Horse bolting on the road some ideas please?

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lady_annabelle

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Hi my mare is constantly bolting rearing and bucking on the road although I can sit it out it's now starting to make me lose confidence and she isn't any better in company I sent her to a trainer but she was exactly the same and all he could suggest was earplugs and a martingale which I have but if anything it's getting worse has anyone got any tips I could try instructor is also abit confused sometimes she is genuinely frightened with a lorry or something very loud the rest she is just being pain.
Tried riding in stronger bits double reins and draw reins and my instructor has made sure I was using correctly she was abit better with draw reins but not a lot.
 
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I would stay off the roads. It's way too busy out there. Not that helpful to fix the problem but better safe than sorry. Probably negates insurance too if this is known behaviour.
 
I think anyone would lose confidence if that was happening all the time.

You seem to have tried a lot of things already to no avail.

All I can think to suggest is that before riding you could lunge her until she starts to listen to you and respond appropriately in order to get some of the fizz out of her.
 
Thank you for replying unfortunately I do have to go on the road only if for a couple of minutes just to the school have been thinking I may have to move somewhere with school on site. Just at abit of a loss now with her as what could be the next step :(
Still covered by insurance she is known due to her kicking a police van silly mare out of everything she got that one ( think she aimed really)
 
lady_annabelle said:
Thank you for replying unfortunately I do have to go on the road only if for a couple of minutes just to the school have been thinking I may have to move somewhere with school on site. Just at abit of a loss now with her as what could be the next step :(
Still covered by insurance she is known due to her kicking a police van silly mare out of everything she got that one ( think she aimed really)
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Would she be better if you led her?
 
Unfortunately she still isn't much better although she will jog just behind me more than bolt as I won't let her in front. Maybe I could just keep leading out though?
 
I had a horse that bolted down the road, and when I tried to lead him in a bridle he pulled away and ran off again. I was lucky that the stupid horse turned around and came back to me, otherwise I dread to think what would have happened.
 
Hi there.
You did not say what starts your horse being so anxious that she starts to fret...resulting in jogging and shortening, bucking or eventual bolting.
Is it related to noises, general traffic coming up behind her, looming up towarsd her, fear of things on the side of the road?
Speak to Melanie Watson of Instinctive horse training. She does alot of work with this type of horse through desensitising to noise and movements as well as teaching you how to train her yourself in techniques which reverse all the related pressures put on her, which she then puts on you vis her behaviour.
It can be done and you can learn how to keep it up.
Melanie works with the owners as much as the horses and is always happy to talk ideas through with owners. I know, I am one!:)
 
lady_annabelle said:
Hi my mare is constantly bolting rearing and bucking on the road although I can sit it out it's now starting to make me lose confidence and she isn't any better in company I sent her to a trainer but she was exactly the same and all he could suggest was earplugs and a martingale which I have but if anything it's getting worse has anyone got any tips I could try instructor is also abit confused sometimes she is genuinely frightened with a lorry or something very loud the rest she is just being pain.
Tried riding in stronger bits double reins and draw reins and my instructor has made sure I was using correctly she was abit better with draw reins but not a lot.
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I would definately NOT be going on the roads no matter how velcro my bum could be ............ as already said if you carry on taking a horse with such "constant" bolting / bucking on the road and someone gets hurt then you could be in serious trouble with your insurance company. You have a responsibility to other people not just yourself when you ride in public. ;)


imo there must be something causing her to be so uptight on the road even if you dont kinow what it is ..... why would she choose to "be a pain". ... what is she like off road ?

controlling her with draw reins might make her "behave better" but it might not be addressing the issues causing her behaviour. :confused:

If I get it right she is young ......... how much preparation for riding out / on roads was done ( by you or others) re meeting "scary stuff" ... some horses just seem ok , some need more preparation.


If its affecting your confidence .... which is understandable :) ..............then maybe take a few steps "back" and build some confidence / relationship / bonding with groundwork.

If you want specific ideas just say ;) .. my welshie used to rear just approaching going on a road :rolleyes:
 
Thank you. She starts near enough as soon as you touch the road but is most defiantly worse with a lorry or something noisy coming either way there is one bit of road downhill which as soon as you hit it she bolts down spins at the bottom and triesto bolt again.
Will defiantly have a look at her thank you, I'm not so bothered about me but the accident (s) she is going to cause.

She's 7 year old 14.3hh welsh D. Absolutely fine off road although she does jog and dance if shes getting abit fizzy and was lead out for two years before backed but was the same then.
Completely checked so not pain which I did wonder as she's worse than she was in summer when she would she dance and buck/rear kind of bunny hops?
Defiantly looking like back to basics thank you for replying wine for all :)
 
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What is she like in the school and what are you feeding her? I was feeding mine a balancer which made him completely loopy. I would take her off all hard feed and go from there.

Draw reins did work on mine to calm him down/let me get control back - he was being very naughty. But as an aside, unless your horse is blindly running away through hedges with no self preservation, they are not really bolting - mine will dash forwards when faced with a hgv etc, but he's never 'bolted'.
 
She sounds similar in some ways to my mare. Belle lost confidence on the roads after 9 months off due to injury so when we started work again it was non-stop jogging, spooking, trying to bolt for home etc (we were meant to be doing controlled walking only :rolleyes: ). I tried to work through it for a bit but found it was just getting worse so I put her on a calmer (Global Herbs TB calmer if you're interested) and switched to leading her off my gelding who is rock solid in traffic. This worked really well as she could hide behind him better than when ridden in company and within a month she was sensible enough to be ridden in traffic again.

Of course Belle is an established horse who was good in traffic but lost confidence so if yours is a baby then I would go back a step and do some long reining, ideally in a field beside the road to give her confidence in herself. I would also stand her next to the road and simply give her a treat any time a vehicle goes past. When you get back to riding on the road I would ask for lots of transitions, changes of diagonal in trot, a bit of lateral work where you can i.e. shoulder in past a plastic bag or leg yield round a pot hole etc which should keep her mind busy and on you not the traffic.
 
She's only on soaked haulage comes included as farm makes their own soaked over night ready for morning then turned out during day. She just goes straight down the road quite long as its quite a big hill? So maybe part bolting part taking the mick as she knows she can do it?
 
Can you turn her out in a field next to the road so she can see traffic pass from a safe place and realise it is nothing to worry about?
 
Thank you I have ordered stroppy mare to try but still waiting typical, May try that though.
Can't be lead as she will kick but might try long reigning not tried that one due to the kicking but she hasn't tried it with me for a few years so might be worth ago any tips on that and what I need will do it with my instructor but would be handy to know what equipment I'll need.
Will try the transitions she does do Better in trot but I don't like to trot a lot on the road, think she will defiantly listen a bit more if I try a few of those. Thank you
 
from the info given

* she is stabled at night and on soaked haylage and is better in summer

any possibility 24 /7 turnout and feeding soaked hay or mixed with straw to lessen the sugar input..... she might be on a "sugar high" as well as needing to let off steam.


* trying stroppy mare .

... maybe you might not need that if you reduce the sugars You could also consider aromatic oils, we found that was good as a hormone balancer and Taz could take as much as she needed or none at all ;) You can also have a "calming" oil for you both before you go out ;)


* can't lead as she will kick .... oh dear :( glad its not been for a few years maybe she wont now.


I would not try longlining ....and most definatley not on the road with it.... as you have even less "control" than when on board or leading. It will be even easier for her to spin round and get in a tangle with the long lines or spring across the road into cars / people


Could you work on her responding to changes in direction / paces in a safe place then add lots scary stuff groundwork to improve her reaction to stressy moments.


You could do this either with positive reinforcement or NH or "just" habituation / desensitisation methods. I favour positive reinforcement as in my experience it deals with motivating the horse to want to do stuff and changes the focus of the horse. ;)
 
No has to be stabled at night yard rules or I would try as I think may help.
Which oils could I try and how would you get her to have them I can get these quite easy so defiantly worth a try.
I won't try that then I know we didn't do it because she would just back up to kick no matter what and has taken a lot of work to get boundaries with her but so far she has been good on the ground generally (touch wood) and will even allow my 18 month old to do what ever he wants without batting an eyelid. Whilst in the stable anyway,
Trying some stuff in the school to get her listening more not tried any NH think I will ask my instructor if she has any knowledge of it.
Thank you again
 
I would, as the Americans say, 'sack her out'

I would take her to anywhere that there are a lot of vehicles, like a show and ride her around the lorries. Odd isn't it that often traffic shy horses take no notice of lorries at a show?
I would turn her out somewhere that there is a really busy road. Always thought that the central reservation of a motorway if it was chain link fenced would be ideal! LOL

I would take her to a friendly farm yard where there were tractors and other heavy vehicles and ride her around them when they were running. I would make her follow a tractor chasing it - that makes them think that it is running away from them.

Then when she was sick to death of all these things I would take her to a busy road where there was a safe area that I could stand her in and just sit on her letting her watch all the traffic going past.

It takes time but it does work. The rider must not change their heart rate nor think negatively. Calm and determined.

I would also work on the horse doing exactly what it was told when it was told, making sure that it knew that what I asked was within their understanding and it had to be obeyed. This transfers to when you are in the saddle and can be a big help as the horse A) trusts you and B) knows it has to obey.
 
We have a tractor so may beg the owner if I can ride round it she does see these everyday and very close so is it better to walk round it or to 'chase it'
Will she be allowed at a show I was told I wouldn't be able to if we couldn't get her to stop kicking it's generally at other horses and if they get to close now a days but she has gone to double barrel people before. I really wanted to do this as I thought it may help drop her in at the deep end type of way but worried it could back fire sorry I'm putting ideas down before trying when I asked for help just so worried she is going to hurt someone.
Thank you
 
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It sounds like she hasn't been educated as to how she should behave - it comes naturally to some but not others and just because she has been EXPOSED to the road snce she was young, doesn't mean that she knows how to deal with it, bless her.

My young boy was a complete nightmare to take out before I backed him, which made me really nervous about taking him on the road once backed... I needn't have worried because with sensible company he has gone from strength to strength.

I have to say step one to this progress was putting him in a field by a road. at first a busy B road and then a busy country lane. I moved him temporarily to put him by the B road for a month.

Next, we chose our hacking buddy carefully. Sensible horse (only one! ad the same one each time) and rider. We ALWAYS halted to let traffic pass us, ideally turning the horses to face the traffic so that they don't get a fright out of their periferal vision. We ideally STOPPED the traffic so that we could pass THEM rather than the other way round. and now (just 4 months on, we can have all sorts of traffic passing us no problem)

I would try a magensium calmer rather than stroppy mare- it sounds like she might be on a bit of a sugar high!

I would try working her harder. Its sounds like she has some excess energy with the winter routine...

I would also practice just standing at the side of the road watching traffic for 10 -15 minutes at a time, untill she relaxes... then litterally step by step (or a few steps at a time) down the road walking, halting, praising rather than saying 'right we need to get from here to here ASAP!' How is she if you ride with someone walking at her head? could they possibly distract her with a treat every now and then? do this with another horse present too ideally...

p.s.... I WOULD NOT longrein her down the road... that could be disasterous!
 
I had an aromatics oils practitioner come visit so Taz could choose what she wanted / needed ....which was not always what we thought. Like us humans horses do have preferences :D

Rose oil ( the good stuff not the cheapies) is great for emotion and lavender for calming ( or rescue remedy) but there are others too. eg camomile, clary sage, orange , geranium and more. The horse will either pend longer on the ones it likes or even lick it ... if the bottom of the tongue is used then its saying it yummy ;)

They are usually esed in a carrier oil or water but some can be used neat ...... a practitioner will advise as well as haveing a fuller range to try.

I found it quite inexpensive for a visit
 
To clarify: I was not suggesting long reining on the road but in a field beside a road!

One other thing, if your haylage comes from the same farm you keep your horse on then you could have significant mineral imbalances. Ideally get your forage analysed and balanced but chances are a decent dose of magnesium will help as most UK grass is low in magnesium.
 
Just quick reply, my youngster hugely reacts to my reaction. If you are tense and expecting something to go wrong, it probably will.... Have you tried getting your instructor to ride while you walk or vice versa?
 
CBFan said:
It sounds like she hasn't been educated as to how she should behave - it comes naturally to some but not others and just because she has been EXPOSED to the road snce she was young, doesn't mean that she knows how to deal with it, bless her.

My young boy was a complete nightmare to take out before I backed him, which made me really nervous about taking him on the road once backed... I needn't have worried because with sensible company he has gone from strength to strength.

I have to say step one to this progress was putting him in a field by a road. at first a busy B road and then a busy country lane. I moved him temporarily to put him by the B road for a month.

Next, we chose our hacking buddy carefully. Sensible horse (only one! ad the same one each time) and rider. We ALWAYS halted to let traffic pass us, ideally turning the horses to face the traffic so that they don't get a fright out of their periferal vision. We ideally STOPPED the traffic so that we could pass THEM rather than the other way round. and now (just 4 months on, we can have all sorts of traffic passing us no problem)

I would try a magensium calmer rather than stroppy mare- it sounds like she might be on a bit of a sugar high!

I would try working her harder. Its sounds like she has some excess energy with the winter routine...

I would also practice just standing at the side of the road watching traffic for 10 -15 minutes at a time, untill she relaxes... then litterally step by step (or a few steps at a time) down the road walking, halting, praising rather than saying 'right we need to get from here to here ASAP!' How is she if you ride with someone walking at her head? could they possibly distract her with a treat every now and then? do this with another horse present too ideally...

p.s.... I WOULD NOT longrein her down the road... that could be disasterous!
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She isn't any better with company apart from being blocked from bolting I always ride in company for safety if I fall off. Her field is on a sixty mile an hour road quite busy but mostly wagons lorries. Defiantly agree with stopping traffic defiantly going to try a Calmer can magnesium be given without feed as she really doesn't need one?
She does a lot better if my dad is stood with her but he lives in Amsterdam during the week so only comes with me at a weekend she won't run away when he's there.
 
Instructor won't ride her but she was exact same with the trainer I sent her too I know quite abut is probably me now as I have lost a lot of confidence since she lost all balance when she set off down hill and we nearly ended up on the floor me under her .
I can put the confidence on when my dad is there but I know just weekend riding isn't for her.
I would never sell her as she takes a lot to trust someone and I do think with hard work we can overcome and I'll be discussing all these ideas with my instructor to see what she thinks as she couldn't think of much else other than just school work but I have to go on the road to the school.
Think I know someone that's does horse aromatherapy is that the same thing?
 
Some is genuine bolt but mainly when a lorry goes past others is buggering off which is generally when we get to a certain downhill bit which is right next to the yard unfortunately
 
yes, horse aromatherapy same thing .... posh name is aromatics oils practitioner whether for humans or horses .... best get one used to horses :D

It wont deal with the behavioural issues on its own but if it can help her relax a bit then she might listen / respond to you a bit better. Bit like us really , if we are not worried about other stuff or feeling uptight we do better in school lessons or at work ;)
 
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