| What causes horses rearing? Like everything else | | | | confidence and get any horse to follow you. Horses |
| involving horses and their interactions with people, the | | | | that see you as their leader are going to be less |
| answer usually boils down to one of two causes. | | | | fearful, so less likely to turn to rearing when something |
| Horses of course will engage in a threatening display | | | | startling happens. A horse that respects you isn't going |
| like rearing if they are feeling well, threatened. So the | | | | to use rearing, or anything else, in an effort to intimidate |
| first cause to look for is fear. A second cause of | | | | you. |
| horses rearing is defiance. A horse may rear to | | | | That sounds simple enough, but how do you establish |
| intimidate you, or while balking about accomplishing | | | | leadership? |
| some task you want him to do. In this case, the root | | | | The first step in a leadership program is a good round |
| cause of horses rearing is disrespect. | | | | pen training program. This means taking your horse in |
| It turns out that fear and disrespect are two sides of | | | | the round pen at liberty (no lead rope) and going |
| the same coin when it comes to the horse-human | | | | through the exercise to have him hook on to you. This |
| relationship. The reason is simple. A horse isn't going to | | | | exercise really taps into the mind and emotions of the |
| have fear about a situation or task provided that he's | | | | horse and like nothing else, helps a horse see you as |
| got a strong leader he can look to. Are you that strong | | | | the herd leader. You should always go back to round |
| leader, inspiring unwavering confidence in your horse? | | | | pen training first when encountering some major |
| Or do you lack confidence, as exhibited in your actions | | | | behavior problem. |
| or body language? | | | | The second task at hand is to simply get your horse |
| At the same time, a horse isn't going to respect a | | | | listening and paying attention to you. This can be done |
| handler that hasn't shown leadership. Once again it boils | | | | on several levels-basic groundwork for example. |
| down to confidence. Are you confident handling | | | | Spend more time simply moving your horse |
| horses? Can the defiant horse sense weakness or | | | | around-moving the hindquarter, the forehand, backing |
| wavering in your body language? | | | | up. Do some leading exercises. |
| So we see that when it comes right down to it, the | | | | One of the most important exercises for a horse with |
| fearful horse or the disrespectful horse that rears is | | | | behavior problems in my view is lunging. Done |
| really doing so for the same fundamental reason: they | | | | correctly, which means continually asking the horse to |
| don't really have an alpha member of the herd. As the | | | | pay attention by randomly asking for walk, trot, canter, |
| handler of the horse, it's up to you to become the | | | | slow down, speed up, stop, turn-is a great exercise for |
| alpha and demonstrate calm and confident leadership | | | | getting your horse listening for your commands. That |
| at all times. Once it's established, leadership will cause a | | | | helps cement the position of leadership you lay down |
| horse to respect and trust you. So all at the same | | | | as a foundation with round pen training. |
| time, by being a leader for your horse, you can win | | | | When faced with horses rearing, like anything else, all it |
| over horses with all kinds of different dispositions. | | | | takes to solve the problem is getting back to basics. |
| There is no need to study whether a horse is "left | | | | Punishment in the moment might give a short term fix, |
| brained" or "right brained", "introverted" or "extroverted", | | | | but it's not a long term solution. Go back to a solid |
| "fearful" or "dominant". Horses are naturally wired to | | | | training program of round pen training, leading, |
| follow a leader plain and simple, and by giving the right | | | | groundwork yields, and lunging to fix that attitude. |
| cues you can easily establish leadership and inspire | | | | |