Is it possible to 'cure'/manage a rearer???

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jumpthemoon

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Does anyone have any sucess stories about horses who reared when they first got them but with schooling have managed to stop them doing it? My horse does it when he is not sure what I want from him or when we are out hacking and he is 'asked a question'. Usually when he realises what I want he is fine, but we have to go through this horrible rearing thing first.

I am working on his schooling to get him going better off my leg and doing rein back/forwards exercises to improve his reactions, but I wanted to hear some happy success stories if anyone has any? Feeling a bit frustrated!
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I used to ride a young mare who had only just been backed and didn't really understand anything. Initially when I first took her hacking on her own she would rear (only little ones) when I asked her to go somewhere she hadn't been before or she felt she was getting too far from home, but as she got more confident she soon grew out of this and was a really lovely safe ride.

I know it's not quite the same but if he is just rearing because he's unsure rather than 'naughtiness' then once he's more confident I expect he'll get better. Part of it is learning how far you can push them without getting a response and then only asking for something harder when you're confident they can deal with it and being patient with them if they do react badly, so teaching them to wrk it out for themselves without getting into a fight with you.
 
I'm really not much help, because I've never had a rearer, but when Oscar came he'd run (literally at slow canter speed) backwards if he didn't understand what to do, we just calmed him down, asked again, as clearly as we could, and he stopped doing it as he gained confidence.

Is it proper tippy toes rearing?
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Thanks both. I'm sure it's not him being naughty - its like he's scared because he doesn't want to get it wrong. He almost goes into a blind panic and goes up (not vertical, but it feels high enough!) then when he sees what I want he calms down. Like you've both said I think it's a confidence thing and he is improving. Its nice to hear other peoples stories of success as it makes you feel like you can get there in the end!
 
Go right back to basics, one step at a time and only progress when 100% comfident at that step!

Sisters pony was the same except he'd do handstands, bronk and run backwards (and not give up till you were on the floor) now look at the pics of him in the gallery tonight (kandm's post) - totally different pony but it has taken ~18 months!
 
Yes absolutely. Haven't had quite the same scale here, but Daisy, when in in a "scary" situation, would run backwards and rear and stuff. This included trying to walk down a bridlepath more than about 3 steps!

I found that I was asking too much in one go. The worst thing you can do is battle him. Just sit there passively, and ask again. But gently and slowly, as if you have all the time in the world. Baby steps. Anything new you ask for, just ask for the tiniest try first, then relax and reward. You must ensure that he KNOWS he's done something right. Might help to work on his trust in you in general, like spending quality time with him (read a book in his stable or something, and talk to him once in a while), and when you're on his back, sometimes just sit there, stroke his neck, talk to him, and get off?

Sounds like he is incredibly sensitive, which is actually pretty good!

Do you have a detailed example of a situation where he reared? Might be easier to use that as an example to say what you should do?
 
I'm glad there are such positive vibes on here! Here goes...

Usually he does it when out hacking. He will walk along fine, but if we have to turn into a junction and he is first or if he sees something he doesnt like the look of, he rears. Its like he doesnt listen to what I want, he just thinks 'no, I cant do that' and goes up in a panic. If another horse goes first he is never a problem.

Tonight in the school though I asked him for rein back. His 'friend' had just left the school, so he was mardy to start with, but he just went up. I dont think he understood the aids TBH. Luckily I had a dressage rider to help me and we managed to get him calmly doing rein back then walking on ok, but it took a while.

He does panic sometimes. I shouted at him once (not badly, just to say he was silly) and he shot off across the school. Also, he is PETRIFIED of whips????

Sorry for the long post - any advice welcome!!!
 
HI I have had two different experiences with rearers my tb ex race horse would go up in company over two horses (verticle) but you could stop her because she would kinda padd before she went up so you could either turn her tight on the spot or kick her on (hardish kick on) the other one a youngish id reared constant out hunting sometimes bounces sometimes verticle his was fear crossed with excitement crossed with lack of understanding with him i would just walk him away from the situation take him to the edge of it all and walk him around and talk to him till his head settled then just slowly take him back in if he was ok we would go as before if not we stayed out of it all till he was happy and settled to be there, so maybe when he does it taking him back to where he was confident talk to him convince him he can trust you and just try again with him feeling the confidence from you????? have you had him long enough for him to know you enough to trust you explicitly?? good luck with him
 
My dad's horse used to be really really bad - as he grew in confidence and was shown who was boss he got much better although never really got out of it wasn't really dangerous anymore.

We thought we could sell him as a dressage horse because he found that easy and seemed to behave but we had to buy him back (or he was going to get shot) about a year later and he was as bad as ever.
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It's hard to get them out of a bad trick but I'm sure it is possible.
 
Sounds like he may be slightly nappy? Hmm. And does he not give any warning he's about to rear - shuffling sideways, backwards, stopping in his tracks with his head up?

How is he when you're leading him in unfamiliar places such as those you find on hacks? Will he trust you like another horse? May be worth practising leading/lunging past scary objects/different environments if possible.

Personally, I'd avoid doing too much rein back with him at the moment, seeing as rearing is generally quite a backwards/upwards movement as it is - the more you teach him this, the more he learns to take his weight off his forehand, so rearing will be an easy and natural thing for him to do. I would, however, have a go at both turn on the forehand and turn on the quarters (baby steps at first! Even teach from the ground at first, eg with one hand on the appropriate rein, one hand where your leg would go), as then you can get better control of both ends, and lateral movements such as these help to engage his brain and help him to think and calm down.

So then, when you feel him tensing up and lightening his front end, ask him to turn or move one of his "ends" over. If he's still on the ground it may be more beneficial to move his back end as it'll keep weight on his forehand, but if he's already rising, just move his forehand over.

Hopefully this will prevent rearing, and cause him to think about something unrelated to what he's worrying about, say if he's spooking at something. Allowing him to move his feet also lets out his "survival energy".

Most important thing is to stay relaxed as possible - he has no confidence so you have to have the confidence for him. I generally go with the idea that horses and riders have to make 100% - so if the horse is really chilled and confident, it could be about 75%, so the rider needs just 25% - good for beginners - but if the horse is young or nervous, it's the other way around. I'd say yours is probably about 25% or less at the moment, so you need to be incredibly relaxed and confident (ie sitting there and breathing properly!) to help your horse out.

At the moment, whilst he's gaining his confidence, all the time talk to him in a sickly sweet, baby-talk kinda voice. Like you're trying to get a crying baby to sleep (and no I don't mean get the whisky...!) He's sensitive and unconfident enough to notice the slightest harshness in your voice.

The whip thing - depending on the severity, you could start by leaving a whip on/next to his feed bucket/manger a few times, then put one on the ground in an arena/field/etc and try and lead him past it, and to it (sometimes it REALLY helps to have someone carry it, and walk away from him, and you lead him behind them, following - that way, the whip is moving away from him, making him curious and more confident - its not chasing him). Then you need to hold it yourself, and let him sniff it in his own time, and investigate it. Then go on to touch his neck with it, and his legs, and then his flanks and quarters etc. If he gets nervous, move back to where he was comfortable. You could also go on to carry one (a jumping crop is best to start with) while someone is lunging you both (that way, you can keep it still while someone else moves him around), then carry the jumping crop while riding, etc.

When you start to ride with it, make sure you can stroke him with it before you actually use it!

Ok, huge post there, sorry! If you don't agree with anything/don't understand/want more ideas, let me know! =)

Edit: don't forget to drop your contact when he goes to rear - so it gets rid of any idea of backwards and you avoid pulling him over backwards should he rear high enough (worst case scenario)
 
herbie rears when hes not confident about something. and sometimes when hes just being stubborn. when i was riding it was improving the more i did with him.
 
^ yeah, the more situations/objects you expose him too, the more relaxed he'll get.

Not everyone believes that groundwork can help your riding, but for every plastic bag, whip, stick, coat, shoe, flag, hairdryer, newspaper, radio or flashing light (etc!) you get him happy with on the ground, the more he'll trust you, and trust life - he'll learn that you haven't put him in situations that have hurt him, and most "scary" things he meets are actually quite friendly.
 
Thanks everyone fr all your brilliant advice! I'll persevere and keep introducng him gently to new stuff. I've had him for 6 months, but he was on box rest for the first three, so I've only been riding him 3 months. Hopefully he will improve as he gets more confdence in me!
 
My mare had a dirty rear i.e. vertical. She would do this is she was unsure, felt had too much pressure placed on her and to evade. We have learnt to ove her forward, when she sees something she is uncertain of out hacking we stay totally relaxed look ahead past the object, lengthen the reins slightly andif need be flex the neck (they can only rear with a straight head). She is 100 times better, she will now do mini rears when loading and mini rears if napping for some reason. I also know when I am asking too much of her and when she starts to threaten to rear
 
my ex competition mare rears.she used to do big ones and we did manage to reduce the incidences down!
she was unhappy with her bit and tack intitally.shes quite a hot sensitve soul so when she got excited and i wouldt let her trot/gallop she would piaffe and then if i still didnt let her go she would rear.
however she did get loads better and the last time she did it was 2 years ago on the way back from a show down the road and her best mate went trotting off down the road without her and i wouldnt let her trot on the roads so up we went several times.

think it depends on the horse and the reason why they do it as to wether its cured or managed
 
It does seem like it's worth working on , from what everyone has said. I won't lose all hope then! I think he has done it with his previous owner and got out of doing things a few times, because it does seem like it's something he expects to work. His previous owner wanted him for hacking and thats where most of his probs are, so I expect she couldn't cope with it. He was imported from NL in 2006 and I don't think they do much hacking over there.
 
My boy used to rear completely vertically. It was 90% naughtiness and 10% confused (I think!). My method = (1) keep him forward the WHOLE time, I would lunge him for a few mins before getting on him to warm him up n then I'd get on n go STRAIGHT into trot then canter n wouldn't walk again until the very end, (2) beat him through it - I know that sounds harsh but he had to learn to respect me n realise I'm boss n I'm not going to just sit there n take it. He hasn't reared since! He is really forward going now n as soon as I feel him considering being nappy I smack him on the shoulder n he walks on! Obviously every horse is different but worked with him! Took me the first few weeks of owning him to work out whether he was being naughty/babyish etc so I could work out which tact to take.
 
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