[QUOTE=aliceo;7956789]
my trainer, who can ride out just about anything, said dressage training was the best training for riding out a buck.
also, drop your shoulder blades into your rear pockets, keep your eyes forward, head over your shoulders, drop yourself deep into the saddle, and do a lateral bend on the horse’s neck.
i practice lateral bends from the ground and always in the saddle to make sure i’ve got that tool when i need it. also practice on the ground and in the saddle disengaging the hq, so that when they start to run away with you you can control their feet.[/QUOTE]
Yes, I practice the single rein stop in the version which isn’t unbalancing your horse so it may fall over on you so that it’s there in my mind if I need to stop a bolt. I consider myself a bit of an expert at riding through bucks because my reaction to the video MM posted was “but that horse doesn’t even buck that hard!” I’ve learned out of necessity, and absolutely dressage training is THE best way to get through it. Pushing forward is usually the best answer if you are able to, and the one which will help stop bucking overall, because especially in a dressage horse bucking most often comes from a horse being behind the leg.
[QUOTE=beau159;7957351]I don’t know if this helps or not, but on the rare occasion one of my horses goes to bucking, it Pisses. Me. Off.
So I’m thinking naughty names in my head :yes: and vowing to myself that the horse is NOT going to get me off because I am way too pissed right now and they are gonna get it when I get this under control again.
Seems to work for me anyway, haha.
Point being, make sure you are also THINKING that you are not going to fall off. The instant you doubt yourself and think you are going to hit the dirt … then usually you will.[/QUOTE]
My trainer used to make me swear out loud because he knew it got me in the mental place to be strong, and be the rider I can instead of the curled up fetal position I mentally wanted to go to otherwise.
It takes a LOT of core use to stay on. If your horse isn’t one who comes up in front after the buck, even leaning back is acceptable - the key is to not let your horse throw you forward at all. I also most definitely don’t hold on with strength of legs. That George picture is a GREAT one for buck-riding technique. Even though he has jumper length stirrups, his seat/pelvis is in classical dressage position. It is the position most suited to absorbing the horse’s movement while keeping your butt in the saddle. And while many people want to get into two point, my preferred method is actually keeping my butt attached to the saddle.
I’ve never been lucky enough that my horse chose to have an aerial day while I was in full seats, though I’m lucky that he’s rarely dirty about it, so I knew when I got on what I was in for each time.
As a dressage rider, I assume you know how to use your seat to ask your horse to go forward into a medium/engage more behind/push itself forward? That’s basically the same method of core use you use, only get stronger with it, to push a horse forward out of a buck. The really GOOD riders can very often prevent bucks by doing the same. I’m not that good yet, but my goal now that I can ride through and stop bucks is to learn to prevent them from happening in the first place. There are definite phases - the “stay on, somehow!” phase, then the “survived without too much trouble!” phase, then the “wow, I was able to stop that bucking spree in the middle of the first buck!” phase. I’m still working toward “I prevented that bucking spree from ever happening!” phase…
Regardless, I am 5’1", my TB is a HUGE bucker so even my trainer who is the go to guy for people with problem horses is impressed by the stuff he throws, and he’s also really too large a horse for me in an ideal world. I’m late 30s and not as fit as I want to be, and on stunning athlete. If I can learn to do it, so can you, I promise!
hehehe[/QUOTE]
