Ever had a horse fall on you whilst rearing?

A profesional rearer knows exactly what it is doing and is most unlikely to go over backwards, An enthusiastic amateur however will land on its ++++. Either way certain rough riding techniques are required. You need to have a strong and independant seat . You go forwards as far as possible and to the side of the neck . Stirrup irons will probably have been lost by this point. If they seem to be too far gone step/swing off around the neck. The horse that simply throws itself up and over onto its back ,fortunately very rare ,should be shot.
 
Lulup said:
A livery on my yard is having issues with her young ex racer rearing at moments when required to stand still - she is working on this and it is getting less and less but having witnessed it I am very concerned that the horse may go over backwards as it rears absolutely vertical and stays up for what seems like ages!

She is dealing with it her own way but I am just interested to hear from people who have had a horse go over with them - did your confidence survive??
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Personally I wouldn't have a regular rearer, its not worth the risk. A friends horse (who generally only napped a bit, not rearing) was going hacking and the horse reared trying not to leave the yard, slipped on concrete and went over backwards, on the way down the horse banged its head and was killed instantly leaving my friend trapped under her dead horse. Yes, accidents happen, but its so much more likely to happen if the horse rears regularly……


I have been reared off the back of my old horse that went vertical, after that i never fully trusted him and got rid pretty quickly……
 
Mike007 said:
A profesional rearer knows exactly what it is doing and is most unlikely to go over backwards
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Even pros make mistakes though Mike.

And if you miss that 'throw the reins forward' moment as a rider, you'll pull it over yourself. Princess Sparkle has an amazing technique to ride hers - if you look closely at her latest photo of her professional, and vertical, rearer, you'll see she actually manages to loop a piece of rein in front of the neck and hang on to it for dear life with both hands. It's extremely skilful Even when I was her age, (decades ago :D) and riding other people's failure horses, I couldn't/wouldn't have been doing that :eek:

Princess, can you post the picture I mean, or give me permission to point to it?
 
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Never thankfully, had a pony go vertical and then I slid down over its bum and landed on my feet. My current boy will 'bounce' with his front feet, he has reared properly only twice when I was blocking him and he had no where else to go so popped a rear in… doesn't do it anymore but then I manage those situations differently by allowing him somewhere to go.
The thought of a horse going over with me terrifies me, it's the reason I wear and exo and point2 xc. :( wouldn't entertain a nasty rearer…the pony went swiftly after that episode and the rodeo than ensued afterwards!
 
Breitlingh is a rearer and some of you may have seen some video of her on her with her airs above ground performances. Happy to report that with time, patience and a very good classical dressage instructor, it is getting less and less. We may never completely cure it which is why we will never sell her. My daughter is used to her now and knows how to handle it.
30+ years ago I was riding my cousin's pony who had started to rear. She reared with me but apparently forgot I was a lot older than my cousin therefore a lot bigger and lost her balance and we toppled over backwards. Luckily neither of us was hurt as it was a very muddy field and we had a soft landing. She never reared again after that!
 
I had one go over backwards when i was riding one and leading another and had a badly crushed pelvis and internal stuff. I wasn't quick enough to put my arms round his neck and still hate pheasants to this day, as one of these dumb birds flying up underneath him was the cause of it.
I can choose what I ride now and won't entertain one that rears.
 
One of my instructors had bought an ex racer to re-train and was having issues with him rearing up when being asked to stand still. He did go over a few times but somehow she managed to constantly escape unscathed. She tried carrying a raw egg in her hand (old wives tale) but due to him going up vertically I think anyone would find it impossible to crack an egg over a horses poll whilst you're hanging on for dear life!!

What she did was fit a neck strap to constantly hang on to with 1 hand and when he went up she would give him a smack with a crop under the belly just behind the girth. I saw her do that on a few occasions we hacked out and he came back down very quickly. 2 years after purchase and he still didn't like standing still but thankfully just jogged on the spot, so the rearing did stop but after a long time and a lot of discipline. I wouldn't have trusted him though.

I've only been on a rearing horse once when I was working at a yard, I came off taking a chunk of his mane with me, he was almost vertical but didn't go over, however when he went back down he did a huge buck/kick which missed me by inches. I refused to get on it again which cost me my job. I was quite happy with that, I didn't earn enough money to die or end up paralyzed. I draw the line with ones that have reared or rolled, 2 very nasty habits.
 
Once when I was riding at a RS as a teenager. It was a 14hh pony, it reared and flybucked regularly (was backed at 7 and a bit crazy, not sure why it was given to kids). I was using it for gymkhana games and doing egg and spoon bending poles. Went to turn right and I think I must have tugged too hard because she just threw herself over and to the side..I got mostly out of the way, she landed on my leg but it was just bruised.

Same pony flipped over with my younger sister at a show (sister would've been 10 at the time I suppose). She was just waiting to go in to an arena, standing around, and the pony did the exact same thing. She was also unhurt, but stopped riding the pony. Her confidence (and mine!) has not been dented, but it might be a different story if our own horses did it to us now.

Mine rears, but never goes completely vertical so I don't worry about him going over. He is an idle ****** naturally but rears if he gets spooked, and used to do it whenever we had to halt and move off (but seems to be mostly cured of this now). His trick is to rodeo buck when he lands, but thankfully only does this whole thing when something has wound him up and he's fresh.
 
I have had a couple. One who I was sent to bring on and sell, but got him PTS instead- it was he go to thing. Somedays you would be fine, some days you would go to get on and boom... he would do it a lot on the ground too. One day I was trying to load him- he got half way up the ramp, grunted then flipped over. He knocked himself out for a bit- I thought I had killed it!
Another was a horse I was riding for someone- going very nicely, didn't back off or do anything, gave me no hint, and flipped right over. The owner was surprised when I said I wasn't getting back on!
Oh and an old broodmare I got to bring back into work, she kept flipping, or her favourite trick- randomly throw herself on the floor. She was just retired and lived her days out doing nothing!
 
I broke my leg getting landed on by a rearer, and am not hugely keen on horses that go up. My ex had his ribs broken by his anglo when he pulled her over on top of him. That was a case of she didn't mean to go over, but his inexperience led to it happening. People always say if they hit there heads they don't do it again, well this horse has flipped over on concrete, I did the girth up, she pulled the tie ring out of the wall (string didn't snap) and bronked, stood up and fell over. She also reared under an overhang one day and brought down half the roof. However, she doesn't rear much these days, and he gets off if he thinks she is going to, leads her till she calms down, and pops back on.
I wouldn't buy a horse that was known to rear, but will deal with it quite happily. Friend has recently bought a new horse for her daughter, which had apparently never done anything like it, but has since it has arrived. Teeth have now been done, were seriously sharp, and she is much better, but there is still work to do. I a using the very tight circle when I think it is happening technique, and it appears to be working.
 
Only once a TB I was riding for someone else out hunting when up and flipped over with no warning one moment trotting along the next flat on my back with horse rolling off me , it was soft ground luckily .
 
A friends mother now has no bladder after a run in with a rearing horse, It fell over backwards and broke all four corners of her pelvis, ruptured her bladder and left her needing a bag for the rest of her life.

Rearers are just not worth the risk.

Suggest to your friend that she does not try to make the horse stand whilst its fresh, give it plenty of work first so that it is tired, face it away from home and keep halt as short as possible.

This is not normal racehorse behaviour but that of an excitable naughty horse.
 
There is also a bit of a difference between rearers and flippers (most people never meet the latter, as they often don't make it past the backing stage) but if a horse loses its balance rearing you're just as squished.

For some horses, it's their "thing" - they do it when they're fresh, in the field, playing etc. Which is not to say it's not a problem, just that you have to understand where it's coming from. If a horse is rearing out of tension or pain or bad training it needs sorting, preferably with, at least, professional supervision.

I never understand people who are cavalier about having horses with habits like that - I know so many for whom it's ended badly. Saying "oh, he won't do x or concrete" or "he knows what she's doing" just isn't realistic. I knew a lovely jumper whose owner let him stand up all the time. One day he turned over on his ankle doing it and that was that. Yes, accidents happen but I don't really think that was an accident. True, sometimes there has to be room for compromise with a talented horse - event horses that stand up in the box are almost a cliche and hard to fix because you can't reproduce the situation in training - but even in those situations, the riders rarely think it's a joke.
 
I rode at an raf saddle club as a teenager. I used to take rides out and once borrowed a liveries horse to do so. He went to bomb off up the hill that people regularly cantered up!!! I checked him, he reversed into a bush and when he hit it threw himself over on top of me!!! Landed right on top of me but somehow I didn't break anything (although I never had an X-ray). I was black front and back from my shoulders to my knees, with a big haematoma on my left hip joint and the side of my thigh. Got some Lovely scar tissue there which is cultivating some gorgeous cellulite lol.

I am now very choosy about what I ride. I do get on my friends youngster who has gone up before but only in the school when he's being good after she has ridden him and I have jumped off him before just because he backed up. He's much much better though. I don't ride him much just his mum!!!
 
My girl is a rearer- and is well practised and versed in it, favourite places include school corners where you can look over your shoulder and see the outside of the arena.

But so far (touchwood) never comes backwards. I had an awful fall and broke my back off a rodeo style charge, so I would rather they rear personally. Def a skill with reins and hands forward that I have mastered!!
 
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