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I’d like to
discuss what causes a horse to rear and how we can actually set a
horse up to rear. There are two basic facts to consider. Horses
learn by pressure and release and, a horse can go six different
directions: forward, back, left, right, down and up. If you think
in those terms, when we work with a horse, we always have to give
the horse a way out, a way to find release. If you try to close off
all the directions, the horse is going to take one of the directions
that you can’t block. In other words, you may not get the response
you wanted and the horse may go a direction that you didn’t want at
all. For example, if we want our horse to go over a log, a tarp, a
pole, through a creek or toward anything that the horse does not
want to go near, 99 percent of the time the horse will go left or
right or, it may stop and back up. Even if the horse is following
another horse who goes right through the creek, for example, he may
just have an issue and be afraid to follow. What most people do in
that situation is to block the horse from going right or left and
the horse will start to back. If the rider then applies the spurs
as the horse backs, the horse will likely go up.
When I am
teaching a horse to go over objects, I will block the horse from
going right or left because if you let the horse go to the side, it
becomes an escape route and the horse will not deal with the issue
of crossing the object. I block movement to the right and left but
the moment the horse starts to back up, I let the horse move back.
If he wants to back up five feet, I let him back up five feet. This
is based on the horse having a good, solid forward cue. As soon as
the horse stops, I ask him to go forward. In the saddle, once a
horse has stopped, you can apply the spurs or give the horse a good,
aggressive kick to go forward again. A firm forward cue is fine,
but only after the horse has stopped. Wherever the horse stopped is
where he feels comfortable about whatever it is that he is dealing
with. If we apply the forward cue while the horse is backing up, I
can guarantee the horse will rear. The horse is too uncomfortable
to go forward at that time. This is a common situation. The horse
has too much anxiety and when the rider tries to force the issue,
the horse rears.
Another
situation where a horse may react by rearing can occur when a horse
will not accept contact. This can be a hackamore or a bit, anything
that is controlling the horse’s face. If you make contact and ask
the horse to go forward and the horse hasn’t accepted the contact,
when you block all the other directions, the horse will go up in the
air.
Another time
that a horse may rear, and I’ve seen this many times, is when a
horse has anxiety about going home. A horse that is barn sour or
does not accept separation from a buddy may buck or rear. Forcing a
horse away from the barn or away from his buddy causes a certain
amount of anxiety. The farther away from the barn or the buddy, the
more anxiety. The barn or the buddy represents the horse’s comfort
zone. The thing to do for this is to go back to the barn and go out
again. Going toward home releases the anxiety. Take the horse out
a little and go back, expanding the distance and time away from the
barn. It may take several lessons to build the horse’s confidence
to go away from the barn or go out on the trail alone.
You might be
out on the trail with another rider who takes off going a direction
that you do not want to go. Your horse may get upset because the
other horse is leaving. The normal response is to try to force your
horse to go the way you want to go. As the other horse gets further
and further away, the more your horse’s anxiety builds. The more
you force the horse away from his buddy, the more likely it will be
that the horse will rear. You may need to go with the other horse.
Ask your companion to not ride off. If your horse is extremely
upset, you may need to get off and walk him for a bit. You can let
your horse go toward the other horse and turn him slightly away,
relaxing the rein when he yields for even one step. Set up a time
to work with another rider on separating and coming together to
reduce the anxiety and buddy sour behavior.
Then there is
the horse that wants to race back to the barn or gigs all the way
back. The more you hold the horse back, the more anxiety and
tension you create. Or, the friend you are riding with decides to
canter off and you are not comfortable cantering. Again, the more
you hold the horse back, the more likely it is that the horse will
buck or rear. Let the horse go forward at a pace you are comfortable
with. This may be a trot or easy jog. And, ask your friend not to
take off like that again. Any time you ride with a companion you
should both practice courtesy and be aware of the problems that can
be caused when one rider abruptly starts to gallop.
Back to the
creek situation; your horse finally gives a huge leap and jumps over
it. He jumped but you wanted him to walk through the creek. Most
people will catch the horse in mid air, or not allow the horse to
jump, in other words, they’ll shut it down. This doesn’t work
because the horse doesn’t want to be at the creek in the first
place. The result will be that the will horse rear. So what do we
do? We let the horse jump the creek and go fifteen or twenty feet
forward and when the horse is a little quieter, we turn the horse
back and let him jump the creek again and go a little further. We
wait till the horse is quiet and go back and let the horse jump the
creek again. We keep repeating this, shortening the distance each
time. Pretty soon the horse is trotting across the creek or running
or even bolting but, it is better than jumping. Eventually, the
horse should cross at a quiet canter or a walk. A horse is not
comfortable about crossing a creek until it will walk across
calmly. This too may take many repetitions and require a lot of
patience on your part.
The natural
reaction of some horses to new or different situations, no matter
what, is to be light in the front end. You can give them all the
positive escape routes and their natural reaction is to go up. This
is a small percentage of horses. Every time the horse comes up to
something he doesn’t like, an object he is not secure about, he
rears. Then we have to create a way for the horse to change its
reaction. I can usually feel it coming and it is not a good
feeling. What I do is take the horse to the right or left, even
when the horse is up in the air. I get the horse to go forward a
few steps and then turn the horse back into the object it is
avoiding. This must be done with good outside rein and outside leg
control. It may be a slow process because going to the right or
left is an escape route but if we do not give this type of horse
that option, it will rear. I release the pressure by letting the
horse go right or left for two or three steps, and then once the
horse has relaxed a bit, I turn it back into the object. I have
found this to be a successful response to this type of behavior.
God Bless
Charles Wilhelm
It’s Never Ever the Horse’s Fault |
