Excited/nappy rearing

[reindeerlover]

Hi all, just wanted some advice really.. My new horse is fantastic in almost every way (still a bit too fat though ). She has taken to getting a bit nappy when she's excited, tossing her head and rearing. This happens when she has no contact with her mouth just as much as when she does. She rears right up and spins when she lands. I have tried slapping her on the shoulder or neck as she comes down but she ignores it. She also doesn't care if I gentle her, pat her, sing to her etc... She is fine in any other situation, no rearing unless she's excited.

Does anyone have any bright ideas (not involving eggs please)?

 

[Jzee]

No advice as I'm rubbish at that sort of stuff! But I've always wondered how you are meant to carry an egg round on a hack without breaking it!!

Good luck and hope you sort it!

 

[AmyMay]

Is there a particular situation where this happens?

 

[reindeerlover]

No advice as I'm rubbish at that sort of stuff! But I've always wondered how you are meant to carry an egg round on a hack without breaking it!!

Good luck and hope you sort it!

thank you- if it comes to eggs I'll post the experience!!

Is there a particular situation where this happens?

Amymay, she's an ex polopony and I have her for polocrosse. She particularly does it when asked to stand still for any reason such as when we're lining up to have the ball thrown in. She never attempts it when in the heat of the game. She has doen it once out on a hack when we have had a gallop, gone through a gate and I wanted her to turn back to close the gate and stand still next to it.

I have tried making her stand still and relaxed not doing anything when everyone else gallops around and she is fine unless we're actually playing (and then it would be madness to do that!). Also, she stands next to other horses who are unperturbed about standing still and she still does it.

 

[soulfull]

I would just turn her in tight circles as soon as you think she may do it, then stand, repeat if necessary. sounds like she just like to keep doing and not waiting around and has possibly been allowed to get away with it at some point, or never asked to do it

 

[Suziq77]

Where are you based? If you want advice on how to overcome rearing at the same time as making sure whatever you do helps your polocrosse you could do a lot worse than have a lesson with Jason Webb in Kent.

 

[reindeerlover]

I would just turn her in tight circles as soon as you think she may do it, then stand, repeat if necessary. sounds like she just like to keep doing and not waiting around and has possibly been allowed to get away with it at some point, or never asked to do it

She will do tight circles without doing it but when asked to stand again she does the same thing. She will have had to line up at polo but it is slightly different and not as frequent! I will certainly try some more circling but she does need to stand still at soem point- rearing may get us sent off

 

[reindeerlover]

Where are you based? If you want advice on how to overcome rearing at the same time as making sure whatever you do helps your polocrosse you could do a lot worse than have a lesson with Jason Webb in Kent.

Thank you, we're a bit far from Jason! I have a wealth of experience nearby wih polocrosse but (and this sounds a bit stupid) I'd like to be able to overcome the problem on my own. This is obviously something new for her as she wouldn't have done it while playing polo and it is clearly made worse by the difference between the sports but it's not something that I can replicate daily to get her used to it. I don't know if there is another solution really, maybe just hoping for the impossible!

 

[soulfull]

when she stand still even if only for a few seconds, praise her lots and always try to make it your idea to move before she gets chance to do it herself.

you could do some inhand stand in similar places, so she learns your tone of voice. treats when she stands still for longer than normal

 

[Aces_High]

Can you use a standing martingale on her? When their heads are tied down, they cannot get the momentum to rear. When we break the yearlings in they all have a standing martingale type on them in that they wear a headcollar under their bridles and then the standing martingale is clipped to some string on the headcollar. Exactly the same principle as a standing martingale.
Just adding that the horse's head is not "tied down" in that they cannot move.

 

[AmyMay]

Amymay, she's an ex polopony and I have her for polocrosse. She particularly does it when asked to stand still for any reason such as when we're lining up to have the ball thrown in. She never attempts it when in the heat of the game. She has doen it once out on a hack when we have had a gallop, gone through a gate and I wanted her to turn back to close the gate and stand still next to it.

I have tried making her stand still and relaxed not doing anything when everyone else gallops around and she is fine unless we're actually playing (and then it would be madness to do that!). Also, she stands next to other horses who are unperturbed about standing still and she still does it.

How many times have you played polocrosse with her? It sounds to me as if once the initial excitement of the pony parties has died down she'll probably stop doing it.

In your shoes I would ignore and sit it out.......

Easy for me to say though

 

[reindeerlover]

when she stand still even if only for a few seconds, praise her lots and always try to make it your idea to move before she gets chance to do it herself.

you could do some inhand stand in similar places, so she learns your tone of voice. treats when she stands still for longer than normal

Thank you, I will definately do that when ridden. She is fine in hand, it's just when she's playing.

Can you use a standing martingale on her? When their heads are tied down, they cannot get the momentum to rear. When we break the yearlings in they all have a standing martingale type on them in that they wear a headcollar under their bridles and then the standing martingale is clipped to some string on the headcollar. Exactly the same principle as a standing martingale.
Just adding that the horse's head is not "tied down" in that they cannot move.

I can use a standing martingale actually, she's always played polo in running reins and things so that would certainly have stopped her doing it then. I used head check initially but she went mental although I think it may have been too tight and I haven't used one since. She is a stocky little Argie pony so quite short in the neck and it's hard to find the right size- great idea though, I'll get one on her tomorrow to see how it goes.

 

[reindeerlover]

How many times have you played polocrosse with her? It sounds to me as if once the initial excitement of the pony parties has died down she'll probably stop doing it.

In your shoes I would ignore and sit it out.......

Easy for me to say though

*shuffles feet* er... only 1 tournament and 2 practices..... She should be used to the whole exciting game though- she used to play 4 times per week! I do sit it out and to be fair, rearing doesn't scare me although I know it's bad. I just don't want to be sent off or worse, hurt someone.

 

[AmyMay]

*shuffles feet* er... only 1 tournament and 2 practices..... She should be used to the whole exciting game though- she used to play 4 times per week! I do sit it out and to be fair, rearing doesn't scare me although I know it's bad. I just don't want to be sent off or worse, hurt someone.

But if she hasn't done it for some time - she may well be getting wound up and excited at the prospect of what is to come.

I've known previously rock steady hunters who've not hunted for a few years absolutely blow a gaskett when they've started again - until the routine became more established.

 

[soulfull]

Thank you, I will definately do that when ridden. She is fine in hand, it's just when she's playing.

In that case use the inhand stand to teach her. use the word 'stand' and for as long as she is standing still, keep repeating it and praise her. Then translate it to ridden.

*shuffles feet* er... only 1 tournament and 2 practices..... She should be used to the whole exciting game though- she used to play 4 times per week! I do sit it out and to be fair, rearing doesn't scare me although I know it's bad. I just don't want to be sent off or worse, hurt someone.

no need to shuffle feet, think of it as thinking ahead

practice standing lots at home, canter round then stand using the word and again lots of praise, then keep repeating it. she will learn that standing still is a good thing.

 

[d_s]

my pony does this; she bounces on the spot - not ever full on rears, just up halfway and spin. she does it when excited, when scared or annoyed or evading...

ive had her 4 years, nearly 5 - and its got less frequent and less dangerous now BUT she still does it!!!
i have done the turning on circles thing and she just keeps circlingand manages to still bounce.

ive tried kicking and pushing and pulling and tugging and shouting and given her a slap, even hit her on her head in between her ears - she still does it lol.

how old is she? mines 20 now and i dont think im ever going to get her to stop if its not going to get you sent off (hopefully it wont) and it doesnt get any worse or dangerous then maybe its just her way of being excited?

i dont really konw what to suggest other than sitting it out and see i you can associate it with different things and what sets it off

xx

 

[Tammytoo]

Quite a scary problem! Firstly, however, I don't think slapping or hitting her when she is coming down is going to help. In her mind she is being punished for coming down from the rear. The "bad" behaviour is going up into a rear, "good" behaviour is when she comes down and stops rearing.

Are you sure it isn't pain related, have you had her teeth, back, saddle checked out?

I know you want to do this yourself, but it might be worth looking on websites like Richard Maxwell or Michael Peace. They do DVDs for coping with various problems which may help you. If you have a chat with them they may be able to recommend a suitable DVD .

Good luck!

 

[Aces_High]

I can use a standing martingale actually, she's always played polo in running reins and things so that would certainly have stopped her doing it then. I used head check initially but she went mental although I think it may have been too tight and I haven't used one since. She is a stocky little Argie pony so quite short in the neck and it's hard to find the right size- great idea though, I'll get one on her tomorrow to see how it goes.

Try a cob size one and stick some more holes in it if needs be. The ones I have the bit which would attach to the noseband is split into two and has a clip on each piece hence clipping onto the string. Sorry I'm rubbish at trying to describe things! I prefer ideally clipping it to string as if they are going to go mental it can snap without breaking anything. I know most of my polo friends play with standing martingales on their ponies. I am sure if she's used to running reins etc she'll be fine. I still need to watch polocrosse as I've never seen it. A few of my friends from Zim play a lot of polocrosse. Seemed to be very popular there.
Fingers crossed it works....