To have felt so frightened- horse rider

[Applechaff]

I have a beautiful horse who 9 times out of 10 is fantastic. But unfortunately on the other 1 time he can be an absolute menace.

its not pain related, nor is it the saddle or ulcers. I think he’s previously been allowed to get away with this behaviour when he doesn’t want to do something and now he knows he can get away with it. It’s frustrating because he is such a lovely horse for the majority of the time and I know how good he can be when he wants to.

this is a horse who hacks past buses and vans without flinching, and who I’ve galloped in a field with lost stirrups, and who flies over jumps. But he can be so quirky and it’s tiring at times. He can buck, rear, hop- basically all the quirks when he doesn’t get his own way. He also has very little respect for me and drags me inhand, pulls me off my feet and barges me about. I don’t think he was ever taught proper manners before we got him so it’s not his fault at all but it’s obviously not ok either. He doesn’t do it with everyone, it’s just certain people whom he thinks he can push his luck with.

today he decided he didn’t want to go into the arena and instead wanted to go elsewhere. Cue an absolute tantrum- rearing, bucking, broncing. Trying everything to get me off.

im not a scared rider and I wasn’t phased by it, but tonight I suddenly feel a bit overwhelmed by it all. Usually his rears are only little hops, but today he went completely up on to his back legs and as embarrassing as it is to admit, I was actually quite frightened at one point. I suddenly thought he was at risk of toppling back over on to me.

im not a scared rider, I’ve had awful falls before and have had quirky horses but tonight it suddenly hit me that if he rears back onto me and lands on me, it could be catastrophic. He’s a very big horse and suddenly it all seems so scary and overwhelming.

once he realised he wasn’t getting his way, he behaved like an angel and rode beautifully!

i just don’t know why I’m suddenly so overwhelmed by it all. The big rear today was just so unexpected and I suddenly felt so scared of falling off. Usually I’m so unphased and am always the one to ride the quirky horses so I don’t know why I suddenly feel so frightened of falling off when it’s never bothered me before

i know it’s baby steps, and I am seeing an improvement in his manners and we’re working very hard to bring out the best in him, but sometimes it’s so tiring and frustrating.

im riding him again tomorrow and I’m just praying we don’t have anymore tantrums and absolutely no more big rears. The thought of it fills me with absolute fear which I know is ridiculous but I can’t get it out of my head

has anyone else had a similar experience?

[WildFlowerBees]

He obviously was over his threshold and the signs were missed. Horses don't react in such a way unless all their threshold signs have been missed/ignored and not been able to allow them to bring them back to zero.

Lots of groundwork and watching him for signs of when he's under his threshold but rising and sorting out those issues right away.

[Hopeandlove]

Like us sometimes they fear things with no rhyme or reason.

but on the face of it this is just a horse wanting to get to the feed buckets and playing hard ball.
I once had an amazing super well trained working Labrador that chewed through a wall (piece of plasterboard) to get into the Food store room and then promptly ate kilograms and kilograms of dried kibble. It took him about an hour tops - the back door was open - large garden available. No health problems had been fed that morning. It was like wtf? Once he had been to the vets and had surgery and recovered. He then got the arse with me as I moved all food totally away from him into a metal tub inside a locked cupboard in the utility. He properly got the hump with me including at one point turning to face the wall when I walked past 😂and pretending not to hear me. He got over it.

the problem is a horse Is much bigger - sure my Labrador could take me out if he wanted and I agree to some extent that he is throwing his weight around.
but when do you call it a day? When you have a broken back?

once The vet check is done. Animal behaviourist it to work with him and don’t be afraid to say actually this is not for me.
take no risks - never be alone or out of phone reach etc
trust has to be earnt on both sides

ps I once had a perfect horse who would not go in the arena and go past a dark shadow - she just wouldn’t do it - it came from a tree at a certain time of day and other horses there didn’t make any difference - she would buck or rear if forced to walk
past this one particular shadow so eventually this one tree had to go 🤷‍♀️She was fine with all the others

[Applechaff]

@Hopeandlove

Like us sometimes they fear things with no rhyme or reason.

but on the face of it this is just a horse wanting to get to the feed buckets and playing hard ball.
I once had an amazing super well trained working Labrador that chewed through a wall (piece of plasterboard) to get into the Food store room and then promptly ate kilograms and kilograms of dried kibble. It took him about an hour tops - the back door was open - large garden available. No health problems had been fed that morning. It was like wtf? Once he had been to the vets and had surgery and recovered. He then got the arse with me as I moved all food totally away from him into a metal tub inside a locked cupboard in the utility. He properly got the hump with me including at one point turning to face the wall when I walked past 😂and pretending not to hear me. He got over it.

the problem is a horse Is much bigger - sure my Labrador could take me out if he wanted and I agree to some extent that he is throwing his weight around.
but when do you call it a day? When you have a broken back?

once The vet check is done. Animal behaviourist it to work with him and don’t be afraid to say actually this is not for me.
take no risks - never be alone or out of phone reach etc
trust has to be earnt on both sides

ps I once had a perfect horse who would not go in the arena and go past a dark shadow - she just wouldn’t do it - it came from a tree at a certain time of day and other horses there didn’t make any difference - she would buck or rear if forced to walk
past this one particular shadow so eventually this one tree had to go 🤷‍♀️She was fine with all the others

Thank you so much (and to everyone else!)

I actually feel a lot better about things today. I don’t usually ride him in situations that might cause him to be overwhelmed or bubble over, but equally I’m not prepared to be dragged about by a big horse who’s never been taught manners, and sometimes he will have to do things he doesn’t want to do. For example, if he wants to do jumping- I’m not going to allow him to rear and throw me off until I take him to the junking arena. I can see improvements with him every single day and he’s getting better and is actually started to respect my space and boundaries now, and he’s learning that behaviour like rearing and bucking is unacceptable but he’s been allowed to use it against his rider to get his way so it will take some time for him to realise it’s not ok and that’s not his fault at the end of the day, he’s just never been taught otherwise.

I’m going to lunge him tonight to take some fizz out of him, then I’ll see what he’s like and make a decision about riding.

I think It’s easy to forget how dangerous a sport it is and usually I’m not easily frightened, but last night I felt so overwhelmed with it all and was scared at the thought of him rearing again or him hurting me.

i feel a lot less frightened and overwhelmed than I did last might thankfully.

i’ll update tonight once im home x

[blackcatnight]

What kind of work do you do with him in the arena? Are we talking dressage or some jumping? And how long have you been doing this routine/did you try something new recently?

As for the rearing, that is really dangerous. Can you use a standing martingale to prevent him from getting his head back past the point of control and into a full vertical rear? It won’t make a difference to him when properly on all four hooves and can be loose enough to only become noticeable if he tosses his head back/rears fully.

Lunge work is great, and also a full tack check. This could be random, but I once had a horse who changed into a complete angel when we started using a woolly girth cover, even though that saddle/girth was fine with my other horse.

[Stickytreacle]

Lunging is good for getting rid of excess energy, but it won't work his brain much and if its just a case of going round in circles it can be incredibly boring. Also puts added strain on joints and if he is stiff or unbalanced can lead to soreness, 20 minutes lunging is like an hour and a half worth of normal work. I'd lunge for a short period, but include lots of transitions to keep him listening.

[QuestionableMouse]

Do you have access to two schools? One for jumping and one for flatwork? If you can, I'd do flatwork in the jumping one without jumping a single thing and (if allowed) set up a few little jumps in the flatwork school occasionally so he doesn't always associate that space = that activity.

I'd also be careful lunging too much as it can end up just making them fitter and more loopy! Walk pole work was always my go-to because it forces them to switch their brains on and can really help them settle.

I just wanted to add re my earlier post - I'm not saying you should beat him or yank his face off with a chain. It just gives you another tool to say "oi, I'm here and you will listen to me!" Getting dragged about it an awful feeling and it can be so dangerous.

And any chance of a pic of the laddo? 😁

[oakleaffy]

@FurAndFeathers

How do you know he’s not in pain?

are there any particular triggers for the rearing/bucking?

it sounds like he’s telling you very clearly that he really didn’t want to go into the indoor school. Why not?
does he dislike the work done there? Is it painful, is he bored?

I know it’s unfashionable but animal behaviour is as a result of learning or emotion. It’s very likely he’s trying to tell you he’s unhappy about something and unfortunately in horses we have a tendency to write this behaviour off as naughty/difficult

I absolutely agree- He may really dislike Arena work- It is likely boring for him, and napping/ rearing like that is an emphatic “ No”.

It is easy for humans to dismiss pain in animals as they hide it so well, Maybe he is asked to do small circles or whatever that he isn’t yet flexible enough for, numerous things.

Most horses like hacking, it’s more interesting for them , but Sometimes bargy behaviour on the ground is just because a horse has been allowed to “ Get away” with stuff, and much like dogs and children, they know the people who are nervous or uncertain-
I have in the past lost my nerve after a hard fall as a child and it was horrid- Takes a while to get it back. Dad didn’t help by fretting, though.
Difficult to know what to suggest without seeing him in action.