Pigrooting

Question
I have just been given a Quarter Horse gelding who is 13 years old and an absolute darling. He was with his previous owner for 10 years, so I know quite a lot of his background. He has only had the basic education which is fine as I only want him for pleasure riding. I have agisted him in quite a large equine centre where I know there are many sights and sounds he is not used to. In the first couple of days he seemed a little stressed, he did not do anything nasty except huffing and puffing a bit when I brought him into the feeding area. He has spooked on two occassions breaking his lead rope, but made no attempt to run off or anything else and just stood quietly afterwards. I rode him quietly in a large sand arena after two days and he was quiet but a little unsettled. He is quite a lazy horse so he was happy just to amble around the arena with me, taking in everything about him. I asked him for a trot which he did on a couple of occassions but on the third time he did a series of very small bucks, no enough to unseat me in anyway or even make me lose balance, so I don't believe it was malicious. I continued with a walk and trot with no further incidence. The next day my daughter (who is more confident) rode him, he behaved in the same way, once in the trot when asked to quicken he did the same little bucks (we call them pigroots). Again they were so small they did not unseat or unbalance the rider. When asked to canter he went happily on one leg but when asked to go the other way the same little pigroots and he changed to the wrong leg. There is absolutely no indication of any lameness or soreness in any leg, but he does need re-shoeing and I wondered if this would cause him to be uncomfortable at a quicker pace. Incidently he lunged beautifully with no one on his back. This really is a very kind docile horse, I am putting this out of character behaviour down to stress at the move from everything and everyone he has ever know into unknown territory and possibly a little tenderness in his feet. The farrier is coming tomorrow so I intended to ride later to see if I still have the same behaviour. At this stage I have not done anything more than sternly tell him "no" and carry on pushing him forward, if he continues I thought I should assert more authority by using a whip and giving him a smack if he starts to pigroot. Dp you think this behavior is because of stress and/or tender feet? I've only had him a week and would love to be able to give him the benefit of the doubt. I know all horse experts say you must show the horse who is the boss because they will respect you, but I have always been a bit of a softie and hope I don't have to get too rough with him as he is such a gentle sole who is taking in a new owner and a whole new environment. What do you think? by the way I am a 50 year old lady with experience but after being out of the saddle for 12 years lack confidence and spent several months looking for the right horse, I don't want to loose any confidence and really believe this is out of character behaviour for this horse.

Answer
Hello June,

The bucking could be for any one of the reasons you mentioned, plus the weather.  Often calm horses will give a few bucks when they are mounted in cold winter weather.  I would say that these little bucks are nothing to worry about, but if you do worry, why not lunge him for about 20-30 minutes before mounting.  Let him get the bucks out on the long line.  He may be getting too much grain, alfalfa, or other protein.  And yes, he does need to learn to respect you so do not let him get away with bad behavior in the stable.  He is definitely testing you out.  While mounted continue to push him forward and use the whip on his butt if he balks.  If he continues to buck, stop, let go of your right rein, take the left rein and pull his head all the way to your left knee and then make him go in tight little circle round and round until he is dizzy.  Do that each time he bucks and that should let him know that this is not to be tolerated.  By the way, I have an Oldenburg mare that loves to give little bucks when she is first mounted or when she goes over a jump or canters.  She is only 5 so I put that down to youthful spirits.

Happy riding,
Dorothy