New horse reared :/

[honetpot]

I kind of feel like I need the lessons tbh. There's nothing very exciting happening in them. Lots of bending and walk trot canter....I sort of feel like I need them for me if that makes sense?

Its the every basic things that are hard, learning that basic language, not the fancy stuff.
About the only time I treat is when I ask a horse to stand still, you watch a horse in a field and when they are worried they move away. Standing still is hard. You are asking him to stand still while something is fiddling on his back, he is worried, and you are 'holding him' so the only way out is up or around, to avoid the pressure, he has no reassurance from another horse this is OK.
Right from when I start they get rewarded with a pat, or sometimes a treat for waiting, so it's absolutely clear what is needed.
A good horse is just a horse that has not been stressed to a point that it needs to get away, the rider needs to understand when the stress level is increasing and reduce the stress or avoid it.

 

[oldie48]

This forum is such a good place to get help and advice and it's great that there's not been an over reaction to a young horse that puts in a rear. All the 5/6 year olds that we have had, have shown some "undesirable" behaviour in the first few weeks/months, a couple reared, one was horribly nappy but they all came good in the end. It's the reason why I have never bought young horses for myself! I can't add to the good advice you've already had, just want to wish you luck (and patience) your horse sounds lovely.

 

[paddy555]

Its the every basic things that are hard, learning that basic language, not the fancy stuff.
About the only time I treat is when I ask a horse to stand still, you watch a horse in a field and when they are worried they move away. Standing still is hard. You are asking him to stand still while something is fiddling on his back, he is worried, and you are 'holding him' so the only way out is up or around, to avoid the pressure, he has no reassurance from another horse this is OK.
Right from when I start they get rewarded with a pat, or sometimes a treat for waiting, so it's absolutely clear what is needed.
A good horse is just a horse that has not been stressed to a point that it needs to get away, the rider needs to understand when the stress level is increasing and reduce the stress or avoid it.

this. stand still, head down and engage brain. The reward to the horse is that he is calm, not stressed but relaxed. If the horse was worried about say the key pad (or some other area) I would do this in hand at that point. Key pad area, calm, not stressful, boring. The next areas he is stressed in he takes this on board, gets confidence and soon it is all boring. Confidence levels increase and you can slowly increase the stress and the confidence gets even higher.

 

[Upthecreek]

this. stand still, head down and engage brain. The reward to the horse is that he is calm, not stressed but relaxed. If the horse was worried about say the key pad (or some other area) I would do this in hand at that point. Key pad area, calm, not stressful, boring. The next areas he is stressed in he takes this on board, gets confidence and soon it is all boring. Confidence levels increase and you can slowly increase the stress and the confidence gets even higher.

Both excellent posts and exactly how I would deal with the situation. Remove the stress and make it boring and very easy for the horse to do the right thing. Repeat often.

ETA I was referring to Honetpot’s post as well.

 

[[59668]]

Thank you all! Hopefully no lasting damage is done and I can read the signs a bit better in future.

 

[Birker2020]

Thank you all! Hopefully no lasting damage is done and I can read the signs a bit better in future.

Did the saddle come with him, or is it your saddle that you are waiting for the saddle fitter to confirm whether it fits or not?

My new horse didn't come with a saddle but I waited 6 days until the saddle fitter could find a saddle that fitted him (which belonged to my friend) and then she went out of her way to get the perfect fit altering the gullet plate and putting a new one in and using my existing prolite pad.

After a couple of days the horse did a weird spin twice on the way home from a hack, me and my companion who I rode out with were bemused as he knew he was in the direction of home (we'd literally double backed on ourselves) and he spun so he faced away from the direction towards home which we thought odd. We put it down to him being fresh.

Then he cavorted around planting, spinning and rearing outside the gate when i tried to take him down the lane on my own the following day as I had no one to ride out with - I think that aggravated his already sore back. On the Monday over the field spun a further twice, on the Wednesday he was fine (in the school) on the Friday over the field again he spun more violently, on the Sunday when the physio said she didn't think the saddle fitted but wanted to see me on him, we'd gone four steps and he went ballistic, tried to throw me off, I jumped off and that was 2 1/2 months ago, not sat on him since.

Turned out it was the saddle all along. I never realised as the Master Saddle Fitter had fitted it 10 days before, I just thought he was being naughty with me.

 

[Leandy]

Agree with the others. All horses have default behaviour when they feel under pressure. Some will tend to go up but that doesn't make them dangerous confirmed rearers. You just need to work out how to manage the behaviour so they grow in confidence and it doesn't become an issue. He sounds as though he's just saying "whoa hang on, can we go a bit slower pls, you're making me anxious". As others have said, break it down and get him comfortable with each step before moving on to the next. You've only had him a few days, he's bound to be anxious. Let him settle.

 

[[59668]]

Did the saddle come with him, or is it your saddle that you are waiting for the saddle fitter to confirm whether it fits or not?

My new horse didn't come with a saddle but I waited 6 days until the saddle fitter could find a saddle that fitted him (which belonged to my friend) and then she went out of her way to get the perfect fit altering the gullet plate and putting a new one in and using my existing prolite pad.

After a couple of days the horse did a weird spin twice on the way home from a hack, me and my companion who I rode out with were bemused as he knew he was in the direction of home (we'd literally double backed on ourselves) and he spun in the direction towards home which we thought odd. We put it down to him being fresh.

Then he cavorted around planting, spinning and rearing outside the gate when i tried to take him down the lane on my own the following day as I had no one to ride out with - I think that aggravated his already sore back. On the Monday over the field spun a further twice, on the Friday spun more violently, on the Sunday when the physio said she didn't think the saddle fitted but wanted to see me on him, we'd gone four steps and he went ballistic, I got off and that was 2 1/2 months ago, not sat on him since.

Turned out it was the saddle all along. I never realised as the Master Saddle Fitter had fitted it 10 days before, I just thought he was being naughty with me.

Eek! It is so hard when of course you trust your saddler.
It's my saddle that I've been using that I'm getting looked at by saddler tomorrow.

 

[Birker2020]

If the saddle doesn't fit and the riders weight shifted in order to operate the key pad on the gate this may well have caused the horse to rear if the saddle isn't a good fit and it hurts him. THis is why I'm trying to find out if the saddle came with the horse or not.

 

[Birker2020]

Eek! It is so hard when of course you trust your saddler.
It's my saddle that I've been using that I'm getting looked at by saddler tomorrow.

To be fair to the saddler she watched me ride the day she fitted it and Lari went like a dream, he rode lovely in it. But I think it 'bedded down' and it wasn't a good fit after a few days.

 

[[59668]]

If the saddle doesn't fit and the riders weight shifted in order to operate the key pad on the gate this may well have caused the horse to rear if the saddle isn't a good fit and it hurts him. THis is why I'm trying to find out if the saddle came with the horse or not.

Yeah I see what you mean but he didn't rear when I leaned over. I was trying to get him close to it when he did.
Anyway saddler is coming tomorrow and dentist on Friday.
What's done is done. Just hoping I haven't damaged his confidence too much. We had a lovely hack after, and today I took him in hand for a mooch about the car park including stopping at the code thing a few times and no issues. So hopefully I've not caused any lasting issues

 

[Birker2020]

Yeah I see what you mean but he didn't rear when I leaned over. I was trying to get him close to it when he did.
Anyway saddler is coming tomorrow and dentist on Friday.
What's done is done. Just hoping I haven't damaged his confidence too much. We had a lovely hack after, and today I took him in hand for a mooch about the car park including stopping at the code thing a few times and no issues. So hopefully I've not caused any lasting issues

So it isn't the saddle he came in then? You are being really elusive with your reply lol
I think you have your answer. Hope you get sorted.

He will have forgotten. Horses are like dogs, live in the day x

 

[[59668]]

So it isn't the saddle he came in then? You are being really elusive with your reply lol
I think you have your answer. Hope you get sorted.

No as I said above in my reply to you, it's my saddle.
Not being elusive. Why would I?! You even replied to the message where I said it's my saddle.

 

[Birker2020]

No as I said above in my reply to you, it's my saddle.
Not being elusive. Why would I?!

Sorry, apologies I missed that.
I'm sure it will be sorted. I've got a saddle fit with my boy on 4th Feb so I am hoping we can find something that fits us both.

 

[[59668]]

Sorry, apologies I missed that.
I'm sure it will be sorted. I've got a saddle fit with my boy on 4th Feb so I am hoping we can find something that fits us both.

Lol no worries! Good luck with yours too

 

[Birker2020]

Lol no worries! Good luck with yours too

Thank you. Fortunately I have a pro rider who will be getting on first! Then I will have a lesson after she's got him 'back into work' before venturing out on my own. Exciting but very daunting too.

 

[ShadowHunter]

When my lad first came, he reared a few times in stressful situations, previous owner was shocked and said he'd never done that. Like you, I wondered if he was the right choice but, when I thought some more I soon realised it was a new home, new owner, new horses, no wonder his brain short fused at times. I've had him 5 years now and he's never done it since that first month. Lots of good advice on previous posts, so don't lose heart, he'll settle but it'll take time and patience.

 

[Lucky Snowball]

I haven't read all the replies but my first thought was that you've found a super horse. Only 5 and you're riding him out and about in a strange environment. I think it may have felt worse than it really was. Try to ignore it and as your relationship establishes it will fade into a non event.