Was it me??

[I'd_Rather_Be_Riding]

I went for a hack on sunday at my riding stables, the weather was lovely with a slight breeze. I rode a 17.3hh who is usually very quiet but full of character, when mounting in the middle of the yard he became very skittish and spooked at the slightest movment to the other horses coming with me. once out on the road he was fine, he was looking around but still listening to my leg. we turned into a field with a track down the side of it and squeezed for a slow trot but just as we were passing some trees he just stopped dead so i squeezed him forward but he started to play up. He was doing a lot of rearing and bucking when he finally carmed down i managed to get him pasted these trees so asked for trot after a little while and he flew up into a rear again. I dont no whether it was something i did. one of the instructors at the yard said because they have not had him long only one person had taken him out on a hack about 4 or 5 times and he was a bloke. could it have been somthing i did, could he be a male profering horse or was he just having an off day. any suggestions?

 

[Ladylina83]

They put you on a 17 that had only been out maybe 5 times and sent you on your own ? really ?

That's a bloody big horse to be rearing with customers ! I hope they said sorry !!

 

[Paddy Irish]

I guess the first thing - as we all know - is to rule out teeth , back , saddle etc , but your boy might just be feeling good , there is grass beginning to grow now , so it could be just a rush of sugar to the head . I know that sometimes horses don't like going from bright sunlight into dark shady areas , also your aids may be different from the other guy i.e you maybe making him work in a better outline etc and big boy could be just throwing the toys out , so to speak

 

[jsr]

I would of hoped the person leading the ride would get off and swap horses with you? No way should a paying customer deal with that it's dangerous and not what you've paid for! Some riding centers really do need their heads looking at!!

 

[Tickles]

Agree with the other posters. If this is not your horse and not one you have a long term interest in then you should *not* be riding it.

If by rearing you mean backing away from something scary with 'light' front feet then your rider leader may be able to help you ride more forwards.

However I would not expect a person under tuition on a horse owned by a riding school/hacking centre to be riding a rearer. It generally means there is something wrong with the horse's health/tack/training/general management and is generally *not* caused by the way an individual rides. The centre needs to get this sorted before putting clients on the horse.

As a child on a lead-rein I was put in a very dangerous situation with a rearing pony and knew no better (fortunately I slid down its back and avoided the hooves of it and the horse it was fighting with...).

These days I have the sense (and confidence, I know it can be daunting to 'make a fuss') to ensure I'm as safe as possible riding strange horses. I've not had other rearers to play with (well, not on riding schools at any rate!) but I have dismounted and refused to ride back on roads a horse that was intent on removing the rider through bucking. Having sat most of it and already come off twice I knew there was something wrong and I pay them for a lesson, they don't pay me to be a crash-test-dummy!

Stay safe and don't ride that horse again.

 

[I'd_Rather_Be_Riding]

Luckly i wasnt on my own so i had a bit of guidence from the leader but this horse i have ridden him quite a few time in the school and hes never cause me any trouble so i was really suprised when he did this. They yard manager said she would take him off the hacking list for the mean time till they can work with him a bit more which is good. After abandoning the hack we when back into the school to see if he did the same and when we got back in the school he was fine maybe a little fast paced but nothing to out of the ordinary, he worked in a beautiful outline and was listening to me well which makes me think it was not his back or teeth ect. I trust the riding school and i dont think they would have put me on him if they had a doubt he was going to play up so im not blaming them but i do agree with some of ur comments!