rearing in hand help

[angel]

my young horse who is 5 an anglo arab. reared once when i first had her and went over backwards with a friend on. so far she has not been to bad with me only the once but yesterday she was hypper and when my partner tried to lead her she went berserk rearing up full height then trying to kick out she went up at least 5 times. what she wanted was to go back to the others. usually she has a training halter on but not always this time she didnt. as we were going out we had no choice but to let her back in the field. as anyone else had this problem and do you think she will start rearing when i am on her.? it seems to be when she wants to do her own thing any advice gratedully recieved. today she hacked out and was fine,

[Outrider]

I worked with an off the track TB that did the same thing to his owner. Whenever he didn't want to do something she wanted him to do on the ground, he would rear and actually charge her! He didn't do this when she was riding, only on the ground. Trouble was, the he had her buffaloed into letting him do what he wanted, knowing all he had to do to stop doing what she wanted was to rear. She came to me for help. I took him in the round pen and started to try and lunge him. Sure enough, he wasn't having any of it and he reared up on me and struck out with his front hooves. I backed off at first but didn't leave the round pen which he went to the other side and we had a staring contest for a bit. I tried him again, but this time I had a lunge whip. When he reared, I whacked him across the chest ONLY ONCE and sent him around the pen to lunge. He tried me a few more times and each time he reared I layed the whip across his chest one time with a stern NO each time. In only about 20 minutes of this, he got the idea and didn't rear anymore. He decided that lunging was better than a pain in his chest I suppose. I worked with him for a few days, getting him to do all the things that the owner had trouble with, then gave him back to her with instructions to use the whip and stand her ground if he reared with her. She started working with him and sure enough, he reared! She used the whip across the chest one time and she never had any more problems with him. He is now in training for jumping and I understand both she and the TB are doing quite well.

To make a long story short, you cannot let your horse get away with this. It is way too dangerous of a behavior. You have to stand your ground and use appropriate punishment to stop the behavior. When leading, you could use a stud chain over the nose, and when she rears, pull down on it. Or you could use the stock whip. Be very careful and stay out of the way of the hooves. If you use the whip, do it from the side and not directly in front. Hope this helps. Let me know how you get along with her. Happy Trails!

[Cathy Reynolds]

I take it by 'training halter' you mean a pressure halter? Here's how to turn an ordinary halter + lead rope into a much stronger version in 5 seconds flat......take the lead rope round the front of the nose and loop through the cheek piece - gives you loads more leverage as the twist on the rope then tightens across the nostrils!

[Queenie]

Hi Angel,

You need to make sure your mare respects you on the ground and doesn't think she can bully you around. Use the lead rope like Cathy suggested around her nose, worked a treat on my bolshy 4 yr old. Also start working in hand if possible asking for her to back up, move away from pressure... please be careful but remember one push from her head when not requested means she's getting one up on you. You have to make sure your firm but fair, she has to look to you for guidance.

I also started leading my mare with a lunge line and whenever she played up I would send her round in circles until she was listening again, I felt safer as I could move her away from me when she played up....away from hooves.

Please don't let her do her own thing, I made this mistake on a very bolshy dominant mare and am now paying the price to make ammends...not easy.

Good Luck
Suzi

[sherry]

What about when a horse rears while you are on her? I read to drive her forward, but I'm it didn't say how and if I were on when she did it I would probably not be able to do it with my legs. ??? I ask because my horse reared on my husband several time in the first 2 or 3 times he rode her. She seems to be a slightly different horse every day!?? I can't figure out what is wrong with her. We've only had her 8 weeks. She seems to be afraid for no reason at times, and just ignores tractors, strange barking dogs, and other things that one might EXPECT a horse to react to.

[Sarah]

Is it only out on hacks that your horse rears or will she rear in the school too? Do you or your husband hack out alone? Are the rears only on the way out or are they on the way back from the ride too?

Have you had her tack fit checked since you got her if the tack came with her? Did she have a full vetting when you got her as horses can often rear if is pain or discomfort. It could well be that she is just trying it on with you as she is still fairly new to you.

If she is just napping - only rears by herself, particularly when going away from the yard, a good way to get through it is just to wait. When you get tot he point that she won't go past and when asking her to move forwards makes her rear, then just sit there and wait. it may take up to 30 mins of waiting, but she will give in and sigh and then you can ask her to move forwards again. If you carry on doing this she will soon get bored of napping and hopefully you can get back to riding out properly again!

If you do try to drive her forwards, or do the traditional trick of walloping her on the head, you are just agreeing to fight with her which is probably what she is out for. If you don't react to her 'moment' and just make her wait, she will soon see there is no point in stropping as she gets no reaction from you and she still has to go on and finish the ride eventually.

Good luck, do let us know how you get on.

bye!

[Mossy]

Just to second Sarah's reply. You may gat rude comment from various helpful souls whilst you are sat there but smile sweetly and ignore. In all probabiliity you will have a relaxed horse at the end of it.

[clip-clop-oops-crash]

this is not meant 2 offend any1 or discount outriders suggestions but pls. do b careful with regards 2 using a whip on an aggressive horse - i have had quite a lot of experience with aggressive + rearing horses, currently owning a v.difficult (in every respect!) mare + a pushy stallion - + it is important 2 remeber that when a horse rears or reacts aggressively 2 u he is challenging your authority + by responding with agression yourself u r accepting the challenge + a determined horse could react violently 2 this. obviously this method worked with the horse that outrider mentioned + it is definitely worth a try but pay attention 2 how your horse reacts immediately 2 the 'punishment' + make sure that under no circumstances does it bcome a contest of power + leadership or get in2 a fight! :eek: as sum1 earlier mentioned persisitence is your best bet, instead of making her go away from her friends make it clear that she is not going back 2 them so she can stay where she is or come with you - trust me she will get bored, mares tend 2 b logical thinkers (a typical femail trait....he he) it might also b an idea 2 try + 'join up' with her (monty roberts method) as this will help 2 reassert your authority. good luck with your mare!

[Outrider]

You didn't offend me clip-clop. I agree with you. As I said, you have to be exremely careful when trying to back down a rearing horse, doing it from the side and not in front if at all possible. I have also found that a wider bat like crop does better than an actual stock whip. I had one made by a saddle maker friend. All it is is an old leather cinch strap folded double with a hard piece of leather cut to size between the folds. This whole thing is sewed together as one piece with a loop for the wrist. It isn't as painful as a thin stock whip and makes more "pop" and surprise across the chest than pain. The disadvantage is, that it is not as long as the stock whip, causing you to be closer than you might want. Certainly you can try join up or simply taking her away from where she wants to go, but I just don't think that will do the trick for one who wants to rear. It might. All I can say is what worked for me, and this was on a big, aggressive, 16 hh TB gelding. Each animal is different, and one of the tricks is finding out what works best for each animal you encounter.

Sherry, if you are on a rearing horse and can ride it out, just do that in my opinion. Once he is on the ground, I would immediately put it into some tight, fast circles. A horse can't rear when he is going in circles. Then move into some other work efforts. Poles, obstacles, pilons, whatever you can do to keep him moving. Take his mind off why he reared in the first place as well as the punishment of the tight circles. Just an old cowboy's humble opinion. Happy Trails!

[floppy]

my hrose reared the other day...must've been about 30cms off the ground..but she did it because she is in season adn there was a stallion in the riding hall so my mare played up and i was making her ride forward in trot and she was being a pain and starting buckign etc and so i push her on to trot fromt he buck and gave her 'whack' from my whip beucase she was beign absolutely ridicously stupid and she did a little rear but from then on she was ALMOSt fien and moved forward in trot and then when the stallion left i cantered her aroudn the arena for a bit...is this normal behavious of mares???silly mare...but this went on for about 30mins and my friend had to ride out half of this crazyness because my arms were killing me...after an hour both me and my friend rode back to the yard compeltely drained!

[FRED]

Hi floppy,this is what I call 'crow dancing'when the horse plays up just a little,usually a mare! in my case.I must touch wood now,just in case :D
This rearing sounds scarry,especialy if you are on the horse
I wish I could give advice,butI'm a humble beginner.
Hello Angel,my sister went to Shooting Butts on Cannock Chase,glad to have revived memories for you,sorry I can't help with your hores problem.
Fred

[floppy]

crow dancing? interesting..where did you get that from?
looking at the mare myself she looked more like a stallion showing himsef off..MARES eh..i hope they not all like this in season time!

[FRED]

Hello floppy,i got crow dancing mixed up with what Outrider calls Crow Hopping,if you ever watch a crow on the ground
when its caught something or courting,it kinda does this little dance routine,it reminds me of how some horses behave when they throw a little wobler{tantrum}I think crow dancinig is very fitting when the horse has a little wobler,usualy in my case when another horse trys to overtake{Sophie my favourite does not like being overtaken,she can get stroppy,but is always safe}We have to be very carefull when other horses are cantering too,I remember when you said your horse took off once when it seen another horse cantering,it would seem many horses would do this.
best wishes from Fred.

[floppy]

ahah...now i get it!:)

yes..my horse takes off after other horses when we are out alone...and SOMETIMES in company if a horse coems from nowhere and overtakes her...but ihave now realised that the only horse she does this with is the darned stallion!
and she doesnt like her 'best friend' overtaking her...then she throws a wobbly and has to run faster or try and kick out at the horse.

[angel]

i fred i wonder if your sister was in the same yr as me is she on line at all could you tell her me her name and what yr she was there.