One of my best runaway horse tales could have had very serious consequences but, fortunately, did not. I was about 6 years old and the girl who worked for us had two horses that boarded at our stable. The older mare was a Percheron, named Lady, and then her daughter was a Percheron x Morgan cross.

Every day, we would go way out into the back field where Lady would be tied out. Claudia, our stable girl, would lift me up and let me ride Lady as she led her all the way back to the barn. It was an incredible feeling, being able to ride a horse sooo big.

One day, Claudia asked me to bring Lady in for her and I asked if I could ride her back to the barn. "If you can get on her," the girl jokingly replied.

Never. Never say something like that to a 6 year old.

I still don't know how I managed to get on that huge horse, but I'm sure it involved the trees in the woods. Either way, I was up there with just a halter and a lead rope to control this Percheron mare....and then she put her head down to grab a mouthful of grass. I will never forget the sight of the leadrope flipped up over her ear as it was pulled from my hands... I had a good glimpse of it as I stretched and reached for it... a cue which made Lady realize she was free and had full rein to RUN for the barn.

No one knows how I managed to stay atop this massive horse as she charged up from the back fields at a full thundering gallop. They could just hear me yelling "Whoa Lady Whoa!" and, in turn, simply yelled for me to hold on...nothing much else they could do. Fortunately, my wild ride ended when she ran up into the barn (my mother yelling DUCK just in time to keep me from getting slammed off Lady's back), and Lady stopped in her stall.

I didn't ride her up from the field for many many years after that LOL.

I had a POA mare, Before I got her she was a camp pony. She learned the best way to get rid of a camper was to either run away with them or buck them off. When my parents bought her the owner said that she had been sold 3 other times, and brought back and we could do the same if she did not work out. Well the 1st day she ran away with me, my Mom said next time to make her run faster, so I did, she did not like that and after a couple times she quit running away. Game over. So she went on to the bucking, that took a long time to get over

Winged:

Good for you for sticking with the horse and beating the horse to its own games!!!! Thats a rider!!!

I have had a horse fall back on me twice. One occasion was just last week while riding along a creek. We came upon a rattlesnake and it scared the beegeebeez out of us both. We were on a slight incline so when she rared up it threw her off and she fell backwards. We both went over and she was up and running in a split second. I was left whinning, having to jump up and run after her. And, of course, the snake wasn't scared at all.

The other occasion was while riding a mare that hadn't been ridden in awhile. She rared up and when she did the cinch on the saddle broke and as I slid off I think I pulled her back. Although she fell back she was able to catch herself and managed to avoid falling on me but she did kick me in the back of the leg in the process. Was an excellent lesson on keeping your tack in good shape.

Both times......OUCH!

When a horse runs away we have a tendency to lean forward to hang on. As explained in an earlier post here that is probably the worst thing we can do. It can be frightening but it is important to try not to panic. A horse senses fear so we must try to calmly slow the horse.

Good thing you wern't hurt Teri. Whats even worse then a horse loosing it balance and tipping over backwards, is when they actually flip over. They do it soooo violently and it happens to fast, some of them even kill themselves by doing that. They can be just dumb animals at times!

GOOD FOR YOU! Gosh, that the way to turn the tables on that pony. I bet she didn't know what to do when you didn't react the way that other children had reacted in the past. By making her run faster, you kept control. What a terrific story!

How did you break her of the bucking? Did she end up being a great pony after it all?

Hi, I tought my horse the "One rein stop" dont think I would do it at a full gallop but at the first steps it works..
I rode a run away when I was younger I took her to a old logging road let her run.. when I tried to stop her she ran harder.. so I enjoyed the ride till she wanted to stop... thats when I took the reins and smacked her and make her run... boy when I pulled to stop she slid.... and never again ran away with me... long time ago.....

Thankfully I have never had a horse take off running with me on it when I didn't want it to. I have had them step on me & I've even had one roll while I was on it because the saddle was pinching her. But never running. Hopefully, if that ever does happen, I'll remember this thread.

LOL some great, and some hair-raising, stories. Being on a horse charging at full speed is no fun--they don't call it a "Dead Run" for nothing!! My first horse was 15, QH, and had been terribly abused. She could launch into a bolt fast as the wind--bred as a racer. I just got a barrel saddle and hunkered down until I tried Lyon's full cheek snaffle one-sided pull. It did indeed work great for her.
My young TWH mare took off with me first time out on trails, took a dead run then stopped at a fence. She's done it twice again--at least I know what the triggers were, cuz I saw Death in that quickly passing ground!! Must say, I did stay on first time, and rolled nicely the next two. Never again, please!!