it seems twiggys rear wasnt a one off

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georgiegirl2

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well, we took twig out for a group lesson tonight. As a baby she has never really napped or anything but has very occasionally jibbied ie just suddenly plants her feet and it takes a second or two to get her going again b*****y stubborn thing. However this jibbing has now turned into rearing up which is not nice
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its happened the past two days now. Its so frustrating.......my lovely 4 year old who has taken everything in her stride, hacks out alone, placed in her first dressage has suddenly decided to try it on. We have got a new saddle for her but im absolutely convinced its not this as it was professionally fitted by a very good saddler, she went lovely in it, it doesnt move / pinch and she had planted herself in the past (just didnt rear). We were having a lesson last night and she did it two or three times - the instructor has told me to view her as a child attending school - the first term they are very much in awe of thier teachers and the second term they try and see what they can get away with.

It is horrible though, things like this happen and you start feeling guilty thinking your doing something wrong
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anyone gone through similar? what did you do?
 
It's prob just a phase, Moon went through something similar but she hasnt reared for a long time now. I just avoided the issue, I knew that if I attacked her for rearing it'd just get 10 times worse. What I did was not put any pressure on her when she planted so that it didnt get a reaction- she wasnt told off/made to go forward so didnt rear and after a few times realised it was boring! I'm not saying let her get away with being nappy but be quietly persistant so that rearing doesnt become an answer to every challenge
 
My last homebred did the same thing as a 4 year old. He'd been well handled and fairly disciplined all of his life, but as your instructor said, some of them reach a stage when they try out some of the "toys in the box"! I can't remember how long the rearing lasted, only a few weeks I think, then he found another trick to try! With him I used to be able to feel a rear coming, and would turn him in tiny circles as quickly as I could, I think he soon reckoned that threatening to rear was too much bother! Good luck, providing he is otherwise of a good temperament and has no discomfort rearing does not have to turn into a confirmed habit.
 
Thanks for the advice. Last night when she planted she immediately went up (not very high) without me doing anything! Then, when she came down and stopped i just quietly made her go on and didnt make an issue of it. Shes full tb and to be honest i think will freak out if i slap her for doing it and will probably go worse. I just hope it doesnt become a long term problem
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I havent gone through it personally but have seen it alot in youngsters.

In fact my mare was once a 'nightmare' horse. When i decided i liked her and started asking around about her (we had found her through word of mouth so alot of people knew her including my trainer) i got alot of negative remarks. People said she could be very disobediant and had ben known to throw in the odd rear. Ive seen nothing of the sort in the six months i have owned her but am convinced its a stage alot of them seem to go through some time after breaking. (Mine is six now, she was a handful a year or so ago aparently.)

We also have a big four year gelding at our yard that was going really nicely and now has the odd fit or two.

I think perseverance is the answer....finding a way of moving her forwards and continuing her schoooling through the spouts of rearing. I totally agree with your instructor, and think you should carry on your lessons!!
 
yep... sometimes they're fine for ages and then they suddenly decide you've asked one question too many/they'd rather not, thanks, and it all falls apart!

make absolutely sure her teeth are 100%. don't trust anyone who takes less than 40 minutes and doesn't work up a proper sweat doing them!

you mustn't take it personally, and you must just stay calm and firm.
if what she's doing doesn't work, she'll give it up, honestly.
hope she gives up soon! spinning her in circles the moment she goes up, if it goes that far, does work, honestly. lean fwd as far as possible and pull her round to the side, and then make her spin round as tightly as possible for at least a few turns. she's the one being rude first, so you are allowed to be a bit rude back!
use your voice too, a very firm NO, WALK ON!!! can make my mare think better of it and walk on calmly. smacking often just makes them go higher, unfortunately. you need guile and quick reactions. the moment she goes light in front, use your voice before anything else. mares are less likely to object to it and rear in temper, i find.
if they go very high, just calmly step off the side and land on your feet beside their shoulder, keeping hold of the reins, wait for them to come down, jab them once hard in the chops to let them know that rearing isn't on, and then get back on again calmly. i did this 15 times on the trot once with my 18h warmblood. he doesn't rear any more. ever.
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good luck!
 
she is still teething slightly as she still hasnt lost her corner teeth however last night i was not touching her mouth at all. One of the rears she did was fairly high and i did the hop off as you describe, quietly got back on and continued trotting
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Mum said they were not actually that high although i guess it feels different when your on board!

Im a bit wary about pulling her round to the side when she goes up as she is very gangly and a wee bit clumsy im scared of her going over.

Ive never had a young mare before. George napped like stink at a 5 year old (due to different reasons - he was very insecure and clingy) and as awful as it sounds as he was a gelding you could give him a hard smack and you would get the message across. I feel im going to need to employ rather different tactics with twiggy - there is the old saying you tell a gelding and ask a mare!
 
I think they all go through this phase - Rocks was/is the easiest young horse but the year he turned 5 he really started trying it on and rearing etc. Its about figuring out what reaction works for each horse. For Rocks sometimes just quiet perserverence works, sometimes using my voice works and sometimes he needs a smack - it depends what mood hes in!
 
Tarquin has done this a few times and I've treated it exactly as Boss described. He doesn't go too high and is very balanced. Last time he did it was when I changed him from a happy mouth straight bar to a french link metal snaffle as he was beginning to lean on my hands. We had been trotting along and I could tell he was a bit p*ssed off and then when we stopped and walked on for a bit, he just sort made a funny noise like 'OHHH' and reared up. I sat there, did nothing, he came down and walked on like nothing had happened. It doesn't worry me, just another part to growing up. It's been about 6 weeks since that and he hasn't done it again. Murphy has never reared but he's too front heavy to so he fly bucks instead!
 
Fly is a serial rearer! To avoid the issue I now turn him rather than ask for direct walk forward. This seems to work with him and he is distracted enough to turn from a standstill and then go forward. I think it is a case of avoiding the issue for a while so this behaviour does not become 'learnt'. Good luck and let us all know how it goes as I for one would be very interested.
 
My mare had the same problem which I feel is/was caused by a lack of confidence. I returned to just working her from the ground on long reins (I had previously only lunged) at first she tried to freeze and rear but soon realized that was no longer a problem for me. Asking her to stand still then became her biggest problem but once through that she took to getting braver and braver long reining under bunting round scary objects etc both at home and away. I didnt ride for a couple of months but touch wood so far so good. Good luck with your baby and remember she IS trying to tell you something and dont let anyone talk you into trying to bully her out of it.
 
I agree, with Fly it is definately a lack of confidence thing. He can get terribly worried about things and a heavy handed approach will most definately NOT work. I tend to talk to him a lot and encourage him or give him something else to think about when hes worried, ie, ask him to turn or a transition or both, anything to get his mind off whats worrying him.
 
my mare is a 4yo exracer too and is going through her difficult stage - try the turning trick, that has worked with all the rearers I have dealt with...

they do grow out of it...!
 
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