Bolting Warmblood

Auri wrote: Hi, I have a 16.3 hand Dutch Warmblood gelding with a bad habit of taking off that he learned from his previous owner (I was not aware of the problem). I have tried every form of ground training and there is some improvement but he will still take off occasionally. He is dangerous and one time left me with a broken jaw. From that time he also tore a lesion in his deep flexor tendon and is currently healing. Is there anything else I can do to help him?”

Hi Auri. I like the way you are asking if there is anything you can do to help your horse. A bolting horse can be dangerous, especially one as big as your Warmblood. You don’t say how old your Warmblood is, nor how long you have had him, nor how your jaw was broken. I am assuming that he is doing this both while you are leading him on the ground as well as in the saddle. He needs to learn that he has to be respectful of your space. I like to use a good quality rope halter, such as from Double Diamond or Craig Cameron, with a tied on lead line. This allows a quick jerk on the lead line to be transmitted and felt by the horse on his nose and somewhat on his poll. Your timing has to be right on this. Using a 12 or 14 foot lead line allows you to bring the end of the lead line with the leather popper around your body with the off hand to remind your horse to respect your space if he is leading up too close.

You had the good idea is to re-start your horse. I think this is always a good idea for new horses. Relearning ground training, teaching the horse good ground manners,.....that you are the leader and he needs to respect you. You have done this and say he still has the bolting problem. I am assuming you are riding him in a bit. Have you ruled out any teeth problems like erupting wolf teeth? Are you using too harsh of a bit? Does it seem like he bolts after fighting you or bracing against the bit? I can't help but think of a dressage rider I knew who would ride their horse on the trail, in a benign bit like a O ring snaffle, but would always be in contact that horse's mouth, causing that horse alot of anxiety since he couldn't do anything to get away from the bit pressure but to try and run away.

A horse bolting is sometimes caused by a buildup of fear until the horse thinks he has to run away. Sometimes a horse just has to bolt and run just to figure out that he doesn’t have to. I think sometimes it does more good to let them bolt, and when they want to slowdown, make them continue to run if it’s safe to do so.

If the horse is spooking (from an object) rather than bolting from pent up fear rather than a particular object, I would take him back to the object that set him off. In both situations you have to go at his pace, if you make him approach a scary object faster than he is comfortable with, or if you get onto him or try and lock him down when he bolts, in his mind his fear is justified.

Sorry I couldn't be of much help. Good luck and Safe Journey.

Horse Who Bolts

Tim wrote me about a bolting Mustang he has,……I am having a problem with my horse getting spooked and running with out being able to stop him. He is 8 yr old mustang and had not been ridden in several years when I got him. The lady was intimidated by him and had him because of how beautiful he is. I sent him to the trainers and he did good. I still have him in a snaffle but want to know if I should graduate him to a bosal or some thing else to keep him from bolting. I did not break this horse myself because I was told that domestic horses were different to train then mustangs.

Thanks Tim for your question. I don’t think going from a snaffle to a Hackamore (Bosal and Headstall) is going to give you more control. Probably less control. Since you are only going to pull on his nose - pressure from the Bosal is delivered to the nose via the nose band). The level of discomfort (pressure) the horse feels from the hackamore will have a lot of do with diameter and material of the bosal. A horse not ridden for several years is probably not a safe horse to ride until you have basically re-started him. Since you sent him to a trainer, you should probably see what they have to say about him,...if they encountered the same bolting problem and what bit they rode him in.

Imagine having a bit in your mouth with some rider pulling on it,....you get spooked, then run off, this may cause the rider to pull even harder to either hold on or to try and get you to stop. So be careful about thinking the control is in the bit. The real control is in the mind of the horse, the relationship you build with him and his resulting behavior built from that trust.

Watch him when you fit the bit to see if his demeanor changes or it appears it may be seated too deep, or too loose for that matter. I like the bars of the bit to be touching the corners of the mouth not necessarily creating a wrinkle. Check to see if your horse still has his wolf teeth in, or worst yet, non-erupted or broken wolf teeth (just below or at the gum line) that the bars of the snaffle bit may be hitting and causing discomfort.

Eight years old is still a young horse if he hasn't had a lot of rides. I would do some ground work on him and ride in a round pen. Work on lateral flexion of his head and disengaging his hind end. If he bolts in the round pen, ride it out. He may have to bolt once or twice to figure out he doesn’t have to. Brush up on your one rein stops in case he bolts when you ride him out.

Good luck to you, let me know how the your Mustang is working out for you. Safe Journey.