This is a hard one, Fjalladepla. Your friends horse has obviously been very badly treated and perhaps roughly raced while away. I appreciate how difficult to control and dangerous this horse has now become as you do need space to turn them. I had a big strong horse that used to do this to me once and although we know the solution is to turn them and put them in a tight circle with pressure on one rein only it is hard or impossible to do if you do not have the space and/or if the horse has not got good balance. The only suggestion I can make is to try riding him with the dually halter or a bitless bridle and see if that is better. Do try this in a safe enclosed area first although I realise that the problem arises when you are out trial riding. Do hope others have better suggestions for you. Please stay safe as these horses are very dangerous.

Last fall we helped a gal with a new 5 year old (she wants to use for endurance) that got really antsy,nervous tried to bolt when a horse came up behind. You need at least two other good horses to use as a blocker in the front. (at a slow jog-gait) started with her horse at the end, she passed one then that one passed her, again and a again, if we saw her horse getting too nervous jumpy we backed off a bit but not all the way, just enough to let the scared horse know -ok we see your scared- but as soon as she settled.. back to pass.. And of course the back person keeping up chatter talking conversation the whole time...to keep it safe the lead horse has to be in place so she didin't have anyplace to bolt. it took 10- 15 miles 50 plus passes gradually getting a little faster pace, it really worked. Mind you all three of us have many many years in the saddle. When she settle down we jogged all three horses so she was in the lead at times also pass pass..walk.. pass pass after that day she got much better, ? may need another tune up this spring but that's what friends are for.

Fjalladepla, it is not recomended that the dully halter be used to ride in (had a chat with an instructor at flag is u farms) the best results have come through the use of a bosal , although the first place you should begin is join -up , establish trust then move on from there

I've actually used a combination of the dually halter and bit together when working on stopping or controlling a horses speed. It allows me to be able to put smaller amounts of pressure on the bit and some pressure on the nose. This way I'm not pulling on their mouth when they're pushing through the bit. I've used this for horses that are barn sour and want to dance all the way home. I really hate a dancing horse, this has worked well for me. The dually really is effective in schooling a horse that wants to push through the bit. I would also recommend using Monty's technique of teaching a horse to stop in his video series "The six imperatives". I like LonaFenda's idea about using other horses to teach passing and allowing the horse to become comfortable with that, I don't know what's happened to this horse but hopefully some of these idea's will help.
Kleinne

LonaFende idea sounds good and is similar to what an instructor had me do with Nicky who had been rough raced in Western Rinding and was very difficult to handle with other horses. She doesn't bolt so I hadn't thought of this earlier. Nicky just wants to be the lead horse and gets very excited and pully. I haven't ridden her with other horses much since I was given her now 10 years ago because of how excited and nervous she used to get and she is just great to ride on the roads by herself. Lucky too as I have had other horses to ride for dressage until now. As Tricka has to be rested at present I have been taking Nicky to lessons. The dressage work has helped as Nicky has to accept that ther is always a horse in front of her as I have a joint lesson with 2 or 3 others. One day the instructor had us keep on passing and circling each other at trot and then canter. That lesson was great for Nicky so maybe that is a thought too. Same as LonaFende's suggestion but on a circle which gives you more control and even better if the menage was enclosed - ours wasn't.

Hi everyone, I hope this is the right place to add my query! I have two horses, both rescues and they lie to bolt. My gypsy bolts forwards (as her way to get out of anything that makes her remotely anxious) and my recently rescued gelding is terrified of everything so we have been using natural horsemanship to build his confidence and exercise him in a safe and comfortable way while he builds back lost weight and condition. He is at best 'random' and I have learnt from my instructor how
To 'park' him so he confronts the things that make him nervous.

This was going well, now when he becomes upset he bolts, bucks and rears until he gets away and it takes a long time (and a lot of distress on his part) to catch him. I spoke about getting a dually halter to try and prevent him bolting backwards (this is his new tactic) as I'm concerned his usual halter may slip off of his head. I have been leant a dually, it's hanging outside of my stable. Before I start can anyone verify if this will help him (and me!) come out of one of his episodes still attached to each other!!!

Thanks so much, comments are gratefully received!!

Kirsty x

For the horse that was returned:

Yes, first do a join-up until the horse is confident again.
Now this work you do as ground work.
Standing at the shoulder of the horse, while he is tacked up, bring his head to your shoulder first, then to your elbow. Using the following procedure.
Everyone should have a light hand with the horse they are riding. You start pulling the rein with your baby finger, then add the ring finger, middle finger and forefinger.
This will cue the horse to reconize that only using all four fingers will be uncomfortable.
After you have him turning easily in both directions you can then mount him and do the same thing.
Once he is turning easily and at your command bring in another horse and rider into the enclosed area.
A small pasture for instance.
Keep doing this until her realizes you are not going to cause him pain, only he will if you have to use four finger pressure.
Eventually he will turn on a dime.
I deliberately put STAR into small places so she has to turn within that space frame. One never know when it might be needed.
It's called flextion and good for the horse.
Hope this helps,
Ronda

Kirstysyandco - I think a dually halter is a must in your case. Ronda's suggestions are excellent and along with the join up and turning excercises do a lot of backing, leading etc with the dually. Don't be in too much of a hurry to ride this fellow and when you do get on him keep it safe in an enclosed area with plenty of turning as suggested by Ronda. It also sounds as if you should do a lot of desensitising work with this fellow with all sorts of objects. Check out Monty's videos first such as "Georgia's Phobias" and the one on Youtube "Gentling your spooky horse" which is excellent.

Kirsty, this will absolutely help both of you, make sure that you have a long 30' line attached to the dually, this way is he takes off you're not going to go with him. With a long line you have much more control and strength to bring him back without him pulling you off of your feet. If he pulls back or runs away he will school himself with the dually. The dually should always be used with him so that you can be consistent with his training and bolting problem. It won't take him long to learn that bolting in any direction only makes him uncomfortable but staying is comfortable
Kleinne

Dear Monty,
I so appreciate your article about the bolting horse! I have a paint filly coming 13 this spring. She was trail and show safe by age three, but had a traumatic experience last spring. A young woman riding her inadvertently signaled a canter and got scared. Instead of calmly slowing her and using a one-rein stop, which she had learned, she panicked and lifted the reins higher and higher, holding the gentle, thick snaffle bit at an awkward angle. She also squeezed with her legs and cried out, all of which scared the horse and made her go even faster. We were in an arena and I stepped into her path with quieting body language, and she slowed, but her rider lost balance on a turn and fell before she reached me.
I did a lot of analysis, including reviewing your materials, and having a full veterinary evaluation of the horse to see why this occurred. As far as the student, she had fallen the previous summer riding a friend's untrained horse and had not told me. She was only few lessons into returning with this horse. Her fears caused her to react differently than when she had been my student a few years previously. This student had been an independent walk/trot rider and had begun working on cantering.
I did find that the horse was due for floating her teeth. Otherwise she was very healthy and had no hormonal or allergy issues. We had her teeth done, and used only a bitless bridle or Dually halter on her until her mouth was healed. Like the horse in the previous example, she continued to buck or bolt from time to time. At first, she was unable to return to lesson work, but now she is even undependable with more experienced riders. She enjoys leisure trail rides, but seems to look for excuses to act up or be excitable. How do I get back my sweetheart who had learned to swim with me, and goes anywhere English/western/dressage with me?
I feel like I betrayed her with letting people ride who hurt her,and by not noticing her unusual growth of teeth between scheduled professional checks. Now I distrust her and she does me. Can this destructiveness be reversed? JB-3-28-12

Glennabaker - You may need to send this directly to Monty to get a response as he doesn't comment on this Forum. As Monty's students we just try to help each other out here. I am so sorry to hear about your horse - this has been a bad experience for it but I think with time and care you will get her back to where she was. Once I let an inexperienced lady ride Nicky as she had promised me she was a really good rider and Nicky was usually very safe by herself. Nicky is 18 years old and was trained to western riding before she came to me and is very sensitive to the leg and like your horse used to light hands and relatively long reins. Well almost the same thing happened to Nicky as happened to your horse but she was out on the road not in a menage. This lady clamped her legs onto Nicky and then of course she pulled back on the reins because Nicky immediately started to canter. Nicky panicked and became very excited and uncontrollable - just wanted to gallop. I was driving behind with the lady's two children and I pulling up beside her a couple of times to ask her to get off but she wouldn't and just flew off again. I had never seen Nicky in such a state and she was lathered with sweat. I finally had to be really forceful and tell the lady to get off my horse immediately. When I then mounted Nicky she was hard to handle and totally stressed out. It took months and lots of patience until Nicky returned to my safe road riding horse again. Soo .. if you just keep re-assuring your horse and riding her yourself in the way you always have I think she will come back for you as Nicky did for me. Just be mindful in future of who you allow on her.

In my experience this is a common problem that few can master. I used to work with racehorses and horses that were uncontrollable on the gallops were my forte.

My theory is that no horse actually pulls but instead it's the riders that pull against the horse and in your case it may be that the horse has been taught to gallop flat out one or more days and then some day the routine changes and the poor horse didn't understand the instructions because horses are extremely habitual. And now you are told the horse is too advanced for this girl.

OK, step one:

As painthorse0033 has already advised you go back to the pen and do some remedial work such as Join-Up and Dually Halter work.

Step two:

Don't even think about taking the horse out of that pen! Continue working in there: walking and trotting. If you have a really tight pen all the better. When asking the horse to trot gently ask the horse to trot as advised on www.montyrobertsuniversity.com but in addition to this when asking the horse to trot gently push the horse forward with your hands just to let the horse know that your pushing not pulling against its mouth. Don't worry if the horse breaks into a canter because that is perfectly fine, to coin one of Monty's phrases, you need to work on "incremental learning" not to mention the problem you have with the horses memory muscle. If you have done this right you'll find that the horse actually stretches its neck for more reign. Do not consider this as a negative consequence in fact it is extremely positive. Allow the horse now to have as much reign as it would like to have and it should immediately drop its head in a relaxed way. After a short while you can just squeeze the reigns, I would recommend saying WOW simultaneously, and the horse will yield. The canter is no different from the trot.

As with Monty's advice there should be little to no contact on the horses mouth. One last thing: don't come out that pen until you feel confident that the horse walks, trots, canters and yields on a loose reign. Then all you have to do is repeat what you were doing in the pen. It's a doddle. The good news is if it works on thoroughbreds it should work on most if not all breeds. Problems arise when a horse has had behavioral problems for many years.

A bolting horse has either TRUST or PAIN (will run away from pain) issues!! I have owned several bolters in my life bought from people who didn't know what they were doing. I would work on the trust...that's right go back to basics and spend sometime doing groundwork...if possible at liberty.
Secondly, I would get an experienced equine touch expert or chiropractor to check the horse carefully to see that their is no problems with the spine etc.

Clearly, you need to get to the root of the problem which means helping your horse psychologically, physically and that also means checking your tack still fits correctly...80% of people I know ride with incorrect tack, saddles that don't fit.

For instance, some people fit martingales when their horse tosses it's head this will only mask the problem instead of fixing it..which could be either pain related or balance issues.
Jen

Oh and since I gave up riding with bits and only use bitless bridles...I have never had any issues slowing my mounts.

Jen - got to agree with you there, always check the tack and make sure the horse is not in pain or discomfort before doing anything else. If everything fits and you can be sure the horse is sound and healthy with no back or sore mouth issues, then you can start on training, otherwise it will just be a waste of time. I too am a big fan of bitless bridles, especially the crossunder type.