Horse started rearing

Saxon_Jasmine

Saxon_Jasmine

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My mare has started rearing when she doesn't want to do something. She reared today because she didn't want to walk on the beach, then on the way back she reared because she didn't want to walk over a 'scary' piece of mud. She reared the first time I took her throungh a water jump XC but it was only little. The ones today were massive and she could have easilly flipped over.

She is very well behaved in the school, at comps, etc and normally at all times when she is ridden. However she reared when the dentist tried to give her a check up and also when the back lady did something she didn't like to her head. She reared a few months ago when she decided she didn't want to load (normally loads fine and loaded fine the next day). She also reared when a car drove past her and beeped (she was being lead). These are all little rears though, no proper ones.

What do I do when she rears? At the moment I lean forward, so we don't flip over, and then hit her on the poll and say 'no' in a firm voice when she comes back down. I really don't want her to get into the habit of rearing :(

Advise please :)
 
My horse went through this stage. I just kept riding it and ignoring it (not a good idea) until one day he did so nearly go over.
Got him the next day, had a bottle of water with the lid of and when he reared up smacked him on the head with it.

It was supposedly an old wives tale, but ut actually worked with Billy - he never did it again!
 
Mine goes vertical and is often on the brink of going over - well , or so it feels!

Best thing I've found is to ride through it, and as they land really send them on, whether its on a very small circle (difficult for them to rear) or in any direction besides standing still. Whether its with a smack behind the leg, growling etc or a combination of them all!

I know with my boy I certainley wouldn't try any old wives tale of hitting on the poll or on the stomach. They may work, but theres no chance you'll get me letting go!
 
my boy went thru a phase of rearing. only little ones tho, but he did it out of pure excitement if i was holding him back and he wanted to go. (he's quite a hot head). anyway, i shouted no, growled and slapped his neck everytime he did it and being quite a sensitive neddy, this was enough for him. on the odd occasion when he forgets himself, he will try it, but i can nip it in the bud very quickly now. maybe you should get some help from an instructor??
 
The tapping/smacking on the poll is an old method and much frowned upon it seems.
TBH years ago, my mare who I still have went to rear, I tapped her on the poll and she has never done it again, so I don't know, she has happily lived to tell the tale of being tapped on the poll and she has not reared in the 15yrs or so since I did it! So I am glad I did it, and would perhaps use this method again if I really had to, though many would disagree...
 
be very carefull hitting her on the head with anything it can actually make them worse anf bring her over backwards .
can you feel when she is going to go , i used to spin mine and smack him on the bum then send him forward, then repeat and do it again every time he even threatend to go up.

he very rarely does it now , only if he is really exited such as a ride with lots of horses passing and friends horse gets to far in front etc
would be worth getting her teeth / back etc checked if you haven't all ready done so
and poss rethink your bit

good luck hope you get it sorted
 
Moggyinmanolos said:
The tapping/smacking on the poll is an old method and much frowned upon it seems.
TBH years ago, my mare who I still have went to rear, I tapped her on the poll and she has never done it again, so I don't know, she has happily lived to tell the tale of being tapped on the poll and she has not reared in the 15yrs or so since I did it! So I am glad I did it, and would perhaps use this method again if I really had to, though many would disagree...
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Ha, yes so many people seem to frown on it. However my horse too has lived to tell the tale, though with some of the stupid things he does, I do wonder whether he has brain damage haha.

But in all seriousness my horse is fine, never did it again. And at the end of the day I'd rather do something that is a little frowned upon rather than one day lying squashed having had the horse go over backwards on me,
 
hi, sorry to hear your mare has started to rear. It isn't a very nice experience is it. She could just be being being naughty but I would be inclined to get her back checked. I only say this because my mare started this out hacking when she didn't want to go foward, we dismissed it at first as her being nappy but she actually has a spinal condition. Hope this isn't the case with your mare, good luck
 
My gelding started like that, little rears when he was not wanting to do something and i tried for about 4 weeks to 'ride through it' but he upped his game and started to do what your mare is doing, going vertical constantly. He eventually smacked me in the face and blacked my eyes and i refused to ride him. I should mention here i had had his teeth done by what seemed a very competant dentist and he was naughty, rearing and striking out at her. She did 20 mins and said all fine, go and ride his teeth are now perfect but he's a bolshy boy isn't he? It turns out he has a step in his teeth at the back of his mouth and is in constant pain! She missed it as he was being naughty and i think she lost her nerve resulting in me getting 2 black eyes and losing my confidence! He is now booked in at the equine clinic for dental work. I would suggest you get her mouth looked at thoroughly and back as she also seems to be upping her game in the rearing stakes. I hope you get it sorted as rearers are really scary!
 
Thank you for everyones replies :)

Her back is done every 3 months and her teeth have been checked and are being filed next week.

It is definatly something she does to be naughty when I ask her to do something she doesn't want to do. So I really need an effective way of making her understand that she can't rear. If she was genuinly scared then I wouldn't hit her, but she isn't.

Also, what should I do when she rears when I'm handling her? She does it very rarely, for example when I touch her head somewhere she doesn't want to be touched, or when the dentist tried to feel inside her mouth. They aren't proper rears, more of a bounce.

Thank you :)
 
Saxon_Jasmine said:
Also, what should I do when she rears when I'm handling her? She does it very rarely, for example when I touch her head somewhere she doesn't want to be touched, or when the dentist tried to feel inside her mouth. They aren't proper rears, more of a bounce.

Thank you :)
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I assume she is young....
Regards her rearing on the ground when handling, I think you need to just keep at it and try and ignore her. Can you tye up with a haynet whilst handling her, getting her used to letting you do what you need to, eventually you should be able to take away the net but it may help as a distracting tactic, you need to be firm but fair with her, good luck.
 
She is having her teeth done again by a reccomended vet/dentist in a week so hopefully he will sort out any problems, if there are any.

She's 8, but was a racehorse before I got her and was very weary of people and headshy. We are firm with her and she is getting better, just need to sort the rearing before it becomes a problem :s

Thank you :)
 
My ex racer did this hacking and still does sometimes . The best I have found is to keep them moving and they normally have to stop and then go up as such so when I know we are getting to a flash point (normally for us bottom of the drive or a cowshed we have to pass) he gets two chances to go on normally. If he doesn't take these then , I will spin him one way then then other and then ask for rein back for 5 steps. I then turn him front on again and ask him to walk forwards and 99 % of the time he will go. I have found with him the trick is to be really quick as he quite often has a little warm up rear before going up higher .
 
we had a mare who reared and we just ignored her and she basicaaly stopped doing it.
I agree with the peson who said get a second opinion on back/teeth/saddle etc to rule those out.

you say your horse is headshy, so I think the last thing it needs is to be smacked across the poll. you can tell them off by growling/sending them forward/turning tight circles but you are only going to make a headshy horse more headshy if you smack them on their poll. sorry!
 
Yeah, my ex-racer does this too..its his response to just about every situation he doesn't want to be in. I've never smacked him in the air, not for any particular reason, just haven't. With mine really I just ignore it and when he lands push him forward or spin him in a circle. I'm getting better at feeling it, so sometimes I can stop it but his usual trick is to spin and rear, so if I decide to circle him they have to be very tight indeed.

If she isn't spinning or anything I suggest you turn small circles or go forward. If you feel it coming, send her forward before. Actually in general, being forward helps. Its pretty hard for them to rear from a forward trot or canter.
 
Mine's just started doing this in the lat month - teenage strops and is trying it on I think. TBH hitting them over the head isn't a great idea and wouldn't work with mine, it would only make him angrier, and he'd keeping going up until he got you off. He's a fairly stressy personality and can be a bit precious over stuff. All you can do in this situation is be patient and firm, ride it out (use a neck strap if you need to) and look for patterns in the triggers and behaviour. For instance, mine slows down, head in the air, whips round on his shoulder and starts with a few baby bounces before going up fully. If he goes up fully then he tends to leap forwrad coming down but after that he stops, sighs and goes on and then doens't try it again and hopefully by sitting quietly and not interfering with his mouth and stressing him out he'll grow out of it. But the point is to try and understand what's triggered it as once you've recongnised there's a pattern to how, when and what occurs it's much easier to start to address it.
 
Mine has recently started doing this too, so would be interested to hear how you solved it :). He never does it when I'm on the ground, only when I'm riding and ask him to do something he does want to, just like yours. It started about the same time he went hunting, he's only been a few times, partly for this reason. He never reared out hunting, but now hacking in company is much more exciting, and if I don't let him canter when he wants, he goes up instead. He also does it when I ask him to go in water XC, we took him xc schooling on friday, and he walked straight in first time, walked out and then he refused to go back in, and each time the rears got bigger and longer :mad:. He's definitely just being naughty as he doesn't do in the rest of the time, and we know he's not scared of the water. He's 14, and should know better, but he's clever and now he's learnt it, I think it's going to be harder to break.
Sorry a bit of a rant :o, but would be very interested to know how you teach your mare not to, good luck!! :)
 
different options for different horses work its finding what is right for your horse ,if she dosent like being touched on certain areas maybe more investigation on this i had a rearer who stopped when she was smacked between the ears <not hard> and she did stop .
intrestingly enough another mare didnt let you touch her poll area reared when handling/riding esp. if pressure on poll area she was a childs horse so you can imagine this issue was dangerous she was never cured .
but it is awful and unnerving .Have you had advice from a proffessional ?
 
I'm sorry this is happening, it's not not nice is it?! I confess that I havn't read all the replies but the ones I have all make sense and are worth a try.

My thought is her back. You say that she doesn't do it in the school? It would be level ground in there. The beach, the mud, puddles, a stoney track or road would all be uneven and there would be a greater chance of her stumbleing or twisting her back slightly. She maybe feeling a jar in her muscles that is not showing up normaly, when she takes an uneven step. Perhaps get someone to run her up for you and see if she has an offstep or is favouring one side when she is turned in a tight circle?

If she is worried to go forward, then this maybe a good bet.

Good luck with her and I hope you get it resolved soon.
 
A long story about rearing:

Our ex racer mare started rearing under saddle last spring, aged 5. We had saddle fit and teeth checked, daughter had very regular lessons, the mare had Bowen therapy, we had to stop spoiling her (not saying you are but we were), simplify her diet, up her workload and gradually she stopped. You would never look at her and think she was well schooled but she went in a forward direction and even jumped sweet jumps, it was all good.All that was left was to get her used to going to shows and gradually improve her schooling.

Then, this year at the beginning of May they were invited to go xc schooling and she wouldn't load and that was the marker of a quick deterioration in her ridden behaviour, the rearing was back with a vengeance and it was like all the happy times in between had never happened. My daughter was so upset and wanted to sell her but her YO talked her out of it.

In despair we got the vet out, and they identified some immediate issues, collapsed heels and seasons. So from next shoeing she's getting heart bars and on top of this the vet has suggested Regumate as a starting point. After that, they'd start looking for other physical reasons.

Soon after this, a very experienced friend rode her for us and said there was a lot of "I won't" but when you got past that, there was some "I can't" and recommended we get a chiropractor out sooner rather than later, which the YO had recommended previously so we consulted the vet who agreed it was worth considering and did that. Turns out she had a tilted and twisted pelvis, shoulder issue and something with her spine as well.

To summarise, she's on Regumate, she's having heart bar shoes, and she's been realigned, our pro friend is going to put a few more rides on her over the next couple of weeks and then my daughter will have to take up the baton.

This is a horse than needs regular work and once all these issues are under control it will be as much about my daughter rediscovering the confidence to ride her through as anything else, and I imagine this won't be easy.
 
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I am sorry you are having problems with your horse. But I have to agrre with Cheiro1. Why on earth would you hit a horse on the poll when said horse is already head shy???? There are alot of ways to tackle this issue but not by reacting in this way, uless of course you either want the horse to topple over, panic more and in time want nothing near its head what so ever. Its cruel, only thing that can be said about that. Sorry. I suggest you get some expert help.
 
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