Anyone ride a rearer?

floradora09

floradora09

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I ride one. Never get a TB chestnut mare! She was really good through the winter, but since she came into season for the first time this summer she's been a nightmare! Every time I ask her to stand she goes straight up. I've been told to hit her on the head when she does, so I did, but she went straight up again. It's really scaring me, and if her behavior doesn't improve I can't see that I'll be riding her for much longer. Both her parents were rearers so not surprise there really, we have put her on a calmer too though, although it hasn't had enough time to have an effect. And, for the first time in ages, I'm nervous before I get on her. I'm also pretty disheartened because she's getting worse, making me think that it's my fault. But I guess she has just moved fields onto more grass.

But yeah, anyone else out there? I feel lonely!
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Can understand your feelings... never heard about the tap on the head though.

If it's only because of her season... Are you using something for her season??? Try GlobalHerbs FriskyMare - if all else fails, the vets have stronger medication... heard of plenty of people using such drugs for their horses.
 
Have you had back, teeth and saddle checked? I used to ride a rearer and thought I could cope with it until she went over on me one day and put me out for weeks, as well as scaring the hell out of me - slow motion of 1/2 tonn of horse coming down on top of you is not fun. My opinion is rearers are very dangerous, either get the problem solved by someone professional or stop riding the mare... sorry blunt but i learnt the hard way.
 
Thanks, no it's fine- I don't really enjoy riding her anymore anyway. No way am I risking my life for her, what's the point?

Not had her checked, I'll talk to her owner. And thanks for the link- I'll take a look!
 
I did, but realised life is too short and couldn’t risk being injured. I would never ever have a rearer again. Sorry that’s not much help at all.
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I have heard about the hitting the horses head but in a different twist....


I was always told to stop a horse rearing the thing to do was crack an egg on it's head when it rears.....

The horse thinks it's bleeding as the egg runs down its face...

I haven't tried it myself as I haven't had the need but I am told it works.
 
Could be that she has a physical problem so agree with Sunny08 about the back, teeth, saddle, etc. However, my four year old has just started this as an evasion tactic and I've just about stopped it.

When she reared I smacked her behind the saddle and rode strongly forward into canter. After half a circle I calmly asked for trot and carried on riding. As soon as she tried to rear again I just repeated the exercise. She realised that as an evasion it wasn't working and gave up! She's looking for whole new ways to evade now instead :-)

I should add that I had ascertained that there was nothing physically wrong first and I was in a hired indoor school - a very safe environment where she couldn't hurt herself or others and I've been riding for 30 years!!

If you're having problems, your best bet would really be to get a good instructor and get them to help you work through it.
 
Oh yes, apparently that works too, although not sure if I'd be able to time it right.

But to be honest, I don't think I should be doing these things. I think that any horse I ride should have the manners not to rear in the first place, especially as I ride her to Pony Club her, and she's not very Pony Clubby at the moment.
 
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I have heard about the hitting the horses head but in a different twist....


I was always told to stop a horse rearing the thing to do was crack an egg on it's head when it rears.....

The horse thinks it's bleeding as the egg runs down its face...

I haven't tried it myself as I haven't had the need but I am told it works.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have heard that about an egg
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... but always wondered how you would manage to have the egg handy and be quick enough to 'do the deed' ... would take a lot of guts and expertise, I woud imagine
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my mare reared with me and had me off on the first ever ride on her, touch wood she has not done it since and that was nearly a year ago.
I was told if I know she's going to do it again then to give her a sharp turn on the reins, but have also heard of the egg one
 
My horse is/was a rearer. It took me months to get the condifence to get on her and start working her through it. This time last year I couldn't go anywhere near her without being petrified and crying. (She reared all the time i.e in field, being led, in the stable being ridden etc.) Took quite a long time to get her through it but last weekend we won our first event. So it just shows it can be worked on and made better. She still does little rears from time to time but no where near as big or as often as she used too.
So I completely understand what you're going through and I very nearly gave up on Suni (a number of times) but I'm so glad I didn't!
 
Mmm, thats the other thing, she has so much scope that I know when she comes good, she'll be amazing, but it's whether I want to risk myself in the time training it out of her. I don't know, but all I feel at the moment is that I don't want to ride her, and love riding my other pony.
 
If you don't want to ride her then lunge her. Lungeing was the main thing I did with Suni for months because I didn't want to ride her. The great thing about lungeing is that when she goes up you can really get after her and get her going forward. Obviously you have to be ready for her to rush forward but it's better to get her thinking forward, rather than backward.
 
I used draw reins on the rearer i rode, but then again there's different types of rearer. I kept them quite loose and they only came in to play to stop him from being able to get his head up enough to rear. He did get bored of trying and stopped doing it so much after a few weeks, but it was always there and if he was pushed out of his comfort zone, up he'd go. (he was all checked, no physical problems). Are manners established on the ground? Sometimes i think you need to go back and start from the very basics when it's an established habit, but someone very experienced is better off doing that.

If you don't enjoy riding her, then don't. If she's not yours, then it's not down to you to put yourself at risk sorting someone elses horse out.
 
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Never get a TB chestnut mare!



[/ QUOTE ] or get one crossed with arab :P

mum said if mine ever reared like she has done; or if i got on another that reared; ride with a whip that has a flat end

and smack them in between their ears until they stop;
i know it sounds cruel

but as my uncle says: you have to be cruel to be kind

it has worked for him lots of times

he once had one that reared in the stable as he came out, so he put a railway sleeper above the stable, he hit his head once and never reared again. didnt hurt, just stunned.


obviously before you start any work you need to get the horse checked physically
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my horse is a very consistent rearer
he gets higher and higher everytime and i just have to hang on, wouldn't dare hit him on the head as he has always been a bit headshy since we got him
 
FWIW i think smacking over the head will only cause more problems, it's a stupid quick fix, and quick fixes making use of pain or fear only cause more problems. I've seen the head smacking go horribly wrong, and in fact it made the horse i mentioned above worse.

And the railway sleeper is a good way to permanently damage your horse.

If you want a headshy horse who still rears, or maybe an injured horse, or even a dead one (numerous stories of head injuries resulting in animals being put down) then give this method a go.

I also did a lot of ground work and work on the lunge with said horse, and WORK is the key word in solving any problem with horses.
 
Im nto sure how true this is but it works for mine...
If you can anticipate the rear turn the horses head (quite alot) to the side ( i think the side you turn it to depends on which leg they lead with when they go up) as they cant rear or cant rear anywhere near as bad.
Hope this helps it seems to work with mine but only when i can feel hes going to !
X
 
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Every time I ask her to stand she goes straight up.

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IMO this is better than rearing to evade going forward. My young horse likes to keep moving, especially if she's worrying about anything and insisting on halting results in rears. I just don't insist on halting. Its mostly a problem on the roads where she's most anxious and the situation often requires stopping and waiting. I just only pull in somewhere wide enough to keep spinning in circles and as long as she keeps moving the rears don't get any bigger than bunny hops.

Don't ask your horse to stand, get on and ride it forward. Keep going until its relaxed and working well and then just quietly think stop and let the horse creep to a halt then pat her and quickly ask her to walk on again. You also need to remain chilled out and be happy to let the horse keep going forward, if you get tense or insistent I expect you will just get bigger rears or plunges.
 
Can I just add that pulling a rein to the side should only be done be a person who is experienced with rearers. This is because if you pull at the wrong time you could pull the horse over. Which would result in a squished you. It has to be done at the right time or it could make things worse. I was once told that when my horse reared I should kick and shout as if a herd of elephants was stampeding at me. Not sure about that extreme but I find being firm with my voice and kicking/sqeezing does help. The key is forward. So don't think of it as stopping the horse going up, think of it as keeping the horse going forwards. So with this is In mind wouldn't recommend any of the old wives tales about hitting on the head.
I agree with the person above that the key is work, there's no quick fix.
 
I did have a rearer. He was very good at it, never went over with me but at the time I was just unable to cope with it. I sent him away to a guy for a week who he did go over with and when we got him back he never did it as much.

Although male rider had very strong legs, and when the horse tried to rear to pulled him hard to one side, so it was impossible for the horse to go up. This works very well, but you need to be strong (mentally and physically) enough to do it.

I have also herad of tying their tails up to their girth, as without being able to use their tails to balance, they simply won't risk standing on two legs. this worked very well for a friend who had a rearer.

Other than that, rearing is not a fun or 'cool' thing for a horse to do. If it ruins your enjoyment of riding, and knocks your confidence, then it is not worth it. My last horse destroyed my confidence. I would get someone very experienced with this kind of behaviour to help you work it through, or send her away to someone you trust to have this issue worked out with someone who is more experience, and won't be nervous.

If I knew the people I know now with my old horse I would have been able to work through the problems, I just didn't have the right help or experience at the time
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FWIW i think smacking over the head will only cause more problems, it's a stupid quick fix, and quick fixes making use of pain or fear only cause more problems. I've seen the head smacking go horribly wrong, and in fact it made the horse i mentioned above worse.

And the railway sleeper is a good way to permanently damage your horse.

If you want a headshy horse who still rears, or maybe an injured horse, or even a dead one (numerous stories of head injuries resulting in animals being put down) then give this method a go.

I also did a lot of ground work and work on the lunge with said horse, and WORK is the key word in solving any problem with horses.

[/ QUOTE ]
Completely agree with all the above .Its normally napping or evasion and a good instructor and gaining horses confidence and trust will really help.I managed to get my tb through the problems and my new mare does mini rear and spin if she scared .I am very calm with her and she now has confidence with me and its nearly stopped.The egg on head is old wives tale.Horses dont think that way.
Make sure you dont pull on horses mouth if you feel she is going up giving the rein and leaning forward can sometimes help , circling also helped my horse or asking for trot to get him going forward before he started evading. This was a youngsters problem for both my horses.
 
My horse rears but purely because of saddle fit/ back pain etc. Or he'll go up if he's 'spooking' and being a bit stubborn
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He's also got the whole thing down to an art lol. I've only really got to the other side by getting totally bored of it. I know it sounds stupid, but the more they do it, the more boring it gets, and the more firm you are for them to just get the hell on with it .

Sorry, pointless comment, but thought i'd add.
 
Personally if anybody tried to smack me over the head it would make me even worse FFS! Where the hell did some of you people learn what you think is horsemanship!!!

Get some help with the horse or send it to somebody who can help the poor animal. It obviously has a problem and it is way too big for the likes of you to sort out.
 
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Personally if anybody tried to smack me over the head it would make me even worse FFS! Where the hell did some of you people learn what you think is horsemanship!!!

Get some help with the horse or send it to somebody who can help the poor animal. It obviously has a problem and it is way too big for the likes of you to sort out.

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A little bit personal and could have been phrased better IMO. But I agree maybe you could talk to the owner about getting a professional to help out. Explain how it's making you feel and see what they say.
 
Just to add, with my boy as he goes up, he does a little one and then goes right up. If your horse does a warning like this etc, really get after her with your legs and give her a firm smack behind the saddle and just turn her into a 10m circle, not a sharp one etc. The bending / moving on a circle means they can't go up.

If however they go right up , when you can tell they're at their heighest etc, growl like you've never growled before
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Darcy hits the ground and scoots off in suprise and i can put money on the fact he won't do it again , for that session anyway.
 
Yes, I could have been more tactfull but the more I read silly advice like that the more I loose my patients. It is absolutely the wrong thing to do to a horse that rears. Thease horses should only be dealt with by experienced and Knowledgeable people.
 
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