Bucking behaviour in horses is potentially dangerous to riders. There is limited information about how bucking behaviour should be investigated by veterinarians. The objectives of this article are to define bucking behaviour, to review the literature relating to bucking and allied behaviours in horses and describe personal observations and to describe an approach to clinical investigation and management strategies. A literature review from 2000 to 2020 was performed via search engines and additional free searches. A buck is an upward leap, usually in addition to forward propulsion, when either both hindlimbs or all four limbs are off the ground with the thoracolumbosacral region raised. Bucking often occurs as a series of such leaps and different manifestations include ‘pronking’, ‘bronking’ and ‘fly bucking’. Causes include excitement, exuberance, defensive behaviour associated with fear, learned behaviour through negative reinforcement or a reaction to musculoskeletal pain. Specific causes of pain include an ill-fitting saddle or girth, thoracolumbar pain, girth region pain, sternal or rib injury, neuropathic pain, sacroiliac joint region pain, referred pain and primary hindlimb lameness. Any of these may be compounded by a rider who is fearful, poorly balanced or crooked. Determination of the underlying cause requires a comprehensive clinical assessment, including assessment of saddle fit for horse and rider and suitability of the horse–rider combination. In some horses, identification of a primary source of pain allows targeted treatment and resolution of pain, but careful retraining is crucial. An understanding of learning behaviour is required for successful rehabilitation. It was concluded that identification of the cause of bucking may enable treatment of primary pain which, when combined with retraining, results in management of bucking behaviour. However, in a minority of horses, dangerous bucking behaviour cannot be reliably resolved, requiring retirement or euthanasia of the horse.

中文翻译：

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识别马匹的疼痛和习得行为

马的反冲行为对骑手有潜在的危险。关于兽医应如何调查反冲行为的信息有限。这篇文章的目的是定义反冲行为，回顾与马的反冲和相关行为相关的文献，描述个人观察，并描述临床调查和管理策略的方法。通过搜索引擎和额外的免费搜索对 2000 年至 2020 年的文献进行了回顾。降压是一种向上的跳跃，通常除了向前推进之外，当两个后肢或所有四个肢体都离开地面并且胸腰骶区域抬起时。Bucking 经常发生在一系列这样的跳跃中，不同的表现形式包括“pronking”、“bronking”和“fly bucking”。原因包括兴奋、兴奋、与恐惧相关的防御行为、通过负强化学习的行为或对肌肉骨骼疼痛的反应。疼痛的具体原因包括不合适的鞍座或腰围、胸腰椎疼痛、腰围区域疼痛、胸骨或肋骨损伤、神经性疼痛、骶髂关节区域疼痛、牵涉痛和原发性后肢跛行。任何这些都可能因害怕、平衡不良或弯曲的骑手而加剧。确定根本原因需要进行全面的临床评估，包括评估马匹和骑手的马鞍适合性以及骑马组合的适用性。在一些马匹中，确定疼痛的主要来源可以有针对性地治疗和解决疼痛，但仔细的再训练是至关重要的。成功康复需要了解学习行为。得出的结论是，识别屈曲的原因可能有助于治疗原发性疼痛，当与再训练相结合时，可以管理屈曲行为。然而，在少数马匹中，无法可靠地解决危险的反冲行为，需要马匹退休或安乐死。