Any horse experts? I need something to make a horse go wild and bolt

Melancholia · Apr 2, 2011

Hi all,

Currently writing a novel, and need some horse expertise. Is there anything that can be done to make a horse go wild and just runaway? I need it to be something small, not like a huge noise or thunder. Basically something someone can do quickly and without detection. Maybe something with tacking up or a scent that they can't stand. Please help if you can!

M

MeretSeger · Apr 2, 2011

It would depend on the horse-they can have phobias just like people. If your perpetrator set this up in advance, he could sensitize the horse to a particular thing that would set it off. Give the horse pain or a frightening noise every time he holds up a scented item until it's a trigger. Or, if your perp knew that a particular horse had an issue already, he could choose that one for your victim.

When this happened to me, I was simply going over a small curb from a street onto sand. The horse decided to jump it, then gave two bucks and took off at a full run. Inexplicable...but in retrospect, I think he did not expect soft sand and panicked. Best ride of my life, but it could have ended very badly for both of us.

Elaine Margarett · Apr 2, 2011

Melancholia said:
Hi all,

Currently writing a novel, and need some horse expertise. Is there anything that can be done to make a horse go wild and just runaway? I need it to be something small, not like a huge noise or thunder. Basically something someone can do quickly and without detection. Maybe something with tacking up or a scent that they can't stand. Please help if you can!

M

LOL, depending on the horse, anything or nothing. But if you need it to be casued by someone, a pea shooter, a plastic bag rustling, a water gun, a bright light, an unexpected shadow, etc.

It could be something laying along the ground like a wire or even an unsual(unexpected) object along a trail the horse doesn't expect.

Melancholia · Apr 2, 2011

Thanks for the input guys. I was wondering if there was something we could do that wouldn't be instant. A pea shooter or a noise would certainly work, but it's something that will make a horse bolt right away after hearing it. It's not too inconspicuous either.

Basically, my perp meets a horse and his rider, he talks to them for a while (does something to the horse undetected), and then gallops a little way off on his own steed. And a little while later, the horse bolts. I was wondering if there was anything that can do that. Maybe something with the bit? Like the horse's mouth is uncomfortable and the rider keeps on pulling and then it gets angry and bolts off. I'm no expert on bits and bridles (never even touched one in my life), so if anyone can help, that'd be great!

sunandshadow · Apr 2, 2011

Depends how thoroughly trained a horse it is - a trained warhorse would be very difficult to spook, while a barely-adult racehorse would be very easy to spook. In general flappy things (birds, handkerchiefs, plastic bags), painful things (slapping the horse or poking it with a pin), predators/their smell, loud noises, and fire are all known to spook horses.

Edit: I doubt he could modify a bit without detection, but putting a burr under the saddle or putting a bit of horseradish or ginger in the horse's butt are two types of pranks people have played on riders for hundreds, probably thousands of years.

Melancholia · Apr 2, 2011

A burr underneath the saddle sounds like a perfect idea! Something that can easily be slipped in if the rider was to just turn around and talk to someone else for a minute or so. Thanks sunandshadow!

MeretSeger · Apr 2, 2011

I'd like to read the scene where your perp stuffs the ginger up the horse's butt, and yes, I'm roflmao-ing because I'm reading it in my head.

sheadakota · Apr 2, 2011

MeretSeger said:
I'd like to read the scene where your perp stuffs the ginger up the horse's butt, and yes, I'm roflmao-ing because I'm reading it in my head.

I'm sorry- the visual of this made me laugh out loud!

C. K. Casner · Apr 2, 2011

I do echo everyone else, it does depend on the horse. I had an Appaloosa gelding that wouldn't even flick an ear when a flock of wild turkeys flew up in front of him, yet reared and nearly unseated me when I rode by a sty full of pigs.

Chumplet · Apr 2, 2011

A horse I regularly rode was afraid of the maple tree sap buckets. She got really good at bolting sideways with no warning.

The burr thing would irritate a bit, then work deeper into the skin until the horse gets pissed off enough to bolt, I guess.

ColoradoGuy · Apr 2, 2011

I've had horses all my life and I'm with the other folks: individual horses are so unpredictable that it's really hard to know what one will do. On the other hand, since you're writing fiction, it also means that you probably can do whatever your plot needs.

The burr thing is pretty unpredictable. I ride through a lot of cactus, including one (the cholla) that's famous for breaking off a piece of it and hooking the horse's lower leg. Mostly they just act pissed and prance around until you get off and remove it. The same country also often yields a burr under the cinch or girth, the thing that goes under the belly and holds the saddle on. Most horses I've had again just act pissed -- they don't bolt.

I agree with the flappy thing. Nothing is as likely to upset a horse as a white plastic bag from a grocery store flapping in the wind on a barb wire fence. If you could figure out a way in your plot to do something like that it would be more likely to work, I think.

But really, it's fiction--most folks don't know enough about horses to care if the story is good.

Wayne K · Apr 2, 2011

I have a list of names if ya want

Or lightning

Soccer Mom · Apr 2, 2011

Actually ginger up the butt burns the horse. I used to ride Arabians and people did it at shows to make them carry their tails high. Gave them nasty runs.

It was against the rules of course, but you had to prove it.

And I had a horse who was afraid of a big scary rock she had to ride past every day. Every. day. The same rock.

A slow irritant like a burr would be more likely to make the horse buck to get the rider off rather than bolt, or at least in my experience. But I could see them running and sort of kicking up at the heels.

ColoradoGuy · Apr 2, 2011

Soccer Mom said:
And I had a horse who was afraid of a big scary rock she had to ride past every day. Every. day. The same rock.

Yeah, but that's an Arab . . .

ULTRAGOTHA · Apr 2, 2011

ColoradoGuy said:
But really, it's fiction--most folks don't know enough about horses to care if the story is good.

I have to disagree. Surely every reader cares that the story is good! And the writer should care also, or why bother?

The collective knowledge of the people reading any given book is way more than what the author knows.

An author who doesn't care enough to make the story good can't possibly inspire me to care to read it.

Fortunately, in this case the author has it easy. When I read the title of this thread, I looked at my wife and said "Almost anything!" Provided Melancholia doesn't state that the horse in question is well trained, anything could realistically make it bolt. If well trained, then anything sufficiently out of the ordinary could make it bolt. (Ordinary things being covered by training.)

If set in the 21st century, the idea of a flapping plastic bag is perfect.

thothguard51 · Apr 2, 2011

Snakes...

Thunder...

Car back firing...

Bit by a horse fly in very tender place...

If the horse is well trained, not much spooks them, but young horses and those that are not trained or handled often can spoke for just about any reason. Sometimes for no reason other than to get the rider off. They aren't dumb...

DeleyanLee · Apr 2, 2011

My only experience with a bolting horse was because he suddenly saw a garder snake just ahead. If he'd been younger, I probably would've been thrown (I was about 8 at the time--good thing).

From what I learned, horses don't like it when the ground moves under their feet, or if they're being forced to walk on living things. Might your baddie take something out of a pack/sack something and toss it behind him to freak out the hero's horse?

Just a thought.

WriteKnight · Apr 2, 2011

The problem with the OP's request, is that it has to take effect AFTER the perp has left the scene - If I understand correctly. So nothing the perp blatantly does, can cause the horse to bolt. No sound, no motion, no contact with the horse can cause the action - or the perp will be identified as the cause of the 'bolt'.

Frankly - I can't think of a damned thing that could be done that would reliably cause a horse to 'bolt' after a few minutes, when I've had time to make my departure.

Sorry.

You could go with the 'burr under the saddle' - but as a horseman myself, meh... it's not really believable. Generally they just get antsy, maybe dance around a bit or toss their heads. Horses 'bolt' when they are startled, you're asking us to come up with some sort of remote controlled or 'delayed action' startle device.

Got me.

(Leaving out some magical force, or the silent, long distance pea-shooter or sling shot.)

frimble3 · Apr 2, 2011

What if the perp set something up ahead of the targetted horse? When they meet, he's coming back from doing the deed? When the blow-up occurs, he's long gone, and, as he's not an obvious source of the trouble, long forgotten.
So, not something visible, as that might be seen ahead of time. Underfoot would be better, either something slippery or crunchy under hoof, covered by whatever is the normal trail covering, so that the horse distrusts the footing, or something noisy, that pops or rattles as the horse steps on it?

MeretSeger · Apr 2, 2011

Horses do have some logic. Discomfort won't do the trick. A burr makes them buck. Why? Get off the weight that's pressing on the burr. So I agree, it has to be something frightening. And if the perp has to be gone, it has to be set up in advance...I guess this is where the infamous writer's imagination comes in. Make your Master Criminal work it out.

Or there's always the time honored sound of the grain bin being opened. That's how I got unseated the first time. This isn't a Shetland pony by any chance...?

Mom'sWrite · Apr 2, 2011

ColoradoGuy said:
Yeah, but that's an Arab . . .

On the less highly-strung end of the spectrum, my Quarter Horse would go bananas at the sight of a jump with white rails. The rails are white on every jump, bananas was daily event. :-/

Royal Mercury · Apr 3, 2011

Horses are easy to spook.

One time I was riding a horse in Wyoming. It was a nice gentle horse. We rode by the cabin we were staying in, and just then a little girl came out of the cabin next to it. She was behind the horse and he couldn't see her. As I later found out, she had ridden the same horse the day before.

She said, "You'd better be careful. He bucks." The horse heard the little girl and apparently recognized the voice because he went straight up on his rear legs. Fortunately, I was a good rider and had him gentled down quickly. The rest of the ride went fine.

So it could be something that happens, or something that the horse thinks has happened.

Noah Body · Apr 4, 2011

I was going to say show it a copy of Twilight, but that's just me being my usual unkind self.

C. K. Casner · Apr 4, 2011

Noah Body said:
I was going to say show it a copy of Twilight, but that's just me being my usual unkind self.

Not unkind at all; I happen to share the same sentiment.

shaldna · Apr 5, 2011

If the other rider has already galloped off, then the second horse might get worked up enough to bolt after it.

Any horse experts? I need something to make a horse go wild and bolt

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