Crow hoping

I recently bought a 19 year old gelding that up until last spring had never bucked or crow hoped once. I have been around him for 5 years, I have also rode him in the 5 years I have been around him and never once had a problem. Last spring he poked his eye with something and it got infected but is back to normal I'm certain he can see out of it because the eye will fallow you when you walk by. But since than he has developed a crow hoping problem I have attempted to ride him 10 times in the past month, as of now I have been able to ride 5 time the other 5 times he went into a violent crow hop right after I got on and I was unable to stay on. He also tossed my dad once but has let 4 of my friends ride him each time they have got on him. Two of them even stood in the saddle while the horse was walking. Can anyone give me some advise.

Horse's back changes all the time, a once fitting saddle may not with with muscle development or muscles going away from being out of work...have you ruled out pain from tack or just pain in general?

I have tried three different saddles one of them was the one the prior owner used on him as far as the bit and halter go I have tried a couple of different ones. He was used for roping his hole life up until 5 years ago. And about 2 months before he poked his eye the guy I bought him from had people from ages 6 to mid 30's riding him on a weekend trail ride. Somebody said it might be a weight thing but between myself my dad and two of the friends he let ride him there is no more than a 15 pound difference in our weight.

When you mount him make sure his head is pulled toward you and don't give it back untill you are ready to ride. It won't solve the problem but it might improve your ride percentage. Sometimes older horses develope habits that they never had when younger. If you have ruled out pain then cowboy up and teach him that it's not much fun.

I never thought keep his head bent around. Now as far as spurs go do I just start spuring the heck out of him when when he does it.

If you ride well enough then I would use a crop or an over/under and whip him on the butt. That will drive him forward better than spurring. If you spur him he may start to buck and then you have created an even bigger problem unless you can ride it.

I will try the whipping method before I try spurs on him I don't want to create a hole new set of problems.

What makes me mad the most is after he shakes me he stops crow hoping and will walk right up to me and stand there.

I knew a mare who did the same thing. I Got on her, with her head bent, she tried bucking and I dug my inside leg into her, turned her head and cropped the heck out of her butt to get her spinning in a really tight circle really fast. They can't really do much if the circle's tight enough. As you're spinning, you'll feel the horse start to tire and slow down. As soon as you feel this, urge them and make them spin REALLY fast for a few seconds then let them relax. If they try to buck again, spin again (I suggest the other direction so you don't get too dizzy ^^) and repeat the process. Spurs are good for this so you don't have to kill your legs in an effort to move his hind end around. Make him think that bucking is the worst possible thing he could ever do and make him understand that whenever he does this, he has to work hard and get dizzy. Lol

Thaks for all the advise. I used a crop and it didn't seem to bother him. I will try the spurs next time I just wasnt sure how to go about using them. Do I kick with them or just dig in.