Spinning and Bolting

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ABG1103

ABG1103

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After some advice! Please be nice!!

My 20y/o cob is super spooky, and very prone to bolting.

He’s always bolted in open spaces but has recently started bolting on the road too, which is becoming dangerous and pretty frequent. Any advise around how to avoid him bolting would be brilliant. There doesn’t seem to be any sign he will go, he just bucks and pulls his head to the floor before galloping off this happens so quickly it’s hard to stop it. He seems to do it when he’s spooked at something.

Ive tried different bits, they made him worse, we do a lot of transitions out hacking to keep his brain ticking, i feel like i’ve tried every trick in the book, nothing seems to work.

He’s had his tack checked, regular physio and scoped for ulcers.

I’m a confident 21 year old rider, i’ve owned him 7 years, it’s been an issue since i started taking him on group fun rides about 5 years ago.

He’s 600kg and i’m only 9 1/2 stone, not sure if he’s just taking the mick!

Any advice would be appreciated, keeping in mind he is a very nervous spooky boy.
Thanks!
 
Hey!
He does it on his own and in company. He’s worse on his own though, and it can be anything.
It’s mostly tractors, buses, vans. Anything that makes noise, however sometimes he just goes with no explanation! :)
 
Dust Bunny said:
Hmm, I know you've had him for a while. Have you ever tried walking him (not riding) the route?
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I haven’t tried this, however he does seem to be worse leading than ridden.
He’s broken my foot and someone else’s leg before from spooking whilst being lead.
It also doesn’t seem to be a certain route that he does it, just wherever i take him whenever 🤦‍♀️
 
Dust Bunny said:
Have you noticed what it is that spooks him? Does he do it in the group, or just when you're out alone?
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Hey!
He does it on his own and in company. He’s worse on his own though, and it can be anything.
It’s mostly tractors, buses, vans. Anything that makes noise, however sometimes he just goes with no explanation! :)
 
marmalade76 said:
He's just escalated the napping.
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Do you have any advise on how to approach this problem?
I can never tell whether he’s genuinely scared or if he’s just being an idiot! never know how to approach this behaviour without scaring him or making it worse.
 
ABG1103 said:
Do you have any advise on how to approach this problem?
I can never tell whether he’s genuinely scared or if he’s just being an idiot! never know how to approach this behaviour without scaring him or making it worse.
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Not really, sorry. At this stage in my life, I'd either stick to what he will do without issues (in other words, give up) or find a stronger, more confident rider to have a go (providing all discomfort is ruled out). My old polo pony can be a bit more lively than I like so occasionally, when she's being a bit fresh, I get a young freelance rider to take her for a canter.

Best of luck.
 
I think the first thing to do, assuming you haven't already, would be to get the vet out for a good examination. I'd ask the vet to check his eyes, hocks and back in particular.
I'd also have his tack checked over to make sure it all fits well.
Once thats done then you know it's behavioural and can start to work on fixing it.
 
moosea said:
I think the first thing to do, assuming you haven't already, would be to get the vet out for a good examination. I'd ask the vet to check his eyes, hocks and back in particular.
I'd also have his tack checked over to make sure it all fits well.
Once thats done then you know it's behavioural and can start to work on fixing it.
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i never thought about his eyes or how they’d go about checking them, thank you i will do this!
He has hock arthritis which he is medicated for and has regular physio and saddle checks!
 
ABG1103 said:
He’s always bolted in open spaces but has recently started bolting on the road too, which is becoming dangerous and pretty frequent. Any advise around how to avoid him bolting would be brilliant.
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This is not a horse I would ride out. If you are taking a dangerous horse out on the road, or indeed anywhere, I hope you are armed with public liability insurance to at least £20m.
 
You must have Bobs twin! At 20 he has verged into the eccentric (even fir an Irish draught).Last week he was reprimanded for galloping up the high street! (editors note from Bob ,"It doesn't say no galloping)
Yesterday he decided ,having spotted the mare from the stable opposite his ahead .He needed to catch up and tell her what a slag he thinks she is .THEY DONT EVEN LIKE EACH OTHER!!! Tis involved a suicidal sideways canter down a deeply channelled chalk path . Absolutely nuts.
 
It’s impossible to ‘diagnose’ why he’s doing it over an internet forum. The reality is we’d need to see a video of his behaviour leading up to that point. Things often seem to come out of the blue but there are generally subtle signs beforehand.

My advice from a safety point of view would be that you need to cease road hacks for the time being. It’s all well and good him doing it on a bridelpath or in a field, but you pose serious risk to him, yourself and other road users if you continue on the roads.

It may well be a spook response, or an escalation of napping, but nobody here can know that for certain.

A few questions-
-Does he do it alone or in company, or both?
-Prior to the behaviour, how has he been for the hack up to that point?
-When it happens, is it ‘out of the blue’, or has something happened just prior to it? Ie a bird has flown out of a bush and spooked him, he’s heard a noise etc.
 
Long shot - but may be give him a reason to hack out? Sounds stupid but ride to a point, let him eat -the trees are coming into bud so that can be a tasty treat, carry on , then have another snack break! Or some variation of this (ride to a friends, give him a munch while you have coffee etc)
I read this on a natural horsemanship article years ago, that if the horse can’t see the point of the hack you have to make one?! Maybe worth a try.
 
I would definitely check eyesight and probably do a bute trial. I’d stay off the roads though.

I’ve got a 5yo who decided to bog off with me yesterday at…a ladder…then a lawnmower. Little darling is going up a bit level today - but I know she will respond to that well because she’s actually just being a madam and it’s her age and time of year. If I couldn’t fix the problem I would stick to off road and arena work.
 
How far does he go when he runs off?
Are you in or able to get any control, can you steer? Will he go though a fence for example?
I think you need to stop riding him on the road, you’re putting other people as risk. Get the vet checks and then get a professional who can actually see what’s going on in reality.

Good luck.
 
poiuytrewq said:
How far does he go when he runs off?
Are you in or able to get any control, can you steer? Will he go though a fence for example?
I think you need to stop riding him on the road, you’re putting other people as risk. Get the vet checks and then get a professional who can actually see what’s going on in reality.

Good luck.
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he doesn’t go far, about 5 metres.
I can stop him, but not from going in the first place if that makes sense.
 
scats said:
It’s impossible to ‘diagnose’ why he’s doing it over an internet forum. The reality is we’d need to see a video of his behaviour leading up to that point. Things often seem to come out of the blue but there are generally subtle signs beforehand.

My advice from a safety point of view would be that you need to cease road hacks for the time being. It’s all well and good him doing it on a bridelpath or in a field, but you pose serious risk to him, yourself and other road users if you continue on the roads.

It may well be a spook response, or an escalation of napping, but nobody here can know that for certain.

A few questions-
-Does he do it alone or in company, or both?
-Prior to the behaviour, how has he been for the hack up to that point?
-When it happens, is it ‘out of the blue’, or has something happened just prior to it? Ie a bird has flown out of a bush and spooked him, he’s heard a noise etc.
Click to expand...
He does it both in company and alone. It’s usually when he’s spooked at a loud noise :)

It’s difficult to stay off the roads as where i am has no arena, and we have to enter a quiet road to get to any bridleways.
 
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