5yr old horse bucking?

Longe him! If he hasn't been ridden in 3 mos, he definitely has some pent up energy/frustrations that he needs to work out. Let him get his bucks out by longeing him before you get on him-he'll be more relaxed because he won't have to try so hard to be good and hold his bucks in, since he won't have any anymore :)

If this horse hasn't been ridden for 3 months he should not have been cantering. You need to build up his muscles again before doing anymore than walk and trot. If he has not been correctly warmed up or is stiff from not being worked then the first few strides of canter could cause him pain. You say it was when he wanted to canter, you are riding him and should be telling him what pace he is doing not allowing him to choose.

Also much as you may have been scared, throwing yourself off is very dangerous as well as teaches the horse that this is the way to get you to give in. You always have a choice unless you do not have the knowledge or ability to be riding this pony. The next time, this pony may do exactly the same again as he got away with it.

To deal with the bucking you need to be able to take a strong hold on one rein and pull his head round to your knee sharply which prevent him being able to get any power into the bucks. Turn him in a tight circle until he is back under control.

I think this pony needs a more experienced and level-headed rider who can give him the correct training.

He could be bucking becos of pain... Does your saddle fit properly? You should get his teeth looked at & as well as get a vet out to check his legs & back. If it's not medical issue then you could try working with him on the lunge line. Like you said he hasn't been ridden in 3 months so he's a little rusty. He might be testing your limits and seeing if he can avoid working by bucking. When I got my first pony, I swear it was like watching a rodeo with my trainer on him. Haha. She disciplined him with a crop every time he bucked and within a few times of riding him he had a lot more respect for her and stopped bucking as much. Stay firm and over time I'm sure he'll learn (:

okay jst have to point out that some wacko (for lack of better word) has gone thru all these answers and gave negative feedback...

i aggree with what ppl are saying, my horse is having these problems too! lunge him a lot, if he bucks turn him in tight circles, don't let him lazily trot or walk the circles either, keep his feet moving at a fast trot when circling, he needs to know he doesn't get out of work by bucking.

and u should be buildinghim up slowly hes young as it is and hasnt been worked in a while so he needs a lot of ground work, and walking and trotting. work on bending, flexing, groundpoles, and building up muscle, try trotting up and down small hills if u can, just take it easy :)

you shouldn't be riding a horse that bucks.

he's bucking for a reason and you need to find out why and PREVENT the buck, not just ride it out.

riding out a buck teaches the horse nothing. PREVENTING the buck is better, because it means you've taken care of any pain issues and have explained things enough to the horse, so that he has no reason to buck.

reasons for a buck:

* if he's not been ridden in 3 months, maybe he got fat and the saddle doesn't fit anymore and it hurts his withers?

* maybe his teeth have not been done and he's got sharp points and the bit makes it very painful at times and he bucks.

* maybe he is not balanced at all. some horses, especially young ones, MUST buck in order to balance themselves especially at the canter.

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Solutions:

* make sure the teeth and tack are fine.

* lunge him with the saddle at all speeds, do more ground work so that he's supple and balanced. Use poles afterwards, do lots of changes of direction, supplying lateral work

*then when he's really ready, ride him again, and when you ask for the lope, be sure that you are a balanced rider (not pulling on the reins at all, have an independent seat) and he shouldn't buck.

When you prepare him, he has no reason to buck.

When you rush him, he finds a reason to buck.

Forget about the whole mistreated stuff. don't pity him. train him. big difference. If you pity him, you may hold back. If you train him, you prepare him for the rest of his life with people.

i had a similar problem with my old horse. He would be a sweetie for the most part, get bored and go nuts!! I could sit his bucks mainly but things took a nasty turn when he did it particulaly badly 2 febuarys ago. He was bored and cold and we had been waiting for our class to start for about an hour, i put him in to canter and he started his bucking. He started to head for a post and rail fence as u can imagine i ended up on top of the fence with 3 cracked ribs! My mum decided this needed serious attention!! we startd by cutting his feed of all sugar and fed him fillers such as un-mollased chaff and sugar beet. We exercised him at least 2 a week even if only 10 minutes lungeing! This calmed him down loads and he hasn't bucked since. Also a tip for when the horse is bucking, instead of pulling against him and fghting, because when it comes to sheer brute force the horse will win everytime, pull with 1 rein in a tight circle then make it trot on. This encourages forward thinking. Never walk them backwards or hault them!

hope this helps ! x

I can honestly say I would not ride a horse that has a little time off without warming them up first in a round pin or small paddock. I would put the saddle on, take off the halter and make them run until their through bucking. Then just a lap or two more just to make sure.

Then you might check your cinch and make sure it's not cutting the horse in half. Get on and ride a little in the pin doing all the steps. Walk, trot, lope, gallop if you can. Another thing I would do is ground work with the horse getting him to face me everywhere I go in the pin.

Walk up behind him and have him turn and face me. Stand back enough to where he can't kick you. Teach him to to come to me instead of walking away. Things of this nature. Another thing is to put him in a figure eight when you canter. Give him something else to think about instead of bucking.

Start with small figure eights and increase the circles. Hope this helps.

Can you work him in an arena - or small fenced off area?

First get his tack checked - I do not know if it is his saddle or not, but even so, if he has been turned out it is unlikely to fit him now.

Then start again, lungeing to begin with if you are capable - it is an art.

Then get someone to leg you up and start by just walking, turning and halting, keeping him interested and keeping him guessing as to where you are going to go next.

Then next time, start in walk and then begin to trot - just rising trot, going in large circles and turns, changing reins, then back to walk to cool him off.

Remember, since he is unfit, you should not ride him more than half an hour and start to improve on the steering, leg aids, turning aids - actually move your inside hand into the inside of the turn using the open rein method to turn him, but hold with the outside rein to prevent him bending his head and neck too far.

Lounge him and slow him down before you get on him. Any horse that hasn't had any work for 3 months is going to be excitable, even more when they are young.

For getting him used to being ridden again, the best thing you can do is simply ride him. Ride him whenever you have the chance. For the bucking part, here's what I say. I ride a 3 year old who likes to buck while cantering too! For some horses, they buck when they canter because it hurts their back, and this might be for your horse, but considering he's young, I doubt it. My trainer says that my horse likes to buck whole canter just because he's young. So whenever he starts bucking, I instantly make him do tight, tight circles. If he thinks he can buck, then he's just going to have to learn that whenever he bucks, he has to do circles. I always make sure to alternate the direction of the circles, because whatever you do to one side, you have to do to the other. If you're going to ty my method of anti-bucking, then make sure you aren't just yanking his head to your boot and holding it there. Make it go in pulses--- pull his head to your boot, then release a little bit, then repeat. The reason you do it in pulses is because you never want to give a horse something to push against. If you just held his head there, then he would have something to pull his head back against, which is not a good thing. Make sure to keep your back straight while you're doing circles. Good luck!