I"m a dressage rider and currently working with a 6 year old horse who has been started and was progressing well with walk/trot but recently he reared and threw me off. It was my mistake - he gave me warning signs and I was tired so I pieced them together after the fact so I take responsibility for that.
Since that day however I have been able to get up on his back and he is fine for the first 5 minutes at a walk, then he starts pinning his ears and throwing his head up and bouncing his front end like he's about to rear again. I've tried talking calmly to him, deep breathing to make sure my body is relaxed, and I took a look at the saddle to see if I could find anything that would be pinching him or bothering him (but I'm not knowledgeable enough to know for sure). This most recent time, I dropped contact on the bit and he calmed right down as we walked again but the same behavior happened when I took up the reins to ask him for a trot.
I should mention I take lessons once a week and I've been improving greatly in those so I must be doing something right. My position is getting stronger, my legs stronger and my contact lighter.
I always try to keep in mind the big picture and I have a lot of patience so I'm going to take him back to lunging for a bit. As far as I"m aware he's never used side reins so I think that may help but I would love to hear other suggestions,things I could try to help him relax again and accept a light contact. Any thoughts/suggestions and questions are welcome! Thanks!