Okay, so my horse never used to rear or buck or anything while I was riding. But lately, he has been rearing whenever we go on the trails. He has never like the trails and has always acted a little hot, but now he is rearing and bucking, and it's getting dangerous. In the past he always seemed like he was just excited, not scared. I feel like it's my fault for taking him on the trails in the first place because he doesn't like it, but at the same time I know that he should never act out like that. Because he always had an issue with trails, I was thinking maybe he had gotten hurt on them in the past, because he does have these huge scars on both his back legs that are jagged almost like he got caught in barbed wire. Anyway, every time he rears, I get off, because if I don't he rears again, bucks, or takes off. I know getting off is like rewarding him, but my safety is at risk so I do it. Yesterday, he reared and I got off. Then I turned to face him and he had this wild look in his eye, like he was terrified. That's when I realized he wasn't intentionally misbehaving and he was just scared. It makes sense because other day he kept rearing so I lunged him when we got back, and he jumped out of the ring, ran into the barn, and started nervously shaking.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com I feel bad about the whole thing, because I want to be able to trail ride with him being comfortable and responsive. And it's not separation anxiety, because I always go out with someone else. He does get tense if another horse gets ahead of him though. Also, he does act better if he is in front, but that's not always possible and I need a horse that won't flip out the second another horse passes them off, especially because I don't know the trails, my friend does.
So I know I'm just ranting but I really want to know if anyone has any insight into why he acts like this and what the best way to deal with it is. My friend offered to ride him because she trains a lot of horses not to rear, but I know she might get aggressive, and if the misbehavior is caused by fear, I don't want to punish him and scare him more.
And I really do need to know how to deal with this situation because I am going to a hunter pace on Sunday. It will probably be mostly fields, possibly only fields, but I want to be prepared just in case there are some trails. If I need to, I will hand walk him through the trails and get on again everywhere else.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com PS-This is definitely not caused by anything physical because he doesn't act up in the ring or open fields, only the trails. This might sound weird, but could he maybe be claustrophobic? Because he gets nervous in stalls, too.
Your horse isn't as bad as my mare was. She was pushy, bossy, disrespectful and treated me bad or like she could take me or leave me. Also she didn't like to go out on the trails alone (we have no choice for there is hardly ever any one to ride with). She would balk and crow hop and root when she didn't want to do something and it would scare me. Then I found this article at Horse & Rider.com called 'Clinton Anderson's Lunging for Respect'. You just type it in under articles and it will come right up. It is so simple starting out with the basics of lunging just to make sure you are doing it right but it progresses and is mainly about changing direction rather than just mindless circles. It was amazing. It totally changed my relationship with my horse. I was ready to get rid of her though it broke my heart but I was too afraid of her to keep her. This exercise turned her into a sweet respectful horse who acts like I'm her best bud. We are so much closer and I like her so much better now. The balking and crowhopping just stopped on its own. You've got to try it. Its so simple to use what can it hurt. I just printed it off my computer and took it out into the field with me while we practiced. Good Luck and God Bless.
Ok, I have my own horse, and he has bucked, but never reared . Go onto the internet and find a professional horse trainer, and that will solve your problem! Hope it helped.
You most likely can fix the probelm on your own. First i would get his teeth checked, maybe his mouth floated. Then if he continues rearing and what not, carry a water balloon or an egg in your hand while riding and when he rears up hit it down hard on his head between the ears. This tells them no along with it mkes them think that because he reared and you hit him, he thinks that he is dying. This really does work!!! I have been training a throughobred mare to run barrels and she did that for awhile, one day i hit her square between the ears with an egg, let it run down her face and she thought she died. The next day when i got on her, she was a whole new horse, hasn't reared since then and that was like 2 years ago.
I would try letting your friend ride him. If she is more aggressive maybe your horse just needs to be told once that rearing isn't acceptable. I'm sure she's not going to do anything to permanently harm your horse.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com My horse used to be scared of snow coming off the indoor roof. I wasn't ever mean to him because he was scared but when he stared getting to the point it was dangerous (rearing/spinning) I had to let him know that he couldn't act that way. You have to be the bad guy sometimes.
