My Friend Has a Green Horse that when Trotted, Crow Hops and Bucks...any advice?

Question

My friend has a green horse that she just started riding. Her father rides him, but they are having trouble with riding him, because when trotted, he bucks and crow hops. Now, they say this is because the father is on the bulkier side, and doesn't post and just slams down on the horses back, which freaks him out. But a teenager working with the horse, can ride him perfectly because she can post.

The main question is, because the man may have some trouble posting, how can we solve this so that he can trot and not get bucked off?

Answer 1

This is sad for the horse.  If he is green then he should only be ridden by an experienced person who can ride correctly until he learns how to carry himself under saddle.  This could really ruin what might otherwise be a nice horse.  Green horses are not as forgiving as older more experienced horses.  

The problem can be solved by allowing the horse time to become comfortable under saddle before putting the greenhorn up on him again.  Green horse + green rider equals bad experiences all around.

Answer 2

well does the horse crow hop and buck when the teen rides him??

i'd say for the father to take some lessons and learn how to properly post...or just do a sitting trot on the horse

also make sure everything health wise is in check.. legs, girth area.. makesure he's 100% comfortable

i have a horse that does this as well... but only because he doesn't want to trot..he only likes to go in a slow trot.. and he bucks like crazy.. it's funny because he could be using his energy to trot rather than buck

my horse can also be aggressive with me at times...is yours? with your father?

Answer 3

I think you should talk to the father and let him no why the horse is doing that im sure he would understand. or he is going to hurt the horses back.

Answer 4

i have heard of your friends problem a i think i can help

i have been round horses for quite some time now

and i have even had a pony just like that all that can say is may be try lunging in trot or as ask some one with full experience

once trying lunging or asking someone and both horse and rider feel comfortable you can try trotting again

and see how he is

Answer 5

It may help if you first suggest to him on taking lessons on a different horse, or borrowing someones older calmer horse. And just get him use to the feel and bounciness of the trot before hopping on a green horse not knowing how to post. Sounds like your in a sticky situation.

Good Luck!!!!!

Answer 6

Yave the man do a two point and keep his butt off the saddle. And it will teach him balance and get the rythm of the horse. I know thats how we teach all of our kids to trot. Two point. At first someone might want to jogg around with the man. (yea he probably will object but for saftey reasons and so he dosen't have to stear just has to think about staying in two point..

Answer 7

Obviously there are two issues here. If the father is slamming down on the back of the horse, he hasn't learned to ride the trot properly. On the other hand, a horse that starts bucking because of that is not a well trained horse either.

Question: Are you doing groundwork with the horse? I have seen a couple of horses that actually exhibit this behavior on the ground too. Try longeing the horse and see how the horse behaves when asked to trot and canter on the ground. If the horse starts exhibiting odd behavior when asked to trot when longeing, then the horse has an attitude issue. If so, I would suggest working that out of the horse before riding it again. Put the horse into a trot on the ground and each time it shows some attitude, make it work harder. Try asking the horse to canter when it starts acting up, and then back down to a trot again. Or when longeing, if the horse starts to act up stop longeing and toss in a few firm backups with your lead line, then have the horse longe again.

A distinct possibility is that its just a desensitization issue, that the man is not a good rider and when he is bouncing hard on the back of the horse during the trot its upsetting the horse. But I would not entirely blame this on the man. His inexperience riding has revealed a problem with the horse that could come out in other situations and might get someone bucked off. So I would look at this as an opportunity to work with the horse. What needs to be done is have someone experienced work with the horse to recreate the situation, and use an approach and retreat technique. Approach and retreat means you bring the horse close to a situation that makes him uncomfortable and then back off. You repeat this several times, taking the horse further and further into the uncomfortable situation and easing off. This teaches the horse to relax. Here is a specific illustration of using it on a horse that bucks when people mount him:

http://gentlenaturalhorseman.blogspot.co...

In this situation, an experienced rider might ride the horse in the trot and slam on his back on purpose to get the horse upset. To do approach and retreat, you might try riding while posting, then purposely bounce on his back. You would bounce on his back just until the moment he starts getting upset-then return to posting. Each time, you ride bouncing a little bit longer which will get the horse more and more comfortable with that stimulation until he won't buck anymore. Instead of posting, you might just alternate between walk and trot, so when he starts crow hopping in the trot immediately drop him down to a walk.

The man needs to practice riding and/or get some instruction. You can ride a trot smoothly without posting, but in either case he should have a trainer work with him to improve his riding skills.

David

http://gentlenaturalhorseman.blogspot.co...

Answer 8

every time u feel him startng to hop underneath u, quikly turn him in a circle. pretty soon he wont buck any more.