bucking - The Horse Physio

Is bucking a sign of pain in horses?

By Sue Palmer on August 8, 2022

Have you ever sat on a horse that has bucked? Have you ever been bucked off? I bet there are not many riders this hasn’t happened to at some point! I’ve been riding since I was three years old and know I’ve come off many times. Some of them were pure accidents, some of them pure stupidity, and many of them, no doubt, a misunderstanding of what my horse was trying to tell me. I heard a description that resonated with me when I was listening to Horse and Hound podcast number 130. Dr Gemma Pearson discussed the difference between an N-shaped buck and a U-shaped buck. She said, and I agree with her, that an N-shaped back is invariably pain-related, whereas there can be a variety of reasons for a U-shaped buck.

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Is bucking a sign of pain in horses?