Runaway horse

I just had my first experience with a runaway horse yesterday and it might just keep me from ever getting on another horse again. I've only owned him for a week and a half but the people i bought him from are reputable ranchers / horse people. He's a six-year-old quarter horse gelding (somewhat speed bred) and he's been used as a sale barn horse and a ranch horse, covering thousands of acres. I rode him through the round pen, the corrals and out in the pasture and back in again and he was fine. The second time we went out in the pasture he just flat took off on me. I've never been on a horse this fast and he was absolutely out of control. I had the reins in my hands and the more I pulled and tried to stop him the harder he ran. I finally got his head cranked around to the left and that's when I went off the left side - not sure if I jumped off, fell off, or was thrown off from the momentum - it all happened so fast. The whole deal lasted a good 30 seconds, maybe even longer. He even ran me right through three other horses in the pasture. He's never been a spooky horse so I don't think that was the problem. I can't figure out what would have spooked him anyway. Has anyone else had a problem like this, especially with a six-year-old that has supposedly never done it before? I'm starting to question any horse now and I'm not sure I'll have the nerve to get on anything again. Thanks for any advice!

 

First of all... you must get back on!! It is the only way. I have had sort of the same experience when I was a teenager... only in my case I didn't have a saddle or a bridle on... all I was using was two lead ropes and his halter... duh!! what a stupid thing to do eh?
We also had a horse that when he decided to go home he would rare up and try to brush you off on a tree... :shock: I soon figured out that the people before us that had him gave him grain after a ride.. so he of course wanted to go home NOW!!

Anyway... I would work your horse in a round pen for a while longer. Then when you do go out and about.. make sure you make the horse do exactly what you want to do.. and not what he wants to do. If it starts actting up turn in small circles with its head pulled to one side as far as it will go... it will go in very very small circles... horses can not run in this position.

Is this your first horse or just your first really bad experience?

But deffently get back on that horse!! :y_the_best:

 

He's not my first horse, just my first experience this bad. What i can't figure out is, i worked him in the round pen and even the first time out in the pasture he was wonderful. He doesn't even try to go into a trot without my telling him to do that. He also ran away from the barn, not toward it which is sort of weird. It took all my strength to finally get his head pulled toward me and I think that quick turn might have been what dumped me, I don't know for sure. He never did stop til he finally stepped on one of the reins long after he got rid of me.

 

hmm that is strange... away from the barn... It really does sound like something either spooked him or maybe a bug bit him or something like that... I will keep thinking. sorry I am not much help. :?

 

I thought about a bee sting or something like that too but who knows? Last night about two hours after it happened I was watching him from the house and he seemed lame up front. Today he just seems to be moving incredibly slow. He's not one that spends a lot of time running in the pasture anyway (unless the mares are picking on him) but he looks about as stiff and sore as I am today!!! Thanks for your help!

 

::agree with Laura:: YOU MUST GET BACK ON!! A couple years ago, I had a similar experience. Only, like Laura, I was bareback with a halter and leadrope. I was on a mare who was easily spooked by cars (just cars, nothing else...she was hit as a youngster) Anyway, my friend and I were riding the footpaths back from the weanling field, and she wanted to take a run down the galloping stretch. An 18-wheeler went by and honked, and the mare I was on freaked out and ran top speed back to the barn. There was no room to emergency dismount (foot paths were only about 10' wide) and eventually she made a very sharp turn to head back to her barn. It was too tight a turn for her (she's a Clyde x Shire, 1700lbs) and she fell over, trapping me beneath her and the ground. Somehow, we both walked away without injury, but the next morning I was back in the saddle at a show. So. You're not the only one Never give up, don't let one bad experience halt your rides. Take your horse in the ring for a while if you feel more comfortable there, and work your way back out to the trails. But don't go out on the trails until you're fully confident, else your horse will pick up on your insecurities. Good luck

 

i was a a teampenning a couple of weeks ago and this girls horse took of on a dead run and threw her off very good horse never a problem with the horse and it was b/c the saddle pinched the horse i just wonder if your saddle is to small maybe just tryin to help

 

I agree with the others you MUST get back into the saddle!!! :lol: I had a very bad experience like yours except it landed me in the hospital for 5 days paralized on my right side. I was training thoroughbreds that had just come off the race track. Being young and a bit stupid.... I learned the hard way that to make a race horse run faster you pull back harder on the reins. Well when this horse took off we were running the fastest I had ever been before. it felt like Mach10!!! Off I went and landed up against a fence post. Swelling caused my rigth side of body to be paralized. Once I got over that it took about 2 weeks I got back on the same horse and i am glad I did!!! As far as your horse it could have been a number of things. We think a snake was in the area I was riding causing my horse to take off. Or maybe it was stung by a yellow jacket or some other bug!! Good luck and thank goodness you weren't hurt any more than you were!! :wink:

 

Getting back on is about the only thing you can do.

ANother thing. Check you saddle. If its not fitting right, you could be causing him severe pain, and its in their instinct to run from pain. In the wild. they will run to get away, and it sounds like that may be your problem. Especially if he just kept running even after he dumped you.

You mentioned he's stiff today, You could be riding a lame horse. Have him checked out by a vet, and key in on the knees and withers.

 

Thanks for all the advice everyone! The horse went back to the previous owner about a week after this happened. The only thing I figured out is the reason he looked lame afterwards was because when my saddle spun, the swells were hitting his front legs pretty hard when he ran. I'm still sore but getting better - still not sure I'll ride again but if i do it's going to be a horse that i KNOW is ranch-broke. I'm going to be 40 years old pretty soon and it hurts way too much these days compared to when I was a kid! I'm having my doubts on how broke this horse really was. I'd been told he was race-track bred (I saw his papers and he was) but that he'd never been on the track himself. Who knows? We're wondering how honestly this horse had been represented. At least the previous owner kept his word and let us bring him back - although he sure wasn't happy about it!