He is my instructor's horse. He did throw a bit of a hissy fit when I tried to mount,
but the ride was fine until we came to cantering, then he bucked. And
after that, I tried to trot and he did the same thing.
*Interesting....I would calmly step off and
request that the instructor show me "how to do it."
My sister suggested my riding style-I have never
hung on a horse's mouth.
*I can't imagine your riding style could be that
bad.....and if this horse is a LESSON horse, he should be of a tolerant
temprement.....think for a moment of a vaulting horse....all kinds of people
throwing their bodies up and over.....standing on their rumps, riding double,
triple....etc. no bucking, etc.
*Is this YOUR horse or an instructors
horse? Not clear on what this horse has been doing up to the present
time?
Just sitting, becasue he is your horse, or is
he a lesson horse. I have a big problem with so-called lesson horses that
dump students...there is no excuse for it. If I was paying for
instruction and a lesson horse bucked me off i would be REALLY
pissed.
I agree with Heidi, first make sure this guy is
not in pain...
if not, and if it was only behavioral.....my
method is to first get the horse tired (forget lunging). Go find a
good, long, steep hill and if he is too fresh, pony him first off another
horse up....until he has some of the starch out of him. Then get
on...walk UPHILL until he is huffing a bit...ask for a trot.
Trot unitl he is geting a bit tired of trotting...THEN ask for the
canter. If he canters even a few strides without bucking, give him a
rest and reward.
I don;t like the different saddle idea (unless
current saddle is hurting him), in the hopes a rider could ride out a buck
better in a different saddle.....you don';t want him to even have the
opportunity to buck.....so set him up to make it REALLy hard to have the
energy to buck; hence the hill......
also look at what this guy is getting to
eat.....cut all grain, alfalfa, etc.
Again, rereading your post, no clue as to who
owns the horse. IF it is the riding instructor, shame on her for
"being at her wits end" and using students on this horse. Maybe also
this guy is sick and tired of flat arena work and some trail miles and hills
will humble him a bit and give fresh perspective.
Forget the crap about 7 falls make a
horseman......the more jolts your body gets the more long-term damage you
inflict.
One of those falls may REALLY hurt you.
It's bad advice; in my book, being a good horseman means keeping the horse
between you and the ground, and NOT being encouraged to ride a horse that is
beyond your capabilities. My last fall off the 4 year old has given me
a good knot of scar tissue in my shoulder that is 6 months and still not
healed.....
The only suggestions I had were to: a.
lunge it out of him (probably won't work because he knows the difference
between a rider on his back obviously). b. a different saddle,
such as dressage or western, where it's harder to remove the rider.
Not really a practical option either. c. A rider who can stick
to Sunny like glue. (Obviously not me ;-P).
Any advice is very much appreciated because I
don't feel like eating dirt again. I hurt a lot. But hey, they
say it takes 7 falls to make a horsewoman. In the meantime, the
whiplash does not seem to be part of that course.
