Runaway Horse !

[Roughquest]

Hi all,

I had a terrifying experience the other weekend while out hacking on my horse, i pushed her on into a canter down a bridle path and she decided to keep going full pelt into a gallop, the bridlepath opened up into an open road ! I tried so hard, all the strength i had to pull her up but she kept going, and in the end throught sheer quick thinking pulled on the R/H reign and got her to pull up into a hedge rather sharpley, why oh why would she not stop for me ? Nothing spooked her but i am now worried she will think she can do this again.....help.....

RQ xx

[shalforette]

has she done this before? does the tack fit? do you ever school her and is she normally obidient to all aids? is she out or in at the moment? what bit is she in? there are so many possible reasons. it is impossible to say nothing spooked her as they see things we dont and hear things we cannot hear. I would advise you to talk your concerns with a knowleable friend who you can hack with till your confidnce is back. Sometimes these things are a one off and there seems to be no reason. Last week my 14 year old eventer had me off in the school because he shied at a show jump wing!! He has showjumped all his life but for no reason that day it was scary! Dont loose heart this was probably a one off if she is usually a good girl.

[wildwood]

When have you last had her teeth done? Could she be sore in the mouth? Everything shalforette said is true. Many years ago I had a trotter which always jumped at a certain place on the track. It turned out he tried to jump over the shadow of an powerpole. Not something we humans would think of.

btw pulling an out of control horse into the side hedge/wall is a standard procedure, so well done. It is unbelievable how quickly a half tonne of horse can stop.

[Roughquest]

This is the first time she has 'gone off on one' lol, and my friend who is very experienced has done a thorough check on her bits and bridle and all is well there, we went out again today, but i was a bit nervous, and my friend took me to a 'safer' canter track and told me to push her on, something i had to do to get my cofidence back and this time although she was pulling to 'go' i held her steady in a controlled canter, i can now see where i went wrong, she is a very forward horse and I gave her too much reign......

Many thanks for all your welcomed advice and experiences !

Happy riding,

RQ xx