From: Lyn
Hi Jessica from an "old" horse lover here in Australia,
First let me say how much I enjoy reading the questions/answers that arrive in my mailbox.
I would be interested to hear your ideas on the question of coping/remedying rearing. My five year old Welsh Cob stallion (which I bred and backed/schooled) goes beautifully in harness but when ridden, if he does not want to go somewhere, such as past a field of horses, he jibs/rears and no amount of driving forward aids, including the whip and spurs will make him go. He is a very big strong horse being 15.2hh and built like a Sherman tank! I have trained many horses over the years including his dad and brothers/sisters but have never had one that reared and I must admit it is one vice that really scares me.
When he rears I ensure I go forward/up with him, giving with the reins and when he lands I try to turn him in tight circles to disorient him, and then drive him on, but in most cases this does not work as he either just goes up again or begins to go backwards. My thoughts are that I may need to go back to square one and re-teach him to go forward ALWAYS, but I would really appreciate any advice you have on this problem as it is something I have never had to deal with before. He is on lease at the present for combined driving/showing/stud duties but when he comes home I will need to find a way to handle this problem.
At the moment I am riding his dad, ( he is 15yo, we bought him as a weanling) who has not been ridden for five years, but I just hopped straight on and away we went, no hassle. I would ride him anywhere, with anyone, so I don't know what I did wrong when schooling his son. Hope you can help me.
Bye for now, Lyn
This means that you're going to have to be clever -- and clever means first, eliminating all the possible PHYSICAL causes of rearing; then, analyzing the possible MENTAL causes of rearing, and finally deciding whether you can convince your horse to lose this nasty new habit, or whether you should reconsider the riding part of his career.
First, do NOT blame yourself. I don't think that you did anything wrong when schooling this horse -- as you say, his father is all sweetness and light, with the same schooling. And you've never had a horse that reared before! So this is something new, and if it were your schooling that caused it, you would have had other horses that reared. That should eliminate YOU as a cause. ;-)
Rearing is, heaven help us, a typical stallion behaviour. So, unfortunately, is not wanting to go past, or leave, a group of horses -- ANY group of horses within eyesight (or smell) becomes "my herd" in the mind of certain stallions. This, especially if the stallion IS used at stud, is something that you may have to live with.
If you have a very fit, strong, and self-assured stallion of ANY size (miniature horses included!), you're likely to find that you have a very self-willed animal, especially in spring and summer when a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of the breeding shed. And aren't you coming into summer?..... it's hard to fight all those rampaging hormones.
You've already got the training solution worked out: back to square one, and teach him that "forward" means "forward," whether it's through a gate, past the other horses, into a box, or over a bright red tarpaulin.
You know the drill: be ready for him, and at the moment he even THINKS about rearing, lean forward and take one rein sharply down and to one side, so that you send him forward on a turn. Then hang on to mane with one hand and give him a good hard spank on the bottom with the other, and let him leap forward at whatever speed seems good to him, as long as he goes FORWARD rather than up. Praise him when he goes forward. Don't bother with tight circles -- you don't really want to be sitting on a disoriented horse, do you? and in any case, the point of circling or turning is simply that in order to rear, he must (a) stop, and (b) put both hind legs underneath, rock back on his haunches, and stand up STRAIGHT. He can't stand up while he's moving forward, particularly if he's moving forward with his head lowered, and he can't stiffen against you and halt if you're sending him forward BENT onto a smooth curve (again, not a small circle, just a definite smooth turn). If he does go up with you, get forward onto his neck, with your arms AROUND his neck, and boot him forward. You might also try shouting -- horses really dislike harsh, loud noises, and sometimes it's possible to make a big impression with a sudden loud "NO!" or just a horrid loud nasal buzzer-sound (my personal favourite, as the horse will NOT confuse it with anything else you might ever say to him).
Another thing to do is to check his mouth and teeth -- he's at the age where wolf teeth or a retained cap would be enough to turn him into a maniac, and it's always a good idea to check for rough or sharp edges. Check your bit as well; sometimes the rings wear away and become sharp and pinching where they go through the bit, and sometimes the mouthpiece can become pitted or rough.
Check his back, check your saddle, and check the fit of that saddle -- and its position. Sometimes horses will rear because a saddle hurts -- a too-narrow tree or a twisted or broken tree can cause severe pain. A saddle that's out of place can also cause severe pain -- some horses rear because a too-far-forward saddle is pinching their shoulders, and they find it easier to stand up than to move out! Placing the saddle a couple of inches further back is usually enough to eliminate this problem.
Psychology may play a part, as well -- your horse may be getting tired of his combined training duties. Perhaps he's getting a bit sour on the idea -- and he may believe that any time he is under saddle and the rider asks him to go away from the other horses, he's going to have to run around and jump things. If he doesn't WANT to do this, or doesn't enjoy it, his reluctance to leave the others would be quite understandable, and it would make sense that he doesn't mind leaving them when you are DRIVING him, but only when you are RIDING him.
Or another sort of psychology may play a part! It's possible that this particular stallion simply has more sex drive and less attention span than his father or siblings -- you may have to decide which of his duties are most important, and if he is a good stallion AND a good driving horse, perhaps that's enough.
NOTHING is worth getting hurt or killed over, and rearing is perhaps the single most dangerous behaviour a horse can exhibit. If you can't persuade him that rearing under saddle is NOT acceptable, cut your losses and don't ride him. You have other horses that enjoy being ridden -- ride them!
In the meantime, you might have a word with your vet about this, especially if he's known the horse for some time. He might have an idea, or he might check the horse out thoroughly and find something painful somewhere. Let him have a go -- it's an investment in your own safety. And never, ever get on that horse (or any other) without wearing your safety helmet! They're designed to protect your brain when you fall from a height, and a rearing stallion qualifies as a "height". (So does a grazing pony, for that matter!)
Let me know what the vet says, and how it all plays out for you, and STAY SAFE.
Jessica
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