Market harboroughs and rearers. Do they work?

abi31

abi31

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 March 2010
Messages
307
Location
Suffolk
Visit site
Hey all, I am posting for a lady on my yard who doesn't have a computer. She has a TB, 6 years old, non-raced who is being a bit of a sod. She sent it away to be trained and it has come back with one of the issues it went with, rearing (much better when schooled and more manners in general), although the pro she sent it to claimed the mare was fine whilst with them.

Basically, she can cope with spooking and the horse isn't excessively strong but she is very nappy. She plants and rears. When pushed forwards she backs up into ditches or rears and spins. She was told by the pro to get a market harborough for a couple of months if she was still having issues.

Does anyone have any experiences with market harboroughs, good or bad, as far as rearing is concerned? I've never used one so can't advise either way.

Hope that makes sense! Thanks.xx
 
I used one on my horse years ago, he started getting nappy and rearing ... I put one on him - it definitely gave me the confidence to push him on (and keep turning him) when he threaten to rear.
Before I used one on him he only had gone up a couple of times, but that was enough to scare me ...after a while we got used to each other and he has never done it since but the MH really did work for us.:)
 
Wow. What an amazing link, that guy is so chilled out, but maybe the music helped! Will get her round to watch the clip, if nothing else it shows that problems aren't insurmountable!
 
Tanks Lolli, that's interesting to hear. Did your horse take to it ok when you first put it on? When I saw a picture of one on a horse I was worried it might make her horse worse by fighting against it.xx
 
abi31 said:
Wow. What an amazing link, that guy is so chilled out, but maybe the music helped! Will get her round to watch the clip, if nothing else it shows that problems aren't insurmountable!
Click to expand...

Someone actually put a link up to his video's on a thread a while ago. Was really impressed - he has some great ones. I really like the one where he is getting the horse to go through water - really interesting. (Not related to your friends problem though!)
 
abi31 said:
Tanks Lolli, that's interesting to hear. Did your horse take to it ok when you first put it on? When I saw a picture of one on a horse I was worried it might make her horse worse by fighting against it.xx
Click to expand...

There were no problems, it is a bit like riding with draw reins but only having to hold one rein .... there are also two or three (can't remember which) settings so you can go for a really lose setting to start with and see how it goes.
 
Thought I'd do a quick update. We borrowed a market harborough from another livery and put it on the loosest setting. I rode her horse out and she rode mine as her confidence has been knocked a bit, but I wanted someone there in case there were issues when I was on her mare.

We had gone 20 yards from the stables tonight when we had to pull in for a tractor and car. The mare took full advantage of trying to rear and spin so she could nap back to her friends, only to find some resistance. I pushed her on with leg and seat, she tried three more little rears, gave up and ambled forward on a long rein.

We had a lovely canter up the bridleway and led the whole way round. She didn't get worked up or cranky but literally seemed to think, oh, ok, not going to win this one.

I'm going to ride her out in it for a couple of days and do a different route each day and then go back to her snaffle. Her owner was really pleased but I think she wants to make sure it wasn't a one-off after the issues she's had.

It didn't stop her rearing but did limit the height to a couple of feet off the ground instead of near vertical. She learnt from it quickly without getting upset so hopefully it can come off again very soon.

Thanks for your advice.xx
 
Draw reins work a treat for the more difficult ones or a standing martingale can do the trick for a horse that either doesn't do it very often or doesn't go very high.

The reason I use draw reins on mine to hack out is because I can always feel the napping starting, in which case use the draw reins, however if he is happily going forward then you don't have to touch them.

Mine can go through a spell where he is a little s*** for a couple of weeks then goes back to being sweet. When he doesn't want to go forward he goes right up but as soon as is front feet touch down he bucks and he keeps this up till he falls over. Sometimes he runs sideways and will crash into anything in his path. He was produced by pro and I also do horses full time so he has only ever had experienced people on board, but I doubt very much that he will ever stop it, it's just a case of managing it. He knows that he is beat in the draw reins and doesn't even bother to try it on making him much safer and more enjoyable to hack! He's a 6 year old Trak/TB and rearing is just one of his many quirks! I would think that most pros you ask about rearing will recommend draw reins or something similar.

Sorry for the novel!
 
Our loaned boy has a habit of standing up, or putting his head in the air and bolting. however, with market harborough he hasnt even tried a rear, and the bolting has slowed to a controllable but fast canter. It's always on the loosest setting too. I have a Harbridge as well, bought years ago, but I wouldnt try this on him, as I reckon it could cause a panic. Good luck1;)
 
Can i just point out- not disputing these tactics work! but 'fixing' the head and neck can cause the horse to fall etc as it does not have the balance. Mine is a rearer and used to be very bad, when lunging also- side reins pulled him over he couldnt get his balance. And falling didnt stop the problem either.

Personally whats worked best is a confident approach with a good kick and push from legs and seat. If you can anticipate the rear/spin then say the horse is going to the right pull down and to the left with the left reins keeping the legs on, this has proven time and time again with mine, he cant then get up on his hind legs, we block the spin and the legs push forward, carry on as itf nothing happened. Personally i need the whip along side the legs as he can be a little ignorant.

Hope that made sense!
 
abi31 said:
Thought I'd do a quick update.
It didn't stop her rearing but did limit the height to a couple of feet off the ground instead of near vertical. She learnt from it quickly without getting upset so hopefully it can come off again very soon.
Thanks for your advice.xx
Click to expand...

That's great that it worked for you, I don't think (as you say) it stops the rearing, but it does limit them and it gives you the confidence to push them on/turn circles until they give up and realise that they are not going to get away with it ..... it worked for me :)

I kept mine on him for a couple of months, I didn't need to use it, it just gave me peace of mind ... just in case :)
 
Personally I would be selling this horse, a six year old TB can be a handful and if the owner only wants a happy hacker this is probably the wrong choice. In my experience once one has got a bit scared, it is impossible to get rid of the fear.
 
I get the feeling this mare is a little like mine !! The reason she didn't do it with the trainer was that she knew not to even bother trying it on !! as with you you had the guts to push her on but the second she gets a wiff of being scared she's got you, I used to almost be able to hear my mare think ah that bunny hop didn't scare you let see what you think of it when I put your head near this branch or back up to that ditch over there then we'll go home yeah?? !! she never put herslf in danger though ie falling over etc

We have worked through it now, she still uses it as her method of telling you she doesn't "want to" but mainly in hand, draw reins have helped a treat with building my confidence to push her forward, when used correctly they are a good tool

...ah yes my point , your friend needs to get back on her and ride her through, be there with her to help her out
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top