 miles DOWNHILL. This was a horse that tripped over his own feet at a walk. Scared? Petrified more like. Finally yanked him off the road into the trees - thought I was going to die and figured I might as well die on my own terms. As it happened, I didn't even fall off but I've never been scared like that on a horse before or since.

Everything else, I don't really get scared. I have a seat that seems to stick pretty much everything and I know my horse well enough that I can tell when she's going to do something loony
 
Rearing - I have never really experienced a proper rear before, luckily but the other day I was watching how to get off quickly if the horse is going to go over backwards on youtube - would be very handy if you don't lose your nerve and stay calm if the situation arose.

Bucks - depends on the situation I guess - if it is just an excitement buck I don't mind but if it proper malicious bucking then yes, I do.

Bolting - Ditto everyone else really.

Naps - Depends where I am - my ex-racer used to nap/spook all the time across the road when I first got him. It did scare me because of the cars (we would literally be dancing across the road!) but I would generally just dismount at an appropriate moment and lead him back to the yard to calm him down. Now he trusts me alot more and I can usually calm him down before he decides to on the road (in the woods I am not half as bothered)

Tanks off - fairly experienced with this one since owning an ex racer. It did scare me but mainly because our common is packed full of trees and very little open space and there was a fairly large chance of you hitting something going at full speed. But the last time he did this I acctually managed to keep a clear head (quite an achievement for me - I usually get that kind of surreal feeling and I know what to do but can't!) and eventually pulled him to a stop -after dodging several low branches. Now I try to avoid situations where he might tank off (such as at the back of a ride in canter!). He is much better in open spaces - partly because I think I am happy because I know I can keep going until he just runs out of puff and I can pull him up.

Sorry for the long post, rambling slightly. :)
 
Yep when my boy lost it and did a "true bolt" (didnt stop until i got back to the stable, no steering, breaks, he lost it completley - went through lots of fields and down the road in a flat out gallop) I s*** myself. Needless to say that was in the second week I got him, and I stopped hacking in fields in company for a long time (other horse set him off!). Only just started again now and so far so good. When he does all of the ^ I also usually wet myself haha, usually as I end up on the floor or just stopping and giving up (bad I know!!). But he hasnt done anything with me for a long time!!

He had a bit of a buck and a fart with my friend who was jumping him the other day but she is not scared of anything, in fact in her own words shes only smiling when they are being stupid!! Shes a wierdo I tell you :P

Forgot to say old horse used to buck a lot which didnt really bother me but when he reared it was vertical (fine as he usually went up a couple of times napping then got on with it, no bronking afterwards!) but he went over on top of me one day! Now I will never ride a true rearer again (little ones still dont bother me)
 
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I'm going back to riding after an eleven year break and my reaction varies. If I don't "think" about it, I can tap my old know-how (lots of bucking and bolting when I was riding as a child :) ) and deal with the situation. One mare I was riding suddenly rushed forward and started bucking in the indoor school, and I'd turned her sharply into the centre of the ring and brought her to a halt before I even thought about what was going on.
However, if I have time to think about how scary it is, and to consider my options and think about what might go wrong? Terrified.
 
Jazz never does any of the vices mentioned, but I've ridden horses that have. Bolting (when you have no brakes/steering whatsoever) is the one that worries me most.

Jazzy does trip (went down like a sack of spuds on a tight rein (stopping for a car to overtake) on a completely smooth, flat, brand new piece of Tarmac :S he's also pitched me into the ground from gallop. I always have a nagging voice in my head which does stop me from cantering/galloping him ever now :(
 
Thanks for all your stories, they are very interesting. How have you stopped your horse rearing/bucking/bronchoing/tanking off/spinning or havent you and does it stop you riding the horse?
 
With any of those things if it's dangerous then i'll be scared, my horse does little rears quite regularly but i know he's safe and he's not going over backwards. bucking in excitement i can put up with but bucking to remove the rider would make me think twice about getting back on. bolting is always dangerous and so always scary as far as i'm concerned.
 
No...but that's because I know him inside out and back to front. Because Roy is so naughty, I'm happy once again to sit on anything at all... no matter how naughty!

It just takes time... I don't think many people have lost their confidence as seriously as I did, but I'm fine now and back to breaking idiot TBs!
 
almrc said:
Thanks for all your stories, they are very interesting. How have you stopped your horse rearing/bucking/bronchoing/tanking off/spinning or havent you and does it stop you riding the horse?
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I am rather shocked by people's acceptance of the above as "normal" and things they take for granted :confused: If any of mine habitually did these things, or even occasionally, I would be finding out why and doing something about it.

One of mine does the occasional joie de vivre buck out hunting, but you can feel it coming about 10 minutes before. Another does rather balletic bounces when he is happy, just expressing his mood.

If your horse does any or all of the above, I would be checking out the usual physical causes, then looking at the schooling and manners issues, and potential rider issues.

A properly backed and schooled horse who is comfortable in himself and in his tack and with his rider wouldn't or shouldn't do these things.
 
I cant stand horses that rear, i just worry they will fall back! Bucking etc i can deal with, the bolting is scarey but once you got control i want to do it again lol,
Infact rode a pony yesterday who has only been broken to have a child sat on her and led around in walk and trot, rode her properly on her own first time yesterday she reared, bucked jumped about lol
 
My mare on the whole doesn't do anything nasty - she's not an easy ride but doesn't have any vices or bad habits, she's just always full of beans and headstrong! However I feel extremely safe on her, and on the odd occassions when she has done something, I tend to just laugh!

For instance, a few years back I was at a yard with no school and very limited hacking so I turned her away for the winter. In bringing her back to work it came to the time to have our first canter, so I cantered her up this bridleway intending to pull up halfway and walk the rest. She had other ideas, reached the halfway point, stuck her head between her knees and bronc'ed like I'd never seen her do before, I was laughing my head off, ended up having to drop the reins and kick her forward and let her gallop the whole distance.

She has reared with me once or twice which I find a litttle more unnerving, but on the whole no she never scares me - I trust her, and her sense of self preservation not to get either of us into serious trouble. And she used to be a serial tanker-off so no, this doesn't bother me at all, I know exactly how to stop her. However she did once do a true, blind bolt with me which was terrifying - thank god we ended up back at the yard in one piece. The difference there, was that neither of us was in control and her sense of self preservation had gone as she dashed across a main road with traffic swerving to avoid us. Thank god its never happened since.

I can't say the same about other horses - even fidgeting while I mount is enough to make me nervous about another horse (even though my mare does this too) but my big ginger beast, I trust 110%.
 
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