New horse rears!

QueenT

QueenT

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We have a new horse, a 7 year-old gelding who has been with us for a little over a month. Supereasy handling, shoes, loads, clips etc. Great match for our daughter as junior horse, jumps houses. He’s been turned out with one other gelding for a week now and they are the best mates.

Thing is, he has reared with us twice, once with my daughter, once with me. Returning from hacking (always with others) there’s a fork in the road, and on both of these occassions we’ve met a lady hand-walking a little black icelandic horse. The lady turns one way, we the other, and our boy definitely wants to follow them, and rears without warning, and quite high too. With me yesterday he went twice, but settled quickly when told off and legged forward, and walked calmly home the rest of the way with (fairly) loose reins. My daughter has been hacking him on other occassions without any problems, never alone.

Needless to say we’re avoiding that road fork and the lady with the icelandic horse for the next long period. And it’s only been a month, so easy rides, no big jumps, sticking to routines, letting him settle. It still has me worried though. It concerns me that he’s learned/learning that rearing is a tool in his toolbox, so any experience dealing with this is most welcome. And maybe there were little signs that we overlooked...

A lady at our yard has experience that some horses respond dramatically to icelandic horses, as their smell/size/behaviour is quite unique, another one believes the little black one is a stallion - I don’t if any of this is true, but it doesn’t change the fact our horse responded by rearing...
 
What did the previous owners tell you when you bought him? What do they say now about this behaviour? What is he like the rest of the time? Is he what you hoped otherwise?
 
Not sure how experienced you are? There’s rearing and rearing! Could this be ‘testing’ behaviour? What sort of rein contact do you have? No where else to go other than upwards! The comment ‘quite high’ gives some indication that this may be a ‘disobedience’ try out. Maybe find someone more confident to ride out as this type of behaviour must be overcome. It doesn’t sound like the horse has A serious vice but unfortunately in the wrong hands it can quickly escalate. Instead of avoiding the little black pony you need to find out about him otherwise you’ll be constantly worrying what might happen and this will only compound things.
 
QueenT said:
A lady at our yard has experience that some horses respond dramatically to icelandic horses, as their smell/size/behaviour is quite unique, another one believes the little black one is a stallion - I don’t if any of this is true, but it doesn’t change the fact our horse responded by rearing...
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I have an Icelandic horse, and he's just a horse....none of the other horses on our yard respond any differently to him than to any other horse. It sounds like he might well exhibit this behavior if you met *any* other horse in the same situation - so I wouldn't get too hung up on avoiding the Icelandic (or blaming it for your horse's issues)
 
Don’t be blaming the Icelandic horse for your horses problems Iceland horses aren’t any different to other horses . He probably just not a happy hacker . I would not be hacking him out if he is like that .
 
sounds like you just need to be ahead of the game better and either flex him and move him round shoulder in etc past the horse, or give him a smack and a kick and tell him to get on with his job....dependent on his character. He doesn't sound like a rearer per se just that the front end goes up in times of tension rather than the back.
 
Some horses naturally rear when tense, although most choose to buck instead. I have one now. He rears if anxious. Not all that high (although it can feel it!), super balanced but just an expression of his worry. He did it a lot when he first arrived, as everything was new - in the field, in hand, under saddle. He settled after a while and I discouraged the rearing, letting him discover other ways to express his worries. He is now on his way to becoming super safe for us; is already my best behaved one at only 5 - the rearing is almost just a memory now, only reappearing once this year, as the shetland was being a cow for my daughter and he was really worried that she wasn't safe. Yet if you took him away from all his friends and put him in a new home, in a new environment, I would imagine it would reappear in the new home, until he settled there. It is who he is.

Give your horse time to settle, the meeting another horse and then having to leave them thing is a trigger point where many horses would nap. The world and his friend will tell you what to do to discourage it, but there are many possible solutions/methods and it is all about timing, feel and sensitivity. You need to do the right thing, at the right time, for that horse in the situation he is in and the personality he has, or the rearing will become higher and more frequent and more of a problem, and you'll lose his trust (and your control) rather than gain it.
 
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Mine defaults to rearing when stressed and hers are right up. Kicking on doesn't work, but distraction does. She was worse when she was young and I used to carry polos in an easily accessible pocket. The minute she tensed I'd rustle the packet and it used to bring the energy levels down. A quiet step forward, praise and a polo.

For those saying horses shouldn't spook at an Icelandic - I've had horses turn and try and run away from my Ardennes!
 
Give him time to settle and CV a time to settle too. Then get an experienced instructor. As a mum I always said rearing was the unforgiveable sin - DD was in BS Juniors. But then we had a JA who would - when stressed - rear. He was one of the best compeition horses we ever had - you just had to know how to manage him so he didn't get into the state where he was so upset he had no choice. Rearing obviously is not a safe habit - but it can, and must, be managed.
 
Aoife 2020 said:
Don’t be blaming the Icelandic horse for your horses problems Iceland horses aren’t any different to other horses . He probably just not a happy hacker . I would not be hacking him out if he is like that .
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Actually, I have heard of other cases of horses reacting badly to Icelandics, so the woman on the OPs yard is speaking the truth. Look up Scary Ozzie on YouTube.
Glad you found the advice helpful OP, I too have a rearer who seems to do it out of nappiness and I'm still working out the best way to handle it.
 
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