need some fresh ideas. rearer.

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Vicki1986

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Firstly - yes she's 100% sound, back saddle and physio all checked regularly. And she has done this all the time i've had her regardless of any mitigating factors.

My mare is fine to school, hack in company, jump etc. regularly competed at all RC activies until we've wintered off in Dec.

Hacking alone she has seperation anxiety. she will relax for a little while, then call out, then relax again on the way out walking on a long rein. On the way home will jog as desperate to get home.

If she sees something majorly scary [to her] her answer is to rear. Sometimes vertical (shes only 13.1 so its not too bad)
and usually to evade me asking her to go forward so does a half rear/spin round to get away from object.

I have tried keep pushing her forward, but if its before she is 'ready' it makes her worse.
hitting/shouting at her does not work exept to wind her up further.
I had tried just stopping her, for as long as it takes, and praising any steps forward (sometimes she gets over it, probably feels stupid, and will walk past object very quickly) but yesterday she had a total spaz and i had to gt off, lead her past and get back on. she was genuinely afraid, she was reluctant to even walk past with my leading her.

Next ride i am going to keep her working correctly and really push on the whole ride, not letting her look at anything [hopefully] or dawdle and see if that works.

shes 17/18 and hasnt got any better in the 5 years i've had her
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The problem is amplified at the moment i suppose, as we've moved yards so on new hacking routes with new things to look at - although to be honest she could be just the same at our old yard where we were for 4 years.

She does trust me mostly, she will go pretty much anywhere with my inhand (tried to come with me into the pub once!) and is 100% in every other way, load clip shoe etc etc. we've gone off to camps together, came 6th at milton keynes 3 day event etc - she is a total gem, but such a spaz to hack out alone - which when you keep your horses at home so have to hack alone til you make friends, is a real inconvience!

Im getting frustrated. I've considered sending her away to a pro but I cant decide whether it would actually do any good or not at her age with the habit so ingrained? I ride competently enough, she doesnt frighten me and im patient when required i.e if she is scared, but also dont tolerate misbehaviour.

fresh ideas please ?
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I'm afraid my pony was similar although she didn't rear but would point blank refuse to go forward and sometimes bolt for home. I managed but often got off and never hacked alone as we'd be stuck. It did seem she was genuinely scared a lot of the time as she wouldn't follow others but other times she was just a cow... Afraid to say she never got over it or grew out of it. I'd be patient but firm, not sure there's much else you can do.
 
No fresh ideas, I'm afraid, but just to say a friend of mine has a lovely saying regarding her talented but slightly quirky horse - he is what he is (usually said with a wry smile after he has thrown a huge buck).

So if you have had her for 5 years and she is late teens, nothing much is going to change so I wouldn't bother with sending her away, especially if part of the problem is the change of yard and area. I would stick to what you are doing, give her time when you see something scary, and once she gets used to the new area and you find a friend to hack with, things will hopefully improve.

I had a young horse that started rearing, and I soon learnt to avoid battles I couldn't win so I would only go on hacks we both felt comfortable with - safely first! He was more likely to go up if I stressed him by insisting, so I did usually let him take his time over something he was worried about. Good luck.
 
Hi

Sorry to hear you've been having trouble. My mare is v. spooky out on her own too and before she was injured it was recommended I only hack in company, but as you say this is not always easy!

My YO and friend today suggested that when I start taking her out on her own again to try a pacifier, something like a blinker. It stops them gazing around for scary things and they focus on the hack and feel more secure... Her friend tried it with a nutcase and apparantly it really helped..

I've only googled this today and found this link to where you can get one...

http://www.garrardshorseandhound.com.au/shop.cfm?action=getcat&category=389

Good luck, let me know how you get on and I might just try it too when me and horsey get to that stage!
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Whoops just realised this is an Australian website
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but you get the idea...
 
When one of my youngsters used to stop and refuse to go past and threaten to rear and reverse backwards, i used to turn her around and send her backwards down the road.
I had to do this half a dozen times and since then i think she realised that she had totally lost the battle and has never done anything like it since
 
I often think getting off and leading the horse past the object (which they are not _really_ scared of but are just taking the mick) is self-defeating, as it rewards the horse for rearing.
 
Ah, i feel for you. My mare sounds very similiar. At the end of the day you have to accept her personality. She is what she is. My mare has the exact same reaction as your pony whem confronted by a situation that is new or unusual. I deal with it in a number of ways:-
1 Like you, i don't hassle her when she gets in a state. It only makes her more anxious. I make her stand when she fixates on something and talk to her calmly. If she attempts to spin then I spin her the other way.
2 If she succeeds in spinning and runs, I can still stop her (her saving grace is she has breaks!). I then dismount and lead her - there is no shame in dismounting and leading a horse) I always carry a leadrope on my saddle and just attach that to her bridle, not directly to her bit though.
3 If she only hacks in company at the moment, start taking her out on her own, inhand - she clearly is more confident with you beside her. Start on short, familiar routes and then progress to longer routes.
4. Once you have accomplished that (it will take time, be patient) Start riding out, mounted, with a leader walking slightly ahead, and as ponio becomes more confident the leader can start to walk at the side and eventually behind the pony. This will take time and patience. Don't chastise yourself over her, you sound as though you are lovely mummy to her and have her best interests at heart.

My mare is the sweetest, gentlest girl and has absolutley no malice which is why I forgive her when she proves difficult!
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If you have just changed livery yards I'd say anxiety issues, just give her time to settle in to a new routine and new friends, She has the same feelings as you, like how are you feeling in a new situation? are you trying to find your way with the routine and new friends?
 
Agree with JR,
Also I wouldn't worry too much about it at her age - she sounds like she is lucky enough to have a capable and patient rider and will most likely settle down soon enough. I would also say that in view of her age I'd be reluctant to send her away for schooling, A lot of these pro's have big egos and might not be that sympathetic towards a 13.1hh older mare. If she were a youngster I'd suggest long reining her out on the hacking roughts (can't bloody spell that!!) but if she's not used to long reins, it could cause more problems...
From what you've said it would seem that you know your horse and are sensible with her - bet she will improve with out you even noticing.
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I often think getting off and leading the horse past the object (which they are not _really_ scared of but are just taking the mick) is self-defeating, as it rewards the horse for rearing.

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I totally disagree. The horse isn't objecting to carrying a rider, its objecting to going past a scary thing. If getting off and leading gives the horse enough confidence to give in and go past the scary thing, the horse has submitted - you've won. OK you've had to be a bit sneaky and compromised a bit, but still much better than fighting a losing battle IMHO.
 
Exactly like my thoroughbred. Calm as a donkey if he is unstressed and goes like a dream in company but take him out on his own and it very often goes tits up.

The only things I've found that works were having someone walk out with us and doing the same ride over and over again and gradually expanding the ride over a reasonable period of time, with the walker starting off in front for a few days and then walking at the shoulder, and then walking at the rear and then several paces behind and then finally not coming at all. Needless to say this is very tedious, boring, and unrewarding riding although when you finally see some progress you do feel rewarded then. I did actually manage to get him out on his own for two hour hacks but only with the most enormous amount of work doing the above.

You only have to have an incident as well like a troublesome dog or something and it all goes pear shaped. I also found when I moved yards we went completely back to square one as it was a completely different riding area.

Mine is a rearer too, and not a bolter, but he can also run backwards for England. I have found that 'getting tough' and insisting never works, he just gets more wound up & stressed and therefore dangerous, and on several occasions I had good results with just letting him stand for ages and almost boring him into moving forward but that only works if you can get him to stand before he starts getting too worked up, as once he's reached that stage he is all over the place, and he's very very dangerous when it's gone that far.

He's also very nappy on his own as well and it was really hard work getting him to leave the yard but I found that if I led him away from the yard and then mounted him 5 minutes up the track (luckily there was a mounting log there) we could managed it all without any 'scene'.

My horse is never naughty and he genuinely tries his hardest to please but he just completely lacks confidence and can't cope with being on his own. He's an ex racer and when they are training the never have to do anything on their own at all so for the first 5 years or so of his life everything would have been done around other horses. I feel that this is why he is the way he is. I believe being a race horse is a bit like being in the army in that it is very regimented and doesn't allow the horse much opportunity to develop an independant character, which of course doesn't matter to the trainers as the horse is there to do a job.

I've sadly come to the conclusion that this is his basic nature and he is never going to change. I know that I can do the above to improve things but I believe he will always be like this. He is just a wreck without other horses around him, and is similarly as stressed out if I brought him in on the yard when the rest of the horses are still out. Try googling 'herdbound horse', there's tons of stuff on the net about it.
 
Agree there with flame - I wouldn't dismount if I could help it but I don't think the horse has the capacity to think 'oh if I pretend to be scared the rider will get off' I think it just naps/rears in response to some thing that it dislikes. Far better to get off, lead it quietly past then get right back on asap. Not that I'm a bunny hugger mind - if it was just a nappy sod that didn't want to leave the yard I would give it some stick
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I often think getting off and leading the horse past the object (which they are not _really_ scared of but are just taking the mick) is self-defeating, as it rewards the horse for rearing.

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I meant to say I used to think this as well but when you have actually owned a horse that is like this you do change your mind. I found as I got to know him I could tell when he might be alright with a calm pause and then a gentle nudge to move him on or if it was going to be one of those occasions when he was going to become so stressed out he goes into dangerous mode. There's nothing smart about trying to stay on board to preserve your ego. If you are out hacking you are a danger to yourself, your horse, and others if your horse is wildly out of control. If getting off and calmly walking your horse passed 'the problem' means that you can then get back on and continue your ride without any fuss at all then it is worth doing it. In the early days with my horse I tried all that staying on stuff and not being defeated and it leads to more stress for everyone, and doesn't actually get you anywhere. Because of my 'I will not be defeated/disobeyed attitude I had more rides where I eventually had to get off and couldn't get back on, having then to calming walk him back to the yard, sometimes a bit of a treck.

Lets look at it like this. If you were teaching your very young child to swim and they were stressed and nervous you would go about it probably bit by bit by gentle coaxing and trying to sooth their anxiety, you wouldn't just chuck it in and let it get on with it.
 
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If I was teaching a kid to swim I'd chuck it straight in the sea
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Lol. love it.

thanks everyone for your advice, will just keep plugging on, a few things posted have given me food for thought. I have a less problematic shorter route to do which shes done twice with no issues, think i will keep repeating that for a little while to gain her confidence, then go further afield. maybe i was just pushing my luck going further out/on a more scary route so soon, given her spooky ways.
 
I have had the same experience as Miss Bird, when I first got mine riding out on our own was a bit of a battle, he would simply stop and rear and spin, every time I tried to turn him he would go up.... by accident one day he started to go backwards, so I let him continue until we were passed the 'scary' object .. tried it again the next time and it worked! ... as Miss Bird said, he realised the stragey did not work, we did not get in a huge fight and I think he simply decided it was not worth the hassle !
the worst he does now is if there is something genuinely scary he may spin once, but we do not have the rearing fights any more
 
just as a little update for anyone who is interested... for the last month+ we've had no rearing, I have hacked her out on the same route every time, she goes on the buckle with minimal spooking, then on the weekends I have started altering the route slightly, she did go to rear sunday when frightened off some sheep feeders, i just got off and walked her past them as really dont want her going up but thats been the only"issue" in well over a month. I think I just have to accept, that at her age, there will be things shes frightened of and given her tendancy to go up in these situations theres no point forcing the issue when she is being good 95% of the time. Thanks all for the advice.
 
I read a post a while ago that said about using blinkers on a horse that reared, as horses wouldn't go where they can't see. It might be worth a try.
 
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