Bucking is a movement performed by an animal in which it lowers its head and raises its hindquarters into the air while kicking out with the hind legs. It is most commonly seen in herbivores such as equines, cattle, deer, goats, and sheep. Most research on this behavior has been directed towards horses and cattle.

Bucking can vary in intensity from the animals’ slight elevation of both hind legs, to lowering their head between their front legs, arching their back, and kicking out several times. Originally, it was predominantly an anti-predator and play behavior, but with domestication, it is now also a behavioral issue in riding horses, and a desired behavior in bucking bulls. If powerful, it may unseat a rider enough to fall off. Bucking, in some cases, may have consequences for serious injury to animal and rider.