Dealing with rearing

[Cop-Pop]

My TBx was in a mood yesterday - spooking, falling in etc. When I made her work she had a tantrum and reared right up. I admit I panicked a bit but I gave her a hard smack with the schooling whip on her backside. She immediatly went down on all fours and the rest of the session went well and she behaved herself.

When I got off 10 mins later there was mark where I had smacked her and my friend immediately had a go at me for being too harsh. From my POV my mare marks easily and it was gone a few moments later when she cooled down, and she dropped down and behaved afterwards. Also she has never reared before and IMO it's a dangerous habit so it needed to be stopped there and then.

My friend rang my instructor to 'tell on me'

and she said people deal with it in different ways (I think she was being diplomatic as we're both pupils).

Was I too harsh? How does everyone else deal with it?

 

[MizElz]

Of course you're not being too harsh!!!! A whack on the backside sounds like it was more than deserved, so certainly dont beat yourself up over it. My mare marks very easily too, so I know what its like to see the mark and think 'OMG, how hard did I hit her!??!?!'

Rearing is dangerous and is a blatant example of bad behaviour, and you were right to persevere and ride her through her tantrum. My instructor once had a pony in for schooling that was a chronic rearer; he was very gentle with it, giving it every opportunity at first to get its own act together. Eventually, every 'normal' method was exhausted; even rearing so high it fell over backwards did not deter it. So one day, he got on it with a length of plastic drainpipe, and when it reared, he whacked it between the ears!

Very un-PC, I'm sure, and I wouldnt recommend it, but he only had to do it once; the pony has not reared since!

 

[HorseS0S]

First of all, how babyish is your "friend", I couldnt deal with that!!!

Second, of all you are obviously a nice person to be getting our opinions. You are right, it is a dangerous habit and if the horse is not normally a rearer then it needs to be punished straight away.
Luckily my boy doesnt rear but my sisters' horse does very very rarely, She has had to do exactly the same, a short, sharp telling off.
There will be some other, external problem maybe that should be investigated to make sure she isnt in pain or saddle isnt pinching, something like that but if all is ok and she wasny spooked then I think you dealt with it correctly. If it carries on, look into getting her backed checked etc...
Honestly though she is just being a bit mare-y!!! That is why I have boys!!!!

 

[Demolition_Derby]

My horse felt it neccessary to rear at a hunt meet once, I gave her such a smack she nearly sat down

. She also had a mark on her bum (for most the day

) but she has never ever done it since

. I think you did the right thing, I am sure a lot of people will tell you that you were too harsh but I firmly believe that you must nip these things in the bud and make it very clear that this sort of behaviour will not under any circumstance be tolerated

. Well done to you I say

!!

 

[alicep]

i dont think you were harsh. with rearing it is important to nip it in the bud before it becomes habit. i used to give my mare a smack on the neck/shoulder -not too hard, just enough to tell her im not happy about this. she usually would stop but i never managed to conquer it in the long run and in the end she was doing it even when being led.

alot of people say that a tap between the ears when they go up works as they think they have hit something but i dont think i could bring myself to ever do that.

 

[Jo C]

[ QUOTE ]

Honestly though she is just being a bit mare-y!!! That is why I have boys!!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm could you tell my gelding this please as he too was waggling his front feet in the air yesterday.

I think its the grass at this time of year.

 

[jumpthemoon]

If it was out of character I'd get all checks done like back, teeth, tack etc to make sure nothing was causing her pain. My horse has a tendancy to rear when he's under pressure - usually out hacking if he's on his own/in front. I don't hit him because a) I'd be taking my hand of the rein therefore not able to be fully in control and b) it makes him worse and doesn't prevent him doing it again.

The way I deal with it is to turn his head round so that his nose is almost touching my toe, when I feel him threaten. This way, he can't go anywhere, he can't rear and he eventually gets fed up of looking at my foot and decides forwards is better.

If it was a one off and your mare paid attention and doesn't do it again, then fine - the smack obviously sorted it. However, if you have more problems with rearing, IMO smacking isn't the best way to deal with it long term.

 

[SSM]

Rearing is dangerous and must be dealt with, if it worked then good - Donkey marks easily and often comes back from a schooling session well marked - She must listen to me.

 

[MizElz]

[ QUOTE ]
Rearing is dangerous and must be dealt with, if it worked then good - Donkey marks easily and often comes back from a schooling session well marked - She must listen to me.

[/ QUOTE ]

Off topic, but reading this post has made me a bit sad; many months ago I came in for a lot of stick for saying that I had been forced to smack Ellie out on the roads when she was being an eejit, and that it had marked her coat....I was made to feel that I had used cruel and unneccessary force, because no one else would admit to having a horse who marked easily. But there are obviously plenty out there!

I once tried a horse who was so ticklish and sensitive, he bucked everytime you touched him with your heels; they had to twitch him to get the saddle on!

 

[Cop-Pop]

Thanks guys I don't feel like such a bad mummy now

She's only reared twice - once in hand and once yesterday and I think it was part of the tantrum

She has her back done every 3 months (she does have a back problem but it's getting better - she's had it for years and the back person said she's fine to be ridden) and her teeth were done in April.

 

[Sarah1]

1st of all what I'll say is that I have no problems whatsoever with a horse getting a smack every now & again if the behaviour warrants it - they're bl00dy big animals & need to be kept in check.
However, having said all that I'll tell you exactly what my instructor told me to do when my boy starts humping, bucking, rearing & basically faffing about when I'm asking him to work in the school - kick him forwards.
He said that a horse that is truly in front of the leg will not play up like that & he's even proved it to me!
When your horse plays up kick her on around the school - in canter if needs be & don't hold her back with the reins - you'll soon feel her back off a little & then you know she's ready for some work. After kicking her on put her on a circle & start your work incorporating some lateral work & if my experience is anything to go by you'll not have problems with her rearing.
I do realise though that if you're hacking it's not always possible to just kick the horse forwards.
BTW, you're not a bad Mummy, she was anuaghty girl & got a telling off for it!

 

[arwenplusone]

I'm with Jumpthemoon here, but mostly because if I smack my mare like that when she rears she will then bronc

She normally rears when she doesn't want to go forward so my way of dealing with it would be to pull her head round to my toe (either one) and turn her in circles, kicking hard - this makes it really uncomfortable for her - after a few turns we walk calmly on.

it is worth noting that your horse cannot rear if his (or her) legs are not square, hence why tight circles are so good.

Having said that, in your situation you were right to do something (doesn't really matter what that is but you HAVE to react). She has to know she has done wrong and if she understands the whip, then fair enough.

I think your friend is immature & needs to worry about her own riding, not yours.

 

[ladyt25]

My pony used to mark very easily, came up in huge weals and I used to feel very guilty but I honestly cannot say i ever smacked him very hard!

Rearing, as everyone says, needs to be stopped. My sister's old horse developed a serious rearing problem and we never managed to solve it, other than to not pressure him to doing the things that brought it on (jumping). I came off him once smack on my back/pelvis and lost the feeling in my legs momentarily. I still suffer a bit now but I realised then it's too dangerous a vice to put up with.

My own horse has reared about twice in his life as a youngster - once cos he was excited doing x-country training as he was the last to go and once when he didn't wnat to go ina water fence. He has never done it since as he generally wants to please and enjoys what he does. I think the smack you've given could have shocked her enough and I'd put it down to her getting confused maybe with what you were asking her and maybe just blew her mind a bit and having a 'tantrum' was what she needed to do!

My assumption is it's a young horse and they will have tantrums but sounds like you finished your session positively so i wouldn't be too worried. Ignore your friend's comments!

 

[Daisy11]

you was not to harsh a horse behaving in this matter is a very dangerous manner and should be sorted and you was right to act in this manner