Question
Saxon
Hi Lyn,
I saw your response to another lady who has a 6 year old QH x Paint who she says kicks its leg up very high to one side when ridden alone.
I live in Australia and recently bought a 5.5 year old QH x Paint gelding, who seems to have similar issues! He has not yet bucked in company but we have not ridden much in company to be honest. He just behaves like he is a spoilt brat as you said! He was broken at 2 and ridden for the first 6 months in Western Pleasure horse style, where the lady said she used spurs to slow him down - digging them in further to get him to lift his belly and slow down. He then went to a very unknowledgeable home with a young rider who quickly got scared of him being a young athletic horse and it seems he learnt he could get out of work by throwing a pigroot in with her. It means he hardly did any work other than 6 weeks with a breaker who again rode Western (very little contact on the reins) but used spurs to get him to move.
I now have a very confused frustrated horse, who will throw a leg out (pigroot) or buck if he is either annoyed with being asked to work in the arena, or even threw one in when I rode him for his first canter out in the field. I think this was excitement but I wasn't ready for it and came off.
I've worked with unschooled horses before but this is my first time with a youngster and although I now have a professional rider helping to re-educate him, I am worried these habits will take a long time to break? Or he may always be prone to throw a buck in if he's not happy with something?
In your experience is this something a horse will ever stop doing once they have learnt to do it? Or will he always need to be ridden without being allowed to do it?
I bought a horse for pleasure - trail riding and a bit of dressage - and really want a horse I can relax on and go for a canter out in the bush with a long rein without being worried every stride he is going to throw a buck in!
Can you provide any advice from your experience?
AnswerHi Emily,
Sorry for the delay in answering your question. It's been a little hectic around here the last few days.
Anyhow, if this was my horse I would start over with his training after I had him examined by an equine chiropractor to see if he has any back issues. He was started way too young, in my opinion considering he was the equivalent of a 12 yr. old child when he was asked to start carrying weight! The horse's spine is the last part of the equine skeleton to finish growing, at 8 yrs. of age based on a study by Dr. Deb Bennett. Also check his saddle for fit. I really dislike the use of spurs on a horse when they are being asked to stop. It's like putting your foot on the gas and the brake at the same time in a car! Makes absolutely no sense to me! It's a shortcut used rather than spending the time teaching the horse to use his hind end correctly. I have one horse I'm working on now who has serious issues from this sort of thing, again too early. He has arthritis in both hocks and his sacrum and he's just coming 7. 8 mos. into working on him and he's doing much better.
Once you are sure that any physical issues he has have been addressed and resolved then start over with him and be patient. It takes a lot longer to correct things done wrong the first time than to do it right initially but they can be brought around. Get the basics down, it will mean a lot of ring work at first, but this is what he's lacking.
As far as the bucking goes, I think this will go away aside from maybe a joyous crow-hop in cold weather. I've never chastised or thought badly of a horse for that, it's an expression of feeling good, but mine do know when to quit, like after a hop or 2 and never enough to dump the rider.
Many people mistake bad behavior as being due to the horse's personality where I find it is generally due to something being wrong. Face it, if you are uncomfortable, in pain, you have the advantage of being able to say something. Horses act out and will get more and more emphatic over time if their signals are ignored or misinterpreted.
I hope this helps you. Give him a chance, patience and love and I think he'll be what you want in the end.
Lyn
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