Why does my horse buck (part 2)?

In part 1 of why does my horse buck we covered the rotation of the pelvis. In part 2 we are discussing how bringing your horse in to a frame that only focuses on the round neck and not stacking the position unbalances and pins the shoulders back. Most often we see this as tripping and stumbling but we can also see it escalate to bucking if our horses are feeling really uncomfortable and don't know how to unpin the shoulder.

The biggest contributing factor is using the reins to create a round neck. The true application of the rein should transition more weight in to the haunches to achieve a squatting action through the hocks. This is why we focus so much on rein backs. It is the softening of the hocks as the horse squats that establishes the soften and round frame not the "submission" to contact.

In the process we are also teaching the horse to seek and accept contact as a way of communicating with us. Then we are communicating little push ups from the horse to work on engaging and building the chest, shoulders and thoracic sling so that it has enough strength to resist the gravitational pull of our weight on the horse.

By this stage we are looking for our steering to come from our legs not our hands because the application of the rein pressure puts the horse off balance and so they balance in to their shoulders which is what pins them back.

Interest in more information? Email us to find out about our program "the equestrian athlete". Where we lay out the different stages of self carriage development and the exercises required to establish an entry dressage level working frame.