What should you do when a horse broncs with you?

Keep the head up if poss and sit up. Easier said than done I must admit with some horses, One of my mares used to this and it was neigh impossible to keeo the head up and it came from no where :( She done this every day for 18 months and continued to bronc on top of me while I was on floor, I was riding her the last time she done it to me and she winded me so bad :( though lucky thats all that happened to me, when I finally got my breath back I snapped I had 18 months of it and I have to admit to I leather ed her she did have whip marks :( she never ever done it to me again and turned out to be the best most loving horse I ever had. She came with me to equine college the staff were warned as she continued to bronc with any other rider than me, she done it to one of the students and unlucky quite badly hurt them.
I would not advise giving the horse a good belting, as I never done it before or after and as I said gone through 18 months every single day. It was a last resort.
 
I have one of these as well, and sympathise!!! She generally starts it out of completely nowhere, normally when at high speed, the head goes down and off we go! People think i exaggerate but I have been so high out of the saddle before i have caught my foot on the top of it on the way back down, and even once had a chance to 'reposition' myself in the air to make sure I land back in the saddle on the way down!! Managed to stay on the last couple of times and hope to break the cycle soon - trouble is you cant recreate it - some days she is an angel then out of the blue she is off! was the horse young you were riding? i have been told she might grow out of it...

Totally agree some horses do this because of pain etc, but mine has had EVERYTHING checked rechecked and double checked and it has become apparent she does it when she is overexcited its almost like her head explodes. Agree with the keep head up, kick on etc but shes 'a big strong mare' as my instructor keeps telling me and its almost impossible to get it up when its down - i just squeak a lot and pray i stay on frantically!!!

Anyway well done for jumping off!! I wouldnt have had the balls!! :)
 
lol - echo the others, pull up his head asap and don't let him have it back again, if you know a horse is likely to bronk, bridge your reins first and don't let him have his head at all!

I'd be very suprised if that was the first time the horse has done it and I'm equally suprised you weren't told beforehand..
 
I'll go along with the general 'get his head up' advice - but once you're off and everything has calmed down, I'd agree with the earlier advice to get the saddle checked and also get the back checked. An initial quick and easy check is to make sure that the saddle cloth doesn't have any sharp bits in it (grass seeds, splinters etc) and that the girth wasn't pinching. I'd also suggest that it would really be worth getting his back checked out as well.

If it's not your horse, think very carefully before riding it again - as someone else has said, spending the rest of your life in a wheelchair or brain damaged is not worth it!

Glad you're ok and survived without too many bruises!
 
I am in the process of selling a horse that bronced with me - I broke my leg badly after being bronced off and had to have it pinned. He hardly ever does it but the fact of the matter is that I got hurt quite badly once and I'm not willing to repeat it again. He has tried to do it once with the guy who has him in for schooling to sell and I don't think he'd dare do it to him again but this guy is about a foot taller than me and is used to naughty horses. I am not brave enough to take my hand off the rein to give him a wallop because I need it to hold on.

I have only fallen off him twice. First time broke my leg, second time absolutely fine but it was enough for me to decide I didn't want a horse that bronced no matter how amazing he is going to be in the future. I just want a safe horse that I can enjoy and not think "is today going to be the day I get pinged off again". Perhaps that's being weak. I don't know but I do know life is too short to keep getting put in plaster!! I think I sat through about 10 broncing sessions. The one where I broke my leg I managed about 12 actual broncs then got ejected!!
 
carolineb said:
I am in the process of selling a horse that bronced with me - I broke my leg badly after being bronced off and had to have it pinned. He hardly ever does it but the fact of the matter is that I got hurt quite badly once and I'm not willing to repeat it again. He has tried to do it once with the guy who has him in for schooling to sell and I don't think he'd dare do it to him again but this guy is about a foot taller than me and is used to naughty horses. I am not brave enough to take my hand off the rein to give him a wallop because I need it to hold on.

I have only fallen off him twice. First time broke my leg, second time absolutely fine but it was enough for me to decide I didn't want a horse that bronced no matter how amazing he is going to be in the future. I just want a safe horse that I can enjoy and not think "is today going to be the day I get pinged off again". Perhaps that's being weak. I don't know but I do know life is too short to keep getting put in plaster!! I think I sat through about 10 broncing sessions. The one where I broke my leg I managed about 12 actual broncs then got ejected!!
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I am in exactly the same position, i am putting my horse out on loan that does this (to an old owner who knows him inside out).
He broncs when excited, when he doesnt want to do something etc. We have had everything checked, checked again and then rechecked.
So i have said that enough is enough. Especially after the fun ride where i spent 4 hours of constant broncing, leaping and plungeing. I sat to approx 50 of these (no joke) before coming off and hitting my head and pelvis badly, then he got me off a further 2 times. Then i walked the last bit as it was on a road.
But i have decided that before i get hurt or before he does it and gets loose on the road and has an accident with a car either hurting him or someone else, i am going to let him go to someone who can deal with it better.
I just want to have fun and a nice ride!.

But echo everyone else.....get the horses head up as soon as you can, by whatever means necessary. Wether its one rein you yank up or whether you really kick it on and growl at it etc, just get it up fast.
 
carolineb said:
I am in the process of selling a horse that bronced with me - I broke my leg badly after being bronced off and had to have it pinned. He hardly ever does it but the fact of the matter is that I got hurt quite badly once and I'm not willing to repeat it again. He has tried to do it once with the guy who has him in for schooling to sell and I don't think he'd dare do it to him again but this guy is about a foot taller than me and is used to naughty horses. I am not brave enough to take my hand off the rein to give him a wallop because I need it to hold on.

I have only fallen off him twice. First time broke my leg, second time absolutely fine but it was enough for me to decide I didn't want a horse that bronced no matter how amazing he is going to be in the future. I just want a safe horse that I can enjoy and not think "is today going to be the day I get pinged off again". Perhaps that's being weak. I don't know but I do know life is too short to keep getting put in plaster!! I think I sat through about 10 broncing sessions. The one where I broke my leg I managed about 12 actual broncs then got ejected!!
Click to expand...

My last horse was a bronc'er - he would do it when he didn't want to do something - physically all okay, he was just a little sh*t! lol

I sold him after coming off for the third time, the first two times I really hurt myself, luckily the last time I landed in a nice bouncy crop field. He used to bronc and then twist, I found it impossible to stay on.

He is much happier in his new home, lots more for him to think about - I am much happier without him!
 
In addition to what others have said, also keep your own head up and look straight ahead, if you find yourself looking at the floor you will find yourself hitting it fairly soon!

Other than that, just keep fighting - I've never been one who gives in and lets myself fall off if I can help it.

I used to ride a 17.2hh WB mare who really could buck; one particular day I was hanging off the side of her and really thought I was a goner. Then I caught sight of the ground and realised that if I let go now, I was going to hit a pile of jump wings and fillers - ouch!! Well that gave me the incentive to claw my way back into the saddle much to the amusement of those watching. However it took me a good ten minutes to stop shaking afterwards and I no longer volunteer to get on horses who buck!!
 
I was always taught to get the head up by ANY means, sit tight, and ride forward.

And, as others have said, if you don't fancy riding him again, then don't. It's bl**dy scary when a horse does that, even when you are exactly certain why they did it.
 
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