The horse that is the topic of this thread is the one I am discussing. If you read the OP’s post you will see that the people who had leased the horse before her had this issue with him and the owner said always lead with a chain. If you go back and read you will see the post.
You can continue to defend his behavior and make excuses for it, or you can do something about it. Find a trainer who is reputable with teaching a horse ground manners, and then learn how to teach this horse some ground manners. And teach you how to recognize the signs BEFORE he bolts (I guarantee they are there).
Just closing the gate isn’t going to change his behavior or teach him any manners.
What are you going to do when he decides to start running over you when he bolts? This is a serious matter.
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It’s funny how all these stories are about geldings as I’ve only had this happen with a mare. She went for miles, through the town, across a highway and over a railroad back to her old pasture that had her grown daughter in it.
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An interesting new perspective from my new trainer today. We have had a rough Feb with bitter cold temps so we had a jumping lesson today after a 3 week hiatus. She asked about the turnout schedule and I was telling her my guy doesn’t do well with other horses so is in solitary turn out. He can see the other horses just not another horse in his turnout. Then we went into his history of running down the road away from the barn.
As we talked, we realized it was his upbringing. Bred for jumping and being a successful jumper, he was not turned out with other horses and was never socialized. When the -27 degree temps hit here , we did indoor arena turnout. We tried to turn him out with a very social pony but he would have none of it. We realized that this was why he runs down the road. He doesn’t seek the security of the herd. He is doing well, we use a chain as a bit to bring him in and out and he doesn’t question it. We bought 20 acres and will be building soon. He will have his own pasture next to the other horses but one he can call his own.
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My wonderful 21 year old retired eventer doesn’t exactly run away from home but if he gets loose we find him standing in front of the horse trailer. He really misses the fun of going to events. If I walk over to bring him back to the barn he leads me on a low speed walkabout to the front entrance to the house and then wanders along the garden paths. When this happens the message is clearly “more hacking please”. He is irresistible and so he gets what he wants.
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