I have a ten year old mare who can be such a sweetie, then the next day she can be a brat. She leads, hauls, clips, and bathes only if she wants to. When she becomes tired of working she will rear and pull me off the ground. She also rears when I'm riding her. How can I increase her concentration and stop her from rearing during ground work and riding?

Your horse's concentration will improve as you achieve leadership status. Presently your horse is saying by her actions, that you are below her in horse ranking. To gain a higher order you should continue to require your horse to do something she does not want to do. Make sure you our able to succeed with your request. If she refuses to listen to you be ready to correct to her. As a standard rule, pressure is used as a correction and the release of pressure is used as a reward. Pressure can be a snap of a rein, a sharp voice, or a quick movement towards your horse.

Concerning the rearing, never try to hold your horse from rearing. Horses are much to powerful to muscle. Correcting your rearing horse while on the ground is the same as riding. When your horse rears you will need to redirect her motion into a forward movement as a correction. At the moment your horse begins to rear step sideways and away from her to a right angle while pulling her with you. This will force her back to the ground and into a forward movement.

If your horse repeats the rearing after your counter movement you should also repeat your movement again. This is called persistence training, the one with more persistence will win! Avoid correcting directly in front of your horse, this will only encourage her to rear more.

If your horse begins to rear when you are riding simply turn her into a wide circle. Turning is the same method you used when leading your horse. You should practice correcting your horse on the ground first. Then correcting your horse while you are on her back will be much easier.