Bucking at the Canter
April 13, 2009
AQHA Professional Horseman Patrick Hooks of Texhoma, Oklahoma, offers advice to a reader whose horse bucks at the canter.
Question:
I have an 11-year-old palomino Quarter Horse whom I have owned for a year and a half. While we are cantering, my horse bucks. I have had his saddle fit checked, and I have had a chiropractor work on him, yet he still bucks several times in the canter. I’m not sure how to break what seems to be becoming a bad habit.
When I first bought him, he was not bucking, but he seems to have developed this bad habit over the past six months. While I have a pretty good seat, I am concerned that I will get hurt if this behavior continues or, worse yet, someone else may get hurt.
I would appreciate any suggestions you can make. I don’t think he’s in pain as I have had the vet check him. Help!
Marla Schneider
Answer:
Any time I help with a problem, whether I’m present or not, I think about four separate categories: mental, physical, emotional and mechanical. Each category is self explanatory, except for mechanical. That’s what I think of as the rider’s duty of horsemanship, including being aware of the horse’s foot fall and movements. In this case, here’s how I went through the checklist:
Mental – The horse’s intelligence isn’t in question.
Physical – The owner has taken the proper steps to determine that there isn’t any physical handicap or injury. This should be done first, before all the old tricks are tried and before the frustration of the rider is taken out on the horse. In addition, Marla told me that she has purchased an excellent saddle pad as a preventive measure. Good job, Marla !
Emotional – When I contacted Marla for more information, I found out that her horse bucks when he is around other horses and in an outside environment. He is reported not to buck at a walk, trot or in an arena environment. The horse is stall-kept with turnout. He doesn’t pin his ears or “pitch” when he bucks, meaning that his head isn’t positioned between his front legs, squealing like a stuck pig under a fence.
Mechanical – Marla’s horsemanship level at this time doesn’t cover the foot fall of the horse. My concern was to determine if the horse was cross-firing (dropping a hind lead) and kicking up in the hind end in order to correct himself. This needs to be ruled out as a potential cause of the problem. Study the diagram at right for proper foot placement at the lope
Without seeing the horse, I’m leaning heavily toward the emotional side as a cause of the bucking. The prison cell-prison yard theory comes into play with this horse. When he is ridden outside, the environment is much larger than indoors. Naturally, this freedom raises the emotions of the horse. Also, the herd instinct and playful nature when around other horses comes into play. He feels good … but it’s too much for Marla at this time.
I’d also consider that this horse may not be fully broke. It takes 21 days to form a new habit and 90 days to break an old one. His original training time is undetermined, and he has been off duty for some time. I would ride this horse as though he was a new colt until I could get a feel and read him correctly. Until this is determined, Marla may want to consider some professional help.
I have to take into consideration Marla’s ability as a rider and age. She simply wants to have a trail horse and has no desire to ride broncs. So teaching her to keep in time with the front end and pull down is out of the question. However, for safety, I do suggest a night latch on her saddle fork.
I’d like to see Marla get her horse tired before asking for a lope or heading out into the open. Actually, I would like to see him worn out. I would try trotting some circles and figure eights, then offering a downward transition to the walk. She can build up to loping figure eights, finally adding simple lead changes to the figure eight pattern. This will give her an opportunity to improve her horsemanship.
Once I could see a little sweat and physical tiring, I would then offer the lope to the horse as a reward. If he remained under control, I would give him a nice gesture for a few strides and come back down to the trot then to the walk so he wouldn’t think he was to be loped into the ground. Once he had a job daily and Marla feels comfortable with her seat, then I would offer loping circles without all the drilling exercises.
If his conduct continues after being given a fair chance, then he needs to be ridden at lope by an advanced horseman who will give him all the loping he wants after he bucks, plus a little extra. It wouldn’t hurt him at all to cover several miles daily at a good long trot.
My hunch that the horse may not be truly broke continues to enter my mind. I would hire a pro to take him for a spin or two, maybe go all the way back to some round-pen at-liberty training and see what he really knows.
Hope this helps, Marla. Be safe!
And remember, “There’s one bit that works on all horses, a bit of knowledge.”
Patrick Hooks, AQHA Professional Horseman
Comments
23 Comments on “Bucking at the Canter”
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April 16th, 2009 at 9:31 am
Great article! Could you explain ‘keep in time with the front end and pull down’ and ‘night latch on her saddle fork’?
April 16th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
I have been riding green horses for 25 years and I’ve never heard of a night latch on a saddle fork. What IS that??????
April 16th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
A night latch is a loop of rope, tied around the saddle horn and under the gullet, generally on the right side of the fork, to provide a grab (hand hold)to hang on to when a horse starts to buck. Western Horseman Magazine has a special issue written by Tim O’Byrne called “Cowboys and Buckaroos” which shows this loop tied to a saddle (along with several other tips and “secrets” used by old time cowboys in their trade. I have no idea about keeping in time with the front end and pulling down, but back in the day, we used to whip a bucking colt over the nose as they touched the ground with the front feet as they bucked. I suspect that Mr. Hooks method is a much more humane and safe method of achieving this.
May 5th, 2009 at 10:29 am
My daughter had a well trained show horse that started doing this and after a lot of checking out we found that it was because the saddle was shifting very slightly at the lope and gallop ( not at the walk and jog) and the change of weight made the horse buck. We put on a different, thicker saddle blanket which allowed us to cinch the saddle on tighter with no discomfort to the horse and the bucking stopped.
May 10th, 2009 at 10:30 am
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May 18th, 2010 at 10:32 pm
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June 8th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
I have the exact same problem with my horse. He is perfect in the arena at canter, trot etc. But as soon as I canter him in an open field – he bucks – I have fallen off. I’m not sure why he does it but it’s really starting to scare me – I’m an older rider and I just don’t know what to do about it.
Would he buck if he had ulcers? Does anyone have experience with this?
Many thanks
August 23rd, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Hi,
Was there ever a solution to this issue? My horse does the same when out in the “open” vs. the arena. Her saddle has been checked and she is a broke reining cow horse.
When we are with other riders she becomes very agitated if she feels she is going to be left behind and if I canter she will buck…hard….not small little cold back bucks. It is quite uncomfortable and unsettling. Sometimes when cantering on a polo field near where I ride she will also buck, but not like she does when she has this herd mentality. It’s almost like she needs to be at the front of the herd.
So, how do I keep her from trying to take off bucking? I want to train this out of her immediately.
Thanks!
September 2nd, 2010 at 9:47 am
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March 23rd, 2011 at 7:18 pm
Horses are taught this vice when they are ‘fresh’ and feel good and put a big hump in their back and the rider ‘pulls them up’, thus rewarding the behavior. I have seen horses learn this bad habit in one or two rides. I do not believe it takes 21 days. One or two rewards for doing the wrong thing and many horses will ‘jump’ on that opportunity and use it for a good way to get out of working.
I would have a very good and confident rider ride this horse for a few rides. This rider should be able to ‘push’ the horse forward instead of pull it up when it threatens to buck. Pushing it forward faster will correct most of them unless they have become outright broncs.
Warming the horse up better will also help — but DO NOT warm the horse up with a saddle on and DO NOT let the horse buck and play on a longe line or in a round pen. This only serves to reinforce that bucking is OK and lets the horse practice and get better at it. Another alternative would be to tie the reins snugly to the saddle horn where the horse bumps into them if he tries to drop his head, thus punishing himself for bucking while the person on the ground insists that the horse go forward faster until he quits.
Whether riding or on the ground, you should always stop a horse and stop a riding session when it is doing things well and not when it misbehaves.
Oh. By the way, a ‘night latch’ is usually a 1″ leather dog collar buckled around the swell of the saddle next to the horn on whatever side the rider like to use. You leave it loose enough that the rider can slip a hand inside of it for a place to grab much like the handle on a bareback bucking rig used in a rodeo. All the cowboys around here have one on their colt breaking saddles — just in case.
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June 1st, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Okay, you say…try to make the horse go faster when he bucks. Oi…I just recently got thrown from my bucker and I gotta say I’m not looking forward to doing it again. Asking him to go faster just sounds even more dangerous. Does it really work? Or will I end up on the ground again? I’d really like some opinions. Anyone try yet? I’m still young and spry but I don’t like hitting the ground from eight feet up either. Sounds like I have to rodeo up.
Not looking forward to that.
June 1st, 2011 at 4:18 pm
Hi Sarah,
I think Pat’s original piece of advice was to get the horse tired through lots and lots of trot work before ever asking for a lope, so that hopefully he’d have gotten rid of any extra “spunk.”
But I’d say if that — or any other options — make you feel uncomfortable, don’t do it. Find a professional or someone more experienced to help you through this. There’s sure no shame in that … it’s a learning experience!
November 21st, 2011 at 10:44 am
Hi there, my name is Chanel. I have a 8yr paint and only had her since April of 11′. When I got her she was perfectly fine no bucking, no pinning ears, nothing. The past month she has been bucking only going counter clockwise in the arena. She only bucks in the arena, nowhere else. Having a good seat, I can sit the buck very easily. It’s not like she’s trying to buck me off because it’s not a bad buck, more like she’s trying to tell me shes unhappy, you know? She was doing it very bad for a while, but everytime she did it I would give her a slight kick and make her go faster. Today she only does it about once or twice that I ride, but me being only 14 I don’t want it to become an ongoing problem, any suggestions? Thanks!!
February 3rd, 2012 at 3:23 am
hi all i have worked with many horses with this problem and it more commen in horses who are a bit green or ones that come straight out of the stall on to a ride out.
i would say 8 out of 10 times it is excitment and if it has never been corrected becomes a habit but ou do get some that it is malice to get you off so they can take off with out you.
Sarah i understand what you mean about making it go faster sounding dangerous but rest assured its not. what cheri is explaining is that if you stop a horse quickly when it begins to show signs of bucking all it will do is shorten its neck and bring its head in wich in turn causes its back to arch , wich if then allowed to drop its head he would have prime position for a good bronco.
By asking him to slightly increase his speen while staying in the same gait you will force it to extend its stride and raise its head (wich they do naturally when movig up a gait ie walk to trot)
thus making bucking immposible. But if the rider in question is inexperienced and there isn’t any one who can take it out for her try using grass reins wich will stop it from being able to get its head down hope this explains driving them on sarah and i hope it helps maria
February 3rd, 2012 at 3:25 am
hi all i have worked with many horses with this problem and it more commen in horses who are a bit green or ones that come straight out of the stall on to a ride out.
i would say 8 out of 10 times it is excitment and if it has never been corrected becomes a habit but ou do get some that it is malice to get you off so they can take off with out you.
Sarah i understand what you mean about making it go faster sounding dangerous but rest assured its not. what cheriwolfe is explaining is that if you stop a horse quickly when it begins to show signs of bucking all it will do is shorten its neck and bring its head in wich in turn causes its back to arch , wich if then allowed to drop its head he would have prime position for a good bronco.
By asking him to slightly increase his speen while staying in the same gait you will force it to extend its stride and raise its head (wich they do naturally when movig up a gait ie walk to trot)
thus making bucking immposible. But if the rider in question is inexperienced and there isn’t any one who can take it out for her try using grass reins wich will stop it from being able to get its head down hope this explains driving them on sarah and i hope it helps maria, take care
February 3rd, 2012 at 3:35 am
i forgot to say please excuse any typing errors i am loosing sight in my left eye and some times i mis the key i am aiming fo
hi chanel, the firt thing i would suggest with your horse is to recheck your saddle fit just to be sure nothing is pressing on her on that counter clockwise rein after that she may need her back doing, as you have had her for a while now and its just started i would check these first before assuming its behavoiral
good luck Liz