Rearer or Bucker, which would you rather try to deal with?

Lots of distinctions between skippy bucks and huge bucks, and the horrible huge "bronc repeatedly on the spot off all 4 feet" bucks. There was a great vid doing the rounds on fb a few weeks ago of a guy, hatless, on a dr stallion who started doing that... he stayed on, heaven knows how. Anyone know the linky, it's something to see! He might have stuck a hat on next time, I suspect, can't have been fun...
The biggest buck I've ever stayed on was 1 of my eventers, on walk-only tendon rehab, who 'lost it' big time and I looked down and saw his ears down between my feet and heard his heels snap together over my head, I'm sure he was vertical. :O I stayed on purely due to pure terror of him dropping me and then wrecking his legs on the way back to the stables...
I know I post this fairly frequently, but THIS is how to deal with a rearer imho, watching this totally changed my attitude, I was taught to spin them in circles etc but I think this is much better, at least with a horse with this sort of attitude:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBcQsVdxEA8
Just love this guy, what a horseman, and that soporific voice, mmmm mmmm mmmmm. ;) ;)

lynds81 said:
At least if it bucks it's kind of in your hands as to whether you stay on, whereas if it rears and goes over there is NOTHING you can do about it.
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You see, I feel exactly the opposite. The last time I got bucked off I had absolutely no warning, it happened soooo fast, one second I was in the plate, securely in the middle (or so I thought) and the next I was on the floor. :( :(
Whereas most rearers (not the nutters that just flip, fair enough) you get some warning - they hesitate, go light in front, give you a big heads-up that they're about to do it. And it's usually easy to sit on, and easy to bale out sideways too, I've done this on a few rearers and it's worked, takes the wind out of their sails, kind of thing.

As a few people have said though, neither is better, I just love horses who never do either!
 
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I much rather deal with a bucker.. when I was about 12, I was asked to get on a pony that a friend had bought for her little girl & all it did was rear vertically & from that day I have a big fear of them going over backwards on top of me..I have a bucker & he doesn't bother me..
 
Much rather have a rearer. Bronson would rear as his evasion tactic - and would go up vertical with it on occasion - but there was alway plenty of warning and I trusted him not to be so stupid as to go over backwards. Whereas bucking just annoys me because it's harder to drive them forwards out of it...

Broncing is the thing that gets me off though - especially Wilby sized 'Kapow!' ones :eek::p
 
Really interesting point he makes - that the horse looked for confrontation. I do agree with that, I think there are horses that want a bunfight, I don't think all problems are neccessarily pain related.
 
Preferably neither!!!!! However I don't mind either if they are half hearted/ not meant nastily. One of my horses reared over on me twice half way round the XC at 2 consecutive events, it was eventually found that his saddle was crippling him (whole other story!), and that I don't mind too much as he didn't do in a mean way, it was his way of telling me 'ouch, this hurts!'. However I have also sat on youngsters that have reared up, lost balance, and gone over backwards. It is the most horrible feeling when you know the horse has lost it's balance and it is 50:50 which way you are going to go. As for bucking, i don't mind happy 'wayhey' bucks, it is when the bucks are 'i'm going to get you off' which I don't particularly enjoy!

I currently have a horse who when he goes out (weather it be hacking or working away from home) who will rear vertically, bronc (not a little bronc!), rear vertically, bronc etc. This I can sit on, he then starts adding in the spinning (vertical rear, bronc, spin, vertical rear etc....), at that point I have leart the best thing to do is bail out (pick the monent when he is spinning as that is when you are closest to the ground!) as he does it to get the rider off, and will not stop. I got every thing checked (all fine) and sent him off to a very good local eventer, he chucked her off as soon as she left the arena.................... Oh the 'joys' of horses and all that!!!!!!!!!!!! Funny thing is he is fine at home in the arena, can do anything with him, even my nervous mother rides him.
 
I can relate to this thread at the moment, or at least will be able to once I can ride again :rolleyes: I am quite (very) lucky that I stick like glue (tempting fate I know) I have never been bucked off (ditto) and get put on many difficult horses for this very reason. I don't mind bucking BUT I hate rearing, little rears, fine, rearing up and spinning round, fine VERTICAL rears are NOT fun (especially when their balance is poor) :( this is my horse's current party trick that I will be looking forward to when I can ride him again :o
 
I'd rather have a rearer - bucking REALLY hurts my back.

And like Kerilli - last time I was bucked off I had absolutly no warning at all.

Although, I have to say, I've only ridden one who wanted me off at all costs, and it was grim determination that kept me on
 
I don't mind either if they're done purely with no malice. Either with malice behind them can be horrendous. Rearers can obviously go over with you, and buckers can result in nasty falls. So not much in it tbh ;)
 
My second pony used to buck like stink then drop his shoulder, you could see him working out how to get you off! He was a sod AND I used to cycle to the yard, so rarely had a saddle :rolleyes: :D
He only got me off once mind you (although now I suspect I'd be on the floor I went soaring over his head and he cantered straight over me! He stood on me and buggered off up the field with his reins over his head, and in true pony mad child fashion I was more upset that he'd get the reins wrapped around his legs and trip than I was about the blood dripping from my armpit! :D
 
Would rather have a rearer any day. There is almost always a 'heads up' to prepare you for it or give you time to dissolve it ever happening.

My mother's WB bucked like a rodeo when we first got him, and he's mean spirited and sharp too, I hacked him out once he took offence at a hedge span, and went to bronc back in the other direction, I stayed on 4 which were huge but in a straight line, then coz he realised I was still there he threw in some twisty spinny bucks and weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee straight out the side door into the mud!

He also had me off when I was jumping him through a grid and he realised he could do the grid beautifully then as soon as he landed, buck buck BUCK! horrid!!!!
 
I think it totally depends on the horse and what they are "after" when they play up and how far they are prepared to go to get their point across. I point blank do not like horses with no sense of self preservation.
 
I don't really mind either, the only thing that's truly terrified me is a real bolter. It used to just go flat out if it didn't agree with you about anything, couldn't stop or turn. Did it in an indoor school once and everytime i managed to stop it and pin it in a corner, it grabbed the bit and flipped its head round to the stirrup, span and set off again.After 25 minutes I bailed out, the only time I ever have and that was after dropping the reins and letting it piss off for 5 minutes to see if it would relax enough to stop. That was like a switch had flipped in his head and you weren't even there. Before that I would always have preferred a bucker as I've had one nearly come over on me, and one nearly stand on my head after i slid off it backwards (it was that or have it land on me). Even the big bucks, although you might fall off are nowhere near as scary as that! <runs to touch wood quickly!>
 
Neither- if I had a horse which did either with anything other than good humour it would be going straight back to it's owner (we only ever loan!). My old boy used to go up as a joke XC and nap but he knew the line and never crossed it- he'd spin and catleap and do half-rears but always knew the point to pause and let me regroup!

We had a serial bucker once- it would buck and buck (proper broncing) until my sister gave in and came flying off at which point she'd pounce... Went up (and slipped and went over- luckily in slow motion!) once, and went back the next week.

Rearing, to me, is far far more dangerous and if we had a horse who was going up on a regular basis to the point of going over, my sister wouldn't be getting back on. Bucking, you're projected. Rearing, you end up right underneath...
 
My friends mare I ride does some hideous bucks but then she tends to warn you it is coming but my boy as some of you know rears...He will go vertical and has gone over with me and nearly went over again before. With him he gives you no warning, Richard Maxwell and my dressage trainer who has had some horrid rearers said they have never before seen a horse who can canter/gallop and with no warning be vertical in under a second :confused: I suppose it's athletic :rolleyes: tbh I don't mind dealing with it as I have learnt to be ready constantly. I'm not going to lie there are many times when I wonder what I'm still doing with him but then the smile he gives me every morning seems to make up for it :p however he also does a lovely gymnastic display where he spins, goes vertical manages to run backward then does a beautiful ;) capriole and whilst in mid air corckscrew bucks... I love my horse!!!!!!
 
Ive had both.
The bucker was very unpredictable and I found I rode less forward because knowing he could buck like a b**stard I wasnt that keen on going too fast.
Snoopy was a rearer, this was brought on because he had an underlying back problem. However this has been fixed and he no longer rears, except he might throw in the odd nappy rear as his first reaction to something when hacking out (in the school he is 100%).
He did rear straight up, but thankfully was incredibly well balanced so never felt like he might go over backwards - had he done I think I would have had to have him shot.

I have been recently riding a 4 year old who does both. But shes kinda half hearted in both, although shes removed the owner a couple of times.
I have had her rear and I didnt feel she felt 100% balanced, but because of being use to Snoopy I was well equipped to keep my balance and shimmy her along accordingly. She is definitely a horse who tries it on and because she got zero reaction from me she never did it again.

I dunno, there is that eliment of worry when they rear up so high but horses do have a fair amount of self preservation, were as buckers quite happily gallop and buck all at the same time...... eek!
 
roodolph said:
Is it this one?
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=138753589000
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Yes, that's it, thankyou for finding it... very well sat that man, crikey!

I'm not sure I'm convinced by the "as long as they're not being nasty" argument with buckers in particular... I've seen a vid of a horse which does one buck (which could just have been high jinks, it wasn't broncing, it wasn't twisting or determined to get her off imho) and just caught the rider totally unawares by the look of it, she flew off, landed on the kickboards and iirc was paralysed... just awful. It can be pure luck whether you land fine or very badly. :( :(
 
I had a mare that use to rear. She would go down the road then decide it was time to come home, rear and spin. She reared up very high and she was 17.2. I use to grab her snaffle ring and turn/spin her round and round. She'd normally only spin round twice and give in.
One day out she just kept rearing so I decided enough was enough and spent the next hour making her hack out alone and we went all the way round the block (about 10 miles) and she never reared again in the time I had her. She use to rear and then plunge forward, you would just about manage to get the reins and she would do it again. It was a scary time.
My boy bucks but high spirited bucks that aren't very high, although they feel high and certainly unbalance me they aren't meant to get me off (:D)
So I think I would rather avoid the bucker, mainly as the rearing is perhaps easier to stay on than the hugh ''off you get'' buck.
I've been on board when a horse reared over with me, I was lucky that day and we both had a soft almost slow motion landing.
 
My daughter's mare both rears and bucks at times, we are expecting a lot of if when the snow finally clears and she gets back to work, my daughter says she'd rather have the bucks. The thing she finds most awful to deal with is bolting.
 
Either really. Have one that likes to do both, uses it as her first line of defense. I don't take her out in public anymore cos it stresses her out too much.

Her sister has a wicked buck in her, but neither have got me off thank goodness.
 
kerilli said:
You see, I feel exactly the opposite. The last time I got bucked off I had absolutely no warning, it happened soooo fast, one second I was in the plate, securely in the middle (or so I thought) and the next I was on the floor. :( :(
Whereas most rearers (not the nutters that just flip, fair enough) you get some warning - they hesitate, go light in front, give you a big heads-up that they're about to do it. And it's usually easy to sit on, and easy to bale out sideways too, I've done this on a few rearers and it's worked, takes the wind out of their sails, kind of thing.

As a few people have said though, neither is better, I just love horses who never do either!
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Basically - what she said! i do a lot of reschooling, rebreaking, problem horses, written off nutters, etc - and a rearer doesn't worry me although any major evasion is unpleasant, but buckers I really wouldn't trust as far as I can throw them. I would say that buckers want you off their back in any way shape or form, whereas a rear is not a means of dispatching a rider and a calculated way of saying no whilst preserving their jockey.

I do have one horse I gave up trying to break as she had an up and over back flip habit, she broke the "rule" I suggested above. She wanted you off and she wanted you to suffer. Bless the mare - she is quite sweet, occasionally, but has been starved and abused in her past and shows long lasting trauma - physically and mentally.

I've had this discussion with some other horsey people before who think that a rear is lifting the front feet up and a buck is lifting the back feet up, whether that is six inches or six foot off the ground!
 
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Neither thank you..:D

I think there are too many horses around that do neither and that are desperate for a caring home at the mo that I would avoid either especially as I am a big wuss...I will leave the naughty ones to those that don't mind.

Merry Christmas everyone xx
 
If it's big, neither. My steeplechaser could do handstands and bucked so big he could catapult me, and it was often without warning, although he only did it when something excited him. I hated it, and amazingly I only had a handfull of falls, though I did go to A&E semi concious after one fall. However it was only the rearing that made me decide to call it a day. He started making a habbit of going up vertical at shows. He never fell with me, but I'm sure a couple of times he was close to losing balance and coming over onto me. I felt completely out of control, and that scared me. Proper rearing is frightening.

Edited to add.. I still have him, and he's very happy and well, but he'll remain unridden. I'm not prepared to sell him for him to end up hurting someone or for him to come to a horrible end. He's a companion for my new, safe, non bucking/rearing horse!
 
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Small/normal bucks no problem, don't like rearers having had one that went vertical with me if I applied any sort of break XC (and would then snatch and leap forwards). Wouldn't sit on anything that was likely to go over with me though.

However don't much like the below which madam most frequently does when someone is onboard - hardly ever to hack but anything which involves an arena/schooling/discipline :rolleyes:

Tillyplayinginsnowjan09.jpg


Needless to say its no fun, without warning, and frequently scares the pants off me as *if* I hit the deck I know its going to hurt!
 
I've never ridden anything that bucks properly so find it hard to comment, have had those that bronc as a youngster but the plungy wungies and the like and not big proper bucks meant to send you flying (though some gave it a good try ;) ).

Fleur was a rearer though (and in a way always will be) so I have experience with dealing with a proper rearer and was always slightly happier in the knowledge I could pre-empt them and had that half a second to spin her before she would actually go up. Only had to bail ship once, which was when she was on the verge of going over and given where we were I had no chance to spin etc.

So given my experiences as long as the cause can be identified and corrected I would prefer a rearer to a bucker as think i'm more likely to be able to stay in the plate ;)
 
hmmm i dont know which i would prefer!! Mine kinda done a bit of both :rolleyes: He through me off twice within 30 mins with HUGE bucks last year, was just troting a circle and someone cantered past he spooked for no reason and plonk off i pop!! Then the whole time consisted of canter buck canter buck buck ... and so on!! Another time he reared and slipped over sideways ontop of me! Hmmmm I just dont know!!!
 
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