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Hard headed

Denny

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 10, 2005
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Location
Mn usa
I know the old saying when a horse bucks you off get back on him.

Well yeasterday I thought I'd go for a ride,my 15 year old boy got bucked off this gelding we have a while back so I figured I would ride him and show the youngster.

Now this horse (used to BE) so lazy you needed a stick to swat him so he would move out,My first attempt I got 1/2 way on and he fired I rode him a few jumps and it was over.So I tried it a 2nd 3rd 4th and finally a 5th time.The last time I got aboard was making a pretty ok ride for me I had his head pulled around but he was going for it as we came up to a 5 barbwire fence he was bucking blind so I gave him his head so we would'nt wreck well he did'nt but I did.I broke 4 out of 5 wires got a gash on my arm about 6 more on my whole left side plus a big rip across my nose.Now what do you think should I give him another try????

My wife say's were suppose to grow old together but if I keep it up I'll never make it.And all I wanted to do was go for a nice afternoon ride.

The boy says SEE now thats why I'm not rideing him...
 
If he's been a sound saddle horse, make sure your equipment and his anatomy are ok (I'm sure you already did this, but gotta say it in case). If everything is ok and he's just being a creep, saddle him very early in the morning, and hock a cinch in him like you were roping something big. leave him haltered to something stout all day, and come back about 4 oclock while its still hot. ride him in a round pen or make a round pen out of panels (20' diameter). When he's through humping ride him some more outside. If you run hooks to his heart, and he still bucks, swap him to a stock contractor. I've seen dozens of "bucking horses' that go to a stock contractor or rodeo team that quit bucking when someone gives them their head and run steele to their heart. If you ride him hard several hours a day for a couple weeks, he'll likely behave.

If he bucked my kid down and put me into a wire fence, he'd pay for everything bad going back to the dairy buy out in "86" Funny how those horses that get the stepchild treatment get pretty honest.


Oh yeah, if it helps you, don't be too proud to grab leather - ain't no style points.
 
Probably not a good idea to ride him near any barbed wire fences. But seriously you need to ask yourself a couple of questions. What is making this horse buck? Is he worth investing in some proffesional training? If he is truly trying to harm you and you can't control him I would suggest not riding him any more.


It is not normal in my opinion to have an older horse just start bucking. You need to go back in time and figure out what started this deal.
 
I rode a big sorrel mare for my mom last yr. She was started by a guy up west and sent back with 60 rides. Our first couple rides where ok and it got worse from there until the last time when she blew up and kept blow'n up. We sold her for bucking stock. The truth about her came out the other day when my mom said that the guy that started her said that would blow up and that he would can her. My thoughts on horses are if it's not you or your tack then send that sob packin. Once a horse has been able to shake loose what is "attacking" them they will try to get everything off. You might get him over it with some long rides, but what happens when he has a week or so off?? You deserve a good ride!!
 
I'd say to check your tack and all first...make sure he's healthy. I wouldn't cinch him up hard all day long though -- that'll make him worse, rather than better. Might work at first cuz he'll be tired from fighting against the cinch to breath all day, but he'll remember it next time you go to cinch him. A couple "wannabes" did that to horses they had and it ruined a couple real nice horses -- after looking at the horses for them and seeing the saddle on them, it was clear to me that the saddle was pinching bad on each of them (worn down saddles), but those two "wannabes" thought they were gonna "teach that horse a lesson". Back fired on 'em.

I'm no trainer by trade, but you need to start with your tack first, the health of the horse second -- especially, as one poster said, since he's been a good saddle horse before. Seems logical that something, besides an outbursting of buckin horse mentality, is behind this bucking...but then again, it might just be something that snapped in the horse too.

If the tack isn't hurting him and he's healthy, then it's time to get rid of him before you really get hurt....
 
I agree with you mtn 90. If there is something hurting a horse and
you hurt him worse, he's gonna dread seeing you every morning. Horses forgive, but they never forget. Hurt him long enough and you've got big trouble~too bad the wanna-be's ruin horses without ever learning anything. They'll just take it to another horse.

There are things that should be checked out, as you mentioned to see what IS CAUSING THE PROBLEM. How else besides acting up, can they tell us there is something wrong? Not that I'm saying bucking hard and long is the answer. Some of them just resort to that. For some reason it seems really good horses never use an excuse to buck. But then there are some really good horses that you need to do some of the getting along.

Makes me wonder if something isn't pinching Denny's horse, since he
is hogging just as Denny is stepping on. That's kind of dirty, when
they do that, unless there is something pinching somewhere. If he is getting worse, I'd say so is the pinching.

But it's hard for us to know since we aren't there. Easy to have these
"what if's" from this far away. It's just that horses and their behavior is always interesting to me. I've seen horses save a person's life (on more than one occasion) and the person involved didn't even know it.

Anyway, Denny, I'm sure you will do what you have to do. Some horses
just don't fit the program. Sorry about your horse acting so foolish.
 
Probably way off board,but Gregs dad got bucked off his horse quite a few years ago.He was getting on,horse bucked him off broke his pelvis...this horse WAS bomb proof,never did understand why he only ever bucked this once. A couple years ago Greg decieded to redo his dads saddle,tore it apart...the tree was broken,Greg finally figured out when his dad got on the saddle pinched the horse quite bad!
 
If he's been honest most of his life, I'd look for him being sore or something hurtin him. Haven't seen alot of horses turn counterfeit overnight without good reason.
 
That is precisely what I was talking about, Mrs. Greg.

A neighbor used a nice horse that started giving them trouble getting
on. Nothing horrible, just jumping up in the front when they would mount.
They mentioned it to us and that fall we just happened to be there
when they were using this horse. They got on, the horse jumped in the air and then rode off. When they tied the horse up, I went over to look.
The saddle was too low, was sitting right on the horses withers. Talk
about pressure!! But that wasn't all...when they unsaddled him we
looked at the saddle and that tree was broke as well.

This particular horse just didn't have any buck in him, apparently. But he still tried his best to tell 'em there was something wrong. This horse saved their life every time they got on.

He had a license to kill them, but he didn't. Horse of a different caliber,
the story might have had a different ending.
 
Denny said:
I know the old saying when a horse bucks you off get back on him.

Well yeasterday I thought I'd go for a ride,my 15 year old boy got bucked off this gelding we have a while back so I figured I would ride him and show the youngster.

Now this horse (used to BE) so lazy you needed a stick to swat him so he would move out,My first attempt I got 1/2 way on and he fired I rode him a few jumps and it was over.So I tried it a 2nd 3rd 4th and finally a 5th time.The last time I got aboard was making a pretty ok ride for me I had his head pulled around but he was going for it as we came up to a 5 barbwire fence he was bucking blind so I gave him his head so we would'nt wreck well he did'nt but I did.I broke 4 out of 5 wires got a gash on my arm about 6 more on my whole left side plus a big rip across my nose.Now what do you think should I give him another try????

My wife say's were suppose to grow old together but if I keep it up I'll never make it.And all I wanted to do was go for a nice afternoon ride.

The boy says SEE now thats why I'm not rideing him...
The girl in me says maybe a equipment problem,check after first fall,PMS sore spot next fall etc.--But yu cowboyed up and showed them kids(been there) worth the pain,stories can tell grandkids?
 
Hope you're mending well, Denny.

No advice on the bucking problem, the closest we ever came to that was had a mare that all of a sudden, started falling over on whoever was trying to ride her. Never did break her of it, though several things were tried. Finally sold her as a Kill Only. Figgured she probably locoed or something, she was never quite right after her first and only colt was weaned. :(
 

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