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The Critical Riding Errors Atop A Rearing Horse by Jeffrey Rolo

Every year horse owners experience serious injuries or even tragic deaths while riding their cherished equine companions. One of the more significant causes of rider injury is a rider being tossed from a rearing horse… or worse, caught underneath a horse that reared so fiercely that it flipped over on top of the rider. While sometimes injury is extremely difficult to avoid due to the spontaneous and powerful nature of many rears, all too often the problem is actually made worse by inexperienced riders panicking and inadvertently increasing the chance of injury.

When an inexperienced rider is rudely jolted by a rearing horse he often panics and tightens his body. This is a natural reaction… when we perceive an impending and unavoidable blow, our body unconsciously stiffens and braces for the impact. When atop a rearing horse, a surprised rider will often recoil a bit and stiffen towards the hindquarters of the horse, which is a critical error because the rider drastically throws off what little balance he has, almost assuring that he will be tossed.

The second critical error inexperienced riders make is using the reins as a form of security. They feel their body being thrown backwards so they grip the reins for dear life and try to use them to "pull" themselves forward and back into the saddle. Again… this is a natural knee-jerk reaction, but it's also a critical error.

When you yank the reins of a rearing horse you drastically increase the likelihood of the horse losing control entirely and flipping over or falling down… with a good chance of you being caught underneath. Keep in mind that when a horse rears, he is already off balance. When you yank the reins backwards sharply, you'll only make it that much more difficult for the horse to resume his balance. In addition you'll very likely harm his mouth and cause him immense pain, and the shock of the pain could very well make the horse "freak out" even more!

So we now know that the two natural reactions people often make while on a rearing horse will only serve to increase the chances of injury for both the horse and rider. If we are supposed to ignore natural bodily reflexes what should we do instead?

First, when you sense your horse's front hooves leaving the ground make sure that you lean forwards, not backwards. This will increase both your balance as well as your horse's, thereby lessening the chance of the horse actually falling over. You don't want a horse that weighs around 1000 pounds landing on you.

Second, thrust your hands forward so that there is absolutely no direct rein pressure against the horse's mouth. Do not pull back on the reins no matter how much your instincts shout to do so – I guarantee you'll gain no security or balance from doing so. Let him have his mouth and only apply direct rein pressure after he has all four hooves back on the ground.

Finally, if you feel like you are losing control then it's generally better to take the cautious way out and dismount rather than try and ride the rearing out. Consider wrapping your arms around the horse's neck as you lean forward, then slide off his side as he rears. The moment you hit the ground you want to back up so that the horse doesn't step on your feet when his front hooves land again. It's best if you can keep hold of the reins as you perform this maneuver, but if you have to let them go entirely and get out of "Dodge" then do so. Your bodily safety is the most important consideration.

Hopefully you will never be surprised by a rearing horse, but it doesn't hurt to practice quick dismounts in your spare time such that if you are ever faced with the situation you'll better know how to handle it. In addition depending on your breed of horse you might consider jumping him a bit. While a jump has nowhere near the potency of a strong rear, it can teach your body how to respond when a horse's front hooves leave the ground.

Copyright © Jeffrey Rolo, 2007. All Rights Reserved.

The above article covers two critical riding errors atop a rearing horse, but if you would like to learn more tips about controlling rearing horses be sure to check out our series How To Stop A Horse From Rearing over at the AlphaHorse community.

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How to handle a horse that Spooks. by Rob Howarth

Spooking:
How to handle a horse that Spooks.

Normally when a horse spooks, it is a reaction to external forces that appear to the horse in a split second. This takes both the horse and the rider by surprise!
However a certain amount of this "spooking" behavior is normal for a horse. Over the years nature has produced a prey animal (the Horse) that has managed to survive by, being cautious.
This is part of the prey animal's survival instinct. Horses that were not cautious could be caught and eaten, by predators. Because of the prey animals inbuilt survival instinct, there are certain times when "spooking" is an appropriate behavior, e.g. a quick or sudden movement or maybe something that looks like a predator or, is a predator, such as a dog! Every horse knows that even a small dog can eat him (can by can) ;-)
There are instances when a horse is spooking at something that he has seen lots of times before or something that is a long way off and apparently no reason for him to spook!
There are horses that seem to spook at everything, all of the time. These usually have other problems, such as with their sight or they have developed a habit or phobia.
Most horses at some point will spook but in a lot of cases all the horse needs to be given is confidence. As we all should know - horses are 'panic-aholics' and need reassurance from their leader, which my friend is 'YOU'.

There are a few instances that I will share with you regarding this issue.
I will start with a horse I was once acquainted with, a Thoroughbred called Mr. Lloyd, when we first rode out, he would spook almost on every ride.
I can remember it clearly. We'd be riding along and all of a sudden Mr. Lloyd's head would go up and he would move sideways like lightning or spin 180o and take off throwing in the odd buck or two.
Sometimes I would be all over the saddle and his neck like a cheap suit, barely staying on! Mr. Lloyd would reel and buck but I still couldn't stop him. He'd be running towards home flat out, really going for it.
What was needed was to go back to basics with this horse and start over on the ground with him.
I would approach him with plastic bags, bits of streamer, balloons, cardboard boxes, in short, anything that would shake rattle or roll!
Once he got to understanding that the objects were not going to eat him alive and started to be curious, he wanted to play with them. I would then decrease the proximity of the object and increase the intensity of the play, slowly. If he got too agitated I would back off until his fear subsided, then approach again slowly until we got to the point of throwing the items over his back with him standing relaxed and at ease. This takes longer with some horses than with others.
Using the same technique whilst on his back and in the safety of the arena, we went through the same things, approaching and riding around the bags, streamers and boxes. Slowly at first then increasing the pace as Mr. Lloyd became more confident.
The next few times that we rode out, we took it slowly and approached the various places that Mr. Lloyd had spooked.
I would turn him to face whatever it would be, such as a grating, or black bin liner and then turn him again and again (slowly) one way then the other until he became settled and then just chilled out facing the object of his initial fear.
At a couple of particular places he would start acting up and I needed to dismount and calm him down before remounting and going through the procedure again.
Mr. Lloyd improved the more we rode out, until he had been put to grass for a long period in the summer and started to spook all over again. However it took a lot less to straighten him out this time.
I owned a lightweight hunter gelding a few years ago. After a spell 'off work' convalescing, following a bout of horse flu we started hacking out to build up his strength, he would spook for what seemed like no reason at all. He would move sideways like lightening and leave me with watering eyes. If your horse spooks then you know where I'm coming from?!
As it turns out, this was not a big problem to resolve. I spent some time with him just walking him on a lead rope, slowly approaching the places that he had spooked at getting closer and closer every time we neared the problem area, letting him graze while I just chilled out beside him. Now when I say that I 'slowly approached' these places, I approached with a relaxed attitude which transmits to the horse. I had to be patient as it took more than one session to get rid of the Demons that were troubling him.
If you are nervous then you will transmit this to your horse! So, always approach problem places as though it is just any other walk out, be calm relaxed and watching your horse to see the reaction or, when you have got it right, your horse will just walk on by as you are doing. When you are past the target area stop and let your horse graze a while before taking your horse back the other way past the target area and let your horse graze again. Repeating this process until you can do the same thing on your horses back.
After the walking we rode past the same places slowly and while I relaxed the horse would chew on the grass. This method of slowly approaching and retreating the target areas proves to be the best method of de-sensitising your horse to the problems perceived and to rid your horse of the demons that trouble him.
So by using time, patience and a bit of savvy a spooking horse can be given the confidence to overcome the fear of the demons that put him into a right-brain mode that makes him panic and want to go directly into flight.
When your horse is listening to YOU as his leader, then he will be more inclined to be in a left- brain mode and be thinking, rather than reacting to a situation.
You may have to go 'back to basics' as did I, to give your horse the confidence that your horse needs in you, or you may be able to get away with a lesser intensity of approach. This will depend on the relationship you develop with your horse and the fear factor that is causing the right side of your horse's brain to kick in!
If your own confidence level is not at its best then an alternative is to seek further help.

Best Wishes.
Bob Howarth
All rights reserved©

As a horse trainer, Bob Howarth, author of 'How to Horse Ride' and website http://www.horserealm.com has helped hundreds of horse owners overcome their horse training issues. How to horse ride

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