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STOP A RUNAWAY HORSE

When a horse gets spooked and starts to run away with you on its back, acting quickly and calmly is the only way to avoid taking a dirt bath and breaking bones.

If you tense up, shout, and scream for help or try to brutalize the horse into submission by yanking indiscriminately on the reins, you will simply make the horse more frightened, putting you in even greater danger.

Don’t be tempted to pull the Spaghetti Western trick of ripping your shirt off and using it to blindfold the horse or pulling hard on one rein to make him gallop in a tight circle. Westerns have taught us a lot of silly myths about horses, not least that riding them is easy! Both of these methods are the equivalent of turning off your headlights and punching yourself in the jaw while driving the wrong way on a highway. If the horse can’t see, it may slam on the brakes but it may also run into a tree before it comes to a halt. Meanwhile, if you are exerting several hundred pounds of painful rein pressure on its jaw, you become part of the problem.

STOPPING A HORSE MEANS CONTROLLING ITS MIND SO YOU CAN REGAIN CONTROL OF ITS BODY:

1. Focus first on riding the horse rather than stopping him. Allow the horse to see where he is going while you concentrate on keeping your balance.

2. Stay calm, loose, and relaxed. Stiffening your muscles will only give you a rougher ride, making it harder for you to keep your balance. Focus instead on keeping your body relaxed and upright, allowing your body to absorb the horse’s galloping rhythm.

3. Keep your legs in soft contact with the horse as you become attuned to his surges and begin squeezing a little with your legs each time, then relaxing to allow the stride. This brings you more in synch with the horse and helps him to calm down and trust your judgment. Think about using your legs to reassure by framing rather than dominate him into submission (good luck with that).

4. Gradually take back control and begin to shape the horse’s strides so that eventually you can stop the horse by using the conventional commands that he has already learned. He hasn’t forgotten those commands, but he won’t pay attention to them unless you help him to calm down first.