Help my mare has started rearing dangerously

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charlotte79

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I have had my 6 yr old mare 6 months now, i have brought her on myself and she has been doing brilliantly, we have competed at a few local shows and everything has been as it should. she has always been of a slightly nervous nature and when unsure she used to walk/run backwards not badly though and seemed to have grown through it. She has always hacked out on her own, been good with traffic etc. 2 weeks ago we moved yards with less horses and better grass. I took her xc schooling for the first time and she got rather excited (not scared) and put in a few mini rears which i thought was just down to nervous energy. since then she has been hacking in company rather alot and the other day whilst in company we passed a open air market which i think she thought was a show and she got very wound up, to the point that we had to let some traffic past and she did a vertical rear. she didnt calm down all the way back to the yard. the next day i took her out on her own on the same road the market had been on and she saw some cows running to be fed, i asked her to walk on and she just flipped out, rearing going sideways and trying to tank off with me, i met a friend on the way back who was out hacking and she calmed instantly. today i took her the other way and although she felt very fresh she was paying attention to me, until i had to pass the problem road, we had to pull in to let a car pass and she just went mad again this time throwing herself up and sideways so dangerously i was very concerned. she could well be in season but she has never acted like this and i'm a confident rider but she is a big mare and nearly unseated me. the only difference with that road is there is a couple campsites so she can see lots of tents in fields, i am very concerned by this behaviour as it is so unlike her, teeth,back tack all fine she has just turned from a lovely mare into a strong, uncooperative, danger! Any views will be appreciated!:confused:
 
Could just be that she needs time to settle on the new yard, or like you said a season? my mare gets stroppy and v silly when shes in season.
I would probably just hack out in company for now until she settles.
 
This could become very dangerous, so you have to look after yourself !!! I had a rearer, and it was a nightmare - but we did get it sorted !

First i would ask the vet to check her over, could she have injured herself on the journey or hooning around ? Maybe the saddle too.

Next, i would start her on a calmer for mares - is there a new fancy man around out of interest? in any case, a calmer will help her settle.

Next, i would give her a rest for a week at least . The very last thing you want to do is force the issue as it becomes a battle. She may well need time to settle.

In the meantime, arrange for an instructor to come out and help you - maybe ride out together, then the instructor walk beside you, until you find out what's going wrong (if it still does). and stay of the roads if you can. Patience in my case was the key, a lot of it, as was the support of others.

Please don't try and deal with this on your own, your safety is the ONLY thing that matters here. I'm sure there will be lots more help to follow, and wishing you good luck. sm xx
 
When you say the grass is better, do you mean she is on lush green grazing?? It could be a 'spring grass' effect, certainly with the spurt after the rain.....
 
She may just need to settle, and get her checked to rule out any pain and have a look at what your feeding her. Could you walk her on foot to have a good look at the tents? It will still be all new to her (the surroundings) so mabe go out in company for a couple of weeks till she's more settled.

If all else fails, heres an idea i got from a monty demo,
Put some blinkers on like the ones you see in racing, they cover the top of the eye, and a horse won't go in a direction it can't see, for she knows she'll hit her head.
 
It may be the grass. My 5 year old has turned into a bit of a monster at my new yard and I've been there 3 months now. It's got MUCH better grass than the last yard and he's on it 24/7. Honestly he's like a different horse! I'm wondering where my sweet dope on a rope has gone!
 
My mare used to become a mental freak when she had more than a smattering of grazing. The sugar in the grass just shot to her head and the only way I can describe it is that she would 'lose you' - total disregard for rider or handler either under saddle or in hand. Walking on her back legs up to the field was her specialty, but I've had bucking bronco rodeo shows, spinning, running back, bolting, you name it.
When she was on less grass she was actually quite sweet natured. I once discussed it with my farrier and he said a lot of TB x types can't handle the sugars or the extra calories and it sends them a bit loopy.
I agree with the others that you need to have someone helping you to minimise the chances of getting hurt, but I might start my investigations with her diet and see if you can effect any major behavioural changes with a change to that.

Good luck - I am sure your placid girlie is in there waiting to come back out again!!
 
It sounds like she is unsettled and being young is going through the phase of trying out a few things to see if she can get away from whatever it is that's scaring her to be honest. I would try hacking out with others and focus on remaining calm. Because she reacted in a certain way once it may well be you (without knowing it) tensed up the next time you went along there and she picked up on it and reacted again.

It sounds like she's more worried than being intentionally evasive so initially I would try riding through it and just remain calm and positive with her to try and reassure her that you are comfortable with that place so she should be too. If necessary take her out in hand or long rein her past that particular place so at least if she does go up, you are not on board.

I think many horse at this age sometimes get the odd rear in, it's usually by accident to start with but if they find it helps them get away from a situation then they persist and it becomes a problem.

If she has established then rearing then you could also try riding her out in draw reins just to reiterate that rearing is not acceptable behaviour. I know some people do not like draw reins but often they can work in these circumstances as it's a matter of getting the horse out of the habit of what it is doing.

If all else fails seek professional help. It is difficult for people to advise without seeing the horse in question and what it is doing.
 
thanks for all the advice people, she is on very good grass now at her old yard grazing was sparse, i do not feed her anything else at the moment and she is out 24/7, there is a little welsh pony that has been hassling her a bit but she doesn't mind leaving the field and is very easy to do in the yard. like i said its just she has a bee in her bonnet about this stretch of road now. she is also super fit, probably too fit i imagine and with all the grass she has just lost her marbles or is taking the micky but she is very genuine and i think maybe she has scared herself. i'm going to try to give her a few days off then hack up the road in company and see what happens. i hate it that she was going so well and now is worse than i could have imagined
 
Half-Halt said:
Wonder if it's worth leading her down the problem road in hand and seeing if she reacts the same way?
Click to expand...

Was just about to suggest this (great minds, lol)!!
Or get a friend to walk on foot with you - then they can hang back to give her the illusion she's on her own, but you will have the confidence of knowing they are there. And they can step in with a reassuring word or hand if it starts going a bit pear-shaped...
 
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