How would you correct a yearling / youngster that...reared??

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HorseyStar

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Hi Guys!
sorry love asking these sorts of questions to see the answers of varied different training methods that people use.....

So I have a yearling 19 month old Welsh Filly 14'1 h at the mo.....been working on the usual, tying up patiently, having feet handled, getting used to rug (still petrified of it but will wear it! bless her), being walked around the bridle ways, down roads to bombprof in traffic etc etc....today i thought i would do a bit of inhand work with her in menege to get her 100% accurate with coice commands and pressure with 'walk on', 'and stand' etc etc...thought i'd practice a bit of 'trot on' inhand for coming summer shows...only the moment i seem to ask her to trot 9she is v laid back/lazy) she really doesnt like it....so i ask her to trot on and start to run at side of her...her ears go flat back and she throws a tantrum and rears up in the air and just misses my head with front feet!!?? :eek: Totally out of character...but equally an unpredictable youngster so not totally surprised....this filly is the sweetest ever filly, doesnt like being turned out at all, wants to be with people alll day, comes to call and just stands there licking you all day :) but has defo started lately with an attitude and growing daily in confidence :confused: which is good, but equally i want her to know rearing at or near me is a no no....i just shouted sternly at her...BUT she didnt seem phased....i walked her back round for one length as i didnt want to leave on a bad note and her to think rearing = get out of work :)

Just want to know.....what would you have done??....i didnt have a crop with me as she is terrified out them...

just intrigued on the methods people use for common teething problems like these...obviously i wnat to nip this in the bud before she gets 15h+ and comes rearing at me! nice!! and i also must stress i will not be working her physically or lunging her untill she is 3 years old...i was solely working on inhand ground work and manners....to no avail it appears today! :(
 
Personally I wouldn't see it as a big issue and probably quite a normal response to a stressful situation, I certainly wouldn't be looking to 'correct' it.

I would concentrate on consolidating what you have taught so far and then reintroduce the exercise later, or use loose schooling to encourage trot work before doing it in hand..the last thing you want to do is make your youngster reluctant to go forward
 
Puzzle is 20months and doing exactly this atm. Will walk normally, and shows in the summer beautifully, trots and all, but in the school is incapable of doing more than half a long side without a rear!

My OH now leads her round (we do it every time he rides, so probably 3/4 times a week) as I was getting stressed and reacting. He completely ignores her, waits for her to put all four feet back on the ground and stand, and then carries on as if nothing happened.

The only time he has reacted was when she plunged and nearly took him out - then she got a smack, and then continued as above.

They will grow out of it! I wouldnt worry. xx
 
the watcher said:
Personally I wouldn't see it as a big issue and probably quite a normal response to a stressful situation, I certainly wouldn't be looking to 'correct' it.

I would concentrate on consolidating what you have taught so far and then reintroduce the exercise later, or use loose schooling to encourage trot work before doing it in hand..the last thing you want to do is make your youngster reluctant to go forward
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yeah hun maybe 'correcting' was the wrong word to use....personally i didnt think of it as a massive deal with her just being a baby, but just always interested to know how ppl deal with certain situations differently... love learning of more experienced ppl, iv had horses years but this is the youngest i have ever had, so a bit of a learning curve for me..and im consicious that i bring her up right! :o

thanks again! x
 
flamehead said:
Puzzle is 20months and doing exactly this atm. Will walk normally, and shows in the summer beautifully, trots and all, but in the school is incapable of doing more than half a long side without a rear!

My OH now leads her round (we do it every time he rides, so probably 3/4 times a week) as I was getting stressed and reacting. He completely ignores her, waits for her to put all four feet back on the ground and stand, and then carries on as if nothing happened.

The only time he has reacted was when she plunged and nearly took him out - then she got a smack, and then continued as above.

They will grow out of it! I wouldnt worry. xx
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thanks flamehead...i think youv answered on a few of my threads and are always very helpful! :) i knew she would start things like this with her just being a baby so wasnt too shocked, was kinda expecting it, but equally its prob only the 2nd thing that she has done wrong since iv had her! im sure theres many more to come! :eek: and looking back i dont think she was aiming to rear at me, think it was her way of saying 'im confused, im scared' etc etc....maybe thats telling me she isnt ready...i may take it back a few steps and carry on with walking her out and about on hacks get her accustomed to the world! just hope she gets used to this damn rug! she wears it every day, but when i take it off, the moment i put it on her without it being folder up she poos her pants! lol, she literally starts kicking out and trying to attack it! bless her...and will only let me put it on from the left hand side..funny that isnt it as soon as you train them on 1 side, you go straight back to basics when starting on the other side! :confused:

thanks again x
 
LOL, that reminds me, the other day in Puzzle's box, I was jumping up and down on one side (prep for riding, obv), she wasnt batting an eyelid, then did it the other side and she nearly killed me!!

Try leaving the rug in her box whilst you're mucking out etc? You might have already done that though.

You might know that Puzzle is my first - and when she started rearing I was CONVINCED that she was scared, so mollycoddled. Then she got growled at, and she still did it. Then I gave her to my so-laid-out-hes-horizontal OH, and shes MUCH better.

Its just time, loads of time and no stress.

My saving grace, btw, is having an extra long lead rein. I didnt want a lunge line as its TOO much length, but I have a leadrein that is basically half the length again of a standard one, and it gives me enough to not end up tied up in it, but enough to just stand back and let her freak whilst I'm at a safe distance.

Good luck!

Oh, and where are the photos? Can't post a foal post without photos....
 
She possibly doesn't know what you are asking, try using the voice commands when she is trotting naturally, such as coming to you in the field; or if you have somewhere you can loose school her.

The rear could just have been a reaction to your sudden change in body language, I bet you've never run at the side of her while tugging on the lead rope before. She has to learn this just as she had to learn to walk beside you.
 
flamehead said:
LOL, that reminds me, the other day in Puzzle's box, I was jumping up and down on one side (prep for riding, obv), she wasnt batting an eyelid, then did it the other side and she nearly killed me!!


Oh, and where are the photos? Can't post a foal post without photos....
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awwww im dying to post some pictures but i dont know how to do it? iv tried copy and pasting onto reply but it wont let me do it? any ideas??

thanks x
 
Tiaa%20-%20Welsh%20D%20Filly


hope this works!

sorry she luks a bit scruffy here, in her winter woolies when i first got her!!

her dad is Llanfair Capten - see below:

http://s803.photobucket.com/albums/...20D%20Filly/?action=view&current=tiaax007.jpg
 
I had excatually the same thing with the rearing when i tryed to treach my 17 month old filly to trot in hand. I think that she just didnt understand what i wanted from her so she reacted by rearing. One day (took about 4 weeks of not understanding) the penny dropped and she troted in hand and has done perfectly fine ever since. In the mean time i used a chain over her nose as she really hated any poll pressure, as soon as she threatened to rear i gave a small tug on the chain, asked her to walk on and carried on as normal, ignoring her then pulling faces at me and ressisting walking on.

I did use a lunge line for a while just so that i could get out of the way if she did rear but i found that using the chain eliminated the rearing all together.

Good luck :)
 
Basically, you frightened her. So the rear was a reaction to fear - and therefore mustn't be punished. I teach youngsters to trot on in-hand with voice and a little jig-run rather than proper running. I use an 'excited' voice aid - but only aim to get 2-3 strides of trot to start with - then build on that.

If it was a bolshy colt rearing and striking - just because he can - then that WOULD be punished.

the other day in Puzzle's box, I was jumping up and down on one side (prep for riding, obv), she wasnt batting an eyelid, then did it the other side and she nearly killed me!!
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Well, we DO tend to everything from the left! Actually, I don't, as we tend to lead two weanlings together so they get handled from either side, but I have a rising 3 year old colt going to stallion grading next month - so had to start teaching him to lunge (for the vetting.) Now this chap has always been a bit of a bu**er, so was never led as a two-some. And it showed! Started lunging on the left rein - absolutely no problem - you'd have thought he'd been doing it for months. Getting him onto the right rein, however, was a HUGE challenge!
 
It really enforced to me how important it is for me to continue doing everything on both sides!! Although it did make me laugh lol.

OP, trust JG! *bows down* xx
 
Sorry because I'm going off on a tangent here.... Janet George, I think from your posts telling you anything about horses would be the proverbial Grandma's eggs.... but interesting what you say about lungeing your 3yo on the right rein. I had the exact smae problem with my horse at that age (he's 19 now). From day one he lunged perfectly like a pro on the left but right rein was a nightmare... he'd do about three strides then whip round to the left, and if I pulled him up he's rear. To get round it I just longreined him for a while then the problem seemed to go away. However he has a long standing right rein stiffness, but was always told by vets, physios. instructors that they couldn't find anything and it was in my head. Until he was about 12, and I was getting him in from the field. Someone else on the yard had their "back man" up,who watched my horse walking, and asked me if he was stiff to the right. He examined him (both with his hands and also by suspending a magnet above his back) and diagnosed him as having an uneven pelvis. Since then, I've had him treated by this man with some manipulation and magnetic pulse thingy (sorry, technical name eludes me at the moment) and the improvement is amazing... for a couple of days after treatment he's really sensitive and "pingy" and no more dead right arm for me!
 
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