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The tack room

Discuss horse riding and ownership on our Horse forum.

My horse reared with me today....

8 replies

MyLifeNow20 · 02/05/2022 21:21

Hi. I am a nervous rider but had got so much more confident recently. Happy to hack and ride in menage.
Today we took 5 horses out for a fun ride in the trailers. She was excited when we got there and I got on fine and did the first mile fine.
To add... I stupidly forgot her bridle (only been out a couple of times and was on overload)
Luckily friend had a spare but it was a different bit and no nose net. She started playing up doing a silly trot, tried to get her forward but was also pulling the reins and then dont remember what happened until i was half on saddle half on her neck. I didnt fall off and carried on trying to ride her for another mile while fighting back tears.
Finally another girl asked if I wanted to ride a different horse and I swapped over and my friend rode mine. We rode for 12 miles.
I feel very disappointed in myself that I can be nervous. She is a rescue and I could quite easily send her back but I love her! Ive had her nearly 2 years now and she is my world.

Only yesterday we were having an amazing ride in the menage!
Sorry just needed to clear my brain!

OP posts:
whataloadabullocks · 02/05/2022 21:43

How did she get on with the other rider? Not having a nose band shouldn't make much of a difference, but was the bit different? Do you normally ride her in a snaffle? Was she in a 'harder' bit today like a pelham? Does she wear a martingale?
Had she been out with the other horses before?

whataloadabullocks · 02/05/2022 21:50

Sorry just reread and looks like the other horses are part of her herd.
I'd suggest doing some more schooling to build your confidence back up. Was she tossing her head before she reared? I'm wondering if you normal ride her with a nose net she might have been getting irritated by midge or similar.
Is this the first time she has reared or does she do it when excited? What is her background? Is she an ex-racer? What are you feeding her? Might be worth looking at her feed and forgoing the heated foods for more bulk feed.

Llamasally · 02/05/2022 21:54

What bit does she usually wear and what was the borrowed one?

JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon · 02/05/2022 22:06

Go easy on yourself, pleasure rides are exciting and lots of horses behave badly that are angelic normally. A different bit/noseband/nosenet added to you being stressed, a new environment and other horses doing exciting things will easily tip a normally sane horse over the edge.

What did the others say about what happened? Was she just bunny hopping or was it a real upright rear? Did she misbehave with the other rider?

Don't panic, this is not necessarily a big issue. You may find she will be fine going forward, you may find she can't cope with big groups but is fine with everything else. Take care, ride with a skull cap and body protector, and get some good lessons.

backinthebox · 03/05/2022 08:23

So many different things in your OP. I don’t understand the part where you say you were trying to get her to go forward but also pulling on the reins. It would also be useful to know what bit you normally ride her in and what bit the borrowed bridle had on it.

Neither you nor the horse (from your post) seem to have a great deal of experience in going out anywhere, and horses can get quite excited by outings. I took my horse out for the first time this year yesterday, and he was a total dick for about the first 10 minutes and then completely ran out of steam when I wanted him to have the energy to go forwards. I know him well though, and he did not trigger me to be nervous, and so my bottom didn’t pass the message on to him that I was reacting to him in any way.

If I had to hazard a guess, I would say it is possible your horse was rather more forwards than you are used to simply because the outing was exciting, and with all the extra energy she had, between a bit she was not used to and you pulling on the reins there was simply nowhere for her to go but up. Some horses are habitual rearers, and they are the ones I would not tolerate for a second. But when a horse rears and it is not normal behaviour for it, there are a lot of things that could cause it, and quite often the combination of rider and horse is a cause (I am not blaming you here, and not blaming the horse, just saying that a lot of different factors can combine to cause an issue.)

I would also say that if you are a nervous rider this will be affecting your horse more than you perhaps understand. I would always recommend a few lessons with an equestrian confidence coach for any nervous riders - so many people are happy to pay for a dressage lesson or a jumping lesson but neglect the psychology side of things. Lots of people get nervous, but what makes the difference is knowing you are feeling this and then doing something about it - even Pippa Funnell had confidence coaching for XC and attributes her success to this.

Lastqueenofscotland2 · 03/05/2022 10:34

A but of tough love from my corner here
Fun rides can really over stimulate a lot of horses, open spaces, lots of others, new place, jumps etc etc
Add to this a bridle that’s not hers, Uncomfortable head peice, uncomfortable bit are all something to consider.

Then for me the biggest issue, asking her to go forward while also pulling on her mouth, her going up is probably her way of saying “I don’t have a clue what you want me to do” and getting frustrated.
Id shelve the fun rides/trips out and work on the basics at home (including hacking in groups) for a while.

maxelly · 05/05/2022 10:07

Yeah fun rides are quite the flash point for a lot of horses to be a lot more lively than usual, combination of being away from home, unfamiliar sights and smells, opportunities for gallops and jumps in a big group, lots of other horses around and sometimes overtaking them or disappearing out of sight - quite a challenge for any green horse or nervous rider!

With the benefit of hindsight it does sound like it was maybe a bit too much too soon for you as a combination especially with the issue with her bridle - but on the plus side you sat the rear and didn't fall off (sounds as though maybe it was more towards the over-excited hop end of the spectrum than a panicked, unbalanced rear which are the really dangerous ones?), both you and she completed the ride albeit not together so she's had a positive experience overall and won't have ingrained it as a habit from one occasion - although some people would say 'once a rearer always a rearer' etc it doesn't sound as though you need to give up on her yet? I get that feeling of disappointment in yourself when things don't go to plan but from my experience of being an inexperienced numpty bringing on an ill-advised rescue horse, you do need to be prepared to make mistakes, have failures and learn from them as it's always a bit of a two steps forward one step back scenario IMO. So you can take some useful learning points from this e.g. perhaps you need to build up a bit more gradually to events like this one - start with quieter hacks from home with just one or two quiet companions and next time you feel ready to go 'out out', you could ask your friend to swap horses again from the start if she doesn't mind or swap halfway round the ride so your mare gets settled and the fizz out of her with more experienced confident friend on board and your nerves settle on a quieter horse too? Obviously the point about forgetting your bridle is another good learning one, to make lists of everything you need and triple check before leaving the yard (been there done that, you name the crucial item of equipment and I've forgotten to bring it!).

The thing about pulling and kicking at the same time sounds familiar too, when you're nervous and they're a bit spicy it's a natural inclination to want to hold onto their head but it's a really bad habit to get into particularly whilst using your legs as it's very confusing and frustrating for the horse - this is something I'd work on with your instructor if you can, get her to come out for a hack with you on foot or a bike if you are more nervous hacking than in the school, you need to re-programme yourself to use a half halt to get her to listen rather than just pulling and pulling, the release/'give' is as important as the 'take' - when really feeling the urge to 'hold' I put on a neckstrap and hold onto that instead, if you really feel you are being tanked off with you need to use the 'one rein' technique to emergency stop, get your instructor to demo this, hopefully if you stick to calm situations you'll never need to use it. I've also had to learn to use hacking as a schooling session with one of mine, how I would love to be able to potter along on the buckle end chatting to my friend or looking at the scenery but alas no, she needs to be worked hard for at least the first 30 mins or sometimes the whole way or she'll mess around, spook herself and then escalate into genuine fear without intervention, so that means loads and loads of transitions within the pace and up and down the paces, neck flexions, give and retake the reins, lateral work where safe to do so, lots of circles and changes of direction in any open space - she works as hard on a hack as she would in the school and this does have the side benefit of if I'm feeling a bit stressed out I don't really have time to think about it as need to concentrate on her!

MyLifeNow20 · 05/05/2022 16:09

Hi thanks for your messages everyone.

She was missing her nose net not noseband. I was trying to get her going forward but when she went up I pulled the reins back which didnt help.

When my friend got on she did keep head tossing which is quite normal for her anyway. That was only the third time I had taken her out before so yeah she was excited.

I have lessons on her and hack 2-3 times a week with 3/4 other horses and my confidence has been so much better recently.

I hacked her out yesterday and she was absolutely fine in her own bridle and nose net, we had several canters too.

I think it was a combination of being excited and not having her bridle on.

OP posts:
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