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how to stop a runaway horse

18K views 38 replies 18 participants last post by  NorthernMama 
#1 ·
Hello,
I have been riding horses all my life. I am an experienced rider. I have been training horses for 3 years now, mostly just my own. I received a belgian/quarter horse cross about 9 months ago. He just turned 4 this year. He was 3 months into training. He was doing so well, until this saturday.

I have been riding him with a double band side pull, mostly working on collection at the trot, and stopping. He has only been cantered a hand full of times and only after he mastered the stop at a fast trot. I have good control of his hind quarters at both the trot and the canter.

This saturday, while training in a large open field, we were working on collecting his trot and stopping at the trot. This horse did not spook. Again, HE DID NOT SPOOK. He made a decision that he wanted to be home. He ran away from the other horse that my friend was riding in the field with me. I mean he galloped as fast as he could. We were over 3 miles away from home. He ran out across well traveled roads (of which i clenched my teeth every time). He ran through several empty corn fields. There was nothing i was able to do to stop this horse. He was going to take me through the swamp to go home. The only reason we didnt make it home was because at an all out gallop he made a 90 degree turn into the swamp and fell ontop of me.

Now i tried every method of stopping this horse. He knows how to tuck his rear under him and come to an immediate hault with no reins, just by simply rocking my weight to the back of the saddle. So it is not as if he did not understand the command. I also tried rocking the reins. Pulling his head around (this is where it gets interesting). I dont know if its because of his size or what, but no matter how hard i pulled or jerked on one rein, i could not get even his nose to budge. It was as if he locked his head, neck and nose in place. I even tried reaching toward his nose and grabbing the rope haulter to pull his head arround. NOTHING worked.

I could not get back up on this horse. We had been running for several minutes and i could not breath. When he fell on me it tore the rotator cuff in my shoulder and injured my knee. I know this horse will do it again, because i could not get back up on him. He now knows what to do to get someone off of him and get back home.

Please if anyone has any suggestions, please offer them up. This horse put my life in danger as well as the people driving on the roads i crossed. If i cannot fix this, I am not sure of what the outcome will be for this horse.
 
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#2 ·
Wow. Well first of all, kudos for keeping your head and at least trying everything on the planet. Three questions come to mind. What bit were you using? Did he perhaps get his tongue over the bit which rendered all communication useless? Did you try the pulley rein? I've recently seen two incidents with runaway racehorses who were both successfully stopped by the pulley rein. Looks like that horse was going home no matter what. I know I wouldn't be back on.

Before anyone blasts me about flipping a horse over, the pulley rein involves burying one rein into the horses neck in a tight fist and pulling the other rein up to your shoulder. It is extremely hard on the horse's mouth, can actually cause damage, but does not overly bend the horse and is very effective. It is not the one rein stop.

Sorry you were injured. Thank goodness he fell on you somewhere that had loves of give in the ground.
 
#3 ·
I'm glad to hear that you weren't more hurt. I imagine it would have been terrifying for you going through streets and what not. Scary. =\

The first thing I think of is put a bit in. You don't need something harsh, a snaffle would do. But I have seen my fair share of horses bolting and dumping their riders in a side pull. It merely does not give you the ultimatum of controlling your horse. If the horse locks up against a side pull you are pretty much screwed. I personally do not like side pulls for any situation, I don't like how they ride. I would get a snaffle and work on bending, (or if your stuck with the side pull work on bending in that) work on turning at walk and trot.

Its not just stopping that you need to rely on its being able to get the horse to listen to you. If a horse runs of with me I first have to get the horses attention before I can give the whoa cue, because once they start running everything else goes out the window. I would start a circle, ask to move off leg anything to get the horse thinking about little ol' me on its back.

Also if possible I would work more on the canter in an arena if you have access to one. Even if the horse can stop well at a walk and trot does not mean the horse will know what to do at a canter.
 
#4 ·
I think what I would have done was whip him on the **** and make him run as absolutely fast as he could. Being half draft and half quarterhorse he wouldn't have made it very far. If the horse could run back to the barn as fast as he could from 3 miles away he would truely be a specimen. The other thing I would do is wad up that sidepull and through it in the garbage. Now that he has ran off in it he won't respect it at all. I would use a regular o-ring snaffle. Not a French link or rubber covered super wonder bit. I would want to make sure that if he ran off again I could not only get his attention but make it as uncomfortable as possible.
 
#5 ·
Wow, that sounds so scary! I've been in similar situations before and it can be terrifying.

Honestly, the first thing I would do would be to get that horse in an enclosed arena with a bit in his mouth. Even partial drafts are incredibly strong and pulling on his nose can be fruitless, as you found out. A bit will not be a miracle worker, but it is harder for a horse to resist a bit than it is to resist a sidepull.

It's also a good idea to ride him in a more enclosed area, if you have access to one. When a horse doesn't have definite boundaries it's easier for them to misbehave.

The one-rein stop is an incredible tool, but must be taught. There is another thread that was recently posted that tells exactly how to do it.

Good luck, I know from first hand experience just how hard it is to get back on after a ride like that.
 
#6 ·
Hair-raising tale! I'm glad that no one got hurt worse than you did. It could definitely have been much worse. With your injury you may not be able to do anything except ground work with him for now. I would do as much as you can, including have someone else ride him in an enclosed area, or on a lunge. Maybe the time spent reinforcing this stuff will help him to forget what he got away with.

Also, take him for walks far away from the barn. Pack a lunch and tack him all up as though you're going to ride, but don't. Walk out that 3 miles. Have lunch and walk back.

You say that it's not that he didn't understand the commands; I think at the time, he likely didn't. His mind was elsewhere and you were a non-issue. The moment he forgot about you was where the trouble started. After that, you've got to get that attention back to be able to remind him of who's up there!

I agree -- switch out the bitless for a bit. Be sure to put a curb strap on. And I also agree that you don't need a harsh bit. It's a leverage thing -- it's easier to bring the nose around than the whole head.

Practice the pullley stop at a walk, then trot then canter. I wasn't a believer in the pulley stop until I actually went out and tried it on my quiet mare first:)

I have used the one-rein stop as well, but when I use it, it's not about smaller and smaller circles, it's about stop or you're going to fall over, run into the poplar shrubs or the 8' snowbank!

Good luck and good health.
 
#7 ·
No! I would never recommend practicing the pulley rein. It's a very violent last ditch leverage maneuver done to save your butt. It's very harsh on the horse's mouth and can cause serious bar damage. Sure know how to do it and maybe practice just the movements of it, but definitely not in the actual leverage scenario it involves.
 
#8 ·
Kevin has a point in that sometimes when you can't get them to listen to "slow down!" you through "speed up " at them to break out of the log jam.
I can just imagin how strong a half Belgian's neck is and once it's on a dircect line away from the pull, no bend, not the strongest man in the world could force a bend without the help of a bit.

I am so glad you were not hurt. I would have nightmares for weeks. I don't have any real advice except to comment on Kevin's comment.

Hopefully you will find the way with him and your shoulder will come back to normal (having damaged mine, it took over a year to heal and is still occasionally painful).
 
#11 ·
Agreed Northern and Kevin. Just wanted to stress how harsh it can be if you use it too aggressively. Some people just get up there and yank away.

Glad to see you back Kevin. Haven't heard from you in awhile.
 
#13 ·
In a situation like this, your horse is risking your life and it's own, I would not worry about being too harsh.

You said about grabbing the rope halter, where you riding in just a halter or was it under the bridle?

Sorry you are hurt, glad you are not more hurt! Heal up quickly.

Don't blame yourself for not getting back on, you were hurt. I would not have got back on either.
 
#14 · (Edited)
thank you everyone for your responses!. Im not sure what a pulley rein is though. I will work on the one rein stop and see how that goes. To AlexS- i had the rope halter on under the bridle. In regards to the nightmares, that is all i had last night. I have been going through what went wrong over and over in my mind and i cant see where i went wrong with his training. I am definatly going to put a bit in his mouth next time, though it will be a while. I think i am going to have to build my trust in him up, from the ground first, before i think i can get back on without being nervous.
 
#15 ·
I would say it is time to ditch the side pull and train in a snaffle at least.

Work on gaining a one rein stop on him. Since he already responds to your seat, this may come fairly easy, its just you will take up one rein, to bring the halt rather than both. It sounds to me, you have worked on more verticle flexion than lateral flexion...time to back it up a bit and pick up the lateral flexion, and gain that peice of training that could save your butt on ANY horse you train.
 
#16 ·
My solution isn't safe. :(
 
#17 ·
You need to be riding him in a bit, for sure.

I have a lazy and dumb horse who would never run, but I always ride in a bit.

For you with this horse, you need that level of control. What bit would you use? Or something like a hackamore, it doesn't matter, but you need some control.

I am not surprised you had nightmares, you had a terrible experience. To get you over that, can you ride another horse, or have a friend lunge you next time you are ready to ride?
 
#18 ·
i think you tried this but just to make sure ive gotten this advice from several people of reaching down and pulling his head to touch your knee. my farrier told me to practice it at any speed just to see how far he could reach and to see what hed do. other wise im not that experienced so i dont know. my horse did close to the same thing to me so now when i get on him i ask God to make him not act stupid.
 
#19 ·
Sorry that you were hurt and hope you're doing better.
I gotta agree with everyone else on putting a bit in his mouth, a nice plain as mild as possible snaffle in his mouth and teach a one rein stop, I've used this but not the pully rein. I just read about it in this month's of Particle Horseman.
 
#21 ·
I agree. put a bit in that horses mouth! teach him to give to it. You want him to be soft and supple in it. flex, flex flex, and practice one rein stops(aka emergency break) with a horse that big you'll need to make him think he cant run off with you. that's what the flexing and one rein stops are for. the more soft and supple he is in his mouth and neck the more control you will have. also see how his ground work is. will he move his shoulders without pushing/leaning on you. shoulder control is a great thing. oh one more thing. when you advance with him enough to take him out to a field make sure it has a SAFE fence and a gate that way if he attempts to run off he can't completely leave.
 
#24 ·
Good video. Thanks for posting that NM. Glad she mentions that it's hard on the horse at the end and to take that into consideration while practicing. The only thing she didn't mention was that the pulley rein is not just a one pull action. Normally it takes a few rhythmic pulls to get the horse stopped. She made it look like you just pull back once and you're done.

I'm a little touchy on the pulley rein since Practical Horseman recently had an article about it suggesting it was a good tool for riding a XC course. I was very disappointed to see it being used by the rider in place of applying half halts to keep the horse in good rhythm, like cranking on the horse's mouth was a shortcut to good training. My blood pressure still rises when I think about it.

OP, by all means, if it's you, a bolting horse and only a cliff or highway in your path, yank away. It'll probably be the only time you ever use it. Most horses probably would never think of bolting ever again after having their mouth cranked on in that manner.
 
#25 ·
Wow thats a good video. thanks for posting. i've only heard of a pulley rein never seen it done or used it. I think i'll remember that. I worked a barrel horse a while back that I could've used that on. come to find out she wasnt sound,but bucking at full speed wasnt the best way to find that out.lol. i did manage to stop her but we went about 100yds before i got it done.If i tried to bring her head around (the emergency stop i was taught) she just pushed right through the turn and went faster. i figure that was becuase that what she was taught as a barrel horse. anywho. thanks again for the video
 
#26 · (Edited)
What many people forget is that a One Rein Stop has to be taught to a horse and practiced for there to be any chance of it working. A horse can run just about as fast with its head cranked around as it can with it straight it just can't see very well. The way people get hurt in runaways is by falling off when the horse gets to a fence and turns suddenly or when the horse falls down or crashes into something. I have ridden horses that can flat out RUN and as long as they stayed standing and I stayed on I was perfectly safe. If I get a horse that likes to run off I want fairly easy terrain preferebly uphill and no fences in front of me for at least a half mile. Very few horses are fit enough to run more than a quarter mile full out without running out of steam. I would bet most draft crosses wouldn't make it 500 yards if they were really giving it thier all.
 
#27 ·
What many people forget is that a One Rein Stop has to be taught to a horse and practiced for there to be any chance of it working. A horse can run just about as fast with its head cranked around as it can with it straight it just can't see very well.

Geez Kevin. We're talking pulley rein on this thread. Please don't confuse her with the one rein stop. Two very different manuevers.
 
#29 ·
I just get worried when I see to two methods being used interchangeably. One rein stop and pulley rein are for very different circumstances. One is for a horse who has not yet gotten into full gear involves substantial bend while the other is for a bolt in progress and keeps the horse straight while being applied. Using the wrong one can result in disaster. I just hope people are clear that they are not both for the same purpose.
 
#30 · (Edited)
A ORS can be used to stop a buck or bolt before it even happens, so not necessarily for 'different circumstances'. I don't know how many times an effective ORS has saved my butt on a green horse, simply because he understands what grabbing up that one rein means, even when he is in 'mid flight mode'.

I have used ORS for a bolt in progress as well, too, but obviously you don't grab the rein right to the hip immediately; you MUST slow the horse down some by getting him into a circle first, then get him to use the ORS once he is slowed some; again, I have used it for the bolt too, but it has to be used differently than when you are executing in a controlled environment where the horse is calm and for the most part collected in his gaits. HOWEVER...if it is life or death we are talking about, as in this thread (where the horse is crossing roads in his flight), I would rather execute the ORS as quickly as I could, than to have the horse continue running and kill us both.

IF I am in an area where it is safe to make the horse run...then by all means, I will make him run, and make him wish he'd never taken off in the first place; but this is not always possible, so you HAVE to have a 'stop' procedure you can rely on as well.
 
#31 ·
My rule of thumb is, if you can catch the bolt within 3 strides, ORS is safe. If the horse is already up to speed, then you're in pulley rein land. I would never bring a horse's neck out of line with it's body while it's going 35 mph. Didn't mean to hijack your thread OP.
 
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