Unseating the rider

Question
I have an 8 year old Irish sport horse, she is a mare that I have had for 5 years. She is stabled during the winter and let out when the weather is fine and she is out all summer. As I dont have any land she is kept at a local riding school and is turned out as part of a group which she becomes quite attached to when she is in season. When I first got this mare she was in bad condition but had a lovely temprament and had some basic schooling, I have schooled a few horses previously all with success. She has come along greatly, she is regularly ridden both indoors and outdoors alone and as part of a group. I have competed her in showjumping competitions, one day events and cross country trials, and has been hunted a few times. She has always had a good attitude to these events and had never tried to unseat me during all her training until recently. As I am now in college I still ride her regularly but she had not been brought out of the riding school for over a year until last month. To get her back in the swing of things I brought her to a charity beach ride, some other horses from the riding school also went. She had never been to the beach before but at the start she was very calm and at ease but suddenly after about an hour she started to lunge into the air and gallop off. The first time this happened I was thrown above the saddle but regained my balance and control. This happened 3 or 4 more times, and she had become very upset. A while later we were standing still when a few horses started to canter away again she jumped right into the air, dropping her shoulder as she landed and I fell off. Once she was back home this behaviour stopped and I brought her to a cross country trial 2 weeks later. She was calm as we warmed up by the horse boxes and walked up to the warm up arena, I was walking around the warm up arena with 3 other horses she knew when without warning she leaped again and galloped straight for the wire enclosing the wire, I managed to stear her away from it but once I brought her back to a trot she launched again, throwing me off and underneath her, I ended up breaking my ankle. I will hopefully be back in the saddle soon and I would really appreciate some advice or explanation for this behaviour as she is a great horse and I would hate to loose my nerve. I thought that she was just upset by her surroundings the first time but the second time it happened she was quite calm and I found this confusing. I have had her checked by the vet, and have checked all her tack. Thanks so much for any help.

Answer
Hi Ruth!

I am not completely surprised to see that you have owned her for 5 years and this is the first showing of dominance related issues.

Usually they show up earlier but, every horse matures at their own pace and yours may have just taken longer.  Also, I bet the slide of her manners was so gradual that you did not even notice it.....especially with your mind on school.

I would change your attitude towards her.  Long time relationships between horse and human tend to get sloppy and too familiar.  She is now realizing that she can be bad and there will be no real consequences for her impudence.

Forget how she was.  None of that matters now.  Only how she acts in the moment matters.  Forget taking her off the property until you have a handle on things again.  Go back to the basics for awhile.  Reinforce respectful ground manners.  Longe her with a purpose and specific exercises that get her focused on you...not just running in circles to get the sillies out.  Ring work needs to be goal oriented.  Walk into the ring with a plan and an obtainable goal for her to reach so it is a foundation of solid work you are building for her to fall back on when she is out of the ring.

When you do finally feel she is ready to leave the property, really think it through.  Make it short and sweet and go with a real "Steady Eddy" of a horse that will set a good example for her and be the calming force she needs to feel secure.  Avoid high stress situations where she must keep up with others or perform certain time restricted
tasks.

These outings need to be training times for her, not enjoyable hacks for you.  Those will come later when she is back under your control.

I think this is a temporary phase that she is going through. Break down the issues into small, workable training times that are all about you asserting your Boss Mare dominance back over her.  I do not mean hitting her with a 2x4 over her head.  I mean little things like...always walking her with a stud chain lead rope with the chain over her nose and shanking her with it if she gets pushy.  Her full attention on you during longeing or she gets a crack of the whip on her butt.  Good manners 24/7/365.

Be firm, be consistent, be swift in handing out punishment and rewards alike.

Good luck and remember to always wear an ASTM/SEI approved helmet!

Solange