Help! Advice needed - came off my new boy yesterday!

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Tobiano

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Any advice on here for me please? I have had Roo for 2 months and yesterday I came off him and got concussion when he span and bucked on a solo hack.

We had only gone about 20 yards and I was sort of expecting the spin but the bucking was something new. Being 50 years old, not that bendy and not that stickable, it is a bit of a problem for me.

So... any advice? I am thinking in terms of horse management / strategy to build up to being able to hack alone ... etc. Also does anyone know of any exercises I can do off the horse (as I can only ride a couple of times a week) to improve my ability to stay on if he bucks? And since my neck is aching something rotten today, are there any neck exercises I can do to make it a bit stronger so next time my head doesnt flop back and hit the deck?

By the way I had an impressive crack through the thickness of my hat - which went straight in the bin!
 
Sorry to hear you're feeling sore - bloody horses! :-)

Re Roo do you have someone with a saint you can ride with? Or even not that much of a saint? One of my mates is very sharp and I'm wary of her as a result of a bad fall. I ride her a lot with a cob who is generally good but I'm also braver in company to be able to push her to take the lead. Once you can confidently lead all the way round perhaps you'll feel better about solo riding. Don't forget such a lit of the confidence comes from you.

Re the balance and core I was advised to take up Pilates as 'it won't stop her spinning like a b#t#h but it will I.prove your ability to go with it'.
Hopefully the same can be said for you and your boy :-) x
 
Thanks Baileybones that is a brilliant response and very constructive. Both options very sensible and I will do my best to follow them!!
 
Can't offer any advice but can commiserate. My boy had me off twice ten days ago and like you I'm not so bendy anymore ! Everything aches and the bruises were pretty spectacular .

I'm a bit nervous now and have only ridden him at walk in the paddock since. Oh and we were out in company when he dumped me.

I'm looking forward to hearing the advice you get.
 
Echo BB on the pilates front, either that or yoga will strengthen your core and improve flexibility to help you go with him when he spins.

Was the buck totally out of character for him? May be worth getting him checked over incase he pulled something during the spin then bucked due to the pain?

A nanny horse is a good idea in the short term, however I do think it's important to get him going out by himself from the start if you plan to do a lot of solo hacking in the future. Do you have any one capable that you trust that can take him out and see what he does, and then assess the situation? And ride him through his spins/bucks if it is safe to do so. If not I'd then suggest maybe long reining him out on his own, firstly with someone walking by his head, then them moving further away until his confidence improves.
 
Bexx said:
Echo BB on the pilates front, either that or yoga will strengthen your core and improve flexibility to help you go with him when he spins.

Was the buck totally out of character for him? May be worth getting him checked over incase he pulled something during the spin then bucked due to the pain?

A nanny horse is a good idea in the short term, however I do think it's important to get him going out by himself from the start if you plan to do a lot of solo hacking in the future. Do you have any one capable that you trust that can take him out and see what he does, and then assess the situation? And ride him through his spins/bucks if it is safe to do so. If not I'd then suggest maybe long reining him out on his own, firstly with someone walking by his head, then them moving further away until his confidence improves.
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Was thing this but Bexx has put it much better than me! Hope you're okay.:)
 
You could have a look at Australian stock saddles, they tend to keep you in better and still look a bit like an English saddles. And an air jacket may be? and/or BP?
 
I'm about to start hacking my boy and expecting the same silliness when I first take him put alone as he bucked and shot off with me when I introduced him to other things (indoor school with people in the viewing gallery, schooling in company of other horses, going near one corner of the school that apparently had monsters hiding behind a gate). I'm hoping to hack out a few times with someone else, then once he knows it's not so scary hacking, I'll try going alone but ask my husband or teenage son to walk with us because a) I'll feel more confident with another person present and b) If I'm dumped in a ditch someone will be there to pull me out and give me a leg up
 
Does he have a neck strap for you to grab hold of and are you keeping your leg on him when you feel him about to start? If he's kept going forward he can't spin or buck as he's got to be planted in one spot to do that. Also, have you tried talking to him whilst riding? Horses often relax a bit if you have a low soft voice and it may also distract him. You might look a bit of a nutter to passers by if you're telling him all about your day but hey, whatever helps :-)
When I feel my boy starting to tense up I try to focus on relaxing my upper legs and back so he doesn't feel me tense up too and interpret it as me thinking there's something he should be stressing about. I then sit deep in the saddle (helps to have slightly shorter stirrups to give you some purchase), and say "steady" really slowly and calmly like "steeeeaaad-dyyyyy" in a low voice.
 
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Stock saddle, neck strap, no feed, ride from field so already tired, pilates is brill but at 50 yoa, think the lady wants a quick fix, pilates takes a while. Remember to sit deep become heavy in the seat and also if you feel him getting tense to buck turn his head towards your knee they cant buck at that angle. But do get back on and be confident do not think about the fall you have had he will sense it.
 
Thank you all!

He has had the back man, fixed and pronounced ok now, and had had the physio the day before, also had his teeth checked and just had a new saddle fitted (VERY expensive! :)) which met with my RI's approval as well as the saddler... so TBH I dont think he had an excuse!

I was hanging on to my RS-Tor, which I think at least allowed me to get a semi-controlled bail out (I remember thinking I had best go before we got to the point where I would end up in the fence). He is just so QUICK with his spinning - and of course once he had spun he was facing the 'wrong' way so I was trying to stay on and stop him / turn him rather than sending him forward which possibly would have been better (though then I might have come off on concrete instead of grass).

I do have a brilliant young lady who exercises him in the week for me and she is far more stickable than me, and is willing to take him out on his own, so she will do that for me. I think he knows who is on him though!

I absolutely get the long reining, and walking with a person there, but do you think that will help get him to hack on his own? He is ok with another horse but I think the being in the lead thing is a good idea.

TBH I don't really NEED him to hack on his own but I jolly well think he should! May change my mind if too many more incidents like yesterday

Thanks all for the moral support which is SO helpful :)
 
Thanks Sally87. embarrassingly his registered name is 'buckaroo times two' :confused:

I was considering that contraption that appeared on here the other week - but then again I might still be on him careering over the Norfolk countryside if I'd had that.... :cool:
 
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