What does bolting mean to you?

redredruby

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I've always thought that bolting was when a horse ran away from something purely on instinct without any comprehension of risk to itself or rider - The ultimate flight response if you like.

It was something which happened incredibly rarely and was rightfully recognised as extremely dangerous to horse, rider and anyone unlucky enough to be on the way.

Recently though I have heard it used regularly as a way to describe a horse running off (either through a spook or high jinks) or getting too strong and not stopping when the rider asks - for example, I've heard people say "he bolted down the bridle path" but on further discussion, the horse did actually stop but when it wanted to as opposed to when the rider asked.

So, what does bolting mean to you and does it matter if it is used to mean different things?

Personally, I think bolting should only be used to describe the most extreme situation, as it undermines just how serious a bolting horse is when it is used so freely and regularly. I also think it is sometimes a way to justify bad behaviour or poor riding - saying it 'bolted' implies there was nothing to be done to prevent it happening.

Thoughts?
 

Deltaflyer

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I've ridden a true bolter and it's very frightening. The horse would take off without warning and for no apparent reason and wouldn't stop until, basically, it wanted to. It was sold on and I inadvertently met the girl who'd bought it. The mare actually jumped a car during a bolting session on one occasion. In the end she had it PTS as it was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

I've ridden many sharp horses over the years who've 'taken off' when they've been feeling extra keen. My current boy will run if something scares him or he'll decide to have a gallop instead of a canter but I can always stop him. None of them compare to the true bolter which would run blind and could not be pulled up.

It's a bit like people saying their horse 'bronced' when all it did was a couple of fly-bucks.
 

Orca

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I've also been passenger on a true bolter. A youngster, just broken when we met with a milk tanker which 'chased' (in the youngsters eye) us down. The youngster had a point - the tanker refused to stop, just kept coming and this poor boy shot off in a true, blind panic, careening into trees, a car, tried to jump a 4ft hedge (with an 8ft drop), all at high speed, and more. We didn't stop until we reached the yard, he was shaking and lathered in sweat and every movement I made to dismount terrified him further. It was one of the two scariest experience of my thirty years with horses.

Yes, there's a difference between bolting and tanking (or ******ing off!). My first pony was a tanker - that was nothing compared to this. Not to detract from the seriousness and potential risk of riding a tanker but they really are two different things entirely. A tanker still has its wits about it, for one thing.
 

Hepsibah

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I think there's a massive difference between a horse buggering off with you and a horse bolting. A horse that takes off and ignores it's rider is a nuisance but one that bolts mindlessly is death on four legs. I would PTS a bolter with no regrets whatsoever.

ETA: I would give a young, inexperienced horse the benefit of the doubt.
 
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Sukistokes2

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I see bolting as true panic, an uncontrollable run where the horse has no regard for its own safety because it is really terrified. I have never had a horse bolt. Anything else is called a bog off or the horse has taken off, got too excited, too strong and just pissed off with you. Not a bolt at all but people like to juice things up.
 

Enfys

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A bolting horse, to me, is one who is running for his life, regardless of what is in the way, or who is on his back.

Being on a bolting horse makes you think "should I bail out, and does it hurt to die?" A feeling of complete helplessness. Been there, done that, several times, never want to experience it again, I have stayed with a couple, and bailed out a time or two as well - note to self, bailing out into a cut and laid hedge - bad idea :(


Someone who has been truly bolted with does not use the term lightly.
 

Ceriann

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I've had horses tank with me due to naughtiness and whilst not fun it doesn't compare to a true bolt, which I've only experienced once. The horse lost it for no apparent reason, I exited a side door due to the interesting shapes she was making and she continued to exit the drive, went straight over the road, through a thick hedge and into our neighbours garden (which was a circa 4ft drop from road level). Terrified me every time I looked at the gap in the hedge and I was never able to trust her again (I've just retired her as a pet)!
 

khalino

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Mine bolts and I think it is a total lack of trust and respect as well as bad riding on my part. I'm re-schooling him and having everything checked out. I have only fallen once from his bolts, and I now refuse to hack out on open fields.

It's not a fun experience and yes, if you consider if you fall...will you die?
 

FlyingCircus

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Pee'ing off -

Oh look, there's a fence...he'll either stop or go over it.

Bolting -

Oh S**t, there's a fence, we're going through it!
 

D66

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It's only on here that I've ever heard of "true bolting"! For the last 45 years of my horsey existence bolting meant going a lot faster than the rider wanted and not necessarily in the intended direction.
When some one wanted to indicate the horse had galloped without regard to its safety they might say he "panicked blindly".
 

eggs

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Having been truly bolted off with twice there is a definite difference between a horse bolting - running blind and unable to respond to the rider - with one that has just tanked off - not stoping when I want but still very aware of their surroundings and which you can actually stop when you realise you are getting rather close to a road (on a bolting horse there would be no stopping).

On one of the occasions I was bolted with I bailed out (off a 16.2 TB in a flat out gallop downhill in a wood). That was the less scary option than staying onboard ...
 

rachk89

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To me, its running and not listening at all. Doesnt have to be out of fear, but usually is. I used to ride a horse that kind of bolted with people if she knew she could get away with it. When you went into canter, she took control of the speed and ran, head down and pulled. Only way I could stop her in canter was to run her into a wall. But one day while in a bad mood, she went into canter and started pulling and I got angry and just kicked her on. My only thought was 'I've had a crap day, so if you want to run fine, but I'm controlling the speed', she wasnt prepared for that and actually slowed down, but I made her keep going. Never had an issue with her after that, even got her doing almost a passage one time. Its not really a true bolt I guess but thats the only one I've ever managed to gain control of. Got bolted with 3 times with the ex racer and fell off each time. :p
 

Nudibranch

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Mm, tend to agree with the majority on here. Running away is through behaviour/schooling/choice whereas a bolt is uncontrollable and the horse has lost it. I rode a horse for someone and it bolted, ran into a fence and I was catapulted off and broke my collarbone. Turns out it was a habitual bolter, not that they bothered to share that beforehand. I never found out what was wrong with it, but it's completely different to a horse being strong or running off.
 

khalino

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Pee'ing off -

Oh look, there's a fence...he'll either stop or go over it.

Bolting -

Oh S**t, there's a fence, we're going through it!

Hmm, this clears a little up for me then, he stops at fences, well, I say stops, has enough presence of mind to stop, avoid them. So maybe he's just pissing off with me, but I have no breaks at all...
 

gothdolly

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I think a lot of people use "bolting" to describe what I would call " he tanked off with me for a bit". I have ridden a true bolter and he went over or through everything in his path, a terrifying experience that only ended when he arrived back at the yard and god knows how I was still on board. He had form for bolting before in previous homes and after that incident I retired him. Whereas a horse "tanking off" can usually be stopped by half halt, turning in a circle or turning into a hedge etc. A bolter can't be influenced at all.
 

Evie91

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Goth dolly - I would agree with your description and that lots of people using the term bolting to describe a horse that's actually tanking instead.
 

skint1

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I would agree with the majority, there's a huge difference between bolting and tanking off.

I've certainly experienced being tanked off with, even my angelic mare used to get the devil in her and a sedate canter across the stubble would turn into a race and whilst there's some white knuckle peril there for sure, you know that they'll stop eventually and they're not dangerously out of control, they're just having fun. I thank every God there is I have never experienced a bolter, I presume it's an extreme fear response.
 

alainax

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I had I who would tank off with me. Nothing I could do to stop him, jumped the 5 bar gate out of the arena with me on him. He wasn't scared though, happy as Larry went back to his stable. To me that's tanking off. Taking the piss to get out of work. Just another evasion tactic which requires proper schooling.

A bolter does so through fear or panic, runs blindly away from the danger in fear for its life. There is no amount of schooling which would fix it.

Then there is pissing off with you or scooting off... Where they drop the bum and have a burst of fast speed, which is quickly regained control of by the rider.

That's how I class them anyway!
 

skint1

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.. Where they drop the bum and have a burst of fast speed, which is quickly regained control of by the rider.

That's how I class them anyway!

My big guy does this, I call it his "Scooby Doo" move, my friend's pony does it too she calls it "motorbiking"
 

gothdolly

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I'm sure lots of bolters do so out of fear or panic but what about those who seem to just "flip" for no reason whatsoever? Assuming you have ruled out pain/badly fitting tack etc. I have always wondered why they do it. Mine was fine for 2 years and I thought I had cured him through schooling, physio and vet etc, but one lovely summer day he just bolted........no apparent trigger at all.
 

Flame_

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Blind bolting is what most people on here call bolting.

To me, bolting is a horse that has f'd off out of control, it does not necessarily have to be suicidal, or even ridden. Hence the saying "Closing the stable door after the horse has bolted".

The ones that bolt, as in runaway with their rider, having lost the plot completely and run into trees, etc, are a lost cause not to be messed with.
 

Regandal

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A true bolter only stops when it meets an immovable object/runs out of road. In my case, many moons ago, it was when the track we were on ended in a huge ditch. Horse and I were splatted. Luckily a soft landing. I was convinced that I was about to die.
 

DappleGreyDaydreamer

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I agree. I was once in a terrifying situation on my friend's anxious ex-racing mare out on a hack, when she became very unsettled and suddenly bolted back to the stables, down the bridlepath we'd been riding down, and she hurtled straight across a busy road completely out of my control... Before that, I used to say that my horse had "bolted" when he'd run away from something that spooked him, but that's nothing compared to the blind panic that mare was in. Very scary, word should not be used lightly! We were both lucky to come away with our lives.
 

oldie48

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Blind panic! I've only been bolted with once and both horses went together. I owned both and neither had shown any tendency to misbehave in any way. We had absolutely no control for about a mile. I still don't understand what happened but I did expect to die as we were on a single track lane, fortunately we didn't meet any traffic. My friend riding the horse I'd had for years, has never ridden again. she was absolutely terrified, strangely ( and I'm not a very brave person) I felt completely calm as there was nothing I could do. I just awaited my fate!
 

pennandh

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I would say that there's been one time that H has really bolted with me (he tanks occasionally, but it's mostly quite easy to pull him up) - we went nearly half a mile flat out up a road with no verge (there was a hedge right alongside) being followed by six motorcycles in convoy, and I genuinely thought it was the end.

I mean, we were on tarmac; I had no brakes at all; my dodgy knee was messing up my balance; and there were cars coming in the other direction. So I clung on and I prayed. And then the motorcyclists decided to speed up and pass us, which was bleeding terrifying at the time, but once they were about fifty yards ahead of us, H decided the threat was gone and came back down to trot.

He was a paragon of virtue all the way home, actually, which is just as well because I'm not sure my heart could've taken a second incident like that.
 

Dizzydancer

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My previous horse did it once with me an that is why he is my previous horse.
Absolutely petrifying and how we stayed upright I will never know. He did it through fear of being left alone but I couldn't bring myself to trust him out in open space again so he went back to his owner to retire in a field he only stopped when he got back to the yard.
Horses who 'tank off' are a different kettle of fish and just take a bit of working out of how to stop but there is always a way!
 

ILuvCowparsely

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I've always thought that bolting was when a horse ran away from something purely on instinct without any comprehension of risk to itself or rider - The ultimate flight response if you like.

It was something which happened incredibly rarely and was rightfully recognised as extremely dangerous to horse, rider and anyone unlucky enough to be on the way.

Recently though I have heard it used regularly as a way to describe a horse running off (either through a spook or high jinks) or getting too strong and not stopping when the rider asks - for example, I've heard people say "he bolted down the bridle path" but on further discussion, the horse did actually stop but when it wanted to as opposed to when the rider asked.

So, what does bolting mean to you and does it matter if it is used to mean different things?

Personally, I think bolting should only be used to describe the most extreme situation, as it undermines just how serious a bolting horse is when it is used so freely and regularly. I also think it is sometimes a way to justify bad behaviour or poor riding - saying it 'bolted' implies there was nothing to be done to prevent it happening.

Thoughts?
I see bolting as a horse suddenly, fear or flight or fight taking evasive action to go a certain way at top speed in a postured where the rider cannot (without due will power and strength or experience) regain control of the horse. Unless the horse tires/ rider falls off or rider grabs the bit with both hands and turns the horse into a solid object for instance a fence.

A very dangerous situation.
 

pansymouse

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I agree with the consensus i.e. bolting is a flat out without regard to safety flight mechanism everything else is tanking. I've been bolted with a handful of times over my 50 years riding, I've been tanked with on a fairly regular basis (I like fast, feisty horses). Bolting is unbelievably frightening mainly on the basis one or both of you have a real possibility of not coming out of it alive or at best in one piece. Tanking is quite fun on the whole.
 
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