How Do I Handle My Rearing Horse? (Dressage)?
He does have back pain, but what usually happens is I lunge him for about 10 min, get on him while he is moving forward, and everything is fine. But lately, especially the past 2 days, he tries to rear up before I even get on him and today he did. I lunged him as usual, making sure that he was warmed up (I do not use side reins, I loop the reins under the stirrups so that he isn’t cranked all the way down) and when I put my foot in the stirrup he didn’t move (he always moves when I do) I clucked him forward and still nothing so I touched the whip to his hind end and he backed up so I walked him in a circle back to the mounting block and tried again with the same result. This happened a couple more times and the last time I tried to walk him forward he reared up. I ended up putting him away because I did not want to risk him rearing under saddle when no one was around.
He did rear once with me the 3rd or 4th time I rode him but I urged him forward and we went along as if nothing happened. But it has been a couple months now of riding him about 3-4 days per week and he had improved greatly but he has just been acting up now. How should I handle this??
Yes, a vet has checked his back pain. He gets cold backed and the saddle fits him well.
Has a vet checked out his back pain? Please do this first if you havent, before you ride him again.
If you know your horse has back pain an you continue to ride him, it is natural for your horse to tell you in the only ways he can. What would you do? If the vet checks him out to be ok to ride, try pulling his head in tight and down to his side when you feel he is about to rear. Keep him going in a circle a few times and then forward again.
From what you’ve described, I think he’s trying to tell you that his back pain is such that it hurts him too much to be ridden. I don’t know what sort of horse he is, but if he’s usually pretty agreeable about everything else, then clearly this is a pain issue and not an outright rebellion agains work, in general.
You need to get a good vet/chiro/massage therapist out to evaluate him, and find out where the pain is originating, and how much time off and what sort of treatment, if any, will help. If you continue to attempt to ride him with significant pain, not only will the physical problem worsen, but you’ll start to establish some bad behaviour patterns and sullenness. And putting him up after her reared, I do understand why you did that – - but it would have been better for you to have done some sort of ground work that didn’t bother his back, and to have done it for a significant amount of time. You are going to see that he’s found that rearing at the mounting block is a handy way to avoid experiencing not only back pain, but of perhaps gettting out of work, as well.