I came in to post the same concept. We are funny!
Regarding the rearing horse, you need to speak with the owner, trainer or whoever is responsible for the care of the animal. Ask them to work on this horse’s “ground manners” on a daily basis. Horses need consistent correction to change their behavior.
For the short term, if there is no way you can avoid handling this horse, ask to be shown the proper use of a “stud chain.” This is a length of chain at the end of a lead rope. the chain goes through the left (“near”) ring of the halter, over the nose, and snaps to the right (“off”) ring of the halter. If the horse starts to go up, you pull sharply down on the rope, causing the chain to tighten over the nose. Yes, it is a harsh correction but as it is, this animal is a danger to you. You cannot be dealing with flailing hooves on a daily basis!
I wanted to add that when a horse is being disobediant, you should NOT pat and calm them. That’s a reward and you are encouraging their bad behavior. Instead, put them to work immediately, doing something like turning in circles, until their focus is back on you. the idea is that you want to make good behavior the “less work” option.
The only time you should pat or calm a horse is when it is genuinely frightened of something – like if someone left the lawn mower in the aisle, and the horse seems scared to walk past. Allow the horse to sniff the offending object and pat it a bit, then firmly ask it to walk forward.
Oh, and this is something I see kids doing all the time. When a horse refuses to walk forward for some reason, don’t turn back and look it in the eye! This is horse body language for “stop where you are.” Go back to its shoulder, look forward and walk forward. If it still balks, poke it in the belly just behind the leg and say “walk.”
Hey thanks for the advice. Yes I was wondering if patting him was the wrong thing to do. I really don’t know enough about horses to know whether he was being “bad” or if he was scared. That’s going to just take some time I expect. However, that horse is not known to behave like that. They do have a very young one who does rear a lot because he wants to play and he has not been trained at all yet, but that should be well underway by the time I am there on a daily basis.
I really appreciate all the feedback, I have a lot to learn but I am really looking forward to taking care of these beautiful animals.
I think over time, as you get more familiar with the animals, you will start to know them as individuals and it will be clearer when they are just being disobediant.
That said, if I see a horse rearing and striking, there better be, like, a poisonous snake about to bite me* or they are in big trouble. A horse can stop, snort, take a few prancy steps, fine. But if those feet are in the air I have a problem with that behavior no matter what the cause.
You might try looking at some of the books by John Lyons to learn more about horse body language and basic training/handling principles.
*The Black Stallion reference. Good movie.
I came back to offer a concise summary of what I’ve learned in owning my first horse (all these 4 months gone by now):
Reward any desired behavior with a scratch/rub on the forehead or a treat–or stop doing whatever work is being asked of them. Keep in mind that if either of these are offered after undesirable behavior, you are rewarding them and saying “hey, do this again.” If a horse gets nervous with you under saddle, perhaps jumps at a shadow, and you get off–you just rewarded him/her for spooking.
To discipline a horse, make it do more work. (We’re not talking pulling heavy weights–we’re talking walking in circles, etc.) Like people, the more they can get by with the least amount of work, the better. In the words of my hubby, it’s all about not being hassled. Similarly–if you’re working on teaching yourself something new and they do great, and then you move on to doing something else that’s new, you’ve just punished the horse.