Bucking and rearing

Question
WHAT IS YOUR AGE: 41
WHAT IS YOUR HORSE EXPERIENCE: Intermediate
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO FIX PROBLEM: get off and walk her through it
IS HORSE KEPT ALONE WITH OTHER HORSES: with other horses
IS YOUR HORSE IN A STALL OR PASTURE:  Stall

Hi,

The horse that I am leasing is very stubborn.  At first she was barn sour and didn't want to go out on trail even with other horses.  Now she will go out with another horse with no problems.  She does not like to go out by herself though.  I have taken her out 3 times by herself the first time, she bucked and reared up on me.  I got off and walked her a little further up the hill, got back on her and she did good.  The second time I took her out she did great, no bucking or rearing up.  I took her out the other night and she she acted up again.  She reared up on me on the street.  I got off her and walked her up to the dirt area and got back on her.  She went on her way.  We crossed the road and she wanted to go back the way we normally come back and I tried to get her to go the opposite way.  She bucked and reared up again.  I do wear spurs when I ride her because she is very stubborn.  When I kick her with the spurs, she bucks.  I got off her again, walked her the way I wanted her to go then got back on her.  She did this to me one more time about 5 minutes later.  I know that she is testing me.  I have tried do turn her to disengage her and then try to get her going in the direction that I want but she still continues to act up.  The only thing that works is me getting off of her and leading her.  I have done ground work with her in the arena and she does not do any of this.  It's only because she doesn't want to go out by herself.  Any suggestions?

Answer
Yea, I have suggestions, you need to take off spurs and learn to get the horse to move without them.  The horse is bucking since spurs hurt.  The horse is not stubborn, it has not accepted you as leader and that is why he appears lazy or stubborn.  Stop blaming the horse and accept that you are causing these issues.  If you doing ground work right, your horse will know how to move when you ask, if you have to use pain (spurs) then the horse does not respect you and will end up hurting you if you keep pushing it or hurting it.  The fact that is it bucking and rearing are also signs of disrespect.  Since you get off when the horse rears or bucks, tell me you are not a confident rider, the horse knows this.  You are teaching the horse to get you to get off, all it has to do is rear or buck and you get off, so you are teaching this horse to do those things.  Stop thinking the horse is stubborn, she is a horse, she is testing you and seeing if she can get you to stop asking her to do things she does not want to do, and it is working and she is winning.  If she wants to go another way and not the way you want, let her go her way a few steps and then slowly turn her and keep her moving, stop spurring her and get her to listen to your request and to want to listen to you rather than you wanting to fight with her.  You want to win, you want to make her go your direction so you are stubborn and when the horse responds you blame the horse.  A common mistake for many horse owners.  If you had a good relationship with this horse and if this horse saw you as a strong and confident leader she would not be doing these things.  I always tell people work or yourself and your horse will get better, everyone wants to always work on the horse and then blame the horse when it does not work.

Read my site so you can understand horses better and know how they think.  Once you understand them and start thinking like a horse, you will see huge improvements.

Rick