rearing on hacks

[Bridget-louise]

my boy is completly perfect when hes inside his paddock and wheni ride him up one side of the street we dont have too many problems but as soon as we head in the opposite direction past the strawberry farm he gets relaly tense and begins to rear..he is fine when im leading him or even when someones leading me on him. when he rears im always petrified about him topling backwards but absoloutly nopthing can get him goin forward. ive tried the crop and he spazz's out and ive tried being gentle ANd being very firm but no matter what he just doesnt listen.
help?!

[chapman2006]

hya
my horse was like this and still is now and again i found that if i use a crop that he only gets worse so dont use a crop on him any more and just be very firm and he is getting much better now. it does take time and you must not jump off if you can help it and i know how hard it can be if yor scared. I have had my horse since january and he is just starting to learn who is boss. You also must keep on top of him riding him to that place everyday. Have you tried using a martingale. where abouts do you keep your horse

[KateWooten]

You should ALWAYS get off if you feel in danger, and you should not go ride by there again for a little while !!!

Why ? well, you're the horse's leader, you're there to protect him from mountain lions and horse-eating monsters. If you're scared, you tense up, and OMG just imagine how he's going to react - even his leader is scared, wow there must be a BIG mountain lion monster right here, just like he thought. If you can make yourself relax, breathe, exhale, and fake it, stay on, otherwise get off.


And 2 - why you should not go ride there rght now ? Because until you find a fix for this, you're juist repeating the same situation - practice makes perfect - you and he are practicing panicking, being scared and rearing !!

Ok, what to do. Go ride where you're safe and have some space. Establish some 'home base' exercises that you can do easily safely 100% of the time and that get your horse's focus back on you. My home base exercsise are : lateral flexion (just bending the horses head from one side to the other so he kisses your boot each time), moving the hindquarters a step over and walking round in a tiny tiny circle with horse's head bent right round. Whatever exercises you choose, the empasis is on lateral movement - not just forward and back - but sideways. Think about it.. if I tried to pull you, or push you forward or back you could easily resist me. If I pushed you sideways, you'd probably move - it's less easy to brace against.

Anyways, practice something so you can always do it well. Now, set out on the ride, just asking for a few steps forward at a time, then stop, relax, pet him, exhale. smiling and singing a silly song helps too, I usually go for the Macarena :) ) If at any stage he thinks about not stepping forward joyfully, then you go into your practiced exercises routine ... flex, flex, flex, step over,over,round, round round .... and face forward. Breathe, wait then ask him to walk forward again. All this moving his feet does two things : It gets his focus back on you, and away from the scary thing, and it reestablishes you as the leader - a leader is the one who makes his feet move. Oh, and it helps you relax too. So it's all good.

Just take it one step at a time until you're past the scary thing... then praise him ridiculously, pet him get off and take him home. Once you've practiced 'moving his hindquarters over' you've basically got it cracked becasue a horse can't rear with his legs crossed :) And if he can't rear he can't scare you. And if he can't scare you, he won't panic.
Kate

[KateWooten]

ooops forgot to mention ... my horse was 'like this' 3 months ago and is absolutley fantastic now - very very trustworthy and confident, so stick with the method because it works !! ( I didn't invent it obviously, it's the same thing any of the 'Natural Horsemanship trainers' w- like Clinton Anderson, or Parelli or whatever would say )

[Bridget-louise]

hmm that sounds like a good idea to try. My RI said that it might also be something to do with him not fully trusting me yet because when we went out id only had him something like 3 weeks. So atm we're in the paddock perfecting our rising trot and collection but hes such a beautiful boy id love to be able to trail ride on him.

[KateWooten]

absolutely you should go out on hacks !!! I love schooling but there's no substitute for getting out in the real world for building up a partnership. The 'get your focus back on me quick' exercises are slightly different from the typical english schooling - not better, not worse, just different. Schooling typically focusses on getting the horse 'going better'. That's a long-term goal. These flexing and focus skills really get the horse's attention quick. They're for use in an impending 'emergency situation' ... whenever you feel the horse is beginning to be out of control and not listen to you. You get his attention straight back, and you stop the situation escalating. you will find it's quite a quick fix when done consistently. My little mare was rearing, backing up, refusing to go past a particular point on the Monday, and was happily hacking out with ears forward and a smily face by the Friday.

[CurlyWurlyRach]

eeek. My mare rears. ive been advised to use a whip with a rope end (like a lungeing whip - but not that long obviously!) on her neck when she goes up so she learns to associate the cracking sound with something shes done wrong.
I hope you sort it :)

[Steph351]

my boy is completly perfect when hes inside his paddock and wheni ride him up one side of the street we dont have too many problems but as soon as we head in the opposite direction past the strawberry farm he gets relaly tense and begins to rear..he is fine when im leading him or even when someones leading me on him. when he rears im always petrified about him topling backwards but absoloutly nopthing can get him goin forward. ive tried the crop and he spazz's out and ive tried being gentle ANd being very firm but no matter what he just doesnt listen.
help?!

you are probably nervous when you ride past the strawberries the other way on your own. your horse picks up on those nerves which frightens him and he rears.try to be more confident when riding past and use t-touch in small circles on his neck. to use t-touch rotate your fingers on different patches of skin each time. vary the pressure you put on.

[jenren!!]

My mare can be like this.

All i can say though is that crops do not work for all horses and often makes the problem worse. If you feel you are losing confidence and dont feel safe, dont do it. Life's too short. When you are more confident, and want a challenge then go for it. No point in scaring yourself to death trying to solve the problem when you know you wont solve it being terrified. Is this on your own? If so, if you feel ok ride there in company and see what he is like.

I know you want to solve the problem, but wasting your time going there when you're nervous will not help, it will just make the situation worse. Ride about where you're both comfortable, and when you feel confident, and believe you are capable of handling him when he does this, then go for it.

Sounds like a fear thing and reassurement is all he needs and encouragement. If you're frightened of giving him this in case he goes up then you are not ready to handle the situation. If possible ask someone experienced to take her there and see how she reacts. As KateWooten said take it one step at a time. You will get there in the end and you will solve the problem.

Good luck :)

Jenny