nasty bolting experience

[mandymoo]

Hi everyone, I'm hoping someone can offer some advice, as I am a complete novice. I will give you the background, it is quite extensive so please bear with me
I bought my first pony last summer, and we have got on very well. We mostly hack about the local lanes. He did have a couple of weeks of spinning and me not able to get him going in a straight line, but I persevered and he has been as good as gold since.
Around xmas 2012 he developed a tendon injury, I have no idea how, the vet suggested he may have got cast. Anyway, he had 3 weeks box rest, and has now been on about 8 weeks handwalking. He was re-scanned last week and vet is really pleased with how the injury is progressing, and we started adding a tiny bit of trot. He had been very good until Sunday when we were about 60yards from home. We pulled into a large space to let a car pass us, and he suddenly span round and bolted at full pelt back to the yard. I tried see-sawing the reins to stop him, but if you pardon the pun, wild horses wouldn't have stopped him. The vet said he probably hadn;t damaged himself as the tendon was healing well. But of course I am rather anxious about riding him on the road. I am giving him a few days rest, but am really worried about this bolting. I think he just wants to get home, rather than something spooked him. I have to exercise him on hard ground, which at the moment has to be the roads. I thought I may try just taking him a little way down the lane then coming back a few times, to get him used to 'leaving home', but am not sure if this tactic would work or if it is a good idea. Any suggestions would be gratefully received. x

[mandymoo]

P.s should have mentioned I have been riding him at walk for a week prior to the 'bolt' incident.

[liz]

I am sure you will get replies from those with a lot more experience than me. I think you pony is probably wanting leadership from his rider/handler and it may be a good idea to do some groundwork with him and perhaps doing some long reining, too. Your chap wasn't bolting as such but was running away, a very different thing. Bolting is usually a blind panic when a horse would even run into a brick wall (if I were on a bolting horse, I'd bale out!) but I get the impression that your pony knew where he wanted to be - very different. Seesawing the reins doesn't work, as you found out, and can only upset the pony more as it's very uncomfortable for him. Schooling and building a partnership seems the way forward. I'd suggest you get help from a good trainer such as Avril or someone who works in a similar vein if you're miles away from the Mysafecobs yard. There is no quick fix but I'm sure a good bond can be built over time.

I hope your pony is OK - and you, of course!

[mandymoo]

Thanks Liz, I'll bear all you said in mind. Feeling a little anxious about riding him now, but I think I will try to be more 'positive' with him, and ride him more forward so he has something to think about instead of just strolling along.

[anakin14]

This sounds to me like napping rather than bolting. Most green/inexperienced horses will attempt to nap at some point in their early careers, to varying degrees, and frequently experienced but lazy horses will attempt to nap and will often resort to suprisingly energetic methods to accomplish this! However napping can also be caused by lack of confidence (horse or rider!) as well as pain, or even remembered pain. It is possible that your horse is still hurting, or if not, maybe he is anticipating the pain he felt whilst suffering his tendon injury. Its important to rule things like this out (and other sources of.pain, teeth, back, tack etc).


I would strongly suggest you didnt try going short distances and coming back to get him used to 'leaving home' because this will only encourage him to nap once he gets to the distance he is used to travelling. Avoid turning around at all costs, it would be much better to find a small circuit that you can do - im not sure what the set up is where you are but even if you could just go down one road and come back down another, that would be good - it would be disastrous to teach him that he is allowed to turn around and go home after a short period - you will reinforce any napping behaviour by basically saying, yes, it is okay to do that.

If you are sure your pony isn't in pain then I would take him out with a confident and forward horse for encouragement, and ride him forward and positively, concentrate on him placing each foot down with purpose, he must not back off your leg. Maybe invest in some lessons to help build your confidence in eachother?

Once all kinds of pain are ruled out and you have taken your horse out plenty of times with an experienced and forward thinking horse, then I would invest in a neckstrap, sit tight, and be prepared to do whatever it takes to prevent your horse from turning for home!!!!

In my experience with nappers it has usually turned out to be a confidence issue and has only taken a few times of being ridden through it before they realise that it just isnt an option to turn for home. Please I can't stress enough though how important it is to ensure pony isnt uncomfortable or in pain at all.

Good luck, hope you crack it x

[avril]

Hi Mandymoo, sorry to hear of your horse's tendon injury and recent incident on the lane. Although it wasn't a nice experience, this kind of reaction is more commonplace than you might think. Lack or exercise, sufficient turnout, weather conditions, and confidence issues are likely to be major contributors. Generally speaking, horses have little desire to leave home ground and a strong urge to return as quickly as possible. If after a certain distance, you retrace your steps, you are confirming to your horse that his fears are justified, it isn't safe to continue, let's all go home! If you can find a circuit to complete, it will help his confidence a lot through showing him that when he's out with you, he is going to survive and come back in one piece. From his point of view, he feels his safety is under threat, the outside world is a potentially dangerous place. Good luck with everything and let us know how it goes.

[jinx]

Hi, I wouldn't ever 'see-saw' a bit and bridle to get a horse to stop!! You need to do groundwork where he understands and obeys your voice too!! This will also work if you have a horse with a hard mouth...you need to substitute rein steering with leg and voice control.

One thing you can do to try and stop a horse is keep turning and turning, a horse can't run if it's going round in circles! So choose whichever side is safest!

[angelac]

Hi Mandy moo
Best wishes with working on your difficulties.
I was very interested to read Anakin's and Avril's advice about not turning after a short distance, The same advice has been given to me and I'm sure there is a lot of wisdom in this.
Good luck and please do let us know how you get on.

[mandymoo]

Thank you everyone for your advice. I have tried to take him out alone, done a 'full circuit' ride, turning him in cirlcles when he gets a bit 'hot' (which seems to wind him up even more!) etc. A couple of weeks ago he started cantering on the road when we were 'going away' from home, once I had managed to turn him into a farm track he stopped and I got off and walked him home (not ideal, but thought it was safest option). After seeking advice from vet, she agreed we had to use the school, for safetys sake. The surface is not deep and soft (which she advised against using as it is harder for the horse), so we have been using that for a couple of weeks. Just trotting in straight lines (no corners yet!). Then last weekend we had a bit of mishap, I think (can't really remember) he spooked, I went up, he moved and I fell flat on my back So I have been out of action for a week I'm sure his issues are lack of confidence in me (I'm not experienced) He obviously does not have any pain in the leg now and probably has quite a lot of pent-up energy that he cannot release yet, due to the long period of recuperation. It is quite disheartening, as he is such a sweetie, and our hacks out on our own used to be the happiest of times, but I will persevere. Just think this journey will take a while x.

[mandymoo]

Well it's been a year since I've been on here (hangs head in shame), and so much has happened, so thought I should update you on our progress . For a start my back recovered pretty well after our fall, but more importantly, the relationship between my pony and I has gone in a positive direction. This time last year I'd almost given up, my confidence was non=existent, and I actually feared riding him. I even had someone lead me along the lane I was so scared. However, being a stubborn old mule, I realised that our problems were mine not his, and I made a conscious effort to be more positive rider, not just sit there and let him do all the thinking and all the work. I knew I had to take the lead and build his confidence in me. It has taken time, and one or two falls, but we are more of a 'couple' now. I trust him, and I think he now trusts me most of the time, there are still moments when he takes exception to something (or even nothing sometimes), but I don't panic now, just encourage him past whatever scares him. He was a bit hot after the wet winter when he was stabled pretty much all the time, and was a bit loopy at first in the school (though fine out hacking) so I took to lungeing him a little bit before riding him in the school. I think this has worked well, as he got rid of his excitement and then I could get on and ride in relative safety. I;ve now abandoned the lungeing before riding as he is much calmer now. We've had a couple of scary moments, for instance: Last week a massive herd of cows escaped into a field we were riding in, I didn't see them until we were half way across the field, neither of us are particularly fond of cows so I decided to turn and go back the other way. Just as well, because no sooner had we exited the field the cows stampeded across it, and there were at least a hundred of them! He saw them out of the corner of his eys and got a bit anxious, and though we jogged half of the way home, he didn't gallop off or do any little rears or spins, and I finally managed to calm him for the final leg home in walk. There have been other positives on our journey together, we did Postling ride again last year, and also a couple of dressage comps and some combined training at our yard, (with rosettes too) which we both thoroughly enjoyed, so hope to do more this year. Though we have had our share of ups and downs, I believe it has made me a better rider, not necessarily my actual riding, but better in a way that I am trying to understand how his mind works and how he sees things, so that I can encourage him to overcome his fears. Thank you all again for your advice last year, it really did help, as has watching Avril's training videos. Happy riding