Trying to fix a bucker... one year later

Question
Hello Rick,

I am 26 years old and a year ago purchased my first horse ever after riding for almost 20 years. Because I could never afford my own horse I often ended up riding other people's problem horses which I enjoyed - I like a challenge. I worked at a stable through high school and consider myself relatively knowledgeable overall when it comes to horses. I completely knew what I was getting into when I purchased my current horse, so I am not angry or upset over the current situation, however after a year's worth of work I'm running out of ideas when it comes to fixing his issue and want us to have a happy relationship. He is just 7, turned out days during the winter and nights during the summer and spends the rest of his time in a comfortable 12x12 stall with plenty of things going on in the barn to watch. When turned out he is alone though has 4 other horses on the other side of a fence he plays halter and fly mask tug of war with very happily.
When I purchased him I got him for a bargain price considering he is a good mover and when placed correctly to the fence has good form, because he is a bucker. And not just any bucker, so good he could probably join the rodeo and lost 2 owners over it. He has only unseated me twice in the year I've had him and I don't want to sell him because of it, but it is not boding well for his future show career. I have put him on a regular workout (5 days a week, regular times each day, about 45 mins to an hour each time) and turnout schedule, had him vetted and even had specialists (in equine massage) come out and work on him - nether the vet or the specialist have found anything physically wrong with him nor the fit of my tack that would cause the issue. I even trained him to voice commands thinking his bucking came from confusion over what I wanted him to do. When he seems "up" (I can always tell from the way he stands, or doesn't, on the cross ties) I make sure to lunge him beforehand to get his excess energy out.
So here's the summary of our problem: Starting from the time I purchased him, he would have a bucking fits (where he bucks but continues to move forward, sometimes halfway around the ring, and violent bucking) anywhere from once every other week to once a week. The activity we were doing at the time varied, though usually it was either cantering or jumping. I've tried ignoring it (just keep going forward), punishing him with the crop, and spinning him in tight circles (keeping the same punishment for a time to see if it worked, not using each one randomly - the spinning seems to work the best) Then over the winter into the beginning of spring I thought we had made a breakthrough, we went a number of MONTHS without an incident. We even moved up from 2 foot to 2.6 jumping without an issue. Now, all of a sudden our issue seems to be back and I'm wondering now if his behavior could be fear driven. It started when we got a long distance into a jump and he hit it pretty hard with his front legs - though the rail stayed up so not that hard. That sent him bucking 4 strides until the next fence, which we did clear..somehow. He had two more incidents after two more fences that day. Then today we jumped a new (scary looking to a horse I'm sure) fence that seemed to set him off. It was the first part of a line that was a 2 strider. He gave the scary fence a good look but jumped it, after the second part he began bucking and around the short side he continued until I could finally pull him up into a tight circle. After letting him take a look at the fence/sniff it a bit, we went over the line again this time without an issue. My question to you, and I know you're going off only a little bit of info here, is if you agree that his current bucking at least may be fear based. And if so, what I can do to make him less fearful. I would like to see him if it is possible become a successfull hunter, however in order to do that he must be able to jump a course cold without having warmed up over it prior, so he can't be afraid of the fences and definitely can't buck. If this is not possible, I'd at least like to get him to the point where he is safe enough that I could resell him to a nice home where he could be a great horse to someone who either wants to just jump around at home or show in little schooling shows. If none of that is possible I am willing to keep him myself or retire him out to a farm if he is just too dangerous.
I wonder about the fear thing too as when I purchased him he had just gone through a year of being owned by a person who rode him for a few months in draw reins before he bucked her off enough times that she gave up on riding him completely for a year, and prior to that was owned by someone who would hop on him once a week, get bucked off, then put him in a stall until the next week when she decided to try getting on him again. At first I thought that would have just made him spoiled and not want to work, but he generally seems to enjoy work and really enjoy jumping, so perhaps I'm wrong but I don't feel he is trying to get out of work. I'd appreciate any insight you might have into this issue. Thanks!

Answer
Hard to tell what is casing this but my first choice is the rider.  We, people cause most problems for horses.  I am sure if the horse is turned out and you are not riding him, he does not buck.  It could be just a habit that has been formed and no one has made it difficult enough to stop it, it could be fear, but not sure I agree with that and it could be pain, it sounds like most incidents were during or after jumping, so maybe he has an injury that hurts with he lands or takes off.  Just because you had a vet look at him, does not mean that he found everything that could be wrong.  It could be a respect issue that he does not like to jump and so if you make him jump he acts out by bucking.

It really does not matter why he does it, you have to do things that will stop him or make him not do it.  When a horse bucks I try to make him sorry he did it, I will pop a rein, pull a head or make him run or something that he will think, bucking did not get me anything good.  As long as I know it is not pain or injury related.

I would try and figure out what makes him buck and work on that, over and over, so if he always bucks doing one thing, then make him to that thing.  I would do lots of ground work, lots of sacking out, and lots of trying to induce fear to see if that causes a buck.  If you can figure out why he bucks you can address it better, but until then, make bucking hard work and uncomfortable.

Round pen him and sack him out and see if you can make him buck while you are on the ground, then drive him or push him to move and run, get him to realize that bucking gets him hard work.

A year is too long to see no progress, my four year old still bucks a little once an a while, but it is over fast and only one or two so I correct him and move on.  It is not a big deal so I do not make it a big deal.

You need to make sure you understand a horse so you can better understand what you may doing to cause this or what you are not doing to stop it.  Read my site and it may give you some ideas.

Hope this helps,

Rick