Why Does a Horse Buck?

When it comes to stable animals there are a lot of things we still don’t always know about them, but one of the most unusual questions and common ones that most people just have to ask is: Why does a horse buck?

Well, it’s a lot more complicated to explain than just something simple like, because the horse wants to get the rider off of it. That is the core reason as to why the horse does buck, but more often than not there is a reason the horse wants to rider off of them. And in some cases, they will buck without even having anything on them, which means they are just acting out. So then, what is causing a horse to buck is really what we want to know.

Food

Starting with food is one of the best areas because not everyone who does own a horse understands all the nutrition they need to be watching with their horse. Plus, we do think of them as pets sometimes, and people always spoil their pets with dinner scraps or in the case of horses, extra oats. These oats are truly not necessary except in the cases of extreme athlete horses that can use the extra energy gained from it. Otherwise most horses get all the energy they need from a pasture feed or Hay. The extra energy from the oats makes the horse hyper and then it starts bucking because it wants to be able to get moving fast and burn some of that energy off.

Environment

Changes to the environment tend to be the number two cause for bucking horses. Usually a horse that has changed ownership can exhibit signs of bucking if the change had resulted in drastic housing alterations or how often the horse is out in a pasture compared to in a stall. If you are keeping a horse in a stall more often, then chances are they will be more prone to bucking regularly to let off some excess energy.

The Rider

As much as it is an awful thing to admit, the majority of time, bucking occurs when a horse is not interested in working, and is dealing with a rider that is less experienced in horsemanship. If you aren’t capable of giving hard and steady cues to a horse, then chances are you will run across a horse that will buck you, and either you need to improve your horse riding skills, or you need to give the horse to someone who is more capable. Otherwise you will continue to find the horse will do whatever it wants to.

Of course, a horse doesn’t buck without a warning. They always give off various signals that let you know they are going to buck you off, and if you can’t recognize those signals, chances are you aren’t a skilled enough rider to be handling that horse. So before you go buying special bits, or ways to tie yourself down to the horse, just try a horse trainer to help you with learning more advanced horse riding techniques, then you won’t have to worry about why a horse is bucking, because you’ll be able to handle it.

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/articles/34532/why-does-a-horse-buck