My horse started bucking between fences when jumping what should I do?

Bucking between fences in a jumping course must be taken seriously and investigated promptly rather than ridden through or corrected with stronger riding, because in the majority of cases it is a pain communication rather than a behavioral problem. A horse that was previously jumping willingly and has recently begun bucking between fences is almost certainly communicating something specific about his physical experience of jumping rather than simply deciding to be difficult. Back pain is the most frequent physical cause and the one most directly associated with jumping-related bucking. The compressive forces that landing over a fence transmits through the horse's thoracolumbar spine are significant, and a horse with kissing spines, muscle soreness, or sacroiliac dysfunction that is aggravated by those forces will often express that pain in the strides immediately following landing. A veterinary examination that specifically evaluates the back, including diagnostic imaging if indicated, is the appropriate first step. Saddle fit is the second physical cause to evaluate. A saddle that pinches at the shoulder during the landing phase, that bridges and creates acute pressure points during the bascule, or that drops onto the horse's back during landing creates pain that the horse expresses through bucking in the strides that follow. A saddle fitter evaluating the fit both statically and in motion over fences is the appropriate evaluation. Hind limb pain can also produce bucking between fences because the push-off and landing demands of jumping place specific stress on the hind limb structures. A veterinary lameness evaluation that includes flexion tests and assessment of the hind limb joints is warranted if the back and saddle evaluations do not identify the cause. If a thorough physical evaluation finds no pain or physical cause, the training evaluation begins. Rebuilding the jumping with very small fences in a relaxed context, maintaining forward rhythm through the course, and not allowing the session to end immediately after a buck begins to separate the horse's bucking from any reward that may have reinforced it. Maintaining a deep following seat through the landing phase and keeping an active leg through the strides after each fence reduces the horse's opportunity to buck by maintaining impulsion through the moments when bucking most commonly occurs.