My show horse bucks....help?

Question

my show horse has a bucking issue....we did not know this when we bought him(yes we had him for 2 weeks before we bought him) but his owner and trainer did fess up when we asked them later. I have tired EVERYTHING...I got his hocks and back injected, his saddle was fitted to him. I had tired smaking him when he bucks and just pusing him through it and not makeing a big deal about it. I have tired backing and circling and other stuff like that. I can ride it but I hate it. As of right now he is for sale(if you can push him though it he stops and is awesome) but I would like nothing more then to keep him...so is there anything else I can try??

Answer 1

if you only ride him at shows and for one class....he might be bucking you out of anger or fustration.....try lunging him for about 5 min before you ride ...and when you arent at shows you can try riding him outside or in your arena...if you have one...if you dont then just try lunging him and riding him outside....if that dosent work then try to train im for other classes.......like halter....or driving....try to mix it up so the horse dosent get pissed off because he is allways doing the same thing

if none of my info helps then whoever you got your horse from probally used a tranq on him before you bought him so he stayed calm when you went to look at him

Answer 2

If he does it less at shows, it sounds like he might be bored. Are you doing other things besides ring work with him? Can you ride him out in the pasture? Or go for a train ride? Or switch and trying doing barrels poles?

Horses get bored too, and sometimes their entertainment (or way of saying "Mom, not again!") is to buck.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Everyone is going to tell you to lunge him first, which is a no-brainer, so I'll assume you do or have tried that.  It does help if it's an issue where it helps to get the blood flow to the large muscle groups prior to putting weight on his back.  Or to take the edge off a really fresh horse.

It sounds like you've covered most of the bases in terms of ruling out lameness - - back discomfort is very, very hard for vets to diagnose.

What you need to figure out is if he's doing this out of fear, anger, or pain (and it can be all three).  How long does it take before he quits, after you get on?  And does he start right away, or when you start to walk, or trot or canter?  Does he do it when he's loose in the RP or arena and/or when you longe him?  It's hard to anwere your question without a little more information.  There's a difference in how you fix the problem if it's behaviour - fear or anger based, or physical or the memory of physical pain.  Sorry to be so ambiguous, but you don't solve things all the same way for every horse.

EDIT:  Just read your added info - - it sounds like behaviour, to me.  He may have intimidated his previous owners (reason for selling him??  Did they give him a long-acting tranq, so he was quiet for the first few weeks before you bought him????)

It's good that you can ride him through it.  If I were you, I'd longe or round pen him for 5-8 minutes in both directions at walk. trot and canter, just to give him the benefit of warming up without my weight, and to take away any  excuses.  When you're on him, and he starts to THINK about bucking, you need to make his life very uncomfortable (without pain). It depends somewhat what gait your in, but usually pulling him around, as you said you tried, but keeping his hindquarters moving, fast, disengaging, and keeping him cirlcling quite a bit longer than he thinks is necessary, then carry on straight as if nothing has happened, until you start to feel him get a hump in his back again.  Repeat as many times as necessary.  He's probably already been smacked for it, to no avail, so he thumbs his nose at you when you do it. .  Sometimes a frim, loud smack does work, but I've found it has to be the first time they buck and it has to  more scare the h*** out of them than hurt them, so they think "Oh geese.  I guess I won't do that again" and you have to be ready for a big response when you do it.

I don't know if any of this helps.  It's difficult without knowing and seeing the horse in person as  I'm not one of those "psychics" who can tell you that the problem stems from the fact that your horse doesn't like the color of his nylon halter and bell boots.  Hahaha.

PPS  The more details you add, the more it sounds like he's just being cheeky.  Although bucking after jumps sends a little red flag for back or other pain just starting.  I'd make sure he's really well warmed up before jumping, if you aren't.

Is he respecting you on the ground?  You might need to go back to some ground work, and make sure he knows that he can't intimidate you at all, that you really are the one making the decisions in your relationship, and that you do like him a lot, but won't tolerate any "backtalk" of any sort.  How old is he, by the way?  Your trainer should be able to help you with the groundwork routine.  But I'd have you go back to that if I were your trainer, judging from what you've said.

Answer 4

If you've had back xrayx, vet checks for leg/joint issues, chiropractic and massage therapy, you can rule out lameness and pain. If you've fitted his saddle properly, I would also check his bit and girth, make sure nothing is pinching. But, it sounds like your horse has a behavioral problem that, without professional training help, may never be resolved.

It may also be a fear issue. Have you tried working him indoors and outdoors? With other horses? Sometimes atmosphere and seperation anxiety are causes of horses misbehaving.

My friend bought my in-law's mare 2 years back. She was always pretty good for them, but she became a miserable nag who bucked on transitions when she rode her. The horse did not like the farm she was at orthe horses she was stabled/turned out with. She gave her to a college, who says she is very sweet and willing. Sometimes, horses just aren't happy with their situations.

If you dont want to spend the time and money to commit to a professional trainer, it may be best for you (and him!) to sell him and give you both a chance for happiness!

Answer 5

I'm afraid I can't really tell you how to deal with it but you should know that it's most likely not a problem with you, his tack, etc. My horse bucked going into the canter for almost a year after I bought her, then she just stopped. I never worked on it, I'm convinced she just did it because she wanted to. She was a barrel racer before I bought her and I think she may have been pushed to hard. Maybe your horse isn't happy with what people are asking him to do and found bucking was a good way to let everyone know(probably got breaks or change of work immediately following at least some of the time?). You could try a little cross training, maybe some trail riding or just a different type of English riding. Maybe he's just bored and bucking seems fun to him(he does it while fooling around in the pasture...)... Well good luck & I wouldn't give up on him right away...

Answer 6

Have you tried lunging him while he's all tacked up.  Maybe if you watch his movements you might be able see if something is interfering with him.  Does he do it only at a show or anytime?

Consistent retraining is the only way if you ruled out all the possible pain.  I tried this with a horse that crow hopped a lot but it might work for bucking.  At first we tried backing the mare whenever she crow hopped but then we tried this.

Ride him for a few minutes at a walk and if he hasn't bucked yet, get off and praise him.  Then get back on and walk some more.  Try a trot or canter and if he doesn't buck get off.  This will take time but it worked with this one mare.  Repeat this process.  Make the riding intervals longer and eventually he will understand that if he doesn't buck you will get off.  Praise him every time he doesn't buck.  

Try massaging his neck (around his withers) to keep him calm while riding.  This worked on a hot-blooded mare I used to ride.  

Hope this helps, good luck with the horse.  I hope you won't have to sell him.