What do you do when this happens...?

Question

What do you do when your horse spooks and bucks you off? This happened to me twice today. Should I lunge/ ground work my horse?

How/ should I punish him? If I get back on, he just bucks me off again. Should I still persevere?

How can I prevent this?

Please help - I don't know what to do!

Answer 1

I don't think there is such thing as being bucked or thrown off... your horse just bucks and you fall off it doesn't mean he was trying to get you off or it was his fault.

If it was me i would get back on him and ride him through it... or else you nor the horse will learn. You don't need to punish him besides riding him through it... you have to figure it out how to get the balance and strength to get over his bucks and stay on... oh yeah and keep his head up and your weight back!

Answer 2

Always get back on. Don't let the horse think bucking works. You need to work him on the ground. You shouldn't punish him. He did what horses do. Put a saddle on him and lunge him. If he still bucks tie a 50lb feed sack to the saddle and lunge him. Let him try and buck that off.

Get a roping rein and keep it short when riding him and don't let him drop his head. If he acts like he is going to buck, use one hand and turn his head. he can't buck if his head is turned.

Answer 3

When you feel your horse is going to spook or buck, you should sit up and use the inside rein and pull up to your chin or your outside hip. This is called disengaging the hip. When the horses' head is brought around and the horse stops, release the rein and repeat with the other hand and then with the other and so on. When you feel the horse is listening well, you can walk on the rail again.

Also, don't let the horse put his/her head down. They can't buck if the have their head up

Remember to sit deep and tall and to give the horse its head back when he/she stops.

Answer 4

most people get scared or angry wen a horse acts 'spooky' but its often because a lack of knowledge. look at the situation from your horses point of view.

did she or did she not plan to spook and throw u & why?

before i answer why she spooked & wat to do, can u tell me a bit more about wat happened wen she bucked both times?

Answer 5

Get back on, unless you are going to get hurt. Keep her head up, and get her really working, do circles and serpentines and keep your legs on. If you can't solve your problem that way, book a lesson with a riding instructor to see if it is something you are doing

Answer 6

Get back on! DON'T LUNGE!!!!!STAY ON! U WILL TEACH HER SHE CAN GET AWAY WITH IT! TRY NOT TO FALL OFF! WHEN SHE BUCKS LEAN BACK SO SHE IS FORCED TO GO BACK DOWN!

Answer 7

I think you should lunge him to get his energy out so he won't have a lot of energy to buck you off. He won't spook only if you scare him I think. So don't walk behind your horse because that's one way to make him spook. Or if you see your horse flinch, if he does in a area and say it's on the back wear you put the saddle there his bone might be sore from that.  

Answer 8

If she starts to buck get back on and try too stay on

if you want you can lunge her before you ride her but not after she bucks

Answer 9

If i were u i would get back on again, but when u sense the horse about to buck pull tighter on the reins so that your horses head is closer to its chest. I had this same prob with my horse and after pulling on the reins a few times right before he was about to buck it solved my problem...

Just try not to get hurt! Good luck!

Answer 10

keep his head up!..He cant buck you off,..and dismount and walk him through whatever is spooking him talk quietly reassure him.

Answer 11

if this isn't normal for the horse, the i would check for physical signs of injury or check his temperature. if all seems fine maybe it's having a bad day, in which case hop on and teach it that no matter how it friggin feels, it's not allowed to dump you for the sake of it.  

Answer 12

Firstly, check your tack! it may be pinching. If its fitting right, try your hardest to stay on that way they will learn they cannot get rid of you....horses 'test' you when you first start riding them...so pass your horses test. Different horses have different ways of 'testing' us, so your horse has chosen to buck. Tough it out, Cowgirl Up!

Answer 13

Punishing a horse that is scared will make it worse. BUT, knowing whether your horse is really scared or just playing games with you is the tricky part.

If your horse bucks you off, you absolutely must get back on. You cannot let him end the ride that way or he just learns that all he had to do is buck when he is tired and he gets to stop.

You can try and prevent bucking by keeping the horse moving forward. Also, horses have to get their heads down to buck, so keeping his head up will help.

Finally, anytime you don't know what to do with a horse, its good to be working with a trainer in your area who can help.

Answer 14

get back on her, a horse cant buck if you keep its head up dont let the horses head go down thats how i taught my horse not to buck

Answer 15

well when my horse flipped on me one night for no real reason what i did was lunge her for a LONG time to get her worn out then i got back on her and made her work hard even with the lunging i made her work.

she hasn't pulled anything like she pulled that night ever again and that was about a year ago.

they learn that its just easier to just do what their told than to fight it.  

Answer 16

The most important thing to do is figure out why he bucked!  Is this new?  As others have said check your tack and horse over carefully.  You mentioned he spooked...if he spooked it would be a good Idea to deal with his fear from the ground first, when you lunge him keep him thinking not just endless circles when a horse is going forward they are in flight and not thinking, change direction every half circle when he is high and do not let him go longer until he is changing with his head down and starting to relax.  When this happens allow him to circle a lap or two if he gets high again change the direction.  

I would get back on when I have his mind on me not what spooked him, it is safer to deal with an issue from the ground since everytime you come off he is learning that it is the easy way to deal with his emotions.  Working on the ground and making him think will teach him that when you end up on the ground he is not going to be happy and have to work really hard.  Do not end your riding time from the ground, make sure you get back up there when he is in the right frame of mind, and even if you only work on backing up or moving the forehand and hind quarters around he will learn that it does not call for an end.

It would also be a good idea to have a trainer help you through this or at least have someone watching to ensure no one gets hurt!

A great way to prevent bucking as others have mentioned is to keep his head up but when you feel the hesitation in his body a great way to try to prevent the bucking is to disengage the hind quarters by appying an inside rein and inside leg to disengage and bend around your foot, a horse can not buck if he is crossing his hind legs and having his neck bent.

Good luck

I would suggest riding with a rope halter under his bridle and a longer lead line attached to it so you can make the correction right away, if you have to put a halter on and find a lead he will not understand why you are working him so hard... it is important to punish right away, with the circles and directions

Answer 17

did he spook at something?  if so then you need to do some ground training and  have the horse approach what it spooked of.  I would use a good sturdy halter with a chain so that I can get his attention when he spooks again. do this until he relaxes and is no longer reacting then go ahead and ride him past it again.  make sure you have your halter on under the bridle so you can get off and approach the spooky thing if he starts to blow again.

if nothing spooked him and this is a sudden and recurring problem I would have a vet check him out and make sure everything is OK, as well as check over all of my tack and look for anything that could be irritating him.  if everything is alright I would look for a good trainer in your area to help you through this, it does not sound like a problem that can be solved on line unfortunately