Riding school horse bolting to rear

[Teddysmom]

Hi all, I ride a lovely riding school horse, but I’m having some issues in my lessons at the moment. Anything we do that involves going round the outside of the school to the rear of the ride - fine. But introduce say a 20m circle at one end of the school instead of returning straight back to the group, or turning him away from the ride he just bolts back to his buddies. He seems to enjoy jumping, when it’s pop a jump then continue on to the other horses. Ask him to jump one, then turn away from the group and jump another or jump it again on the opposite rein - no way.
Nothing I do stops him. My instructor says he knows he’s unnerving me and he’s taking the p*ss. To me there’s no point fighting him, he’s stronger I won’t “win”, and I know he’ll stop when he gets back to the group. I’ve spoken to other people who ride him and he’s tanked off with them too. What can I as his rider do? What should the RS/instructor be doing?

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

There is a point to fighting it, assuming no pain issues then he is napping and being allowed to get away with it. Sounds like he needs more schooling which isn’t your responsibility but the riding schools.

Personally I would refuse to ride that horse in group lessons until you have more experience schooling and/or want to! I enjoy working on issues on my own horse but if I was paying riding school prices for a bit of fun I would want to have fun and learn. Not pay to iron out napping issues for someone else’s horse.

 

[1523679]

Nothing I do stops him. To me there’s no point fighting him

He knows this. He knows that he can do what he pleases and you won’t stop him. Same with the other pupils he “bolts” with.

There are effective ways of stopping this, but that’s probably a lesson for another day. Your current riding development will probably go better on a different, easier horse - so ask for a change of ride for the time being.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

He is not bolting he is running away with you/napping to the rear of the ride because he knows that you won't stop him. What does your RI suggest you do about it? I doubt actually that schooling by a staff member will make much difference, he will behave perfectly when he knows he has someone on top who will insist on good manners. It's not easy to advise without seeing you but I would be ready for him to want to turn the wrong way and put some opposing aids on just before he does it. Or ask for different horse to develop your skills on.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

He's napping because he can. He probably wouldn't even try with someone else riding him so he's just not a good fit for your stage of learning. You can either ask for help in learning how to deal with napping - mainly anticipating the way he will try and go and giving him a polite reminder with your leg (which may need to be backed up by a bl00dy good kick if/when he ignores you) on the opposite side to the one he's moving towards - or ask for a different horse. If a horse naps, think legs not hands. And apply the aid before the horse has even thought of napping. Most people leave it to late to react and then just try and pull the horse the way they want to go but they can nap with their necks flexed. So you need to think ahead and use your legs to keep him going in the right direction.

Napping is a PITA so as far as I am concerned the sooner people learn to nip it in the bud the better their future riding life will be! But if you just want to enjoy lessons without dealing with this issue then they should find you a better behaved horse.

 

[Keith_Beef]

I had a similar problem with a gelding that I ride very often.

He doesn't tank off to rejoin the group, but if he can't see the other horses he is continually turning his head, predominantly to the left, to try to see them and when he does he tries to turn and get closer to them.

If he has some of the others in front of him, he's fine, and as we go through an exercise he mostly does what I ask of him perfectly well. But we often do a circuit where, at a particular point, we have to choose to go left or right so as to avoid some part of the circuit getting congested... and here, if I choose to go the opposite way to the rider and horse ahead of us, he wants to follow.

For the past couple of weeks, I've been trying something a bit new. For the first ten minutes or so we are left to do warm-up as we like, first in walk then in trot; the instructor stands in the middle of the arena watching and calling out to us individually to fix some problem or other: "equal tension of the two reins", "he's asleep, wake him up!", and so on.

So what I've started doing is that after doing big figures-of-eight at slow then moderate then fast walk I deliberately take him to a bit of the arena where there are no other horses, and get him to do smaller and smaller squares. We start anticlockwise, doing about five or six paces, sharp 90° turn to the left, repeat a couple of times, then the same clockwise. Then a walk to the edge and back to the centre before doing the square with three or four paces to a side, anticlockwise and clockwise.

When the instructor tells us to start warming up at a trot, I have him do circles and serpentines, on one rein then the other, and also doing lots of transitions between walk and trot, trying to never do the same number of paces between transitions.

This all started from a time a few weeks ago when I was thrown from a different horse who spooked at a particular place in the arena; three times he spooked, and on the third time I fell off. The instructor told me that it was because I hadn't got his full attention, that I had let him start thinking for himself, and that I needed to keep him concentrated on what I was asking him to do. Doing squares in warm-up supposedly takes up a lot of the horse's brainpower and puts it in a mental state where it is more attentive to the rider and has less brainpower dedicated to its environment.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

It's not about physical strength, it's about determination and skill. I think the OP would be greatly helped by having some private lessons that really concentrate on moving from essentially being a passenger to actually riding the horse.

I would like to tell an anecdote that will hopefully show what I mean about frame of mind and determination making a huge difference. This particular incident doesn't even involve riding but leading the horse from the field to the yard.

When I was at my last livery yard it was a long walk through the winter turnout to get to the summer turnout. I went to catch my mare to bring her in, feed her, check her and so on. Another livery was doing the same.

On the way to the yard with our horses, the other horse planted and the owner could not get her mare to walk on. She was being very defeatist in the way she was asking, essentially verbally pleading with the mare to walk on. The mare ignored her owner and grazed. I asked if she needed help and was turned down so I took mine in and fed/groomed/checked for injuries and all that stuff.

On the way back, the other mare was still grazing and the owner was still ineffectually asking her to walk on. I went past, turned mine back out in the summer field and walked back to the yard. On my way back I asked again if the owner needed any help. This time they said yes. So I took the leadrope, insisted the mare lifted her head, gave her a flick with the end of the rope and firmly said 'walk on' which she did and we went straight to the yard, no messing at all.

The owner asked for some advise and i said that in my mind we were going to that yard and there was no other option. The mare knew from my body language that I wasn't going to be a pushover and let her graze so we went to the yard.

It's not about strength. The mare was a big Welsh Cob, she could just have pulled me off my feet, dragged the rope from my hands and gone back to grazing. However horses are usually very biddable by nature, if you train them correctly and ask them correctly so they understand what it is you are asking.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I think it unfair of them to keep putting you on him for your lesson, it's ok them saying he knows he can get away with it but you obviously haven't got the skill set to stop it, so I think they should put on another horse that doesn't do it otherwise your just going to loose confidence.

 

[AdorableAlice]

OP, where in the country are you riding.

 

[HeyMich]

Unfortunately, you need a different pony, a different lesson set-up (individual maybe?) or a different riding school. You won't learn much with this arrangement, and your riding progression will suffer!

Good luck.

 

[SEL]

You know the horse is going to do this - sounds like its got away with it more times than it should - so when you go to do that 20m circle be prepared. Do NOT look at the back of the ride but focus on where you want to go like your life depends on it. I'm presuming the horse naps through its outside shoulder to head to the back off the ride so get a good hold of that inside rein, get your outside leg on and really mean to do that 20m circle. It doesn't actually matter if your circle is an odd shape providing the horse goes in the direction you want it to and does not head off back to his mates. There are times when a pony club kick has its uses and naughty 'knows every trick in the book' RS ponies will usually knuckle down and get on with their jobs when told to Go Forward.

Is this happening at walk or just at faster paces?

Are you allowed to carry a whip? If so, then pop it in your outside hand before you start the exercise. Sometimes just knowing its there can remind these RS ponies to remember their manners.

Even the smallest pony is stronger than you, but your RI is correct that this one is taking the p***. What they should be doing is teaching you techniques and tricks to manage it - ask them what they recommend you do to stop the pony doing this.

 

[Charley657]

I feel its up to the riding school to sort him out. When I was learning we had a horse that would buck if you tried to get him into canter. They used him for beginners too and it wasn't until he bucked off a couple of people that the staff stopped using him in lessons and worked on his issues. You sound like you like him a lot but I would request a different horse for a while so you can at least enjoy some of your lessons.

 

[teddypops]

I would expect the instructors to teach you how to deal with it so it doesn’t happen. Riding school ponies usually know every trick in the book. Riding lessons aren’t about looking pretty and the horse doing what it is sort of told. You wouldn’t learn to deal with any issues then. However, if he is scaring you or it’s getting dangerous or they are not teaching you to ride through it, you need to find a different riding school.

 

[Teddysmom]

Thanks for all your replies everyone. I haven’t really been given any advice on what to do to get past this, so have felt pretty helpless I suppose, and it is knocking my confidence. I haven’t been riding that long. After reading your replies I actually feel quite let down that the only instruction I’ve had is “don’t let him take the p*ss”… but no explanation of how/why he’s doing it, what to do if it happens, or how to anticipate it. I’ll ask for some direction - I’m there to learn and be taught after all!

 

[Ownedby4horses]

OP, get a private lesson where you can get the instructor to help you work through your control and specifically ask them to help you with the issue in the lesson. It’s safer learning in a private lesson as in a group lesson you’ll just Not get the input or time, as the instructors have everyone else to deal with too.

Ride the same horse in the private lesson. You Will then get some confidence on this horse, without expecting it to tank off to the other horses (bolting is a term misused as a bolting horse will pretty much go through/over solid objects to flee in fear, what you have is a horse that is tanking off with you).

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Thanks for all your replies everyone. I haven’t really been given any advice on what to do to get past this, so have felt pretty helpless I suppose, and it is knocking my confidence. I haven’t been riding that long. After reading your replies I actually feel quite let down that the only instruction I’ve had is “don’t let him take the p*ss”… but no explanation of how/why he’s doing it, what to do if it happens, or how to anticipate it. I’ll ask for some direction - I’m there to learn and be taught after all!

Make sure you let the instructor know clearly you don't know what "don't let him take the p" means in terms of what you need to be doing - don't struggle on in silence . You are absolutely right you are there to learn so if they can't break this down into something you can understand and act on then that's not great. I spent a period of time at a riding school like this sounds when I was a child. It was fine for a stage of my riding but eventually my parents helped me find somewhere else because it was clear that things probably wouldn't progress further there.

FWIW I very rarely ride in a group lesson and it shows as the last time I did the pony I'd ridden many times in private lessons became very nappy to get to his friends - he caught me out once on a 20m circle but the next time I was ready for him! You might need to get a little 'bossy' but equally your instructor needs to be letting you know what to do to keep him going where you want him to go.

 

[SEL]

Thanks for all your replies everyone. I haven’t really been given any advice on what to do to get past this, so have felt pretty helpless I suppose, and it is knocking my confidence. I haven’t been riding that long. After reading your replies I actually feel quite let down that the only instruction I’ve had is “don’t let him take the p*ss”… but no explanation of how/why he’s doing it, what to do if it happens, or how to anticipate it. I’ll ask for some direction - I’m there to learn and be taught after all!

It does frustrate me when RI can't teach a rider how to overcome this kind of behaviour. I had my horses on livery at a RS for a while and because I'm short I was forever getting on naughty ponies - but they wouldn't misbehave with me or decent riders so it didn't help matters much.

Ask your RI for advice on how to stop him doing this. In your head make sure you are thinking we WILL do that circle. Even if he powers around to the back of the ride then don't let him stop - pull him past the ride and make him do it again! RS ponies have often found ways to exert the least effort so finding he can't take a break at the back of the ride & you aren't a push over will help

 

[numptynovice]

Couple of things jump out to me- 1) surprised you’re jumping if you’re fairly new to riding and don’t know how to deal with this behaviour, it sounds like you’d benefit more from continuing your flat work 2) the instructor should give you specific instructions to prevent the napping (e.g. explain how to use your leg/rein/seat to block the napping).

Don’t be disheartened - riding school ponies do often tend to nap back to the group if lessons if allowed to, it has happened to me on numerous occasions and the wiliest horses still manage it sometimes if I’m not anticipating it. They genuinely do know every trick in the book. Learning how to manage it will make you a better rider, but you do need help to learn the techniques. Can you ask to ride a variety of horses so you’re not always stuck getting napped with? Or is it worth trying out a different school to see if the instruction suits you better?