Napping and Rearing

[Wishfilly]

Anything that "bunny hops" I think has the potential to go higher in the wrong situation- given we're talking about selling to an extent, I think anything that takes both front feet off the ground ought to be disclosed to the buyer, and I think they'd have a definite case for mis-selling if you tried to say "Oh, I didn't say they rear because they only bunny hop".

I sort of think minimising this behaviour as "not proper rearing" has the potential to be dangerous in itself, even if it's not that high or doesn't scare you personally.

 

[scats]

Polly will rear as a result of napping. She gets her reversing head on and if you keep forcing her, the inevitable way for the energy to go eventually is up.

My JA pony would rear out hacking if you asked her to stand for longer than about 4-6 seconds. It made junctions great fun. I lost count of how many drivers she waved at over the years. With a previous owner, she also reared and leapt onto the back of another horse in her desire to get in the front. Rider ended up having her leg stitched after the horse who was jumped on retaliated.
For safety sake, I never hacked the mare out behind anyone and I used to slow her up to junctions whilst checking out for traffic so we would time arriving at them without having to stand and wait if possible.

So I would class Polly’s rearing under the napping banner, but the JA pony I wouldn’t. That was more of an impatient ‘I don’t wait’ kind of thing. In 9 years together, she never napped once. Her issue was that she was too keen!

 

[SEL]

The Appy was a dreadfully bad running backwards napper - that's improved with age, schooling and managing her tonne of physical issues.

She also rears but it has different triggers. A face off with an angry cow (I have never prayed so hard to stay on in my life!), a horse in the distance vanishing out of her eyeline and a few other instances where she didn't understand the situation and her default was to go up. She goes right up too. Thankfully a lot less as she's got older and seen more of life - also as I got to know her triggers and would do my best to difuse the situation.

Still does it at play - surprises people that this lump of a horse can be quite so agile.

ETA she has a home for life with me and will be PTS if I can't keep her. I don't kid myself I'm a good rider but I've been around horses long enough to know which quirks can get dangerous in the wrong hands. My management of her keeps me and others safe - but I couldn't guarantee others would do the same

 

[greenbean10]

Anything that "bunny hops" I think has the potential to go higher in the wrong situation- given we're talking about selling to an extent, I think anything that takes both front feet off the ground ought to be disclosed to the buyer, and I think they'd have a definite case for mis-selling if you tried to say "Oh, I didn't say they rear because they only bunny hop".

I sort of think minimising this behaviour as "not proper rearing" has the potential to be dangerous in itself, even if it's not that high or doesn't scare you personally.

Agree with this. My horse does bunny hops and although she has never gone properly up, I am always very careful to diffuse the situation as quickly as I can by taking the pressure off just in case she realises she can go higher.

Mine was neither described as nappy nor a rearer (if it was I never would have bought it!) but if I ever resold her I would absolutely say she naps on the ad and then provide further details later. I don't necessarily think rearing and napping are separate things (although obviously they can be). If I see 'naps' on an ad then I would think this covers a whole range of bad behaviours and I would assume it does everything until reassured otherwise!

 

[Cortez]

Speaking as someone who trains horses to rear on command (and who also retrains horses not to rear or nap or do any of the suite of behaviours that are contained in that whole napping bouquet), there are horses whose go-to is to be light on the front end, and there are horses who would rather stick, bog off, drop a shoulder or buck; they tend not do to the whole lot all together (there is always the delightful exception of course).

 

[oldie48]

Speaking as someone who trains horses to rear on command (and who also retrains horses not to rear or nap or do any of the suite of behaviours that are contained in that whole napping bouquet), there are horses whose go-to is to be light on the front end, and there are horses who would rather stick, bog off, drop a shoulder or buck; they tend not do to the whole lot all together (there is always the delightful exception of course).

Rose is definitely at the backward thinking "light" end, Mr B was a forward thinking get strong type. He'd run back, if he got worried or confused but there was never a hint of a rear or a buck and he never ever napped on a hack. I was really shocked when I spoke to a previous owner who told me that the girl she had sold him to rang her several months after purchase to try to return him as he had become unrideable, napped badly and would spin and rear. He'd been turned away for 6 months and was on sales livery when I bought him. Nothing of this had been disclosed, if it had, I would never have tried him and I know the pro he was with was totally honest. It makes me wonder what sort of rider his previous owner was and has made me a lot less cynical about the "but he never did that with us" seller. I'm sure you have people queuing up for your services!

 

[Tihamandturkey]

Dropping a shoulder is an awful trait IMO and I really wouldn't want to own anything that did it having been on the receiving end a few times - esp those that spin first ?

 

[Dwyran_gold]

I think horses that rear are in the minority. horses are generally self preservation animals and won’t do anything that may be risky, that’s why we as owners will walk in to a field with galloping horses, they wouldn’t run over you because they know they might break a leg. 90% of the time a frightened stressed horse will run in the opposite direction avoiding all obstructions or try too.
so personally a horse who has no instinct of preservation, id consider dangerous.

 

[SEL]

Cortez could have easily taught my Appy to rear on command. She's very light in front, extremely well balanced when she's up there and in her younger days could bounce forward like she was showing off for the Spanish riding school. I never worried about HER losing her balance, just me sitting the antics - but also I never interfered with her while she was up there so I didn't unbalance her.

Arthritis has put paid to all of that now ?

 

[DabDab]

I used to own a horse who was a terrible napper - fine in the school and in company but categorically would not leave the yard alone. She would plant, spin, kick out, and if you really annoyed her she would throw herself on the floor in a fit of temper. But one thing she never did was rear. However, put her in a xc start box and ask her to stand while someone counted down and then she would go bolt upright. In her brain rearing was a precursor to lunging forwards, not part of refusing to move forwards.

But yes, by and large I would say bunny hop rears are most closely associated with nappy behaviour and I would always treat a mildly napping horse as having the potential to hop off their front legs in escalation if I didn't know them.

 

[Flame_]

My horse's go to is stroppy bucking when he doesn't want to go somewhere but he has on a handful of occasions done the bolt upright with very little warning thing. Apart from one time, it was when I put a (very loose!) running martingale on him and I think it was just a massive over-reaction to it's effect. Thankfully he seems to have grown out of the extreme acrobactics and is a really good solo hacker now, but I wouldn't risk trying to put a martingale on him again