Bolting at Canter

[kayrae]

Hi I have on ongoing issue with my 9 year old Quarter horse gelding named Bud. I rescued Bud as an unbroke 3 year old have worked with him on and off the past few years but not consistantly due to laminitis, back issues with him and just being busy. He lunges, long lines and is under saddle. Can Walk/trot/canter, leg yields, TOF, TOH,etc...currently we are working on collection but my issue is at the canter. He will canter both on the lunge and under saddle but about 1 in 10 times he bolts both on the lunge and under saddle. Back issues are resolved he has had the chiro work him, massages, vet checked, both saddles used fit him and his teeth have been done. I think this is behavioral/tantrum as I did notice issues this year and last when asked to really use his body he would throw his head at the trot but only when asked to collect, he is now almost completly out of this but does it ocassionaly at the beginning of the ride then stops. But the canter bolting is driving me nuts. On the lunge he does it when he is really fresh will pin his ears and just take off sometimes almost falling. He does the same at the canter we can get a really nice canter depart then I'll ask again a little later and the ears pin and he just takes off. He does it in both directions, he does not do it every time I ride or lunge..he is a little unbalanced at the canter still...Any suggestions? I want to ride through the bolt and make him learn he has to keep cantering and work even harder when he does this but he gets so on the forehand I seriously fear he will fall both on the lunge and under saddle...since I've pulled him up in the past I fear he has figured out if he bolts he gets to quit....any suggestions?

[JosieGirl]

Tough one but a couple of questions...
When was the last time he did have his back checked? I only ask this because just because it is fixed once doesn't mean it is a permanent fix.
Also, Has he done this for as long as you have owned him?
I know this sounds far fetched but I had a appy would bolt like hell out of no where and it turned out that he had developed uveitis and eventually went blind.
...?

[kayrae]

[kayrae]

His back was checked in the spring when his teeth were done. His old owner didn't know how to train horses and said she couldn't get him to trot or canter. When he was first started and asked to canter he would rush into the canter by trotting very fast and eventually falling into the canter, the canter would then be fast and heavy on the forehand but he never bolted. He did this both on the lunge and under saddle. He is not more balanced and will pick up the canter within a few trot strides and does not rush but again will either just bolt the moment I ask or pick up the canter, still a little quick but not like he was when first started..He rides in a western and english saddle and does it in both, ridden in a d ring french link snaffle but also did it in a regular snaffle as well....

[Smilie]

well, how much body control do you have on this horse, esp shoulder control
Horses naturally will follow their shoulders, as often seen with arider cranking the head one way, while the horse runs off in the opposite direction
Through training we teach them to follow their nose with their entire body
I would go right back to basics, getting that body control-poll, shoulder, ribs and hips
I would also put the one rein stop on this horse, since he already has learned to bolt. Start teaching it at the walk, then the trot and eventually at the lope
You have to have the ability to shut him down the minute he tries to bolt

[XtendedTrot]

Hello! If you seriously think this a behavorial problem and nothing more, I would suggest riding him in an arena setting...he can't go too far in a confined place. Try keeping him to a small circle (maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 of the arena). As he progresses, open the circle up wider each time. When you have a horse in a smaller circle they are MUCH easier to control then riding in a line. If he does bolt you can always one-rein stop him to the inside of your circle. They can't run if you disengage their hind quarters; however, if you use the one rein stop method make sure he is limber enough so you don't throw him off balance entirely. Whip him around-AND DO IT QUICK! Don't give him his head back until he has completely calmed down and gets the picture. Remember: Humans will never be able to outpull a horse. Once the horse gets ahold of the bit, the situation can get scary real quickly. He needs to learn that pinning his ears and bolting won't get him anywhere. If he's used to getting away with it he'll do it everytime. Also try a bit with some breaks to slow his butt down. Good luck

[DeeGresko]

I would suggest alot of upward and downward transitions in small segments. It will keep him on his toes. walk to trot, trot to canter and then eventually walk to canter. it may fix whats on his mind. Good Luck

[visionquest]

Hi the other responses are correct, make sure his teeth and back are fine and if so then maybe he isn't really fit or balanced enough to canter well and bolts when he feels unbalanced. His back and rearend need to be pretty strong to be able to canter well. It was already mentioned to practice many transitions up and down, this will help teach to balance himself plus not give him time to think about taking off. Trot 5 or so strides ask for the canter maybe 2 strides and come back down to trot. Don't give him time to think about doing anything else except listening to you and what you may ask him to do next. It takes time to get a horse fit enough to canter well, have patience!!!!

[Slim Pikkens]

In the confines of an arena and good footing, play his game. When he bolts don't attempt to slow him down or stop him. Instead, stay with him and let him go. If you are in the habit of stopping or slowing him down, you're letting him go will definitely confuse him. He will start tiring and this is when you change the rules. Push him on and keep him going. In time you will begin to feel him beginning to lug under you. Push him on and keep him going until he's begging to slow down. At this point you will circle the arena a few more times. He should be puffing heavily. You could whisper whoa at this point and he'll slam on the brakes. Walk him around until he's cooled off and put him away. Try to ride again the next day and repeat the exercise if he bolts. It takes 2 or 3 times for a horse to realize cause and effect.

[horselady]

Slim took the words right out of my mouth, now he thinks (horse not slim) it is a game and he is playing with you go, stop stop, go, just lat him go and when she tries to stop urge him on more, until he is tired, of course this is best done on a dirt straight-a-way.

[candy4legs]

You said you were worried about how much he travels on the forehand, both on the lunge and under saddle...do you have the ability to free lunge him? I'd put him in a round pen and free lunge him, and when he bolts, make him keep going...horses are amazingly agile creatures and rarely fall on the front end. If he gets that unbalanced, keep sending him...he'll learn to balance, and right now, it is more important that you stop the bolting...push him past the point he wants to stop, same as if you were under saddle...make the bad option(boltling) more unpleasant than the good option(controlled canter) and pretty soon he'll get it...

[visionquest]

I agree with Candy 4 legs, if you have a place to free lunge, do so. It will help teach balance and if you reverse often, let him know you are still in control. i also agree that if he bolts, keep him moving, reverse and send him off in a hurry. This may be a safer way to handle the bolting then trying to ride it out if you aren't confident enough to stay with him.

[Red Wolf]

Here's a mechanical view of the bolting issue. The best way to stop a bolting horse is to prevent the horse from bolting in the first place. Easier said than done.

Here's the method that I have had success with:

Use a hackamore with short shank or any bit-less arrangement and a running martingale. The hackamore is used properly gives you the mechanical advantage if the horse tries to bolt and role you out of the saddle (they will hit it once...just once) and you can turn the horse and scoot the horse sideways into a stop if an emergency occurs. Just be careful of the position of the nose band that it doesn't rest on the soft nasal bones.

The running martingale will work to keep the horse's head down and thus take away some of the ability of the horse to engage his hind end should he hit the martingale. This said, one has to have good hands and know how to properly use a hackamore (similar to, but quite like a curb bit that uses the weight of the reins and not contact, per se, like a snaffle).

The theory is simple and it doesn't really rely on the hackamore or the snaffle, but rather your seat.

The trick is to get the horse's hind legs to support rather than to push. If a horse bolts (or tries to) the worst thing you can do is to throw your weight to the horse's fore thus giving him the ability to push with his hind legs rather than to support. IOW, work on getting the horses hind legs under you to support your weight so that he doesn't push forward. Essentially, sit up straight, legs back, weight in your heels and ask for collection. Again, easier said than done...

As was mentioned before by a couple of people in a couple of ways, go for the suppling exercises involving transistions and suppleness of the horse's poll. Downward transitions are the key. Ask the horse to walk and then halt with as little contact or effort on your part as possible. When the horse halts, ask him to take a step backwards. Immediately release any contact, relax and ask the horse to move forward. Repeat several times and call it quits. Set a goal, attain that goal and then quit while you are ahead.

The next day, repeat the process at the walk, then do the same halt/backing from the trot. Quit on a good note.

When the horse does this well and you are confident enough, try it from the canter. Remember to sit to bring the horses rear legs under you so that the horse cannot push but rather has to support.

Repeat each step about 30 times total over several days before moving on to the next step.

What this does (other than to teach the rider to sit the horse better and make the horse understand something by rote) is to get the horse to always expect another command after any given command. If the horse expects another command after any given command, you occupy the horses mind (and the rider's mind to) because in all reality 90% of riding is actually done in the head and not the behind. This form of anticipation (waiting for the next command) on the horse's part is OK (as opposed to a horse anticipating a command at a specific location in the ring, which is bad).

The real key is to ride with that ubiquitous 'independent seat' - that is to get the horse to respond to your seat (and your balance) in a way that gives you the advantage if the horse bolts or squirrels out. If you seat is correct, you can ride out a bolt until you can apply the proper defensive remedy and be at least comfortable until you can get things under control.

I've had horses bolt in a riding ring and the old saying that a horse can't go anywhere in a riding ring is true and false at the same time. I sat out my wild mustang that bolted in the ring for 20 minutes before the horse jumped the rails and headed off to East Bejeezus with me hanging on for dear life. Sitting up and riding it out with an indepent seat might not immediately stop the horse but it will make you more comfortable.

Essentially, bolting is the response of a lazy horse (50% of the time) as a means of work avoidance or a lack of trust for the rider on the horse's part. Occasionally it's the horse trying to test the rider.

My mustang mare will occasionally do a semi-bolt for a few seconds just to let me know that she is capable of over-powering me but always comes back just to let me know that I had better respect her.

And the final point - if a horse doesn't respect you on the ground, they won't respect you when you are in the saddle. But trust your horse and stay with them if they squirrel out.

[Southriversales]

We used to/still do handle bolting/faster canters this way:
We canter and as soon as they get to fast or lean on the forehand, try to get them to slow or collect if that doesn't happen in 5 seconds, stop switch directions and canter the circle, if they speed up again, stop switch, canter circles. The idea of this is, they will finally realize that rushing gets them no where and will balance better and listen better. Has worked on several OTTB and it's easy just time consuming but what training isn't

[Smilie]

First, when a horse is under saddle and on a lunge line, play time is over. Ie-bolting, going at a gait not asked for are never, never allowed
Lunging should never be used to just let ahorse go in any fashion to expel excess engery. That type of activity is only for turn out
So, when I lunge a horse, it is in preparation to under saddle work ethics and attitude.
I will gradually bit a horse up on a,lunge line, using a snaffle over a halter. At first6 the horse only packs the snaffle and is lunged off of the halter. If he wants to pull, then a chain shank is attached to the end of the lunge line and run under the chin, as in showmanship. Hook up isd changed when direction is changed. A horse is taught to lunge keeping slack in the lunge line, thus never pulling-bolting being an extreme example
As the horse learns to work offf of the lunge line, Im gradually bit him up over time. When he is giving nicely in the face at all gaits and transititions, I then lunge him off of the inside ring of the snaffle
Lunging should never be used just to try and wear a horse down, letting him do his own thing on the lunge line. It is instead a start of work ethics. If you don't have it there, sure as heck won't have it riding