| The biggest mistake most people do when their horse | | | | tightly as your body will tense up and you will be |
| bolts is to try to stop him; they tense up, tug at the | | | | thrown around with every movement your horse |
| reins and in doing so become more likely to fall off. | | | | makes. Keep your horse's head straight so he can |
| The more tense you are on a horse, the easier it is to | | | | see where he's going and try to establish a rhythm |
| fall off. The first thing you should do when your horse | | | | with his movement. Try to remain calm and |
| bolts is to focus on staying on. | | | | concentrate on staying on the horse. Refrain from |
| Unfortunately many riders panic when their horse bolts | | | | leaning forward as this can put you at risk of falling |
| and they try various ways to stop the runaway horse. | | | | should the horse stumble or change direction suddenly. |
| One of these methods is to force the horse into a tight | | | | Establish a rhythm with your horse and breathe deeply. |
| circle, but by doing this you compromise the horse's | | | | Start squeezing and releasing the reins in tune to your |
| ability to see where it's going and you risk driving him | | | | horse's stride, this squeeze and release technique will |
| into an obstacle. Pulling a horse's head to one side | | | | bring your horse's attention back to you and slow him |
| when he's bolting will also unbalance the horse which | | | | down. Lean back slightly and continue to squeeze and |
| could result in him falling. | | | | release the reins until your horse is more responsive to |
| Some people grab the reins in one hand and pull with | | | | your aids. |
| the other in an attempt to force the horse to stop. This | | | | Keep in mind that when a horse bolts he is only acting |
| is usually unsuccessful because it will cause a lot of | | | | out of instinct. Because they are prey animals, horses |
| pain and discomfort to the horse causing him to gallop | | | | have a strong fight or flight instinct and when a horse |
| even more in an attempt to escape from the pain. | | | | bolts it is because he is afraid and panicking, the last |
| Hanging onto the reins in this manner also causes you | | | | thing you want to do is to panic and reinforce his fear. |
| to tense up and bounce around on your horse putting | | | | The horse is not being malicious in any way, he is |
| you at risk of falling. | | | | simply scared out of his wits and it is your job to try to |
| When your horse bolts, you should focus on riding him. | | | | remain as calm as possible as you try to regain control |
| If you feel safer holding onto a neck strap or saddle | | | | of the situation. |
| you should do so but make sure you don't hold on too | | | | |