The best way of stoping a horse when they are goin to bolt / bolting.?

Question

i would love to know the best way of stopin a horse from bolting . bolting is a bad thing yes i no but please can people who know can you let me know . Thanks x

Answer 1

As soon as you feel him tense up and start to even think about bolting, pull his head around using direct reining towards your leg. The thought is that he can't run with his head bent, but I used to have a horse that would do just that and now I have a different one that that just plain doesn't work on, but that's the accepted method. Try it and see if it works.

Answer 2

The theory is to try and turn their head so that they can no longer go straight and this should ultimately slow them down.  However, horses are alot stronger than us and this doesn't always work.  You haven't said whether this is just a question you are interested in the answer or whether you have a recurrent problem.  If it is a problem best advice is to get to the bottom of why your horse is doing it.  Its either frightened of something or just being plain naughty.  You need to find out which.  If its fear than you may just have to accept that there are some places/situations you can't take your horse into.  Its not giving in if you decide to avoid somewhere.  Your and the horses safety has to be paramount.  You need to understand your horses personality and respect and work with his fears.  If its naughtiness - get some advice/training from an experienced tutor and be prepared to put in the effort to do lots of walk/trot/half halt work with him in terms of riding and also some behavioural work in terms of how you deal with him on the ground.  Good luck.

Answer 3

My mother used to hawk ice cream with a horse and cart when she was a girl and one day had the presence of mind to turn the bolter up a hill so that it quickly got tired.  Hardly an everyday solution I know but a pleasant diversion.

Answer 4

These are tough problems to answer, for the reasons could be many, and without seeing the whole picture, a little bit of knowledge could be a dangerous thing, so I think like the first answer, you need to find someone on the ground in your area, which could be very hard to find someone really good, depending on your area. literally, you are looking for a needle in a haystack, it could be your hands, could be the bit something could be bothering the horse physically etc. etc.etc..

With that said, one of the biggest problems I see with people and horses is first we feed them too hot and too much, and then stall them and they don't move enough or work enough to expend the energy and thus becomes pent up energy. It is a bad combo. for the horse(way too much energy and way too little outlet for that energy) and a dangerous combo. for the rider.

I would look at this seriously and objectively to see if you are making this mistake. then think about cutting his feed  down (sloowly, little by little, day by day) and turn him out all the time, horses don't need to be stalled for any reason, that is my opinion, but people do it for many reasons, for show horses or for racing horses or things of that nature, which I think are unnecessary. And it is especially  wrong to use stalls if you don't have these agendas, such as a shiny coat for a show horse or the pent up energy of a race horse. My horses would never see stalls unless to feed or maybe to saddle,(but most of the time I never needed a stall for anything, not in the heat of summer or cold of winter, not to have to catch my horses or to feed them or to saddle them, horses do much better and act much more sensably when kept in large25 to 100 acre pastures with other horses, and then not over fed or fed too hot. This is where I would start, get him levelled out and then find someone professional to help you work through it.

When horses learn a gimmick they will use and it is hard to get them to stop using it, but if you get him leveled out and happy  before you work with him, you will have a chance to help him and yourself and it usually takes a month or 2 to drop his head if he's been pent up and fed too much and/or too hot.

Did you ever hear of a race horse that refused to break out of the gate, well they get ruled off the track for life because once they learn that they don't have to break out of the gate, they never do it again, that is break and run, that is their last race.

So what I am trying to tell you is the more he learns that behavior the harder it will be to trust that he won't do it anymore.

Answer 5

I drive standardbred racehorses. I find one of the best ways of slowing a bolting horse down is to see-saw (back and forth) motion on the bit in their mouths. However, if you know you have a run away on your hands a more severe bit or overcheck could be used. Ever heard of a McCarein? (spelling) It prevents the horse from getting their head right down, which makes them easier to handle.

Answer 6

Thnext time your horse starts to bolt pull his head into his shoulder. this makes him go into a tight circle. keep doing this and he will stop. i would suggest doing this in a round pen to start with. if you work the horse in a round pen you will have better control of the problem. hope this works for you.

Answer 7

Good lord... riding gallopers bolting is just something you get used to.... with horses i know are prone to bolt i when i work them i get them working on the bit and keep them there... some trainers will get really angry if you let a horse get away from you and over works..  we have a really bad bolter and so when i have to ride him i work him on the outside fence and when he bolts i run him over to it and he gets the point.. i wouldnt try this is a idiot of a horse as they can go through the fence... also doing this can teach the horses to drift... so its not a good idea for a long distance horse... but this horse is a sprinter and so only runs down a straight...  if your bolter is a pleasure horse then try to grab one reign and drag its face around so it can run forward... and only let it go when it calms down... it sounds cruel but i'd rather go round in circles in the disappear into the distance... sure there are all sorts of natural methods you could try.... and i think its a good idea to work out why your horse is bolting... (fright, idiot.... knows if he bolts he gets his way) and then discipline accordingly... if he bolts out of fear it might help to start desensitising him... well good luck hope that helped...