Ignoring the bad...

I agree and second everything fburton has said. I also don't believe that it is dominance as this would generally/usually show when you are asking something of her, not just in a random outburst when walking along calmly next to her. She would also show her dominance in other ways and you haven't mentioned previously that she is dominant in any other aspects. It sounds like you're very in tune with her and care very much - it's lovely to see someone actually giving it thought rather than the 'give her a whack' approach!
 
thegreenergrass said:
I agree and second everything fburton has said. I also don't believe that it is dominance as this would generally/usually show when you are asking something of her, not just in a random outburst when walking along calmly next to her. She would also show her dominance in other ways and you haven't mentioned previously that she is dominant in any other aspects. It sounds like you're very in tune with her and care very much - it's lovely to see someone actually giving it thought rather than the 'give her a whack' approach!
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Thank you. Well a whack was never on the agenda. However, I was thinking that I might have to change my approach in the light of her rearing behaviour, just because it is potentially dangerous. I guess my other problem has been in bitting her. Every bit I tried was met with violent head shaking and a total focus on the bit to the detriment of absolutely anything else. Finally I have found one that she is totally fine with and have been doing groundwork in that with her. As the bitting is such a delicate issue with her I had wanted to avoid catching her mouth when she went up. Now that she's more settled in the bit, I could perhaps exert a bit of precisely timed pressure as she does it without undoing all the good work. But I will need to be very careful.
 
Just a quick update. She has behaved impaccably since I posted this thread. Maybe the ignore the bad finally worked. Maybe she's just feeling calmer. My instinct is that she's do it again though so I will be ready to check her as she goes up. It was windy this morning and she did jump forward at one point as I led her out. She was in her soft fleecy head collar (I'd been using the rope one but as she'd been so good had gone back to the soft fleecy one). I checked her in it and she immediately came back to me rather than ramping up the energy, so perhaps she's growing up now and can take a little reprimand.
 
Wagtail said:
Just a quick update. She has behaved impaccably since I posted this thread. Maybe the ignore the bad finally worked. Maybe she's just feeling calmer. My instinct is that she's do it again though so I will be ready to check her as she goes up. It was windy this morning and she did jump forward at one point as I led her out. She was in her soft fleecy head collar (I'd been using the rope one but as she'd been so good had gone back to the soft fleecy one). I checked her in it and she immediately came back to me rather than ramping up the energy, so perhaps she's growing up now and can take a little reprimand.
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Better IMO to be aware of her body language and move her feet *before* she goes up. She may be feeling calmer if you have reduced her feed, as you mentioned in a previous post.
 
Wagtail said:
Mares, eh? Is yours quite bossy? Mine is boss of all the other horses even though she is the youngest and smallest, lol. My last mare was far less bossy with other horses and even seemed more calm and reassured when told off.
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Why does this describe my mare perfectly aha XD
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Better IMO to be aware of her body language and move her feet *before* she goes up. She may be feeling calmer if you have reduced her feed, as you mentioned in a previous post.
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I hadn't reduced her feed, no. It was something I would consider doing although when I looked at the energy value in what she was getting it was hardly more than a handful of hay. It is straw chaff mainly with a few vitamins and minerals and only one scoop a day split between two feeds. I think her extra energy is due to the grass and being in season.
 
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