Standardbreds

Okay, real real quick I just wanted to toot the horn of the Standardbred!

I've met some real killer lookers in the past few years, but it was not until last week when I finally was blessed with the chance to actually ride a purebred:

This is a 4yo-coming-5yo little Standie filly off the track. She's quite the looker, actually - when I first saw her I couldn't take my eyes off her! She's been off the track for a little while but never started under-saddle - until two weeks ago (so, a week before I rode her). Her trainer handed her to me for the afternoon with a "do whatever you'd like with her." So, we did some ground work - she was a little nervous when I asked her to trot but had a very short flight pattern (no taking off on me, she'd just get nervous and turn and face me, trying to figure out what I exactly wanted) and just wanted so badly to please. Under-saddle, she was a dream! She'd only been with this trainer for a week and so knew all the usual basics. Not only had she been fabulous and comfortable enough for him to start under-saddle right away, but she was great - and smart - when I went to ride her, with only a week under-saddle! I have to admit, it wasn't long before I was perched in the saddle (at a halt), leg over the horn and relaxedly chilling as I watched the goings on in the arena - she felt that safe. Everything I asked, she threw herself into it 100 percent with willingness. She was such a sweet little girl! No spook, either - very brave and smart; if something looks leery to her, she walks right up to it and checks it out. As for the Standardbred gait, she wasn't rough to ride at the trot at all. She wasn't up to learning the canter yet, but her jog was stupendously beautiful. Almost a gaited horse's running walk - that smooth! Her faster-paced trot felt so different from your average horse but it was still pretty good as well. The trainer commented to me that he'd found her to be extremely level-headed, and I couldn't have agreed more! She was the most level-headed 4yo I had ever worked with (that's including QH's!!).

This particular trainer has worked with other off-track Standardbreds as well and told me he'd found the others to be the same - that Standardbreds as a whole were typically more level-headed than the Thoroughbreds we get off the track. I've heard the same from other individuals who work on both Standie and TB tracks, that Standardbreds are so level-headed and calm - moreso even than Thoroughbreds...so I am beginning to suspect there being some fact to the rumour.

I wanted to point out too that Standardbreds can excel at a variety of disciplines, from working cattle to jumping (famous STB jumpers) or dressage (Grand Prix dressage STB)! Check out this forum for some excellent myth-dispelling!

So now I have even more reason to buy a Standardbred, or at least to pull a few off the track and re-train for re-homing! Haha the man is going to be so sorry we ever get a horse property...lol. Interesting too, were the tales I stumbled on about about STB's being crossed successfully (perhaps more successfully than TB's) with Warmblood stallions for Grand Prix jumpers...so that's another cross I am going to have to add to my list to consider.

If there are any additional individuals out there with experience with purebred Standardbreds, particularly off-track Standie's, I'd love to hear from you, particularly if you've worked with both OTSTB's and OTTB's!

Here's a couple of rescues I dug up in the Western Canada area:

Greener Pastures located in BC with some absolutely stunning horses!

Performance Standardbreds in Alberta

Body scoring a horse

I just wanted to comment quickly on a post by Cathy over at FHOTD - Fit or too thin to ride? For the most part, I do agree - many people seem to have difficulty differentiating betwen an animal that is thin or simply fit. I get comments all the time on our Doberman x (below - excuse the missing hair on her forehead, she'd just had surgery), that she is too thin.

Same for the Greyhound we had. Yet the vets and vet-tech's nearly squeal with excitement whenever they see her - they're always delighted to see a dog so fit and can't stop raving and praising how good she looks! She eats appropriately to her weight and runs daily (a minimum of 2km, sometimes up to 10km, plus all the running she does while I work horses) - she's very lean and tucked-up (as you can tell by the photo) with smooth muscling all over, but you cannot see her ribs and when you feel them, you'll also feel a nice lean layer.


I think we, as a society, have lost our "eye" for a lean animal because we've lost the ability to keep our pets at a healthy weight - at the same rate we've lost the ability to keep ourselves at a healthy weight! Just as we are seeing more and more individuals cross the line into the obese category, we're doing the same for our pets. The trouble is, our pets do not have the choice of choosing. From our dogs to our horses, these animals are meant to roam - for feed and water - kilometres each day. You don't see fat wild horses or wolves! It is vital we keep our animals trim and healthy - doing so ensures a long and productive life (I am saying this as someone who lost a dog a number of years ago to diabetes because he was overweight - never again). Thus it is essential, when we take on the responsibility of an animal, that we do our best to educate ourselves on how to properly take care of said animal, including keeping that animal at a decent weight.


However, it is false information such as this, circulating about, that gets us into trouble on a number of levels (from Cathy at FHOTD - my comments in green):

"Racing fit horses look awfully thin to the eyes of most pleasure horse riders and indeed, it's not a weight you'd want to maintain a horse at for life."
Why the heck not? Fitness level is directly correlated with longevity, athleticism, health, and productivity. Here's one article, by Equus, on How to Manage Your Horse's Weight. It includes the reasons why you should manage your horse's weight. Here's another, by an equine nutritionist. Keeping horses at a healthy, lean weight, is ideal for life. On the other hand, most WP horses (for example) do not sport the tucked-up appearance of the average racehorse - not because they shouldn't, but because that level of fitness is not the look the WP horse judge is looking for. Let me note though, that there is nothing wrong with a horse at a good weight - body score 4-6, that does not have the physical fitness (particularly in the muscle department) of the racehorse. Racehorses are the top athletes of the world - most horses do not have to be at that type of level of fitness.

"They look like greyhounds. Like Demi Moore getting ready to play G.I. Jane, they have a very low body fat percentage and everything that is on them is muscle."
I fail to understand why this is a problem? We all understand a low body fat percentage in humans, particularly on a fit individual with a lot of muscle, is a good thing...well, the same applies to your horse.

"All the ribs do show in many cases, and if you're looking at adopting them for a second career, you have to be able to visualize how they'll look at "show weight.""
All the ribs should NEVER show on a racehorse. They need to be lean - not thin - to do their job. Look at all the top racehorses as examples. Eight Belles. Secretariat. Barbaros. Funny Cide. War Emblem. As a groom for a trainer with up to 25 horses, we rarely ever had a rib showing on any horse. The photo that Cathy uses to capture what a racehorse should look like includes a filly that faintly shows a couple of ribs - albeit just barely, she could use a couple of pounds on her, but she is not thin by any stretch of the imagination. Horses have 18 ribs - that little filly is showing maybe 5. Faintly. The horse below (in Cathy's blog, linked above), however, is a great depiction of a horse showing all its ribs. The latter Equus article link, above, mentions that a dressage horse is usually a 5-6.5 body score - racehorses are no exception, though they are typically around the 4-5 range due to the level of fitness required to do their job. The only thing you will have to visualize with a racehorse, is how they will look when they lose some of that muscle because of the less-intense workout they're experiencing when you bring them home.

"The good news is that their skeletal structure is easy to see at this kind of fitness level, so if you know what you are looking for, it's pretty easy to find it."
Skeletal structure, I must point out, is easy to see at any fitness level, from obese to emaciated horses (with exception). The only difficulty with emaciated horses, is envisioning the muscular structure once the weight is put back on the horse.

The following are photos of my own, of some of the horses in racing shape at the track (I could list an endless parade) - examples of fit horses not showing all their ribs. Please note that all these horses were currently racing at various levels - I did not include any photos of 2yo's in training - while they were in similar physical shape, I wanted to be as accurate as possible in my portrayal of the weight of your average racehorse. These photos were taken at the end of the Calgary racing season (just before the season heads up to Edmonton), so the horses were about halfway through their racing season and had been racing a few months already.

Red White & Yahoo, 6yo TB gelding

Wye Red (Stakes horse), 5yo TB gelding

Ella Maria (Allowance horse), 5yo TB mare

Cosmic Warrior, 4yo TB gelding

Just Benson, 5yo TB gelding

Link's Secret, 4yo TB gelding

3 of the above horses were actually the hard-keepers in our barn. Red was nervous as heck and wore off a lot of weight worrying about when he'd get to run next, Benson just couldn't seem to stuff enough hay down that hollow leg of his, and Maria wind-sucked like there's no tomorrow. Despite all this, all three still maintained a good body score - you certainly cannot see all their ribs, as Cathy predicts. The other 18 or so horses in our barn were of the same weight as Yahoo or Link...in fact, some we had to even restrict their hay intake or they'd become fat on us!

Here are some examples of good body scores on your average, non-racing horse:

Formaat's Kool Renegade, 9yo Dutch Warmblood x gelding in light dressage-type work

Silver Bonanza Bar, Quarab - at the time of this photo, he was doing pony work (trot/slow gallops) on the track and was 13 years old

What can you expect a racehorse to look like once out of training? Well, here's just one example:

Link's Secret (also shown above), 4yo gelding on the track and racing

Link 10 months after leaving the track, now a 5yo, doing light dressage work with the odd trail ride thrown in.

As you can see, some of the muscle he had as a racehorse has disappeared since he is not in as intense of a work schedule.

I would like to post a couple of websites with additional info on body scoring and such.

How to Condition Score Horses with photos, written by Susan Evans Garlinghouse, DVM, MSc equine nutrition

Body Condition Scoring of Horses here's an Ontario, Canada, governmental website (slight variance in the body scoring system used above, but still valid)

Body Condition Scoring of Horses since I'm Albertan, I just had to put the Albertan gov website!

Henneke Body Scoring System complete with photos

Body Condition Scoring System complete with where your average competition horse sits (bottom) and written by Gayle Ecker, B.A., B.Ed. M.Sc., Leslie Huber D.V.M. and Wendy Driscoll, R.A.E - Equine Research Centre, Guelph, Ontario

In a bit of a different direction but still mostly on-topic with commenting on Cathy's blog, I have to point out that with the second horse Cathy features on her blog, the clearly emaciated mare, there seems to be some variance of information being provided here. The first photo of said mare shows a horse clearly in poor condition. In the second photo, the horse's condition is masked somewhat by saddle, saddle pad, and rider, but the horse does not appear to be in as terrible condition as she is in the first photo (check out the hip bones and HQ muscling). The third photo depicts a horse seemingly in good condition, though one has to be cautious because winter coats can hide a thin horse (though again, look at the hip/HQ). There is no timeline or no (perhaps very valid) reason given as to perhaps why the horse is so thin. The blog tears a strip off this horse person for riding such a thin horse, yet we are provided with no information as to what that horse is actually doing under-saddle (etc) and the photos of the horse actually under-saddle provided show that the horse is not as thin as Cathy is trying to illustrate by the first photo. Confusing.

Anyway, enjoy, and remember to do your research - always. Do not ever take anything at face value, even what you read here (because I make mistakes too - to err is human, and I am certainly no expert, I just do my best to provide knowledgeable information and make expert articles and such available), but be particularly cautious about information you read on sites such as FHOTD, where scientific or practical back-up to information given is often not provided. Above all, if you are unsure as to a horse's body condition, ask a vet or obtain the opinion of someone knowledgeable about and experienced with horses. Do not be afraid either to ask for a second opinion from another professional, because personal opinions are rampant!

Sorry if the spacing is off on the words and photos...seems it just won't stay where I put it!

The horse racing debate

Link's Secret (one of our OTTB's) and Silver Bonanza Bar (my pony horse) on the hotwalker at the Calgary Stampede track

Cheval, one of the fillies in our barn, going head-to-head

Cheval in the paddock. Note the lip chain she is wearing - this filly had a lot of dangerous behavioural issues. This filly, despite a lot of potential, would not run well. Turns out, when her owner finally put the money out to have her knees checked out, that she had bone chips in her knees. She returned home as a broodmare.

Over the past few years, the racehorse industry has been under critical scrutiny by the public. Scrutiny propelled by accidents such as the Eight Belles breakdown. I worked on the Calgary A-track for two seasons - 2007 and 2008, so here is my take on the matter:

Eight Belles

I used to defend the racehorse industry with lines like: "well the horses love to run!" and "they live a great life!"

By all appearances, these horses have the best homes possible. They are regularly exercised - they're some of the fittest athletes in the world. They're groomed daily and eat high-quality feeds that result in sleek coats. Most do love to run, and what better chance to do what they love, than to run on a track? Many receive chiropractic, massage, and/or acupuncture care, all receive regular farrier care as well as vet care, available 24/7.

But what about the mental and emotional side of things?

Let's take a look at various aspects of the racehorse's world. First...

The stall:

These horses are, as I mentioned, some of the fittest athletes in the world. They're also fed very large amounts of concentrates, high amounts of starchy feeds, so as to provide them with the energy essential to running. The high amounts of concentrates combined with the intense physical fitness results in one very high-energy horse. Locked in a stall. These horses can spend up to 23 hours 45 minutes inside their stall on a rainy day with a closed track, to 23 hours 30 minutes a day inside their stall on a day they are galloped. Horses in the wild will graze up to 16 hours per day and can travel up to 80km in a day. Here is an interesting article on horse behaviour, written by RIRDC Equine Research News on Dr.Paul McGreevy (DVM). Being cooped up in such a fashion, a racehorse often has little horse-to-horse interaction and experiences none of the playtime a horse in a more natural environment would. The restriction of a stall can create an unhealthy horse emotionally. The horse is hyped up from having nothing to do in a small box all day, daily, which creates vices such as weaving, stall-walking, cribbing, or general acting up. Then we reprimand the horses for doing so, as if it were their fault - crib-collars, a slap on the shoulder, stud chains, lip chains, twitches... Studies also prove the lack of exercise during stall time, the long periods of time standing in stalls in lieu of keeping muscles, ligaments, and tendons in motion, can be harmful and detrimental to a horse physically. Especially when that horse is then asked to perform at their peak, thereby placing those muscles, ligaments, and tendons under extreme stress, after such long periods of inactivity.

Your typical shedrow. This is one side of a long-barn at the Stampede A-track - about 25 stalls (just on the one side).

Your typical Thoroughbred stall. This is Link's Secret as a four-year-old, one of our OTTB's.

Wye Red, our successful stakes runner at the time

Lala Boom. He was trucked in from Phoenix, Arizona. He came to us abused beyond a doubt and never having had a break from training and racing the past few years. He blew both front tendons soon after we got him - turns out it wasn't his first blown tendon. Update: we later purchased Lala Boom (summer 2010) and have him at home.

The feeds:

Such high energy feeds create a high-energy horse that is then locked in a stall 24/7, detrimental to a horse's mental and emotional well-being. It's no wonder Thoroughbreds get the stereotype of being hot! Since the beginning of the digestive tract cannot handle more than a few pounds of grain, much of it is tossed to the hindgut. In the hindgut, the digestion of large amounts of starches results in lactic acid, which lowers the pH in the hindgut and produces toxins. Toxins that can (and do) result in colic or founder. Another effect of the grains fed to Thoroughbreds involves the high amounts of protein. Such high levels are excreted as ammonia (just take a whiff of one of these horse's stalls). The process of filtering so much protein is hard on the kidneys, not to mention the fact that breathing in that ammonia is not exactly optimal to the horse's lungs (who cannot escape the toxic fumes thanks to the stall, even when cleaned thoroughly and regularly).

The track itself:

Many horses love to run, particularly those bred to do so. My Quarab comes from running horse bloodlines on the QH side and I can attest to his absolute love for running. On the other hand, we have one OTTB that is obsessed with running, and another who could care less. Another point to make is that these horses are forced to run, often regardless of weather conditions. It's not like when my Thoroughbred Link bombs around the pasture at Mach-9 - he is doing so by choice: when he wants, as fast as he wants, as hard as he wants, wherever he wants, and on whatever surface he wants. He runs when the ground is solid, but does not whenever the surface is too icy or slippery (instead, he insists on snorting and blowing around the arena, lol). When the weather is good, the track is great. However there was many a time I walked a horse over to the paddock on a hideous track - hard as concrete beneath pure slop as slippery as any skating rink. When the track surface was deemed "too bad", the track was closed, but how bad does it have to get before it is deemed in too bad condition to race? Some A-tracks, and especially many B-tracks, are particularly notorious for having poor surfaces that predispose horses to a breakdown. Some of these tracks are well-known to have an increased number of breakdowns every year, as compared to other tracks.

The Stampede track, sealed so as to maintain its integrity for tomorrow's races, after days of rain.

The breakdowns:

Not every breakdown is publicized. In fact, the vast majority are not. The Edmonton Northlands track could, some years, have one death during morning gallops every week. I can recall a number of times the Calgary Stampede track (also an A-rated track) was closed because we'd lost a horse. Never mind the breakdowns that did not involve euthanasia; bowed tendons and hairline fractures or bone chips are common, particularly at some barns. Some bowed tendons are recoverable, but most racehorse owners are not willing to put the time in and wait. The horse is thus either retired for breeding or sent to auction for slaughter. A few responsible owners step up and allow their horse to heal before finding an appropriate home for them.

After the track:

Proponents of the racehorse industry claim that most racehorses meet new careers after they leave the track - careers as dressage horses, eventers, jumpers - etc. While some do, many - even most - young, talented athletes instead meet another fate: the auction block. The auction is not a kind place to a Thoroughbred fresh off the track. Though these horses have been ridden under-saddle and are comfortable with a rider, they typically know virtually nothing else other than to run forward. It takes time, patience, and dedication to re-train them. In addition, some are emotionally and/or mentally wrecked horses thanks to the unnatural conditions they are kept in on the track and sometimes also due to mismanagement. This further sets them up for trouble after their track career because these horses might require a high level of re-training your average horse owner does not have the experience and knowledge to provide. Lastly, many of these horses are injured or have former injuries, and potential buyers are scared off by the fact of not knowing whether or not the horse has had a prior injury that could limit a future career. Owners further exacerbate the problem - most regard their horses solely as a financial investment, even the owners who bred and raised said horse. They take little to no responsibility for their horse once it leaves the track. We acquired one of our own OTTB's from his multi-billionaire owners because they could "no longer afford to feed him" if he wasn't running. No effort was put in to advertising him or retraining him (despite their grandsons, who ran the place, having full ability to do so and this horse being a very easy re-train). Instead, I got a call from his trainer, my former boss, asking me to call this horse's owners if we were interested. The owners told us to pick him up before September 15th, the date of the next local auction, or he would be in the sales ring that weekend. They were fully aware he would go for meat (just as their other horses had) and even sold him to us for meat price. I later ran across another filly bred by this farm who had almost met the meat man but had been purchased (for $350) by a caring individual. Nothing wrong with this horse, a very nice animal who would have been very easy to re-train. Her dam went to meat at that same auction. A little effort on the part of these horses' owners would have gone a long way to their having a successful second career elsewhere.

Breeding:

Many of these horses are bred on the basis that they can run, on bloodlines, rather than correct conformation. We had one filly who, as a 3yo, wound up with a hairline fracture on a front knee. This filly had terrible conformation, down to no bone (it wasn't a wonder she broke down on us). Her owners continued to push her to train until it became evident even to their blind eyes she could run no longer. So she went home to breed, based purely on her bloodlines and the potential she had shown prior to the breakdown. This is the reason for the long backs, terrible feet, and other known Thoroughbred conformation faults. Faults that lead to breakdowns and unsuccessful careers in any industry. On another note, so many Thoroughbred foals are pumped out each year that we create a surplus of horses - a surplus that has nowhere to go but France, on a dinner plate.

Training:

Check out the latest Western Horseman issue for an article (Futurity Fallout) on the results of training horses at a young age. Training a horse (lightly!) at the age of two has actually been proven to result in a longer-lasting, healthier career for said horse; it has the benefit of strengthening muscle, bone, tendon, and ligament. Actually competing at that age however should be dependent upon the horse itself. Racing places a huge strain on a young horse, much moreso than simple training, and each two-year-old should be taken on a case-by-case basis - some horses are ready for it while others most certainly are not. Most trainers are willing to consider each youngster as an individual and adjust their program accordingly, but many owners - seeking that financial gain, are not. They will push the trainer, who is forced to push the horse, even entering the horse in races themselves when the trainer refuses to do so. The physical stress and strain of the training itself depends upon the trainer and the exercise rider, in addition to husbandry and track surface quality. Some trainers will take a horse along slowly, building up muscle and athleticism in a safe manner for the horse, but others do the exact opposite. Ultimately, the young horse, rather than being developed into a stronger athlete, becomes more prone to a breakdown. Many young horses are worked much too hard too fast.

Other:

Beyond the obvious, there are other inhumane occurrences that occur at the track. Horses legs being frozen via ice and chemical means just prior to a race so that they cannot feel their legs when they run, resulting in a faster time from said horse. These chemicals and of course the ice, are not banned substances. Chemical irritants being used to badly "blister" a horse's legs. The racetrack is fraught with tradition and superstition, and the horses are the ones to suffer from this lack of common sense.

The other side of the coin:

This is not to say that horse racing has to be the way it is - it can be done in a much more humane fashion. For example, starting these horses from the ground up at home, prior to the horse reaching the track, will only aid said horse at finding a suitable home after its racing career. It will also make for a better-rounded horse at the track, which makes for a horse that is easier to handle and so less likely to be handled roughly by grooms. Level of training and competition should be based more upon the horse itself than on financial gain. Owners need to recognize that their horse is an athlete that requires financial investment - we acquired our other OTTB when he ran increasingly poorer last year. Turns out he was running poorly because his pelvis was excruciating far out of alignment. His owner had refused chiropractic treatments for the horse when he was racing on the track. The 'before' and 'after' in this horse was unbelievable. Traditions also need to be replaced with common sense and practical, current veterinarian advice. Feed programs should be evaluated by nutritionists so that the horses are fed sufficiently yet not over-fed. Owners need to step up to the plate (most do not even know the head of a horse from a tail) and ensure their horse has the best chance at a second career after racing. Also, track conditions - I feel, need to be more rigidly assessed and owners and trainers need to be better prepared to scratch a horse due to poor track conditions, in the best interests of the horse. Training also needs to be assessed so that horses are brought along slower and gentler. Horses stalled all day need to be taken out more often and have the odd pasture break here and there throughout the year from racing. They need mental stimulation in their stalls - toys, licks, etc. There are a lot of corners that are being cut in the interest of financial gain, but this is not the way it has to be. Interestingly, when the horse's best interests are served, you create a healthier, happier athlete that will in turn perform better and thus produce better financial return.

Racing doesn't have to have the bad name it does. Sadly, it seems to greatly revolve around monetary gain and human greed rather than the best interests of the horse, but this is not a mandatory qualification. Trainers and owners can, however, take it upon themselves to be different - to treat their horses respectfully and humanely - to set the bar higher. So I have to say that the entire industry is not deserving of criticism, though a lot of it is. Save your criticism for the trainers and owners who actually deserve it, and - better yet, try to set a good example and/or make an impact on the industry where the best interests of the horses - rather than humans - are served.

Bucking

Horses tend to buck for one of three reasons (typically):

1. Disrespect, or defiance.
My Warmblood x, Koolaid, is the horse I have to credit for really getting me into NH. He was downright dangerous at times, and impossible to start under-saddle. Not motivated to work in the least, he would refuse to move forward - nevermind getting a trot or canter out of him! And this was supposed to be my jumping horse? Haha. So I tried blunted english spurs to back up my leg (pre-NH, of course!). A riding crop. The ends of my reins. If he so much as saw any of the aforementioned tools, he would refuse to move. If I did somehow manage to get him moving and I so much as thought about having him move out faster, he'd usually retaliate my squeeze and touch with the rein ends with a buck (accompanied by laid back ears, a tail swish, and a general bad attitude). When I started working on the NH with Koolaid - it took a lot of work - but I started to earn his respect....to the point where he then moved out out of respect for my request and, ultimately, out of respect for me.

Often I hear people instructing others to "make" the horse move out. Well this is a 1,200lb animal. You're not going to "make" it do anything, and if you attempt to do so, you're going to get yourself into more trouble than you started with. Think of how you would respond if someone tried to forcefully "make" you do something - you'd probably retaliate too! This type of buck does not usually have all that much power behind it, but nevertheless it's still a nuisance to deal with and can be dangerous.

At the time of the buck, the best thing you can do is ignore the undesirable behaviour. Punish your horse and the retaliation is likely to escalate and/or it most certainly will not result in any forward progress. Even if it does cause the horse to do what you want at the time, success will be temporary as the resentment builds in your horse. If you have to, even dismount and work on earning some respect on the ground before remounting and continuing the session. Sometimes this means staying off your horse for a number of sessions! Ultimately though it will result in greater success under-saddle later. Whatever you have on the ground is halved under-saddle: a good level of respect on the ground will translate to a low level of respect under-saddle, and an exceptional level of respect on the ground means a good level of respect under-saddle. If you work off of this rule and earn the highest level of respect possible on the ground, issues such as defiant bucking under-saddle will evaporate.

The long-term solution obviously then is to earn a higher level of respect from your horse. Respect is something that must be earned, not demanded. The best way, I've found, to accomplish this, is to mimic what horses do in a herd situation - earn their respect through a series of ground games that horses play with one another out in the pasture.


2. Fear
Last week I was putting riding time in on a 3yo QH and I unstuck my looped rein ends from the saddle pad on his right side. This horse had very very limited human contact when I first started working with him and was very fearful of humans and anything new. He still is a work in progress and he remains fearful and reactive at times, particularly to do with anything on his right side. Well this time he tensed up immediately when the looped rein snapped loose and he lit into bucking - hard.

Horses are very aware of being prey animals, and that we are predators. It's not something that we typically think of all that much, but our partners are very aware of it - it is a part of them. So from the horse's perspective, the horse that bucks is desperately trying to get the predator on his back, off. If something spooks a horse and he cannot yet trust his rider's leadership, he's going to take matters into his own han-...well, hooves. His survival depends on it - or so he thinks. The horse switches over from left-brained, thinking mode, to right-brained, reactive mode where all instincts kick in. A horse's first instinct when presented with something threatening is usually to run. Fast. Well, a predator sitting on your back, likely isn't going to help the whole running scheme! In fact, most predators (read: humans) will try to restrict their horses from running. We typically don't relish having a horse bolt away with us. So, from the horse's perspective, if you've got someone restricting you from fleeing from imminent danger, of course the first thing you're going to do is get rid of them - it could be a matter of life and death. It's nothing personal against the rider, the horse isn't even thinking about the rider, he's consumed entirely by his need to stay alive.

Short-term, either dismount as quickly as possible, or ride it out. Stay calm, sit deep in your seat, and try to get the horse's head up. Talk to the horse - people underestimate the effect their voice has on their horse. In the above example, it took me a few minutes to think about talking to the horse I was riding. I was too busy worrrying about the stirrup's I'd just lost and the sudden spinning he started doing after bucking! As soon as I made a conscious effort to relax a bit and talk to him in a quiet voice, he stopped. He was still very tense and we spent a solid 5 minutes or so standing and waiting for him to relax, but he'd stopped bucking and eventually relaxed enough to continue our original work.

Long-term, desensitize your horse. Also, work on gaining your horse's trust. Always being predictable and leading your horse through troubling situations, and playing ground games (such as the ones your horse plays with his buddies in the pasture) will help gain a higher level of trust. The same rule I mentioned earlier, about respect on the ground versus respect under-saddle, applies to trust. Earn a high level of trust on the ground and you'll get the level of respect under-saddle that prevents bucking due to fear.


3. Discomfort, pain
When I first brought my Quarab, Silver, to the Thoroughbred racetrack last year, he had not been ridden regularly for a couple of years, really (*look of shame*) - the odd ride here or there, but that was it. Within a week, he was starting to resent being caught in his stall, saddled, or even working on the track. Every time we passed the gap it would be a bit of a fight to keep him moving forward rather than deeking off the track. When I pushed him and refused to listen to him, he threw in a few bucks here and there. This horse has a fabulous work ethic - bucking was not something he usually did. So I had the track chiro check him out on his rounds through our barn. Turns out the saddle I was using wasn't fitting Silver well - it did not have enough whither clearance and so was pressing down on his whithers, throwing his spine out of alignment. The chiropractor re-aligned him and instructed me to pad my saddle better so that it wouldn't sit on his spine. For the rest of the Calgary season, Silver was back to his regular self. His gait was smoother than before and he seemed to enjoy his work with me.

One of the first things now that I mention when someone tells me a horse bucks is discomfort or pain. Have your saddle fitted (or re-checked - horses change!) by a professional saddle fitter, have a reputable chiropractor check out your horse, and/or even have a vet evaluate your horse for any sources of pain or discomfort.


Determining the reason your horse bucks is vital to figuring out what to do about it. Ultimately, using methods such as Parelli Natural Horsemanship, where you can develop balanced levels of trust and respect, will help you create a better rounded horse. However, knowing why a horse is bucking can help us focus in one one area of our partnership that may be lacking; sometimes we accidentally neglect particular areas and have to come in and fill in the gaps we've left. So, how do you figure out why a horse is bucking? First off, rule out any physical issues. Second, evaluate the horse's body language. The horse bucking out of defiance is going to have a clearly ticked-off appearance. Ears laid back, tail swishing - all the looks of an angry horse. The fearful bucker is going to be tense, eyes big, nostrils flared, ears back but not flat, tail clamped tensely against his body (at first), and will appear nervous overall. Thirdly, take into account the horse's normal behaviour. A right-brained horse is going to have a greater tendency to react fearfully; he's unlikely to be defiant (usually). A left-brained horse that bucks defiantly is likely to be rude in other ways as well - he might invade your space, lack motivation, etc. So, here's a little practise at reading body language:



Well, contrary to the video title, the horse isn't crazy, just scared. Note how he clamps his tail in tight as he backs up, before exploding into a series of bucks.




Here's a horse bucking out of defiance. Very left-brained and thinking - he just wants that rider off (after she has been bouncing roughly against his poor back incessantly), and now. Note the pinned ears and how the horse calmly halts once he's achieved his goal.




Here's some very reactive flight-oriented bucking by a horse simply not used to a saddle yet. Note the horse's hesitancy to move forward at times (freeze instinct) before the bucking spree (flight).



This horse seems to be bucking out of defiance also. Note the pinned ears and the head-shaking.

Keep in mind, there may be a variety of factors at play when a horse bucks. A buck might start with a genuinely scared spook then the 'defiant' horse runs with it and turns the spook into an excuse to deliberately buck the rider off (and not because they are scared). Or a buck might start out as a form of resistance but escalate as a fear reaction. A horse may buck due to lack of balance also (say, after a jump), or in response to discomfort or pain (which might appear as fear-based or done out of defiance when in fact pain or discomfort or lack of balance or what is the root cause). Take note of not only the horse's body language just prior, during, and just after the buck, but also the horse's general usual behaviour and their behaviour throughout the ride. Are they generally resistant? Or generally fearful? Consider contributing factors such as lack of turnout, certain feeds, etc, that may lead to a horse bucking, even if fear-based or done out of resistance toward the rider.

Unfortunately, usually the horse gets blamed when he bucks. In addition, people seem to assume that whenever a horse bucks, he's doing so because he deliberately wants to be disobedient, when this just isn't always the case. When it is, the horse's perspective and other factors should still be considered. The trouble is, the horse isn't the problem, they're just reacting how nature programmed them to. Also, there are normally a lot of signs that precede a buck - horses typically use a buck as one of the last resorts, as "shouting". The defiant horse will walk all over you, lack motivation in moving forward, pin his ears, etc. The fearful horse will be fearful in other areas of his work with you as well. A defiant buck is usually inadvertently caused by the rider: the rider fails to earn a sufficient level of respect for what he then attempts to ask of the horse. Sometimes it's just something to take in stride and work on (whether under-saddle or on the ground), sometimes it requires taking a step back and re-evaluating things and adjusting your approach. In one of the above videos, you can see the rider is bouncing against the saddle with every canter stride. Obviously after numerous laps, that's going to start to smart a little and the horse is going to want the rider off. Sometimes it's a saddle that's bugging the horse, or the rider's style of riding (seat/body/hands), or sometimes the horse just doesn't want to work with that person. The key is to develop a relationship where the horse is happy with the rider and wants to work in partnership. With the fearful bucker, the horse usually isn't confident enough for what is being asked of him. Sometimes the horse is a loaded gun - seemingly fine but feeling tense inside, when something sets him off to react explosively. Ultimately, if we just learn to look at things from our horse's perspective and develop a strong partnership with our horse, we can prevent and/or solve all these issues, such as bucking. Prior and proper preparation is the key. What kind of partnership do you have with your horse? Do the two of you work in harmony, or is your relationship fraught with arguments?

Another point is that punishing the horse for bucking is the very last thing a person should be doing - in general. Hitting a horse only proves to him that you are simply another unpredictable, horse-eating predator and increases his fear and distrust of humans, rather than increasing his confidence and trust in you. For the horse that is bucking out of defiance, hitting him only creates more resentment towards you. Instead, work on motivating such a horse to want to work with you. There are exceptions of course.

One last related point is in regards to horses that buck after a long break. Here's one such example. People seem to think this is okay, that it is to be expected, that it is the norm. It isn't. A horse bucking, even after a long break, is still the result of any of the above reasons. It could also simply be a result of a lack in partnership (which results in one of the three reasons above). Think about it. Your horse has been out on pasture for months, cementing bonds with his horsey buddies...not with you. Then, we take our horses out and automatically expect them to work in partnership with us, when we have put no recent work into earning that partnership! So take the time it takes to earn that partnership before you get on your horse's back: I promise it will pay off...and the result will include a lack of bucks.