First
I have to say that I am not a trainer, this is just my experience. That said, Lyric my daughter's 7 year old grey Arab mare came to us
with some "issues."One was
rearing when ever she was afraid, stressed or just did not want to do what was
asked of her.It was very bad for about
6 to 12 months.She will still do it if
she is having a bad day.
What
worked for her was slowing down with her training and not overwhelming
her.We also found that she was a very
insecure horse and needed to learn to trust us and herself.Once she was more comfortable doing what we
asked, the less she reared.Our first ride
(CTR) was more of a rodeo than anything else.
The first time we took her to do barrels at a
local fun show she just about came unglued.All these strange horses were milling around the gate.It totally unnerved her and she reared so
high she was straight up.The reason
Lyric was so upset is that she had been telling us she was afraid with her
behavior, but we were not listening.She
had to scream at us her fear and fright before we would listen.
After that we started to really listen to her.When her behavior told us she was afraid, we
would back off, take her away or just stop for a bit.Once we started listening to her and not
pushing her too hard the rearing stopped.It took a while for Lyric to calm down and stop rearing, but it was
worth it.
Today my
daughter who is 12 spent over an hour on Lyric's back reading a book with only
a halter and lead rope.Oh, and last
month they took hi point in their division at the local gymkhana!Yep, I'm one proud mom, proud of both of them:-) I hope this
helps, I know how difficult it can be.Just learn to listen to your horse; it will make a big difference. Nancy
Reed, Lazy J Ranch, Elfin Forest,
CA
