He went bronc on me, I think I give up...

Well I bought a thoroughbred gelding on december 8th 2010, he is 16.1hh, brown, and 7 years old. He also had a semi successful racing career although you wouldn't think so because he is so damn lazy.
He was going really well for me the first few weeks, yeah sure he "tested the waters" for a bit, but it was nothing exactly scary or really naughty. Just really little things like trying to drift his corners, which he did not get away with.
But the on tuesday last week I got on him, there was nothing out of the normal, I rode him with the same tack, he behaved the same bringing him in, brushing him, tacking him up, getting on him etc. We had already done around 6-7 trot canter/canter trot transitions because the previous day He got excited while jumping a very small log(30cm or so) and would do a teeny buck going into canter, which I pushed him out of before he got bigger... He has a HUGE hind end and HUGE shoulders.
Anyway, I went for another transition but this time from walk to trot, and he was being lazy and wouldnt go, so I used more leg as normal, and he still wouldn't go. So I gave him a tap with the whip, and he just exploded into a massive bucking fit, then bolted and kept bucking and farting and everything he could possibly think of, by the time I realised I had no show of staying on I was already off to the side of him still holding on so I let go and leapt because there is no way in hell I am having 700kg+ of horse run over top of me, no thankyou.
Now I did NOT hit him hard, just a tap on the shoulder as normal. He is NOT afraid of whips at all. I can stand beside him and wave it around his face and everywhere else I can tap him all over his body with it and rub it everywhere and he does not blink an eyelid. I have tapped him on the shoulder many a time before to get him moving, and he has responded by doing what I asked. But not this time.
I sat on the ground for a bit wondering how the hell nothing was hurting at that stage because I hit the ground hard, while I was falling I actually had time to look down and mentally go "oh crap, he's higher than I thought" THUD..
He carried on bucking and bolting through the paddock for a further 5 minutes or so while I sat on the ground waiting to see if anyone would turn up.. They didn't.
I eventually caught him and ended up lunging him and then getting back on again even though by this time everything hurt and I knew my knee was decently bruised. I must say though I have NEVER seen a horse look so guilty before. He looked so guilty it just wasn't funny. He knew exactly what he had done, and I competely ignored him while I gathered myself up and walked back to where I was before, he followed me the whole way, which is normal for him, but he just looked so ashamed of himself.

I have no idea where to go from here, sure I've been thrown off horses before, sure I got back on before. And I have had worse falls before, but I don't know how to take his reaction to that fact that he knew what he had done. Is it possible he wasn't paying attention when I tapped him and it gave him a fright?

I know for a fact that the grass is a lot richer now that the rain has been, even dad said it's like rocket juice for our cows, so I know that could have played a part, but I'm honestly scared to get back on. I know if I had expected him to do it I could have stopped it, but I didn't feel it or anything it just happened. I have a neighbour who I could ask to get on Mitchell for me, and I am not ashamed to ask for help, but could he have done it because the grass has given him a sore stomach? He wasn't on dairy pasture before I got him.
And I know at only 7yo he needs regular work, which he was getting, even if it meant I didn't have tea that night, or got told off at school the next day for not doing homework.

Sorry for the novel... Needed to vent, the fact that I keep smacking my now purple and black swollen knee doesn't help the mood much.
Any suggestions? There's probably more I can add onto the story later but it's late and it's a school night and I give up on horses for the day I really do

Oh wow, glad your okay.
But I think you should of gotten back on, even to just walk around.

Maybe for the next few weeks tack him up and if you feel up to riding get on and walk around.... not much help are you sure he's not in pain?

Have you ever thought of lunging before you ride, specially with the rich grass you are currently having. I think it would be both best for you and the horse for you to do so - as that way if your horse does decide to throw a mental and carry on and buck you are not on the horse to fall off and be injured. Also, has this laziness problem been there from the beginning (sorry if you mentioned this already, I must have missed it).

Also did you have him vet checked when you first got him and are you positive that your saddle fits correctly and that he is in no pain what so ever.

I agree with lunging before the ride. That way any extra energy can leave before you get on.

Hope you are ok, and don't give up on him yet.

If a horse goes bronc on me, I don't give a hoot what may have caused it. Nothing is an excuse for that behavior. That doesn't mean I don't check and double check everything is ok - but it is never an excuse.

Life is too short to spend it with a horse you are afraid of.
Posted via Mobile Device

I agree with this statement 100%.

If you don't feel comfortable with the horse you own are riding, then maybe they aren't the horse for you. Have you got this horse on trial? Maybe you should continue looking for a horse. If you only got this horse in December and your already wanting to give up - this may be giving you signs for the future.

I do lunge him before I ride with this new grass, and when I fell off I lunged him and then got back on and just did walk/trot for about 10minutes.

He was vet checked and everything before I bought him home, and his saddle was properly fitted and to my knowledge he hasn't changed shape since then.

And yeah the laziness has been there since the start.

I will ad more later im off to school

Sometimes a horse will, for lack of a better phrase, get a bug up his ass for no apparent reason. It's really good that you got back on him but I doubt his reaction was because he was fresh. After all, you said that you had already done several transitions up to and down from the canter. In my experience, if a horse is feeling froggy because he's fresh, then it's the first time you hit a canter that he'll blow.

Without having seen what happened with my own eyes, my gut tells me that this may have been his way of throwing a tantrum because he just didn't want to trot. If he tries it again, try to get his head bent to one side and use inside leg to push him into little tiny circles. With his neck bent and his hindquarters moving sideways, that will take much of the power away from his bucking or maybe stop him cold. Whenever I have one buck with me, immediately after they stop trying, when I still have their face to the side, I will push them into those tiny little circles for a minute or two until they are puffing pretty good. Then, I just resume what we were doing when the fit started. On a normal horse, it only takes a few sessions of that before they give up bucking altogether.

Yikes! That's scary. Glad you are OK! What did you originally buy him for? Do you have a trainer helping you out?

Agree with SMROBS' post. Sounds to me like he wants to call the shots.

Wow, glad you're okay. You might want to consider a career as a writer. I can totally picture how he felt right before he pitched his fit and your thought process about his height on the way down.

So you've had this guy for almost 3 months now. Any chance he's just feeling a little overfaced? Maybe back things down just a notch and break it down into very small steps for him to try to determine where he might be feeling frustrated. By his look of guilt, I'm not convinced he was trying to be mean or even bad. He was most likely thinking, "crap I just can't do this" and picked the easiest way out.