What can prompt a horse to rear?
(If you’ve ever had a horse with a rearing problem we’d sure find it interesting to hear in the comments what the issue wound up being)
Several years ago, my daughter was given a horse who reared a lot. Her former owner’s solution was to carry a piece of 4 x 4 and hit her between the ears every time she went up. It didn’t work, obviously, and she became a very angry horse.
In her case, she had been raised and worked the whole time with her half sister. Her sister died in an accident. She’d never learned to be confident on her own and never found any good leadership in her rider.
She rides great now.
Horses who are anxious and unsure will often become light in the front end. Those types need a confident trainer to work With the owner and show them how to partner with the horse in confidence building exercises.
Horses will rear when they are afraid, and it is often because the rider has “shut the front door”.
What does that even mean?
Most horses prefer to run when they are afraid. Most riders don’t like to ride a bolting horse. So they take a big hold on the horse and try to stop motion, often while unintentionally clamping their legs onto the horse in case they need to hold themselves on.
So now the tight reins are transmitting tension to the horse, the rider legs are telling them to go, and they are being held in stop. Sometimes this is called “pulling a horse into the rear”.
Not a good combo.
The better thing to do is let the feet go in a big circle while sitting relaxed with confident directing hands. You can often redirect your horse’s thinking and prevent a rear this way
Horses will also start a rearing behavior when something is physically bothering them, they’ve told you in more subtle hints, and you’ve missed it.
They have a tooth that’s cracked, a joint that’s hurting, a saddle that is fine at a walk but at a trot the shoulder bone is hitting it, a girth that is not sitting where it won’t fire up the nerves, ulcers, a bit that is cracking the roof of the mouth when engaged, or even perhaps a saddle that fits the front in great but the horse has a short back and the saddle is too long for it.
There can be so many reasons why a horse may be hurting and it’s up to us to read them and figure out the why and fix it.
Horses can also rear out of frustration. Often this is because the horse doesn’t understand what it’s being asked to do, but the person keeps asking anyway, sometimes with more and more insistence.
Sometimes this is because the horse is too green for that particular ask at this point. Sometimes it is because the person is too green to know how to ask clearly and effectively.
Rearing while in work always has a reason, and as the owners of these guys it is imperative we figure it out, so that it doesn’t become a lifelong go to for a horse having communication issues.
Sometimes that means you both are going to need to find some help together.
After all, You are in this together if you want this beautiful creature to be your partner.
