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365 Days in Horse Country – Bucking


Blog by Michael Stuart Webb | October 12th, 2013


365 Days in Horse Country – Bucking


O
ne of the scariest misbehaviours a horse can throw at you is a buck.  Her head goes down, and her back end goes up, as her hind feet seem to point to the sky.  Small bucks are not too hard to sit out if you have good balance.  The larger, more determined ones on the other hand are another story altogether and can unseat even the best of riders.  Horses buck for a number of reasons and there could be a number of underlying causes as to why your horse is bucking. 

  • Excess energy that they need to get out
     
  • Pain, usually in the back
     
  • Defiance, hoping to get out of doing what they are being asked to do
     

If you horse bucks hard and often, you have a problem.  To solve it, explore the reasons for her bevahviour. 

  • Start your horse with an exam by your veterinarian to make sure the horse is not experiencing pain that is driving the behaviour.
     
  • If your horse gets a clean bill of health, try giving her more exercise, especially before you ride.  Lunge her or work her in a round pen and let her get her bucks out before you get on.
     
  • If that doesn’t do the trick, consider that she may be bucking in the hopes that you’ll stop asking her to work.  If that’s the case, and her bucking is hard enough to unseat you, you may need help from a professional trainer.

 

Michael