Getting a bit worried about her rearing.

[Hovis_and_SidsMum]

I'm another advocate of making them back up when they've misbehaved.
When she goes up I'd give her a growl and a stern "NO!", give her a tug with your be nice, let her come down, release the pressure and then back her up a few paces. Praise and then carry on.
I've used back up with Hovis since i got him at 4 years old and he knows the drill. Yesterday he got a bit too pushy wanting his tea so just using my voice and my body language i backed him up a good 5m or so before i then place his dinner in front of him and let him eat it. A fellow livery was in hysterics but it is superb for making them behave- I don't have to touch him to make him do it. Hovis knows the combination of my tone, my body language and making him back up means he's in trouble. Cue head dropping, a sheepish look and big melting brown eyes!!
Interestingly he doesn't seem to associate rein back when under saddle with being in trouble (which worried me in case he did) maybe because i use different words and tone.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

My filly went through the rearing stage too. She would rear because she was excited, because she didn't want to go forwards or just because a flower looked at her!

Anyway, I just stayed calm, used a long leadrope and would send her forwards every time that she 'thought' about rearing. I soon learnt to recognise the slight pause that she would do before she went up. I would send her forwards with my voice ('walk on'), schooling whip (or by flicking the rope at her hind legs). Having the long rope also meant that I could stay out of her way if she was extra quick and did manage to go up.

She soon got bored of doing lots of circles and gave up on the rearing (she now generally just prances) and I was able to take her back out on the roads safely.

 

[Kenzo]

She will grow out of it, so don't worry about it, that is what most youngsters do when there learning the ropes at that age, if the didn't, they wouldn't be normal.

You don't need fancy apparatos neither, just lots of ground work, good handling and understanding oh and a bit of hard hard work....pair of gloves, hat, a good headcoller, long leadrope (or lunge line) and a whip, why in gods name people want to start putting preasure halters and chiffneys on a 2 year old the first time they show a bit of silly behaviour I'll never know.

I'm not knocking the use of them but initial training for a youngster who has just started acting like most of them do, well there's simply no need for it and people are too quick to use them, really gets my goat ...can you tell

 

[Dizzle]

Would never use a chiffney on her because I havent used one before and I would be too nervous without training. My Be Nice halter is on its way, hopefully the next few days.

Ah, I wouldn't go for the Be Nice... they have metal clasps that go over the poll that exert extra pressure and can cause rearing in sensitive horses. I had my horse in a normal rope halter (without the metal) and that caused him to rear very badly. I eventually ditched the fancy halters and used a normal headcollar and a long rope. He is now a dream to lead to and from the field, he doesn't rear as he doesn't have the pressure on his poll to fight back against.

(NB I also found a smack across the chest with the end of the long rope worked wonders!)

 

[mollichop]

Has her turnout been increased now the weather has improved as I know you previously posted that it was restricted?

Lots of people saying she will grow out of it, but it needs to be tackled correctly now or this behaviour (which should not just be excused as babyish) could spiral once she realises she has the measure of you.

As you say, she is getting bigger now and is becoming aware that she can get out of doing certain things and she is basically saying 'no' to guage your reaction.

Waiting for her to land and then giving her a pat is not the way I would play it. Sorry but I would be taking a more pro-active approach and nipping this in the bud now. Use your voice, distract her and give her something else to focus on. Think of the advice in AAD for dog aggresive dog behaviour when on a lead - it's not a million miles away - stay relaxed, but be forceful with what you want from her i.e change direction and use distraction, then reward when you get your result.

This is not a baby being playful - enlist help if needs be from someone else on the ground sending her immediatly forwards from behind as soon as she starts to go up - timing on this is key and you must keep her going forwards before she has chance to think about going up.

 

[martlin]

TBH I wouldn't worry about it too much, pretty much every youngster I have been involved in any way over the years would go through the stage of waving their feet in the air with pride. Don't ''punish'' it, in fact, if at all possible, don't react at all. Stay safe by all means, but try not to back off too much and after she has finished carry on like nothing has happened, don't pat though.

 

[ladyt25]

Hmm, tricky - does she randomly do it or is it when you are asking something of her she finds difficult or maybe doesn't understand?

I would actually work at slowing her walk down to be honest, allow her to balance herself. I had a handling lesson with a lady who puts alot of this type of behaviour down to the horse not being balanced and her theory is to encourage them to slow everything down. It may be she is rearing because of this reason. Ask her to walk on and walk very slowly, halt her if she starts to rush, ask her to go back (tap her front legs above the knee) to ask her to move her legs back) Praise her when she does and do not allow her to walk on until you ask for this. If she moves a leg forwards then back her again. She will catch on and will eventually stand. Then reapeat the walk on, walk her in smallish circles and encourage her to steady down all the time.

If you do still struggle then maybe get some professional help or advice. It's tricky to advise how to rectify the situation without seeing what sets her off. Funnily my rising 2 yo gelding has not reared up once yet although i have expected it on occasion as he can react quite quickly and certainly rears and playfights in the field.

I hope tht doesn't mean cos he doesn't do it yet in his baby stage he'll decide it's something to do later when he's bigger!!! Lol. He too is about 15.2/15.3hh now!

 

[scarymare]

Hello

I'm a bit rubbish on the ground TBH and consequently don't handle mine much as babies. However obviously for safety's sake they need to walk in hand (for moving fields/incase of an escape etc). I do find that if I struggle then getting in a professional works wonders. Honestly it only takes one session, just someone new coming in seems to make the penny drop. Good luck

 

[kirstie]

TBH I wouldn't worry about it too much, pretty much every youngster I have been involved in any way over the years would go through the stage of waving their feet in the air with pride. Don't ''punish'' it, in fact, if at all possible, don't react at all. Stay safe by all means, but try not to back off too much and after she has finished carry on like nothing has happened, don't pat though.

This, totally. Agree with Kenzo too, to an extent. I wouldn't be patting at all, ignore the behaviour as much as possible, a firm 'NO' and a growl at the most.
She is just testing her boundries to see what she can get away with. You just need to be firm and consistent and fair. Quite a lot of two year olds I've known have spent a fair amount of time on their hind legs, they've all grown out of it.
Mine used to arch her neck prettily when I was bringing her in from the field and then she would just stand vertical! I tended to growl 'NO!' and tug on lead rope and carry on. She grew out of it eventually and tried some even naughtier tricks so I popped her in a stallion chain and she improved.

 

[Cedars]

Thank you for all your advice guys.

I have asked my riding instructor to come and have a look at what I'm doing with her, just to see if there is something obvious. I'm hoping to watch him lead her as well and try to copy what he does.

She is out 24/7 and has been since March.

I am going to be careful with the Be Nice, but I need something. She ignores the Dually completely so I'm hoping some poll pressure might help her. Although like someone says on here, I could always flip it over so its not digging it to start with.

Thanks again all. All advice is appreciated, feel like a totally useless mummy at the moment! xx

 

[Cadfael&Coffee]

Lol your not useless- just learning

 

[Spring Feather]

*Disclaimer* Very old school and non-fluffy bunny response coming up!

I don't care what age horses are, once they get to a certain weight and height I don't believe in allowing them to continually do this when in hand. Blue pipe, quick crack on chest, make them back up and stand; that's what usually solves any of my youngsters being holy terrors when in hand. Once is normally enough.

 

[Cedars]

Whats a blue pipe?

 

[Spring Feather]

Whats a blue pipe?

Hollow underground water pipes made from polyethylene. They don't hurt but they make a good noise and usually stop horses dead in their tracks.

 

[Maesfen]

She's two! Why are you doing anything with her anyway? Let her have some breathing space as she's obviously not ready for what you are doing. Turn her away for the summer then maybe do something with her once a week to keep her sweet.

 

[Cedars]

She lives in her field 24/7, apart from approx 15 mins once a week. I'm hardly pushing it!

And I'm showing her this summer. xx

 

[nic85]

Hi

My filly is the same age as yours ( well 2 next month)

My filly rears/ed when shes either uncomfortable in a situation, being really stubborn or a little excited.
Her first attempts were being led in from the field at 9 months old, (she was stabled when I bought her in Jan 2010 and went out during the day when I got her but coming in at night until April/May when the horses went out 24/7.) She would refuse to walk on and when eventually encouraged to walk forward she would then rear and be a prat. I tried leading her with a schooling whip to 'tickle' her but this just pissed her off and would encourage more rearing. So I put a lunge line on her and when she planted her feet, I waited with the rein taught, once she walked a step forward the tension on the rein was released and she was praised. This didnt take her long to figure out at all. so leading in and out of the field was fine.
Ive learnt her signal for when shes thinking about rearing/being a pleb, she drops her nose and shakes her head side to side, a quick growl of 'Pack it in!' and a sharp tug on the headcollar she does stop ( most of the time, id not expect a baby to do as its told every single time)

I dont use a be nice halter but a friend has let me borrow her Dually which has proved to be pretty effective.

I take my filly in the school to do ground work, she is always on a lunge line as she tends to eye up the fence to jump out otherwise and I rather she didnt. I dont do circles, we use the whole school and keep to a walk/trot unless she decides to have a spaz, I dont mind as long as she does it away from me
My friend who has lent me the dually came down last Friday to do some ground work with her and this is what my fillys' reaction was to someone new, ( its only me who handles her so its part of her education having someone new)

Parachute on order for backing

When I grow up, Im going to be THIS big!

Every time she went up she was sent forward/away from my friend usually by a loud whooshing noise and her body language, where she strode towards her quite aggressively.
As you can see she did start to respect my friends space and worked away from her

I CAN do calm!

Magics instinct reaction is to fly kick at whips, even if they are just pointed at her shoulder ( this is why I didnt use it for leading) so Sarah started off just pointing the whip at Magic, who did kick out at it, but kept the whip pointing at her until she stopped charging around in a circle and stood, when she did she took the whip away and praised Magic, she repeated this til in the end she was rubbing the whip over Magics neck, back and bum and Magic stood like a lamb Pics of the whip exercises

Now this was last friday and on monday I did the same exercise in the school, I didnt get the airs above the ground and when I brought out the schooling whip she didnt do anything, was quite happy for it to be rolled/rubbed all over.

Im not into parelli or natural horsemanship as such, alot of it is common sense and also trial and error ( but it would be nice with less errors lol!)

I have posted some of the nicer pics in the photo gallery and had to explain why she was on the lunge line, she has locking stifle and this exercise is working on strengthening her back end, I also find it a good excuse for ground work. She doesnt have it everyday probably twice a week at the most. (just thought Id better explain myself first )

I have used Chiffneys before, one yard I went to if you were turning out, all horses had to be led in a chiffney. ( these werent babies)

I hope this reply is of some help to you!

 

[Cedars]

How did you teach her to lunge? I am considering asking her to work on the lunge to encourage her away from me - then I can cope with the airs above the ground without being booted in the face! But she wont leave me alone, she follows me like a puppy.

Do you have someone else lead her round the outside first? xxx

 

[Cadfael&Coffee]

Don't do too much on the lunge!! She's not strong enough- she's still growing!! A couple of circles maybe tops!!

 

[nic85]

How did you teach her to lunge? I am considering asking her to work on the lunge to encourage her away from me - then I can cope with the airs above the ground without being booted in the face! But she wont leave me alone, she follows me like a puppy.

Do you have someone else lead her round the outside first? xxx

Id not even call it lunging lol, I led her around the school and gradually let the lunge line get longer and her to walk away from me, she did sometimes try and jump across me so I became 'scary' and made daft noises to send her away from me, once she was away from me I changed my tone of voice and praised her with 'Good Girl'. I dont use a lunge whip, the end of the lunge line was sufficient or a plastic bag for the rustling noise. now the end of the lunge line and body language is plenty to send her away form my space.

In an ideal worl having a second person on the ground is great but not always an option, wasnt one for me so I just got on with it, like I said, trial and error!

 

[Cedars]

Oh god no I'm not suggesting I lunge her, I wont even do it in trot, shes far too young, but I would like to be able to get her to work away from me more independently. I've just got visions of me being able to ask her to walk and stop away from me as well as above me. LOL!

 

[Cadfael&Coffee]

Ah ok- lol I had a heart attack then

It's all about body language- u need to be able to send her away a short distance, whilst not becoming scary or anything, merely assertive.

It might be worth asking your instructor to demonstrate for you- it's very difficult to explain in text :S

 

[AndySpooner]

What Nic85 has shown here is a similar approach that you would use with a youngster behaving like this if you were to follow Parelli.

However, as you see the results are positive, and have been achieved without pressure halters, Chiffneys, growling and shouting, or hitting your horse with a length of blue pipe or whip.

I really think that you need to get a little help with this horse of yours, from someone used to youngsters and has a sympathetic approach. I appreciate that she is quite big, but she is still a baby, and very green.

I don't know how much experience you have of youngsters, but you obviously think a lot of your horse and it would be nice to get her started well, on the right track.

The saying 'Green on green equals black and blue' springs to mind, so if I were you, I'd definately get some help, and avoid all the nonsense of shouting at and hurting her.

 

[ladyt25]

Oh god no I'm not suggesting I lunge her, I wont even do it in trot, shes far too young, but I would like to be able to get her to work away from me more independently. I've just got visions of me being able to ask her to walk and stop away from me as well as above me. LOL!

Do you have any indoor schools or anything near you where you could try free 'schooling'? What I mean is getting her to go away from you and round you so she learns about personal space etc. I intend on trying this with mine - I guess a sort of join up type thing. I haven't taken mine in a school yet at all but, when leading, if he's not trying to get the odd sneaky nip in he will sometimes use his shoudler against me and try shove me like he would with his field mates - now i know his personality better I am firmer with him and carry a rattle bottle (plastic bottle with stones in) to shake at him if he tries this. However, I would like to get him in a situation where i can send him away and teach him to respect my space a bit more - but where he can't attempt to jump out!

 

[Laafet]

You say she has no respect for the Dually, but have you been shown how to use it correctly? My boy can get really out of hand sometimes then it is Dually time. He was trained to it by Monty himself so he does respect it and it stops him if he things about standing up!

 

[Miss L Toe]

From the pictures I would say you have a very nice horse, but not for an amateur, in another year she will will be ready for breaking, I think you might be doing more that you can cope with, send her to a yard for grass livery, and leave it at that,

 

[Dexter]

I havent read the replies, but has she met 'scary lady'?

I am always lovely to my babies, but once they step out of line they get full blown 'scary lady'. HUGE body language, arms waving, growling, a clout with the leadrope, etc. Basically WHATEVER it takes to get them back and out of my space.

This is an infraction that is granted for pretty much everything from a nip upwards. The last time it was used I was walking the 2 year old colt in traffic and he got spooked and leapt forward, accidentally clobbering me in the arm. I appreciate he got a scare, but it doesn't matter! He can spook all he wants but he is never, EVER to clobber me. The time before that was for the foal. He was feral when I got him and I have worked incredibly hard to build his trust up, however he decided in a typical colty way to bite me last week when I was running my hand over his tummy to check for ticks etc. Nope, no WAY is that allowed! I tone down 'scary lady' for him due to his past. But he is still told in no uncertain terms its a bloody no go, without ever laying a finger on him!

The time to teach them to be polite respectable horses is as babies.

Any youngster of mine coming at me full height rearing would get the fright of their lives! Before anyone starts, they wouldn't be beaten at ALL, but they would get a sharp NO! followed by a mach 10 personality assault and if that didnt work a bloody hard slap if needs be. Horses are big dangerous creatures and its up to us to teach them to be nice people.

 

[Cedars]

Hi guys thanks.

We have an outdoor school with 5ft odd fences but they have lights on the inside which I would be in trouble if she broke them!! So can't let her off. There is a school up the road but it's only undercover at one end! So I don't know. If I could trust her to be a bit more calm then I would let her off in ours.

I'm not putting her on grass livery as we have our own land lol!! And il be breaking her myself with help from my OH and instructors. Hence whilst I'm doing a lot with her now! She's already wearing tack and rugs etc so she's been easy so far!

Anyway. Thanks for all help. I shall be trying scary lady!! Xxx

 

[Puppy]

Hi

My filly is the same age as yours ( well 2 next month)

My filly rears/ed when shes either uncomfortable in a situation, being really stubborn or a little excited.
Her first attempts were being led in from the field at 9 months old, (she was stabled when I bought her in Jan 2010 and went out during the day when I got her but coming in at night until April/May when the horses went out 24/7.) She would refuse to walk on and when eventually encouraged to walk forward she would then rear and be a prat. I tried leading her with a schooling whip to 'tickle' her but this just pissed her off and would encourage more rearing. So I put a lunge line on her and when she planted her feet, I waited with the rein taught, once she walked a step forward the tension on the rein was released and she was praised. This didnt take her long to figure out at all. so leading in and out of the field was fine.
Ive learnt her signal for when shes thinking about rearing/being a pleb, she drops her nose and shakes her head side to side, a quick growl of 'Pack it in!' and a sharp tug on the headcollar she does stop ( most of the time, id not expect a baby to do as its told every single time)

I dont use a be nice halter but a friend has let me borrow her Dually which has proved to be pretty effective.

I take my filly in the school to do ground work, she is always on a lunge line as she tends to eye up the fence to jump out otherwise and I rather she didnt. I dont do circles, we use the whole school and keep to a walk/trot unless she decides to have a spaz, I dont mind as long as she does it away from me
My friend who has lent me the dually came down last Friday to do some ground work with her and this is what my fillys' reaction was to someone new, ( its only me who handles her so its part of her education having someone new)

Parachute on order for backing

When I grow up, Im going to be THIS big!

Every time she went up she was sent forward/away from my friend usually by a loud whooshing noise and her body language, where she strode towards her quite aggressively.
As you can see she did start to respect my friends space and worked away from her

I CAN do calm!

Magics instinct reaction is to fly kick at whips, even if they are just pointed at her shoulder ( this is why I didnt use it for leading) so Sarah started off just pointing the whip at Magic, who did kick out at it, but kept the whip pointing at her until she stopped charging around in a circle and stood, when she did she took the whip away and praised Magic, she repeated this til in the end she was rubbing the whip over Magics neck, back and bum and Magic stood like a lamb Pics of the whip exercises

Now this was last friday and on monday I did the same exercise in the school, I didnt get the airs above the ground and when I brought out the schooling whip she didnt do anything, was quite happy for it to be rolled/rubbed all over.

Im not into parelli or natural horsemanship as such, alot of it is common sense and also trial and error ( but it would be nice with less errors lol!)

I have posted some of the nicer pics in the photo gallery and had to explain why she was on the lunge line, she has locking stifle and this exercise is working on strengthening her back end, I also find it a good excuse for ground work. She doesnt have it everyday probably twice a week at the most. (just thought Id better explain myself first )

I have used Chiffneys before, one yard I went to if you were turning out, all horses had to be led in a chiffney. ( these werent babies)

I hope this reply is of some help to you!

Given what the horse is doing in the first lot of pictures, I would REALLY like to see a hat on the person in the second lot.

As someone whose had a nasty accident on the ground, those shots of the horse kicking up make me shudder.