Galloping on the road (by accident!!)

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A Shropshire Lass

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So today my horse bolted and she took off down the road with me on her for about half a mile before I could slow her down. I checked her thoroughly afterwards and she seemed fine, and she will be having a couple of days off because I just want to make sure she's OK. I just don't know if there is anything else I should look out for or if its happened to anyone else before?
 
Sometimes they are startled by something that we didn't see or hear and it sets them off. This sounds more like a running off than a bolting. If this is the first time it's happened hopefully it was a one-off.
 
joosie said:
Sometimes they are startled by something that we didn't see or hear and it sets them off. This sounds more like a running off than a bolting. If this is the first time it's happened hopefully it was a one-off.
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I think it was a one off she's never done it before, I'm just worried about her legs and hooves being injured
 
A one-off burst of speed on the road is unlikely to do any damage. If she is fine at the moment I'd say the chance that she's done herself a mischief is fairly low, but just keep an eye for swelling or unusual heat and hose/ice if you're concerned. Get someone to watch you run her up in-hand tomorrow and make sure she's not lame. If she's stabled overnight make sure she gets out in the paddock in the morning to get her moving & maybe take her for a walk in-hand if you don't want to ride.
 
joosie said:
A one-off burst of speed on the road is unlikely to do any damage. If she is fine at the moment I'd say the chance that she's done herself a mischief is fairly low, but just keep an eye for swelling or unusual heat and hose/ice if you're concerned. Get someone to watch you run her up in-hand tomorrow and make sure she's not lame. If she's stabled overnight make sure she gets out in the paddock in the morning to get her moving & maybe take her for a walk in-hand if you don't want to ride.
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Thank you, she
joosie said:
A one-off burst of speed on the road is unlikely to do any damage. If she is fine at the moment I'd say the chance that she's done herself a mischief is fairly low, but just keep an eye for swelling or unusual heat and hose/ice if you're concerned. Get someone to watch you run her up in-hand tomorrow and make sure she's not lame. If she's stabled overnight make sure she gets out in the paddock in the morning to get her moving & maybe take her for a walk in-hand if you don't want to ride.
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Thank you, I will do that 😊
 
Several years ago, riding my almost 100% hacking horse in the company of my other horse (who was also pretty rock solid) both whipped round and bolted, completely without warning. And yes, I know the difference between a bolt and running off. I had no brakes, we were on a single track lane and were flat out. My friend was in front and managed to pull the horse into a bit of a gateway but fell off in doing so. Both horses carried on and we shot out onto another lane, one horse went left and I managed to turn my horse right and pull him up. We galloped for the best part of a mile both horses were in a complete blind panic. It was pretty terrifying and I had absolutely no idea why this had happened, we were on a route we knew well, on sensible well schooled horses. Both horses were absolutely fine, sadly my friend completely lost her confidence and has not ridden since. Speaking to another rider some days later she told me her saint of a cob had had a complete fit in the same area on the same day. she had seen, what looked like a big black cat go through a hedge some distance away. I now believe the rumours but still use that route regularly. I'm sure your horse will be fine but why did it "bolt"?
 
oldie48 said:
Several years ago, riding my almost 100% hacking horse in the company of my other horse (who was also pretty rock solid) both whipped round and bolted, completely without warning. And yes, I know the difference between a bolt and running off. I had no brakes, we were on a single track lane and were flat out. My friend was in front and managed to pull the horse into a bit of a gateway but fell off in doing so. Both horses carried on and we shot out onto another lane, one horse went left and I managed to turn my horse right and pull him up. We galloped for the best part of a mile both horses were in a complete blind panic. It was pretty terrifying and I had absolutely no idea why this had happened, we were on a route we knew well, on sensible well schooled horses. Both horses were absolutely fine, sadly my friend completely lost her confidence and has not ridden since. Speaking to another rider some days later she told me her saint of a cob had had a complete fit in the same area on the same day. she had seen, what looked like a big black cat go through a hedge some distance away. I now believe the rumours but still use that route regularly. I'm sure your horse will be fine but why did it "bolt"?
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Oh dear that sounds bad. The reason why my horse bolted was because I was with my friend with her horse in a field just popping a few jumps but we didn't shut the gate because we were only planning to jump a few small ones and then go. Anyway my friend fell off her horse and it started to gallop away and mine went after it but mine overtook it and carried on out the gateway but the other horse stopped before the gateway. My horse didn't seem to notice and carried on and I couldn't stop her.
 
I think if they gallop on the road for a long time they can give themselves problems from the concussion but it doesn't sound like you were galloping for long enough. Scary though. Hope you and your horse are ok.
 
My youngster got a bit of a splint after haring off up the road when some horses in the field we were passing started galloping about :(
 
A bolt on the road is my worst nightmare. The first time I hacked on the road (when I was a child) a teenager in a tractor thought it would be fun to rev behind my friend and I :rolleyes:
My very quiet horse tanked off (not even a bolt) but I had visions of her slipping on the road and falling on top of me. I had a fear of road hacking for a long time afterwards. It was a fear of what could happen next time, rather than what did happen.
 
Yes, I learned the hard way to always shut the gate when riding in a field. Dogs, bucking horses, pheasants, ducks - you name it!

Would agree with the others, keep a lookout for heat in feet and legs and let the horse out in the paddock to walk round.
 
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