Horses Rearing
What is rearing
Rearing is when a horse stands on it's back legs. Commonly seen in play and is a protest or threat. A very dangerous habbit.
The news isn't better in the saddle either, when a horse rears there is a danger that he may not stop at vertical but go right over
on top of you !. The worst thing about rearing is that it's a problem that escalates and it does NOT get better on it's own.
Rearing can be caused by many things and it's a behaviour learned by the horse as a response, meaning that he has reared either:
Because of pain
Due to confusion
In protest
Due to a bad rider
Or for a variety of other reasons. In any case once he knows he can do it
and that it frightens you he knows that he can use it to get his own way.
The most important thing with a rearing horse is to ensure that he is not rearing due to being in pain.
If you were asked to do something that hurt you, you wouldn't want to do it either!, in his case it's no different.
Ensure that you have his back checked, saddle correctly fitted by an expert, his teeth done and check that none of
your tack is pinching or irritating him. That's the very first step.
Next, try to figure out if there's a pattern to his rearing.
Why Do Horses Rear
If he rears when he's being handled on the ground, what is it that sets him off?
Is his reaction one of pure terror or is he being cheeky and trying to get it over you?. Horses
who are truly terrified can be forgiven for the occasional rear.
Make sure it's not something that you are doing to cause the rearing. The best example of this is when yor're in
the saddle, when being ridden horses can rear for a few reasons:
Pain
Pain is a big cause of rearing. Check your tack and make sure everything fits. Be careful not to yank your pony
in the mouth. Make sure your bit isn't pinching him and above all ride him nicely.
Confusion
If you ask your horse to move forward with your legs but you're keeping a heavy hold of your reins, your horse is
going to get confused. Try riding him postively forward and give him the rein he needs to be able to move forward.
Protest
Some horses will simple refuse to do something, even something as simple as moving forward. This isn't necessarly the horse
being badly behaved, a rider may have taught the horse to rear accidently and now the horse is afraid of being pulled in the mouth
and simple rears as a protest.
So we reach a point where we have checked the horse's back, teeth, tack and gear and your riding, and he is still rearing ?
Hope is not lost, this just means that you haven't yet discovered the reason for the rearing or that it is such an old habbit that he
has learnt to rear in order to get you out of doing something he doesn't want to do.
Rearing Horse
How To Stop Your Horse From Rearing
Seek the help of an expert or instructor if you aren't confident to deal with the horse by yourself.
Some horses will rear in protest, particularly if they have learnt that protesting means they get out of doing
something they don't want to do. This can be a difficult habit to try to break.
There are a few ways to help horses who are problem rearers, but the best way is to figure out what it is that gets the horse
rearing in the first place and work backwards.
There are many different ideas and different training methods used in order to stop a horse from rearing. A couple of common causes and possible solutions are:
The horse rears instead of moving forward. He doesn't understand that forward means forward. Try lungeing and ground work with definite voice aids. Or the horse is afraid of moving into contact with the bit, use soft hands and less rein contact when asking the horse to go forwards. Asking a horse to collect too early can confuse them and also lead to a rearing habit.
Horses rear in protest, the horse is challenging the rider. Be persistent and consistent, make rearing more difficult by disengaging the hindquarters and riding postively. Don't give up or let the horse have his way. !
If you're on a horse that rears, try to stay in the saddle and never pull on the reins. Try to give the horse
it's head so that it doesn't flip over backwards and land on you. Shift your weight forward up the horse's neck, and only
sit up again as the horse is coming down.
To try to prevent rearing you can disengage the hindquarters. Very simple, this just means that you pull the head to one side and push
the hindquarters out to the other side. This means that the horse's weight will be on it's forequarters and so it cant push it's
weight backwards in order to go up!.