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 Post subject: Bolting under saddle
PostPosted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 8:59 pm 

Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 12:03 am
Posts: 760
I wanted to ask this question for a friend who has issues with her horse bolting under saddle. After pain issues are ruled out and the horse is responsive during ground work what would be a good way to make the horse safer to ride so as to not shake the rider's confidence? I would love to hear any advice or experiences. :smile: :smile:
I have very little experience with horses that do this myself.
Also, if you know of any threads where this was previously discussed I would love to know.
Thanks,
Birgit


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 Post subject: Re: Bolting under saddle
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 7:16 am 
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Joined: Fri Aug 31, 2007 8:20 am
Posts: 6281
Location: Dresden, Germany
For me it is hard to give any useful suggestions without knowing the situation and the reasons why the horse is bolting. However, in general I guess I focus on prevention more than on trying to stop the bolting response. That is, I try to make sure my horse knows that he does not need to bolt in order to get out of a situation but simply tell me he is uncomfortable and I will do my best to change that.

For example, Summy once did a really cute version of "bucking" in standstill (rhythmically lifting his back for about 5 cm) to show me that he wanted a child on his back to get off. I reacted at once and took the child away, and in the next moment he blasted off in canter. Others here have horses who show them that they want them to get off in other ways, for example by going to a certain place or just turning their head and looking at them. If you encourage your horse to show these signals and then listen to them, I guess most reasons for bolting are eliminated already. :smile:

Indeed there have been several discussions about bolting over the last years, but they are hidden in other threads, for example in a discussion about bitless bridles (you have to scroll down a bit) or in Patrice's diary.


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 Post subject: Re: Bolting under saddle
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 10:32 am 
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Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:42 am
Posts: 2147
Location: Vienna, Austria
Perhaps you can give us a bit more information? Is it a young horse? How long under a rider? In which situations does the bolting occur typically? Is it rather to get rid of the rider, or because something has startled the horse?

Mucki even seems to like to run out of exuberance and because now he can determine the speed himself - like we can now both run at horse speed ;)

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 Post subject: Re: Bolting under saddle
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 3:15 pm 

Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 12:03 am
Posts: 760
Thanks for both of your responses. What you say makes sense, prevention first and not giving the horse a reason to bolt as well as looking for cues that it is about to happen. I will see if I can find out more details. Thanks also for mentioning the other links. :)
Birgit


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 Post subject: Re: Bolting under saddle
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 8:30 pm 
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Joined: Tue May 15, 2007 2:40 pm
Posts: 4733
Location: Belgium
a horse surely never does anything without a reason. I would really have to know more. Vets often do not know that riding without gymnastisation in hand can cause pain, for instance. Or it can be a traumatic experience from the past that is triggered during riding, or the saddle, or the rider or or or... can be like a 100 things.

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