What's the "correct" way of stopping a tanking horse?

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wench

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Did type out a slightly longer title but it didnt like it!

Just a bit of a random musing... What is the correct way of stopping a horse that either tanks off with you, or perhaps spooks at something and yhrn decides its going to run off?

How would stopping technique for the situation above differ if the horse was running away from pain?
 
It depends a lot on the horse, how it evades and why it's running. So on my old boy when he decided he was bored of me dictating speed (he always knew best) he'd cock his jaw and set and go. I found bridging my reins, and then pulling on one rein until he'd locked on it before dropping it was effective above all else. It unbalanced him enough to make him break his go, and that was usually enough for me to regain a small amount of say in the matter.

The one time he was running from something, a true bolt, I bailed. Not getting in the way of that...

Running from pain, I'd probably bail too. This is probably all wrong and unsafe but it took 3 years to work out this was vaguely effective. I also found downgrading bits from a cheltenham gag to a french link snaffle helped, but my horse was contrary like that!
 
i do a lot of giving and retaking! it stops me getting in to the "pull- then pull more" cycle and also do a bit of rising to the canter, its something i dont normally do, so my horse gets confused and takes a moment- that allows me to get a bit more control! ha - also if its safe to do so, i kick on! if the horse is just tanking and its safe to do so, i push him so he is no longer pulling then can stop him easily - but thats my boy! haa thats if give and retake doesnt work, and worst comes to work its, give, retake, give, pull him round to the left while all 4 legs are off the floor! - but he is a superstar and super easy now! on my little mare, a little give and retake usually works fine!
before my boy used to tank and run away from the bit, he had had his teeth done, but by a vet who royally messed it up, without us realising, we went through so many bits and nosebands and everything he was bracing against and running through - i randomly decided to try a hackamore one time, having the thought that if he is grabbing hold of the bit and running, if i take away the bit he cant -- lo and behold he didnt! strong but stoppable!
a true bolt i will always bail from now, our little mare spooked while riding and bolted, nothing i tried worked, i panicked and held on for dear life till she looked like she was going to go through the fence, i braced myself, she saw sense, stopped and turned on a dime depositing me in the fence! ouch - so in future i would bail if it was safe to do so!
 
The way that works. :)

Seriously, a lot depends on the situation and what options are available to you. I teach horses and riders the "emergency stop" as a basic skill, hopefully never to need it but "installed" if necessary. There are a couple of variations and if one doesn't work - and you have time - move on to the next.

As far as judging in the moment why the horse was running and moderating your reaction with that in mind, I don't see how you could. If you know going in that the horse is in sufficient pain to cause that sort of reaction I think the problem started long before the horse started running and, frankly, I'd say at that point you've shown bad judgement. If you try one of the standard methods and the horse reacts badly then obviously that door is closed to you but hopefully you'd have some inkling of that before the crisis point.
 
Depends on the situation! If it was in front of a judge, I would just try damage limitation - plaster on a smile and pretend it was my idea, while giving and retaking, lifting with my core and hoping it stops before running out of room!
 
I have a really old book (belonged to my Grandfather) and it says if your horse bolts to find a safe, soft spot and to jump off!! Lol easier said than done!
 
Oscar said:
I have a really old book (belonged to my Grandfather) and it says if your horse bolts to find a safe, soft spot and to jump off!! Lol easier said than done!
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I remember years ago my sisters horse took off with me when I was out and headed home. She kept going round the back of the stables which was on concrete. I decided to steer her in the direction of the muck heap and dive off there, luckily she slowed down and all was well!
 
Generally if you are really unable to moderate the speed in any way then hauling on one rein is better than hauling on both. If it's just running in response to a spook though there are many different things you can do. I don't understand what you mean by 'how would this differ from a horse running in pain' - In what situation would you envisage knowingly riding a horse in pain?
 
TarrSteps said:
The way that works. :)
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This. I used to have a horse that would run, never a bolt (my interpretation of a bolt is 'blind panic' when the horse is focusing on nothing but running as fast as possible with no hope of stopping until it gets over the panic. What most people refer to as bolting i usually think of as running on or being hard to stop/strong) but you could bit him up with anything and everything, if you got past the point of no return, you would have to take severe measures to stop him, he was always concentrating where he was going, but running and not listening to the rider on board. It got to the point that i realised i was never going to be able to stop him by my strength against his, so would have to be more tactful about it, never allowing him into the situation where he could get away from me. It worked and i rode him in a snaffle after that.
 
I dont think there is a right way. Ive had to try different methods on different horses, My gelding you need to take his back teeth out as he can turn on a 6p so circling dont work unless you want to exit by the side door, my old mare you had to spiral her inwards if she took off as if you stopped her dead she reared, I could go on and on from crashing them into fences to one rein stops lol.

What ever works and keeps you and horse alive is the correct way ;)
 
I was out hacking and the pony in front of me 'took off' at 100mph and the rider had no chance of stopping, my pony had separation anxiety and also set off at 100mph in an attempt to stay close by. For a short time I had no chance of pulling up, and give and retake did f all as give = gallop faster! In the end I did manage to pull up by bridging my reins very tight on the neck and holding my left rein out to the side somehow while bridging them , which set him off balance and made him slow up- the other rider only stopped after running in to a hedge! ( so there is that option ;-) )
 
Out of curiosity, are people taught the 'one rein emergency stop' (differentiated from disengaging the hind quarters, as is commonly taught in western and some nh programs) anymore? I remember being made to do it in Pony Club lessons but have taught it to a few people recently and it seemed to be a new idea to them. Also, the method of pulling up racehorses by standing up, turning the knee in and pressing down on the neck, is so popular and effective for such relatively untrained horses because it's very 'natural' and works even on very green horses.

If a horse is properly bolting in panic then I think you're probably in trouble no matter what you choose to do, but there is no harm in trying, particularly if you can reassert control early.
 
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