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Re: [RC] DUMPED! - Karen Sullivan

*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.....
 
Karen
----- Original Message -----
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.

Barbara Goldthorpe
bgoldtho@xxxxxxx
 

Replies
[RC] DUMPED!, Barbara Goldthorpe