Riding a buck ..please give as much advice as you can..?

SIt back and deep into your saddle. keep your heels down and dont forget to breathe. The most common problem of people riding a bucker is that they hold thier breath. If you hold your breath you will automaticly go rigid through your spine (it is an instinctive thing that you cant fight), with a rigid spine you cant go with the movement so a buck will throw you off balance.

try and get her head up, she cant buck with her head up.

going to disagree with the person below me and say dont grip with your legs, wrap them round the horse and keep your leg long and relaxed. gripping with legs is bad. If you grip with your knees it will pop you up out of the saddle and thus make it easier for the horse to get you off. If you grip with your calf it will likely be taken as a signal to go faster by the horse and will make the bucking worse and it is very difficult to grip with your thighs without gripping with your knees.

If you are still having problems sitting the bucks then hook your fingers under the front of the saddle to give yourself extra security. Also a piece of bailer twine tied between the Drings of your saddle at the front can make a very effective handle to hang onto.

Kevin. ive been riding for over 20 years. And for the last 8 years ive had a serious bucker, not an occasional hopper (those are easy to sit) but serious i'm going to get you off and do serious damage whilst im at it bucks. Ive also ridden grand prix dressage horses that had wonderful bucks in them (18hh of fit warmblood bucking its head off is fun let me tell you), i have excellent control of my legs, believe me if i didnt i'd spend all my time going sideways. Ive ridden bolters, rearers, youngstock, older problem horses. I currently rehab horses so no i'm not some silly child who's pony has occasionaly bucked i have sat some rather serious protests regularly from a range of different horses. Heck my first ponys favorite trick was to launch people headfirst into a hedge or wall. I'm more then capable of sitting those bucks bareback, could you say the same? (yes i do ride bareback on the beach in summer as it prevents me haveing to get salt water out of the stitching of my saddle and girth).

Worst thing you can do when a horse is about to buck is slow him down or pull him up, when you feel a buck coming, make your horse go faster. Don't give him the oportunity to buck. As for you, look at the posisions of rodeo riders when their horse bucks - sounds dumb, but they gotta stay on some how, and so do you. Have you ever ridden this horse? Horses can be hurt by human beings, yeah, but a 15hh horse won't be hurt by bucking someone unless you try to stop him. Sure, if he bucks, let him know he's been bad, but do NOT pull him. Reasons for your horse bucking could be, excitement, energy, confusion or miscomfort. Think of these, check your girth, check none of his tack is rubbing against him. Make sure you're clear in your aids of what you want him to do, otherwise he will buck you off quick as a flash. Excitement and energy - let him go, before you ride him in the school give him a good gallop round a field. Do you know if he is kept in a stable or a field or paddock?

Well by staying on you got the basics down. On the upward jump you want to squeeze your swell with your thighs, shift your weight forward and lean into the jump. In other words post up just like if your going over a jump. But here is the tricky part. Unlike english jumping on the downward motion you need to shift your feet to the front shoulder, point your toes out and grip with your whole leg, lean back and shift your weight right up to the swell . Don't shift so much that you slide back on your pockets. And repeat.

Edit- Feye....Uhm..I am a man and I have for 15 years ridden saddle bronc professionally. An occasional pony crow hopping does not count. When its done for a living its a different story. And apperently you can not figgure out the difference between a man and a woman and you apperently don't know anything about working your legs on a bucking horse to keep your balance.....But hey what do I know? I only rode rough stock for 15 years I didn't ride a show pony for 8.

Feye I am not critisizing your ability, but your expirence level with bucking animals is only about 15 years below mine. You may have done grand prix, I have done Cheyane. My critisim was the fact when I explained are the fundamentals of riding an animal WHO IS BRED AND TRAINED to buck. These are the basics that every cowboy from Larry Mayhan (10 world champ all round) to Ty Murry (10 time world champ all round) would tell some one on riding out a buck. It is one thing to stay on. Which the asker has that part down. It is something different to do it well. When you have won a few rodeo buckles on some NFR quality horses, then we will talk about different ways on riding bucking horses.

By the way when I mention rough stock that mean I did bulls, bareback and saddle bronc. I know bucking animals.

Oh man, I know where your coming from. My horses do the same thing when they don't get taken out as much as they are used too.

When you ride a buck, basically just stay upright straight in the saddle. Sit deep in the saddle and push your heels into those stirrups. If the buck is really big, like it sounds like yours are, lean back a little bit if you have too. Remember to always keep your whole body loose and relaxed. It's when you tense your body up and make yourself stiff that you can throw your back and seat out of wack and hurt your self.

My baby loves to buck. She rears sometimes too, but thats besides the point.

When she bucks, it your first thought to stiffen up and hold your breath. I always just breath and relax. I sit deep in the saddle.

It helps if you keep their head up- its harder for them to buck.

However, if she does it, you dont want to let her get away with it or she'll do it more. Kick her when she bucks. If she goes faster, so be it. I'd say canter her once around the ring without bucking before you give her a break. If it happens that you can't slow her down, circles are the way to go.

I'm ridng a 4 year old QH cross Morgan mare. She is a bucker too, but her bucks are really small and short, but she does them in a row, and it hurts my back too.

When your horse bucks, dont let her get away wiht it. When she starts bucking LEAN BACK and pull the reins and digg your legs into her, the faster the horse moves the hard it is for it to buck. Once you do that try getting her into a circle (not small, you dont want her tofall over when she is bucking) and once she stops bucking be agressive and kick her forward and gallop her a few cricles, then go back to your exersize. And if she still does it, really punish her. The worst thing to do is to let your horse get away wiht trying to get you off its back.

Good luck!

One way to stay on a buck is to stay in your normal up right position. Keep your heels down and don't get nervous. Also you can try and stay up out of your saddle in your half seat. it helps so you do not feel the buck as much.

You're main thing, keep the horses head up and it will be harder for the horse to buck & it will eventually stop . And push down in the stirrups and try your best to keep your butt in the saddle .