My trusted horse bolted today on the trail

[Serigraph]

I’m not solely a trail rider, do mainly dressage, but I love to take my horses out on the 80 acres behind my house. I do this as often as possible - few times a week.

Today I was trotting up a hill and at the top of the hill was my neighbor’s white dog. My horse spooked and took off into the woods. I get that the dog took him off guard and that he spooked and even that he went in the woods. But once I got control of him, the dog was still visible and my horse would not settle down - which is very uncharacteristic of him. So I decided to dismount and in the process my horse bolted down the hill and back home and I was left on the ground in the woods.

I know he’s a horse, but I’m bummed b/c this horse just does not do stupid stuff like today and I now have a sprained ankle.

He’s been on edge lately too - snorting at our dogs and starring at the neighbors kids like they are monsters. I am resuming some Ulcergard tonight. He seemed to have a bad reaction to a PowerPac a while ago and I started him on UG, but didn’t do the whole round since I saw improvement.

Any ideas of how to “train” him not to do this again? Esp when it’s never happened in 2 years?

[Liberty]

Might be a good idea to get his vision and hearing checked.

[willowmeadow]

My completely trustworthy horse did this a few years ago when a deer ran into a fence and spooked her. She turned and bolted so fast it gave me whiplash. I stayed on her but she never really settled that day. Since then I have taken her out tons of times and she hasn’t done it again.

There’s a chance it might happen again, but mostly she just scoots forward a little bit when something startles her. I trust her completely and realize sometimes, things just happen. Some days she’s more goose-e than others, but she has not bolted since that day.

[Serigraph]

It’s just so unsettling b/c he’s never been a spooky type of horse much less bolted. When he does spook, he’s over it in a few seconds and it’s no biggie, but not today. Even after I hobbled down and got him, he was still wound up.

[ReSomething]

Ulcers can do that, if this is a new behavior for him. I’d suggest a bee stung him but they aren’t likely to be out right now.

[coloredcowhorse]

Other than being spooked by the dog he also lost his trusted rider/leader when you got off…from his point of view he probably thinks you abandoned him. (Gotta think like a horse sometimes…not always easy). Suggestions… work on “whoa” (meaning “plant your feet and grow roots RIGHT NOW”) and on a one-rein emergency stop. May also want to practice emergency dismount (including tuck and roll on hitting the ground).

[Serigraph]

[QUOTE=coloredcowhorse;5360697]
Other than being spooked by the dog he also lost his trusted rider/leader when you got off…from his point of view he probably thinks you abandoned him.[/QUOTE]

Yeah I agree. I don’t know that he would have bolted had I not started to dismount. But he was balling up and I knew an explosion was coming.

[Char]

[QUOTE=Serigraph;5360856]
Yeah I agree. I don’t know that he would have bolted had I not started to dismount. But he was balling up and I knew an explosion was coming.[/QUOTE]

Practice dismounting faster. :lol:

Sorry, I had to…

[wateryglen]

Good grief!

Was it cold? Windy? Invigorating?
Is he overfed? Underexercised? feeling good? Bored?
I will never totally trust any horse! They all can be silly sometimes! Sometimes when they are feeling good - they will find SOMETHING to spook at just because!!! I used to laugh like hell when my well made 20+ yr old experienced fieldhunter would spook at our farm dog who was along for the trailride. He act like “EEEeeeK IT’S A DOG!!!” :mad: :eek::winkgrin: Like he’s never seen one before or had one dash about or pop out or whatever! He was just being a horse!! It’s what they do!! Roll with it! Don’t overthink it! Try riding in a different area to keep him mentally occupied. Vary your routine. You gotta out think him!!

[candyappy]

I guess that is why you should always be on your guard, especially if he feels more “up” than usual. No horse is 100% trustworthy all the time and when you take them out on trail that is even more true. I would have his eyes checked , he could have scratched or poked himself. What is he getting fed? If he is getting a lot of high energy feed and you may not be riding as hard then he will have excess energy. It is also cooler out and I know mine are acting like crazy idiots every morning. I would suggest that you ride him in the arena or lunge and then take him on trail ( you may already do that) so that he is in a working frame of mind. I always have to lunge my mare first before going out even though she is out 24/7 and gets only hay. It is just how she is the one time I didn’t it was a nightmare.:eek:

[SharonA]

If you feel him balling up…

My horse prefers the plant and spin approach to something scary, but if I feel her getting worked up about something such as how impressed she is with her own self and her delusions that she is an extra in the horse scenes from “The Man from Snowy River,” we use that dressage work. Right into a leg yield or shoulder in or just back on the bit and in front of the leg, with Madame. If she wants to show off, she can do it in front of my leg, on the bit, with collection, as far as I’m concerned. She hates circling; circling just winds her up more. If she’s really being a pill I’ll do a gentle one-rein stop just to suggest to her that if she can’t be quiet, she can stand there with her chin on her hip.

And sing! I’ve said this before, but I have found it very hard for either me or my horse to remain tense after a few verses of “Home, Home on the Range” or “I Ride an Old Paint.” My singing is stressful for other people, but, too bad.

[JeanM]

Oh, very very reminiscent of my mare last year. She did a spin & bolt on trail with me – nothing I ever would expect from her. She also had been & continued to be on “high alert,” being ultra-aware of everything around her.

Eventually I had her checked for Lyme disease. Tah-dah. Treated her for that, and there was a big improvement. If you have Lyme disease in your area or if there’s any chance your horse might have been exposed to ticks in his travels, get a Lyme titer done.

I figure that with Lyme, the horses know they’re physically impaired to some degree, so their instinct to to be extra-alert for “danger.”

[Serigraph]

[QUOTE=wateryglen;5363425]
He was just being a horse!! It’s what they do!! Roll with it! Don’t overthink it! Try riding in a different area to keep him mentally occupied. Vary your routine. You gotta out think him!![/QUOTE]

I can roll with a lot of things that horses do, but bolting down a hill at full gallop with no regards to rider…No. That is just dangerous.

I know my horses pretty well. They live at home. I ride them all the time. This was very atypical. I know he’s a horse, but still…

He is a dressage horse. He understands the aids and is mostly very obedient. If I were to ask him something in a moment like this, he’d explode even more. Has a hot streak that is not soothed with more work if he’s tense.

Thanks for suggestions though. I guess we’ll work on the one rein stop.

[AlfalfaGirl]

so sorry this happened to you. I say if you get spooked yourself…get off!! I am not Superwoman and I ended up dumped with a hard rollback and take off Thursday before Christmas…Gaaaa! not a fan of being dumped.

My horse is like yours…not normally a spooky guy but a crazy horse at the barn blew up from out of his shelter - he has startled other horses before.

Perhaps this white dog really unsettled him for some reason - who knows why - but practice that one rein stop and hopefully next time he won’t get away from you even if you do get off for safety. I say better safe than sorry.:yes:

[goldenhorse]

I would perfect the one rein stop on this guy and do it repeatedly when on the trail. If you could of turned his head to your knee he would not of been able to bolt.

[Mersy]

Any predators roaming in the area?

[Eddy_s_Mom]

Is there a chance he has recently been chased or bothered by dogs? Sounds like something has him frazzled. Hope the UG resolves the problem.

[BigHorseLittleHorse]

How long have you had the horse? It’s possible that he had a traumatic event in his past with a white dog…

My last horse and I were attacked by a black pit bull on trail, which left my horse bleeding from the mouth. Luckily he was not seriously injured, but for the rest of his life (10+ years), he was terrified of black dogs. Having seen what happened to cause that fear, I couldn’t blame him…

ETA: This was a bombproof, trustworthy horse who carted babies around and used to plant himself across the trail, unprompted, to stop my mom’s horse when he bolted. But every time he saw a black dog…

[Marlaina]

No real advice from me… Just commiserating!

My daughter’s “trusty” mount dumped me HARD on Sunday.

This is a horse that I will typically put anyone on and not worry about spooking or other “naughty” behavior. But, he was on somewhat unknown ground and he has been feeling a bit up lately. Plus, honestly, I wasn’t 100% on my game either. I have been really lazy lately and need some conditioning myself.

Just goes to show (like others have already said) that no horse can be trusted 100% of the time. Now I am off to nurse my nasty looking bruises. LOL!

[Kyzteke]

The species did not survive some 10,000 years by being slow afoot

White dog = wolf? My rider is bailing? My herd is gone? HOLY SH!T:eek::eek: RUN FOR HOME!!!

Just like woman defending her kid, sometimes instinct takes over.

If working dressage makes your guy tense (and that itself might worry me abit), find something (a cue) that doesn’t. Is it standing with head to hip while you sing? Is it walk on? Is it circles? Lowering the head (a cue John Lyons teaches…no horse can be excited with his head down)? This “cue”, whatever it is, has to be ingrained in the horse hard enough to override instinct. And that means THOUSANDS of repetitions.

And the rider needs a immediate response as well – you need a cue for yourself to calm down quickly once that spook is over. If the leader of the herd is nervous, the horse underneath her is going to be as well.

So the poster who suggested singing actually has a great idea. Or monitoring your breath. A horse can be trained to slow themselves down based on YOUR pattern of breathing. So it’s also up to the rider to move themselves from flight/fight to reason.

You guys (you & your horse) just lost the connection and neither one of you fixed it.

So, you learn. Don’t let it affect the relationship. He forgives your Humaness alot, I’m sure. You forgive his Horsieness.