New horse will NOT stand and he rears!

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billylula

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He's young (6) and we've only had him a couple of weeks so I know he needs to settle in...but no other horse/pony we have had has had this problem even when they first arrived.

He's a lovely boy generally although hates to be tied up and left alone (which we discovered by mistake!).

Hacked him out yesterday and he was very good UNTIL I had to stop to pass soemthing to my daughter who was riding with me. He got very panicky, would NOT stand and eventually reared to spin round - not a huge rear - I'm not a great rider and even I stayed on - but it freaked my daughter out and she wouldn't carry on with the ride.

He's really my teenage daughter's horse and she loves him. He's been very good travelling, in the school and hacking (bombproof) BUT he will very rarely stand still without backing up, jigging about and yesterday this rearing evasive action. He passed a 5 stage vettign last month, his saddle was professionally fitted last week, his teeth were done a few months ago.

I am very worried that this behaviour will get worse and could be dangerous for my daughter (I have to say that she is fine with the behaviour and working hard to encourage him to stand even for a few seconds with lots of praise). She is keen to hunt him - he's hunted a few times before and he was apparently fidgety and strong but settled by the end of the season. We bought him from a friend who knows my daughter and seemed to think he'd be a great fit.

Any advice?!
 
My late mare, and my horse of a lifetime was like this at first. She was six when I got her and took almost a year to fully settle. Some horses just take longer than others. Once he gets to know and trust you I am sure this behaviour will improve. He just doesn't know you well enough yet. My girl was the same; fine whilst on the move but would totally freak out if asked to stand. She used to run backwards when I tried to mount her, wouldn't stand still in line ups after competitions. Loads of people told me to sell her. I am so pleased I didn't. She could still occasionally flip her lid even after I'd had her years, but usually it was sparked by a smell of the deer or pigs or some other animal and there was no reasoning with her when she was like that. In the end I just realised it was a quirk and if at home and just schooling would get off and put her away knowing she would be absolutely perfect the next time.
 
If you've only had him a couple of weeks, he may well have felt very threatened by being asked to stand close enough to his hacking companion, and so panic set in. If he already has issues with standing still, then I think this was too much of an ask for him. Work on standing, treat from on top when he does stand and give him a bit more space with other horses.
 
Thank you.

I agree it was when he was asked to go near him (as I was trying to pass something). It is so helpful to get another opinion on this.
 
Although he was working in the school at the weekend with another pony and was absolutely fine about passing him etc, couldn't have been less bothered.
 
I think you have been lucky that no other horse you have owned has behaved like this. Put yourself in his place - he is young, he is in a strange environment with people he doesn't know, and he is learning his way around. Only something brain dead wouldn't be a bit edgy in those circumstances. My mare would jog, leap in the air, jib and refuse to stand still simply because she ran on nervous energy but she was 11 when I got her. I really don't think she knew she was doing it half the time. You just have to learn to ignore it. Once YOU stop worrying about it, the horse should settle down quite a bit. I found that riding one handed imparted good vibes to my horse for some reason, and standing up in the stirrups. One thing I learned about horses is that if you go looking for trouble you sure as h*** will get it.
 
Another who has had similar, 2 weeks into ownership we had s full on multiple rearing session as she was not allowed to canter after some nearby horses. Struggled to get her going foward again.
Much muttering under my breath about tesco, but persevered, Happened a couple more times, when ever she got stressed.
Now she fully trusts & respects us, this behaviour stopped, but probably took a year.
 
Don't get yourself into situations where you're stuck and can't allow any movement. You need to give him space to move forward and side step a bit. When horses are really thinking forward they need to go somewhere, even just a couple of steps, then you might get another couple of seconds stillness.

If your daughter's got a feel for that she'll be fine, its only if you restrain him too much for too long that he'll rear to get going.

Bring him endurance riding, there's barely any time for hanging round standing still and when you do get the chance they're usually glad to take it. :)
 
Ha endurance! That's an idea. Yes my daughter does seem to have a feel for that - she was very worried that I might have 'fought him' and very cross with me if I had :-/
 
cant remember where i read it now, but there was a horse that would not halt in its tests-would trot or canter to X and then would not stand immobile to allow rider to salute judge, would wriggle and piaffe and back up etc.

solution was to turn a tiny(small as poss circle) and then ask for halt again, and if more wriggling, circle to other side then ask for halt again etc etc

worth working on in the school?
 
Just as an addition- some never learn fully!

My TB mare can be like this, she'll be 21 in Jan and i've had her 14 years.

Even now I don't let her stand in collecting rings waiting to go in as I know she can do it. Nothing wrong with her, just excitement and impatience :)
Best to keep settled and in a sensible situation moving where possible.
 
Horses NEED to move their feet when stressed, anxious, excited, worried etc. It's inbuilt and hardwired. Some are better at squashing the impulse and staying still but that takes self control and even they get to a level where they need to fidget.

If they CAN'T move they they often become explosive and will do anything to allow movement. Pawing, kicking out, dancing, rearing, even bucking.

You've no doubt seen idiots screaming 'stand still', yanking on the leadrope and often smacking an anxious or excited horse and just making it 100x worse.

Best way to deal with it is two fold. 1) reduce their stress or excitement. Get them used to what ever bothers them. Let them settle. Reassure them.
2) let them move but in a directed fashion. Forcing them to stand only makes them worse. Circle them or leg yeild or reinback. Praise when they do manage to stand still. Not only are you reinforcing the correct behaviour but the praise will help reduce their stress.


Also teach him to stand. Spend time in a quiet 'safe' place teaching him the 'stand' command, with his head lowered ( lowering the head naturally lowers heart rate and blood pressure and relaxes them)
 
Mine has ants in his pants when asked to stand still. Generally I just don't ask him as I know he'll get stressed. It does depend on the situation, he'll stand in the school nicely usually, sometimes he'll stand out hacking, but anywhere exciting/stressful and he's a nightmare. I've been riding for over two years and this is just the way he is.

I took him out hunting on Sunday, at the meet everyone was stood still having a chat, Larry and I walked repeated circles around everyone! If I asked him to stand he would go backwards or dance around, so I just didn't try, I knew it would just wind him up.

After the first hunt he did eventually stand still for a while and chill out, but only after we repeatedly walked circles. After the second he stood for a bit but would randomly wander about. After the third his brain was blown and he just danced all over the place! And as we hacked to the meet he then jogged all the way home!

He has gone up with me once before in the school when he didn't want to do something but I've never had the issue when out as I just keep him moving.

I am considering trying a calmer on him as he has a lot of nervous energy but a lot of it is how I handle him. Walking about doesn't bother me, I'm not worried about his antics!
 
I taught an ID to stand still when hacking (a feature of our hacks is standing talking to the neighbours) by asking a neighbour to talk/stroke/treat her, gradually increasing the length of time she stood.

My Draft horse is very aware of her personal space and guards it fiercely, she has been here 4 yrs and tbh it is really only this last year that she has been happy to stand close to her field companion when ridden.

Your horse will need time to settle in to his new surroundings/companions/owners' expectations, OP, certainly longer than 2 weeks.
 
I think it would do this horse good to learn how to stand as part of groundwork. Before I go on I was never one for this 'malarky' and always believed you could 'sort' horses whilst on board.
However, after some ground work lessons with an NH trainer with my youngster, she said how important it is for a horse to learn to stand/'park'. It is a difficult thing for a horse to do believe it or not.
Mine has learnt this very well and it is a very straightforward thing to teach them.
I would maybe get in touch with a NH trainer or even maybe Google the basics and that may help. Mine is actually very accomplished at 'parking' now. It's one of his best 'moves'! :-)
 
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