Posted by Katie W
on 2/27/2008, 11:47 pm, in reply to "My horse rears!"
69.156.126.96
Hi Kari,
Thanks for writing.
The title of your post sent a cold shiver down my spine, and I'll tell you why. Rearing is a very serious, very dangerous habit - one that can get the horse and / or rider killed or injured badly.
I'm not going to offer advice on how to cure a rearer because every situation is different and offering advice on something as serious as this through a computer is a bad idea. I don't know you or your horse at all.
What I can offer is this.. Horses don't rear because they have nothing better to do - they do it for a good reason. It can be as "harmless" as playing with their field mate in the pasture or as serious as the horse going straight up in the air with a rider on its back. Horses will generally rear because they're playing (as in with a field buddy), because they're terrified of something or because they're in pain.
Horses who rear because they're scared are over-faced with the task at hand, whether it be something spooky on the trail they want to avoid or an exercise which is too hard for them. A horse will always give signs as to its next move - it's just a matter of the rider or handler picking up on them.
Horses who rear because they're in pain are also trying to evade something. Whether they have a sore back or sore hocks or sore anything... rearing is one way to tell the rider to stop pushing them. It could be related to poor saddle fit or an injury the horse has (and the injury doesn't have to be something obvious - horses can't vocalize where they're sore so they show us in other ways).
If a horse rears and gets away with it (it's not disciplined properly) they can learn to rear to evade anything and will do so as they please.
I know this may seem like an evasion to work because you say she's stubborn, but that may not be the case. If you haven't already, please get your veterinarian out to assess the horse. He or she can determine if the horse is sore, where and why. From then, the healing can start. If your horse has a clean bill of health, the rearing can be because she's over-faced.
This is where an experienced trainer comes in. He or she can work with the horse and determine a course of action. Hiring a trainer can be expensive, but when it comes down to your safety, it's well worth it.
Good luck with this and let us know how it goes.
Take care,
Katie
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