Bolting horse

[Hank]

I have an 18 hh warmblood who, whenever I try to take him away from the barn on his own will rear and spin around and run. I used to be able to ride him out on his own but ever since he discovered that cows exist, I get the feeling that that's what he's worried about. I'm a very experienced rider but have never had a horse that has made me feel so unsettled. I've had little horses do the same thing before but they don't scare me and usually I can force them to do most things without too much trouble until they build their confidence up. But my horse is huge and athletic and if he doesn't want to do something, it's like dealing with a fire breathing mountain. I sometimes bite the bullet and force myself to take him out on the trails but my heart is often in my throat despite trying to think happy thoughts the whole way. He's never actually managed to get away on me but he'll try to do whatever it takes to get back home. In the ring, though, he's a superstar and just lovely to work with. I can't figure out if he's a bully, genuinely fearful or a combination of both. I've tried getting after him when he does it, I've tried ignoring it and just turning him around and proceeding on. I haven't tried tougher bits because I feel like I can stop his head, it's his body I'm worried about. I may try draw reins or finding a cowboy to take him out for me for a while but I just don't want anyone to get hurt. I would love to have a safe place to just make him keep running when he pulls this trick but forest interspersed with roads is what I have and it's just not safe to let him go--not to mention the bucking and kicking he likes to do while running really fast. Should I just stick to the ring? Help!

[Ashley Crawford]

Hi Hank.

I know John Lyons published an article relating to the bolting horse, and I remember it being about controlling your horses body and not it's head (as you stated).

Concentrate in the ring on moving your horses hind end - his hips and rib cage - side to side with your legs, and bend his head to the side, almost keeping his front end stationary and moving his hind end around the front end. I hope that visual makes sense to you.

Another suggestion I would recommend is to trailer your horse to a different location (farm, show, trail park, etc) and riding him there where he is not distracted with the cows. See how he reacts then to determine your next course of action.

Hope I've helped some. : )

[Rebecca Franklin]

Try a Dutch Gag bit. They are a snaffle until the horse plays up, then they put pressure on the poll. I have used these to break bad habbits. As soon as the behaviour has been modified, I return to an ordinary snaffle. I know how intimidating an 18hh horse can be. I was 13 and paid to ride some horses. 1 was 18.3 hh, lucky he was sweety otherwise I don't think I could have done it.

[cassandra vinckers]

if you jind a workable solution please let me know- i broke a similar hors 7 years ago for a friend- he broke well and easily but she has done minimal riding as she had 2 kids in the meantime and he had become fearful- broughthim over and restarted him, rode daily for a month and a half, all going well till he had a few days off and when she got on to ride, he bolted, ditched her (2 broken forearms and a concussion) and ran straight through my brand new 4 rail cedar pole fencing, breaking a post off at the ground on the way through- she has not been on him since- my advice was to get rid of him- help wanted!

[LaShauna Galvin]

NO! It sounds like a basic case of "I made a mistake and are afraid". She should have done a once over with her hands then saddled him. There are many causes that could play in here. Spooked by something she did or said, pain in the withers, going lame temporarily, or not feeling good. I know it sounds bad to say this but letting a horse have a few days off is ok but you should visit him so he doesn't feel alone.

[Michelle Synnot]

Oh god 18hh of bolting and rearing horse is enough to unsettle ANY rider! I had a similar problem with a paint mare. I ended up admitting defeat after she broke my back...in retrospect it was a combo of things that ended up resulting in that behaviour.. a)very fit horse b)a facility with not enough turn out and social interaction amongst horses c)high energy feed d)work sour e)herd bound f) exceptionally strong and frequent heats accompanied by lots of excess hormones
= a loco in the coco horse!

The owner moved her to a nice low key facility with big fields, and lots of turn out, and gave her a year off..she's a whole new horse now...but you won't see me getting on her any time soon!!

My advice is to get some help from a trainer. Its always helpful to have eyes on the ground. If I could do it over, that's what I would have done right off the hop.

[Barbara F.]

How long have you had the horse and how attached are you to him?

If you want to ride on hacks as well as in the ring, you deserve a horse that will nicely go along on a little hack without scaring you to death. The worst thing is when you spend all that time and money to have a horse, then don't get the full pleasure out of riding because you are continually compromising what you want to do in order to manage the horse.

Regardless of how experienced you are, if an 18 hand horse bolts on you, it could be disastrous. And if your heart is in your throat when you take him out alone, you should listen to your instincts and not take the risk unless you are prepared to deal with a potential blow up.

No horse is 100% safe, but 95 % of the time, you should feel safe and comfortable on your horse. You didn't mention how old the horse is or how long he has had this habit. I would see if you can get someone who specializes in this type of behaviour to see if he can break him of this habit and if he can't - sorry - I would consider if you really want to spend the next XX years riding only in the ring.

[Hank]

I know what you're saying. Unfortunately I bred the horse and I could not sell him for fear that he would hurt someone else. I recently found out that his sire had the same attitude when he was young but ended up as a grand prix school master in his teens. I suspect that the problem with my horse was partly created by me. Always riding thoroughbreds, I had no experience with the warmblood attitude and in hindsight I should have gotten help with him from someone who is used to young warmbloods. Finding someone who is proficient at dealing with it has been no easy task though. I have had lessons with several coaches, all very reputable, but it took me nine years to find my current coach who has been amazing at working with him and he's come leaps and bounds and I'm really excited about his work in the ring. I'm going to keep at it because I love the horse and I really do get a lot of enjoyment out of him and for now I'll stick to the trails on my bike I guess.

[Mary Shannon]

I am dealing with this now. I am not trying to ride her out alone yet, but I am taking her to the far ring, 1/4 mile from the barn, and doing the groundwork there. I don't know yet if am am making any progress on her behavior under saddle, but she is better on the ground. She was fine in the past, so I really think it is just misbehavior. I need to be the leader and gain her cooperation. I am looking for more advice, so if there is anyone else who has something useful, please post...

[Barbara F.]

Hi Mary,
Chris Irwin is now blogging here (he is also a member). I'd bet he can help you if you leave a message for him on his page's comment wall or as a follow up comment to one of his blogs.
He talks a lot about ground work and translating it to the saddle.

[slc2]

Some options.

Ride in the ring. That's not such a bad idea. Ring work, with a good instructor, could show you how to control the bigger stronger horse. With more training of your core muscles, balance and ability to have 'independent seat and hand' you may then be much more able to respond to this sort of horse and be really effective with him.

Get some riding lessons.

Having a cowboy take him out - boy I don't know many cowboys that could stop a big strong warmblood. If it did work, the horse would probably realize when you were back on him, though.

I can;t quite figure out what he's doing. You say you can stop him, but also that he'll do whatever it takes to get back home. I can't figure out if he's getting to a run or not, or if he's just getting jumpy and spinning around repeatedly and being annoying over and over while you try to ride. You say you try ignoring it, that makes it sound like you're not in any danger and he's not really getting away with it. So I'm confused.

Most normal horses try to head for the barn once in a while. If they get startled or excited, they tend to drop their back, put their head up and their neck straight, and go. If they want to run, they more tend to put their head down and pull down.

But whether they pull up or down, the key is that their neck is straight. You always control your horse by bending its neck. If your horse is getting a little tiny bit strong in the dressage ring, what do you do? You circle. That bends his neck. That is how you control your horse.

When your horse takes off, you bend his neck. You turn it QUICKLY, so that he doesn't get his neck too stiff and straight, and start pulling you out of position, to a position where you are less effective. You are able to stop your horse when you start quickly and get his neck bent. When you try to yank on one rein on a running horse, you can cause him to lose his balance and fall (like they do in the old movies).

Your schooling in the dressage ring should allow you to control your horse on the trails. If you cannot control your horse on the trails, there is something wrong with your dressage schooling in the ring.

It really sounds like your horse is just frisky. He keeps trying to run and spin around and head for the barn. THat sounds pretty normal. More work, more frequent rides, less grain, less alfalfa, more effective schooling on control in the ring, and quicker, firmer reactions out on the trail.

Some horses have certain things they maintain a fear of all their lives, real fear, occasionally, despite many long efforts to cure them. When they see whatever it is, their heart pounds so hard you can feel it between your knees from the saddle. They shake. They sweat. They snort, they roll their eyes and stare. They act afraid. Then they run away.

A horse that is fresh PLAYS at being afraid. He puts on a display of being excited and pretends to be fearful just for an excuse to run and head back to the barn. There is no pounding heart, no sweat, no terror. Just oops - wheee! Off we go! They run because they feel frisky and full of beans.

The key is to stop the horse, and for the horse to know the rider can stop him. This means being able to bend the horse's neck. It's really very simple. You have to react very decisively, very quickly, with the ability to sit firmly in the saddle and bend the horse's neck with one rein. Bend the horse's neck around to your knee, and hold it there - BEFORE he takes off.

I would actually recommend that you change bits if you can't bend your horse's neck or keep him from getting stretched out and down and running. A gag bit can help with that.

IF the problem is just that the horse is constantly jumping, spooking and spinning around, and never calming down or being a sleepy old trail horse, aside from the possibility that he's getting too much grain for the amount of work he's doing, or not enough work overall, and a change of routine would fix, it's also quite possible he just isn't a good trail horse. If he's good in the ring, well, that's just how some horses are, why fight it. Ride in the ring.

[Hank]

Thanks for all your thoughts. I know it sounds weird but I really can control him very easily in the ring and I am a pretty educated rider as well as a certified instructor myself plus I do have weekly lessons with a very talented coach. The problem arises strictly out on the trail. I can bend his head until the cows come home which will stop him from running but when I try to go forward, the problem starts again because he simply doesn't want to go where I want him to. I do believe he is genuinely fearful because, for example, I have tried to ride him the half a kilometre to our weekly lessons and his anxiety seems to build until he balks, rears and tries to take off back home with head up and tail in the air. I can stop him eventually but I can't get him to go past that point again. When I don't try to ride him there and instead walk him in hand, I can see his heart beating outside his chest and he usually puffs himself up and snorts and looks wild eyed. I know he's scared but I don't know how to make him trust me. I know that beating him will do the opposite. I sent him to a trainer once for a month and this guy tried everything he could think of including tying him for hours until he stood quietly, as well as beating him if he tried rearing or bolting in the ring (something he had never done with me) to "break" him of this attitude. These things had always worked for him with quarterhorse, tb types but all it did to my horse was make me have to take about three steps back and build up his confidence and desire to work for me again. He just shut down. I felt awful but I had taken some clinics with the guy before which were really great. He had ridden my horse and the horse always felt way better when I got back on, so I thought he knew what he was doing.

When he was young I used to ride him past a riding stable and he always wanted to run down the driveway with me. I found that if I kept him trotting past the driveway his brain didn't have time to figure out how to trot and run down the driveway at the same time. He's onto that trick now though and I'd literally have set a bomb off behind him to get him to keep going forward if he's going somewhere he doesn't want to.

Ultimately it tells me he doesn't think I'm the leader. I've done lots of roundpenning, join-up etc. etc. with him, I can touch him anywhere and he'll move that part away. In the ring he does everything he's supposed to. He gets grass hay, no alfalfa, low-energy pellets, turn-out all day on 40 acres with other horses and in a stall with a run at night plus five-times a week schooling.

[Mary Shannon]

This was really helpful to me. My horse is the fresh, full of beans situation, not the genuine fear thing. She is getting too much grain, because I am always working to keep her weight up (she is a TWH.) She hasn't been ridden for months and and the first ride was a windy spring day.

Bending her neck works, but I needed to hear that I must be ready to do it more quickly and decisively. More work and more rides, too. And from Hank, I need to start taking lessons again-- I don't feel as confident as he does, and so I need to keep improving. Thanks, folks.