How To Ride Through A Horse Bucking
One sure-fire way for a horse to ditch most riders is to buck … and buck … and buck. Most times, if they keep at it, they’ll get you off. And any horse is perfectly capable of throwing a bucking fit if he has the right stimulus … if he wants to get out of work, he doesn’t like what you are asking him to do, he gets spooked, or he’s experiencing discomfort.
As a rider, you need to know how to ride through a horse bucking in order to get him stopped – and without getting a face-full of dirt.
Here’s where trainer Steve Lantvit, guinnea pig Jeanne Lambrecht, and former-jockey Frankie Lovato’s Equicizer come in. Steve is the Certified Horsemanship Association’s 2009 Instructor Of The Year as well as a trainer, clinician, and Extreme Cowboy Race rider.
Check it out:
Here are the key points to take away from Steve’s lesson on riding and stopping the buck:
- stay relaxed so your body can move with the bucking horse
- get in rhythm with the buck
- raise his head using one hand and send him forward to get the buck stopped
Hopefully if Ace ever throws a real bucking fit (rather than his typical temper-tantrum one-buck episodes), I’ll be a little more prepared to ride it through. I’ll have to visit the Equicizer booth at Equine Affaire in April and see if Frankie will let me practice …
