Rearing before mounting

Question
QUESTION: This is in reference to your article "rearing before mounting". Can you please inform me the other technique you mentioned about in the post? I recently got a polo pony. She is a beauty with great conformation and she definitely comes with a great price. 4 and a half years old and 6 months preganant. She has not been ridden for some time. Problem is when i ride her inside the round penn after a while she starts backing up and gets really fidgety. and when i try riding her outside the round penn she gets really realy hyper, to the point that she starts rearing up and falls on her back. is it a bit problem? she was a very good polo pony so i expect her to behave well. i do not have access to a trainer nor i have any training experience but i am willing to invest time over this horse

ANSWER:    Hi Abdul,
 I imagine this is going to sound strange to you, but at this point in time I can't remember what other method I had come up with. I don't tend to have "stock" answers. I operate on the basis that our horses are telling us things through their behaviour, and I try to work out what they are saying, and then attempt to come up with a way of getting both horse and rider more "in tune" with each other. In the post you mention, it seemed to me that the animal was not saying very much about having a problem in the "here and now". It seemed that he might have had some difficulty in the past, and had been left with a bad habit. The course of action I suggested was intended to simply provide a distraction, to break that habit (presuming of course that my conclusion was correct).
 However your case is different. Your horse is definitely telling you that she has a problem right now. The trouble is that I don't know if the issue is physical, or psychological. Is it possible for you to contact the previous owner to see if she has had this problem for some time ? You indicate that in the pen, she is ok initially, but after a while she starts to act up. Could you tell me how long it takes for her to start misbehaving. I would also be interested in hearing how long your riding sessions last, and how often you give her a break (walking on a loose rein, and allowing her to stretch "round and down"). Questions that arise are: could she have a slight back problem, that doesn't bother her much at the start of a ride, but may do so later on. A similar question crops up in relation to her tack, particularly the saddle. Could it be that it is slightly uncomfortable initially, but becomes more so as the ride progresses. I don't know what sort of a bit you use, nor how good your hands are, but it wouldn't be the first thing I would look at. I would just like to say, that you should always ride with the softest bit and hands that you can manage.
  I have to admit that I am mystified as to why she should be worse when outside the pen, so unless you can provide some additional information which might contain some clues, then I probably will not be able to explain that aspect of her behaviour.
  Please get back to me with answers to the questions I asked (and any other info. you think might help), and I will try to see if I can come up with some answers for you.
  Meanwhile I'll wish you the best of luck,
         Slan,
         Brendan  

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I can hardly ride her for two three minutes before she gets fidgety. I have tried riding her without a saddle, mounting very delicately so it couldn't be a saddle issue. I have also tried riding her without ANY bit whatsoever and same result, she gets fidgety after some time. for the first two three minutes you can see that she is fairly well trained, I have started lunging her and I have tried to sit on her while lunging, a bit better than riding her. but still very fidgety. I do not have access to a very expert vet but I have consulted a vet for back problems and the vet says she is fine. I have myself pressurized her a lot on her back and she still acts fine. She has not been ridden for seven eight months. Can you please guide me as clearly as possible, as detailed as possible.

Answer
     Hi again Abdul,
 I have to say that this is a difficult case. So far no real clue has emerged as to why she should be behaving like this. Is it possible for you to find out how she behaved, when she was ridden in the past?
 Would it be possible for you to send me a few photos. of you riding her? If I could see how she carries herself, with you on her back, in might go some way to unlocking this puzzle.
  Best of luck,
         Slan,
         Brendan