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The bolting horse What is the technique to stop my young 6-year old who "bolts" when I ask for canter? The
bolting horse takes off at the canter
(or even gallops) without control while leaning extremely heavily on
the reins. The horse who "takes the rider with him", decides to take the canter on his own… controls himself perfectly and dominates the rider. It is annoying but not really dangerous if the rider knows how to stay in the saddle. Horses who "take the rider with them" are often recidivists. They have dominated their rider once, and they want to recreate their successful defense… They learn
that taking off suddenly and violently generally takes away all the
riders' resources. Once again, it comes down to educating your horse well, to the rider's respect… in short, to Dressage! It is the rider's job to constantly feel the horse's state of mind and to act in consequence: to calm to relax, to reassure, to frame, to dominate… If your usually obedient horse suddenly canters, surprise or fear can explain this abrupt reaction… generally, calming and reassuring the horse will get things back in order without too much trouble. But in the present case of your 6-year old, the defense is typical: it is already embedded! Your horse is taking you for a ride… What can you do? Work on and
prepare you canter departs from the walk in great quietness. However,
if your horse really bolts at the canter, you have to be able to stop
him, it's a question of safety!!! But this course of action is only an emergency procedure, it must make you think about rethinking the training of your horse. |
Posture-position / Walk / Trot / Canter / Shoulder-in / half-pass / Flying change of lead / Pirouette /