Being bucked off

Question
Two years ago I bought a paint colt gelding and have worked steadily with him, ground work and western pleasure riding, so that now (at 4 years old) he trusts me and usually listens to me.  One other horse shares the pasture with him, a 14 year-old mare, who is well-broken.  The two get along well as long as he remembers that she's the boss.  
    He has a great deal of energy and gets annoyed easily, but never to the point of biting or kicking.  Over the course of a year, however, he has thrown me 6-7 times while loping, which he does by suddenly pivoting to the right when I am turning him in the other direction. I become unbalanced, and he then bucks until I'm "off".  I always get immediately back on him, and keep calm, but I am concerned that he has learned that he can get me off when he really wants to.  Whether we are in the pasture or an open field, he has acted this way, although he walks and trots just fine.  He 's in excellent health and I feed him 3lbs of Country Acres (12in AM and hay in the evening.  His saddle seems to fit evenly.
  Being a novice-intermed rider at 50 perhaps makes me more susceptible to being thrown off. But I am determined to win this battle of wills.  Can you offer some suggestions?  Many thanks in advance.

Answer
Hi D.H.;

You might want to start by having a thorough exam done of him by a chiropractor just to rule out any possible misalignments and things of that nature.  Also, a massage therapist would be able to tell you any areas of soft tissue soreness that might have occured from any misalignments, pinching tack, slips in the paddock and things of that nature.

For yourself, some longeline lessons would help you improve your balance so that if/when he does it again, your body can react more naturally and you'll have a better chance of staying on.

From a training standpoint, finding a balanced program for him is key.  Keep him in a regular program, whether that's 4 days a week or 6, or 2...whatever provides enough stimuation that he doesn't get bored, or have excess energy, but not so much that he becomes tired, sore, or ill-mannered.  

Go back to the times when he bucked you off and see if you can determine any similiar pattern.  Was it after having time off?  Was it near the end of the ride?  Was it particularly hot that day?  Was it buggy?  Etc...

You have determined one similiarity in that he does it at the lope, when asked to go to the left.  This might indicate that every so often when asked to go to the left, the saddle pinches (maybe you lean?), or striking off on the outside hind hurts (lope depart leg) etc...

It might also just be the time he feels that you are most vulnerable (again, maybe you lean or he feels your balance shift?), decides he's had enough and starts to be naughty.

If it is just a case of him being bratty, then the best and quickest way of getting him under control is the one rein stop.  You'll have to teach it at the halt, walk and jog/trot first and you'll have to teach it in both directions, but do a bit more work to the right.

Start at the halt and bring the right hand towards your hip, while allowing the left hand to give towards his mouth.  We don't want to pull the bit through his mouth.  Then slide your inside (right) leg behind the girth and 'shove' his hindquarter to the left.  His inside (right) leg needs to step over top of the outside leg making him take a lateral step.  

If he doesn't understand your leg aid, you'll need to teach it to him on the ground and then come back to doing this under saddle.

Once he can do this in both directions at the halt, practice it at the walk, and then later the jog/trot.  Make sure that he responds every time without fail before moving to the lope/canter.  Don't drill him on it, just teach it to him like you would any other exercise and don't lope again until he knows it.

Then, start loping and teach it to him at the lope.  

By bringing his head around you've redirected his attention as well as his direction of travel.  By making him take the lateral step, you've disengaged his hindquarter, so he no longer has an engine to keep going forward.  He'll find it very difficult to buck in this position.  Keep your inside rein to the hip and keep 'shoving' over that inside hind until he comes to a more controllable speed, then give back the inside rein and carry on.  Always be sure though that you give with that outside rein.  We aren't wanting him to evade and bring his chin to his chest.  We want his muzzle coming to your knee and in the process we don't want to hurt his mouth.  And, don't look down.  Looking down puts your weight forward and on his forehand and throws you off balance.  Keep your eyes up at all times.  Your horse isn't going anywhere without you, and if he does, you'll know it whether you're looking at him or not.  :-)

From then on, the INSTANT you feel him even THINK about being bad, one rein stop him.  It won't take him long to figure out that you've got his number, but be prepared for him to change up his m.o. and try something new down the road.  

You may have a few battles in the beginning if he's doing this out of having temper tantrums, so try to stay in a small confined area until you've resolved it, but then he should give it up all together.

If he's doing it because of an intermitent pain issue, then one rein stopping him won't 'cure' the problem, it'll just help keep you safe.  

Best of luck and be safe!

Sincerely,

Lana Reinhardt
www.eq-paradise.com