Martha,
I have a 11 y.o. horse. I started this horse myself and believe I started to run him to soon after training. He would make a great horse except his gate problem. My horse had a problem of rearing. I tried puting a head tie on him and taping is neck with a whip when he reared and running him in a round pen before shows but, nothing worked.
He would just tuck in his head and rear up really high. So we tried a tougher bit. A med-port with long shanks(correcion bit) for when we went to shows. This kept him under control but, about half way though he went completly out of control(he opens his mouth so his bit wont work) and started to rear and buck at the gate. He tried to slam my leg into the arena fence.
We checked out his mouth and found out that the bit had tore up his mouth because it had been bent. After that insident 7 months ago. We could not get him into the arena with out leading him to the timers(trampling the person leading) and then getting him started with a slap on the butt. Once he gets started he is good to go but, anywhere near the outside or the inside of the gate he goes crazy.
My parents are getting really worried for my safty. What do you suggest I do towards his gate problem and what type of bit sould I use? Any help would be very helpful.
Thank You
Dear Readers,
I’ve read this letter for the last week and debated on whether I would answer it or not – it makes me so angry that a horse can be unknowingly abused over and over again and then people are wondering why he is trying so desperately to avoid the pain and confusion that they are creating.
I would buck and rear also if someone tied my head down and put a bit in my mouth that “tore it up” (of course, it’s not the bit that does the damage but the hands on the end of the reins that inflict the wounds and pain) and I would avoid at all costs a situation (the arena or alley/gate) where I got whipped for not responding to bad signals and harsh hands.
We, as riders, have a tremendous responsibility to put ourselves in our horse’s shoes and should literally wear their bits so that we learn to “feel” what kind of pressure and signals that our hands are transmitting.
Yes, this horse dreads the alley/gate and the arena and is now dangerous but only because he is trying to save himself from a lack of “horse sense” and education on the part of the rider. This rider needs to learn some horsemanship from the ground up – to learn the basics of groundwork and communicating correctly with the horse before ever getting on and riding and then, once that knowledge is obtained, to learn the ability of communicating with your horse through the proper use of hands and legs.
Horses respond amazingly fast to a system of reward and praise for correct responses. The rewards can be as small as a quick release of the rein pressure when you feel the correct response STARTING TO HAPPEN (not after the fact). Once the rider has learned to communicate with a horse in the correct way, then a lot of time will have to be spent with this horse to regain his confidence and trust and teach him that the arena and the alley/gate is not such a bad place after all.
Martha Wright
