That was NOT fun !!!

[Neptune]

I hate my horse... ok, or at least would like to ask him. WHAT THE EFF !!

So off on our hack we go.. walking along, up the hill I ask him to round down a little more, getting him stretching over his back and to push from behind. Nope...to much like hard work for him. He has other ideas, cue a Pidgeon flying out of the tree above and any excuse for him to spook and get out of the work. Nothing unusual! BUT then he decides he is going to follow it up with a full on bolt off, up the hill, round 2 twisty bends, back down the other side of the hill, sharp left turn (almost sending me flying!) continuing down the hill another sharp left turn on to the flat (he is heading for home, just one more sharp right turn and he would be on the homeward stretch) Managed to finally catch him before the right turn and he continued straight on up the path. Realising he had passed the turning for home and was actually now heading away from home he finally let me pull him up!

We continued to walk in the direction away from home all the while making him work into the contact. We managed to go back up the hill where we had just exited from rather quickly in walk stretching and pushing from behind.

So we continued our hack in this manner, I was not even going to give him an inch of opportunity! Then out of no where - no idea what caused it this time, he is gone again! On a different track this time further up the hill we go, knowing he will want to turn left for home I manage to keep him on the path and we continue up the hill, me thinking he will stop as he didn't get to go the way he wanted to go. Oooohhhhh no. He continues on round the twisty path back down the hill through the mud. Problem being the path does not get used that much and all the trees had over grown and hitting me left right and centre! Ouchies!! The path finally led to a clearing and I managed to turn him off the twisty muddy path and he started to slow. So managed to finally get his head and held to the left he was still trying to go, I pushed him into the bushes hoping to slow him but no such luck, so after he had hit in the face several times by the bushes speeding past us, he gave it up and stopped.

We continued our hack, albeit a lot quicker than anticipatedand at no point did he actually get to go home until it was my decision. Then finally when we did get on the path for home i made him work all the way along it and we went straight into the school when we got back to the yard and he was schooled for 20 mins. He was as good as gold. If better as the hack had given him more energy for it.. Not quite the energy I had been looking for though!


Which brings me back to now what? He has done this to mebefore, although no where near as bad as it was today. He was just gone todayand no matter what i did he wasn’t stopping he had hold of the bit, head up and gone. I had no room to attempt to turn him as the paths are narrow and have either a ditch or wire electric fencing either side. The 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] time I managed to get his headbent round at the last point and he eventually slowed.


So my angry mind is thinking standing martingale / grackle noseband and a Waterford full cheek bit. But maybe others have ideas that are not so angry as mine! Oh and some decent riding gloves. My magic sticky gloves just did not cut it today. They allowed the reins to slip through my fingers,another reason I struggled to stop him, not easy with loonnggg reins. Have blisters over my fingers from trying to pull him up, luckily I had vaselinedhis mouth up before we had left!


His teeth / saddle / back are all up to date (although can’t vouch for his back now after slipping over several times mid bolting episode)


What else could I have done? What can I do to help myself next time? Change his tack or just have to work on it? He is currently ridden in a flash noseband with a loose ring NS team up bit (it wasn’t very TEAM oriented today! Lol)


I’m actually laughing to myself about it now. We both came back in one piece. I may have very sore hands and scratches all over my face from various trees and bushes wacking me at full pelt. He is just such a cheeky begger! But i really need to work out a way of nipping this in the bud before it becomes habit... Ideas? As I say he has done this before. If only to give me more control should it happen and hopefully allow me to bring him back a lot quicker!

Cookies and Hot Chocolate if you made it this far (It is bedtime after all) J

 

[Tash88]

Doesn't sound pleasant at all, and well done for getting back in one piece and not losing your nerve too much by the sound of it. Do you ever hack out in company? If so, what is he like then? To be honest I wouldn't be going out on your own for a little while now as it could have been much worse.

 

[Neptune]

We do hack out in company sometimes. He can take it or leave it. Sometimes he is happy to walk along with the other horse and other times he wants to be marching ahead. He still can be spooky in company, but they are normally silly leg jumps or side steps. Same as they normally are when on he is on his own, today was a bit of an exception!

 

[Kelpie]

Are you sure it's not pain related?

Although you mention teeth/ saddle/ back "done", there's lots of things a physio/ chiro, etc, can miss and that frankly anyone could miss without a full vet work-up/ x-rays/ scans, etc, etc. If it really is out of character then pain would very much be my first thought. even if not teeth/back, etc, there are lots of other things to think about, like ulcers/ ligaments, etc.

Also, have you done anything to change his management lately? More or less turnout? More or less feed?, etc.

Really hope you get to the bottom of it, whatever it is.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

This just not normal behaviour, not to worry you, but is it possibly a symptom of something serious, I would stop riding for a week or more, and go back to ground work on long reins and careful grooming, looking for some pain reaction, also ask physio to come and show you stretches and so on.
Vet consultation at some time when you have carried out observation.

How did he appear to be on the day and at the time of the incident ... ears, tension, sweating in patches, how is he with farrier, has he shown any aggression at any time.

 

[Mince Pie]

If you are completely sure he is pain free (bute trial?) and he is sticking his head up whilst evading you then I would absolutely stick a set of draw reins on.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

A bit obvious, but check tack and also skin for anything which could cause sudden pain.

 

[elliefiz]

Had the same problem with my big horse. He is 13 so not a youngster and had developed a bolting habit. The more traditional route would have been stronger bit etc but I wanted to work out why he did it because it was so out of character. Had Chris Morris from Whispering Equus out ( a student of Monty Roberts) and have been seeking help from Warwick Schiller in the USA. Both have said he was bolting due to being over anxious and not knowing how to deal with it. Have done lots of ground work, even simple things like teaching him to lead properly which is actually pretty different to most peoples idea of correct leading. I have a much more confident, trusting horse as a result although it is an ongoing process. I'm willing to put the time in as am aware there is no quick fix to anything. Just to note both said they would consider my horse dangerous- he had bolted only 3 times and other occasions could hack for hours without a blip so I thought they were exaggerating. But it's been explained that a horse that bolts and is unstoppable is usually frightened and has zero self preservation never mind regard for whomever is on their back. Was also advised that a stronger bit would have solved nothing but prob panicked him more.

Eta my first port of call was to check nothing was causing him any discomfort so he had back, teeth, saddle checked, vet did full check up on him etc

 

[Fides]

I'm another to think pain and a full vet work up. Bolting like that, especially twice in one hack, is not normal and I would be reluctant to ride again until I had eliminated the possibility of pain. If pain is the cause it would be pretty severe to cause a bolt.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

I have ridden a few horses which "bolted" that is to say I was not in control and they were galloping, but they were not going to run into a solid brick wall, and there were no brick walls around and it was obviously a regular thing for that particular equid, so I was relatively relaxed, and obviously I lived to tell the tale, any extreme reaction would have made matters worse.
There are a few times when you have to use brute force, and actually you have to pre-empt the bolt while you still are in control. This is a fight which you have to win.
Some racehorses take "a hold" that is to say they feel as though they are pulling, but they are just "strong" and will pull up if asked.
I was once asked to ride a nice young cob, dad a vet, daughter a teenage girl, lovely cob, wrong owners: he never put a foot wrong. I suggested they swap for an older horse and I would buy the cob!

I have de-camped from a horse when a leather broke and we were about to go downhill where there were concrete posts, but this was a racehorse and pretty fit, not bolting, but without the means to pull up.

 

[9tails]

Why do you vaseline up his mouth? I've never done this but it seems that you're expecting to have a huge speed battle when out. I use a NS verbindend and I don't have much say in the matter when using it though the horse loves it and isn't rude, so you could be using a bit that is just too soft for that particular horse. I'd rather a bit more instant control and a lot less ineffectual pulling and hauling.

 

[Neptune]

Are you sure it's not pain related?

Although you mention teeth/ saddle/ back "done", there's lots of things a physio/ chiro, etc, can miss and that frankly anyone could miss without a full vet work-up/ x-rays/ scans, etc, etc. If it really is out of character then pain would very much be my first thought. even if not teeth/back, etc, there are lots of other things to think about, like ulcers/ ligaments, etc.

Also, have you done anything to change his management lately? More or less turnout? More or less feed?, etc.

Really hope you get to the bottom of it, whatever it is.

Can I be sure its 100% unrelated to pain, no I can't, but I do my best to keep on top of these things. His teeth were done less than a month ago, saddle around the same time. He had the chiro out to him about 2 weeks ago, something he regularly gets checked on around every couple of months. He had the vet see to him about a week ago after the chiro as the chiro had found a few sore bits and I wanted to make sure they were gone, so nabbed the vet while he was already at the yard and he confirmed he had no reaction of pain over his back. As you say there could be a million and one other things it could be in relation to pain but he has not shown any other out of the ordinary signs in relation to any pain elsewhere.

He is getting more turn out now the better weather is here, so the spring grass could easily be playing its part... So how should I deal with the bolting if this is the case?

How did he appear to be on the day and at the time of the incident ... ears, tension, sweating in patches, how is he with farrier, has he shown any aggression at any time.

His normal self. Bought him in from the field as normal. No sweating / tension anywhere. He was shod about a week ago and was fine. No aggression, standing still to be mounted. No reaction from being tacked up / girth tightening etc... all very normal.

If you are completely sure he is pain free (bute trial?) and he is sticking his head up whilst evading you then I would absolutely stick a set of draw reins on.

I have not tried a bute trial. I have never used draw reins before so would be reluctant to as not sure I really know how to use them correctly and do not want to do more damage than good. My 1st thought was a standing martingale. He is currently ridden in a running martingale.

A bit obvious, but check tack and also skin for anything which could cause sudden pain.

Will check the tack later and check him over for any scratches or maybe fly bites that may be irritated by the tack and causing pain.

Had the same problem with my big horse. He is 13 so not a youngster and had developed a bolting habit. The more traditional route would have been stronger bit etc but I wanted to work out why he did it because it was so out of character. Had Chris Morris from Whispering Equus out ( a student of Monty Roberts) and have been seeking help from Warwick Schiller in the USA. Both have said he was bolting due to being over anxious and not knowing how to deal with it. Have done lots of ground work, even simple things like teaching him to lead properly which is actually pretty different to most peoples idea of correct leading. I have a much more confident, trusting horse as a result although it is an ongoing process. I'm willing to put the time in as am aware there is no quick fix to anything. Just to note both said they would consider my horse dangerous- he had bolted only 3 times and other occasions could hack for hours without a blip so I thought they were exaggerating. But it's been explained that a horse that bolts and is unstoppable is usually frightened and has zero self preservation never mind regard for whomever is on their back. Was also advised that a stronger bit would have solved nothing but prob panicked him more.

Eta my first port of call was to check nothing was causing him any discomfort so he had back, teeth, saddle checked, vet did full check up on him etc

Thanks, you say he only bolted around 3 times with you. Guessing these must have been over a few days to warrant you deciding it was a behaviour issue and not just him taking liberties?


He has no reason to be in pain at the moment, but horses are horses at the end of the day a quick fun and games session round the field and they can do something silly! So I have today been looking at getting him booked in with a physio.To get him checked over. I will observe him for a few days up to the Physio coming and afterwards before we go down the route of a full vet work up. As he has shown no other signs of discomfort or pain anywhere and is his normal jolly self.

But I am still inclined to think it is more of a nappy behaviour, he was heading for home each time. He can be quite nappy horse anyway, and does tend to use spooking to attempt to get out of the work he doesn't want to do at that time (work in progress to get him out of it)

 

[Kelpie]

It could be it's not pain but having been down that road before only to find out my poor mare had severe bilateral PSD, I am super paranoid to rule out pain first, and anyway I think we owe that to our horses. A word of warning on bute tests, though - they may give you information but they cannot be 100% relied on. I bute tested my mare and no difference - but it would have been the equivalent of giving someone with a broken leg an asprin.

If it is genuine nappiness, it is odd that it has only shown up just now. How long have you had him for? Had he ever given you an indication before of not being entirely on-side? Things I would be thinking to try would be:

Walking him in hand, to see if his nappiness shows up then.
Riding him with someone on the ground with you for a while, until you are sure he has his confidence back (napiness can be a confidence issue, rather than as such a naughtiness).
Riding him in company until you are sure he has his confidence back.

I think you're right to resist using draw reins...... and anyway a true bolter will still bolt in draw reins - he'll just do it with his head on his chest. What you might find useful, though, is to teach your horse a one rein stop and use a bit with cheek pieces (e.g. fulmer) to help you with that. If you can catch a horse's thought to go before all four legs have set off, and do a one rein stop/ disengage the hind legs, that can be a tremendous tool. You do have to learn to do it properly, though, so do get some lessons for someone who knows how to do it. Used wrongly it is very dangerous and can pull your horse over.

 

[elliefiz]

Over the space of a number of weeks he bolted 3 times. I wanted it nipped in the bud so decided to address it before it got worse.

With my horse it could have been spring grass, change of feed, the fact the sky was blue- I have learned there is no excuse for uncontrollable behaviour since I've looked for help from people who address it from a behavioural point of view. It has made so much sense to me but recognise it's not for everyone.

 

[Neptune]

Why do you vaseline up his mouth?

He has a sensitive mouth (contary to the pulling he did to me yesterday!) and many bits do rub him. He has bit rubbers
on and I put the vaseline on to help also. Nothing to do with expecting a speed battle. We do not actually do much fast
work out at all. I just use the vaseline as routine.


Kelpie

If it is genuine nappiness, it is odd that it has only shown up just now. How long have you had him for?
Had he ever given you an indication before of not being entirely on-side?

Yes, he was quite bad when I 1st got him. About 2 years ago. We spent summer just getting a simple walk hack longer than half hour!
he would spin and head for home, although normally manged to stop him after a few strides. As you say a confidence thing is all it was.
Which was worked on in many of the ways you say and he has been fine for a while, But still has that nappyness in him at times. I do
not believe it is a confidence issue anymore, just a plain old. i don't want to work today...I'm going home. Just yesterday is the worse it
has been​

 

[Kelpie]

You know your horse, of course, but imho, if a horse doesn't want to work there is generally a reason for that ...... So ideally I would keep racking my brains and experimenting to find that reason......

 

[NZJenny]

Just reading thru your original post - what pace do you hack at? I see you talk about walking, but have you considered moving on at a good trot instead if you are able? After years of training endurance horses, two of whom are recreational shyers, I have far fewer problems if we go out the gate and get going.

I see it a lot in horses that are just hacked mostly at walk, they are bored witless and are just dying to get moving.

 

[redfoxhunter]

Nothing on the bolting that hasn't been mentioned, would definitely recommend a good trot rather than a walk though so get over the napping and shying.

Gloves - I love my Ariat Tek Grip gloves, around £20, but are brilliant. I have pairs for everything in different colours!

 

[ecrozier]

Agree with all re ruling out pain... But if can do that - also second those who suggest moving on at a trot if you can, preferably in a nice low frame but with a good contact! My little horse is a spooky monster but tends to just dance around on the spot snorting and telling the world about the killer 'whatever' he had found, so not a major issue. Big horse far less spooky but when he does, he is lightning quick to drop shoulder spin and go! When he was on walking rehab from box rest I hacked in draw reins as they helped me catch him before he could go.... I don't ever use them normally but for this they were fab. Also as soon as we were allowed, cracking on a bit in trot as soon as he was able also gives him something else to think about.
Incidentally - I upped the bitting on small horse as he's strong to canter out, saves a battle. He's in a NS universal which has been very successful.

 

[Tinsel Trouble]

My horse does this at certain times of the year, it might be a bit windy, or the grass has come through, or the sheep weren't in the same spots as last time or he's just feeling really, really well!

I push him on until he can barely move and is begging to stop, no pulling, no tugging, he learns soon enough!

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Also i would get a.vet work up...physiotherapists cant tell.you everything, as my mare had regular treatments but still kept tensing and chucking my sister off when asking for contact and starting on more than loose rein work. And if she spooked or tensed up.under saddle a switch was flicked and she would flip.

turned out she had kissing spines, not saying that this is what yours has but if this behaviour continues full vet work up would be what i would recommend.