Please help - we've started rearing!

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

Took Rock out for a hack today and we tried a new route. Now in my 2years of having him hes never reared or threatened to rear or even suggested he knew what rearing was!! But today oh know!
We went down a road and there were chickens in a field next to the road, Rock froze and when i gave him a kick he reared up, so i got off and lead him past, got back on and thought ok he was scared. Further on going across a field someone had abandoned a car in pieces, same thing happened so i got off again and lead him past and got back on. However, then we were just walkin across the field, nothing spooky just grass, and he just stopped and planted himself, i kicked him on and he reared and spun, and kept doing this, i wasnt about to get off for no reason, but couldnt get him going forward so had to turn around and go all the way back home! Made him trot all the way home and he was sweated up like a stallion when i got back but i just dont know what to do. The rears werent big only a couple feet off the ground but i was on my own, in the middle of nowhere and near a main road, i didnt want to push him any further and make him go up higher and go over (i've had one go over on me before so im even more petrified of it happening again now) i had no whip with me but if i did i wouldnt have used it as like i just said was middle of nowhere on my own, didnt know what he'd do.
I have a feeling now that if i had challenged him he may have given up as he did it again on the way home, on the road but as there were people about i was more confident to challenge him and he did a little rear, i gave him a boot and said 'go on then' n he just walked on so hm.
Help, how should i react to this? What should i do now? What do i do if it happens again? And why would he do it all of a sudden? If it was his back he would be doing it all the time not just today. Help

 

[Alibear]

If it's out of the sudden I'd be either a) putting it down to alively one off but more likely b) giving hima full MOT as it's likley to be pain related somewhere. Pain can come on very suddenly, have you never woken up with a tooth ache that wasn't there the night before etc?
I'd first check saddle fit and teeth and then go from there onto legs / back etc.

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

Hm hes got the saddler coming out next week as i know it doesnt fit properly (it used to but hes changed shape) but i just cant help but think he was trying it on, he learnt that the last two times he did it i got off so thought ah well thats easy.

 

[Kat1e]

Yes I'd agree with Ali- check things out first, it's possible he's tweaked something since you last rode- maybe in the field? Also as you got off both of the first two times he reared, it's possible he thought 'ah, if i rear she gets off' and kept trying it out again. Try and sort this out when there are other people around- as you said you felt more confident when you weren't alone.
Hope you're OK, and that it was a one off which won't happen again!

 

[Vicki1986]

get his back and teeth checked ASAP. IMHO if he's never before done it and now all of a sudden done it more than once there is something going wrong....go for the full mot back teeth saddle etc sounds like he could be in pain somewhere

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

Ok will do! Like i said saddler already booked, will get back lady and teeth man out.
Though i still cant help but think he thought 'she got off last time i reared lets try that one again' hes a quick learner i could see it on his face

 

[Alibear]

Ah but if you get things checked and sorted out and then he doesn it you know where you stand. He may well have been trying it on but this was a new way of trying it on and probably caused by some sort of discomfort so first and foremost get rid of the discomfort. Then let battle commence at it were

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

Will def get him fully MOT'd just to double check.
This really is my worse nightmare, my last horse was an awful rearer but he had no self preservation and aimed to chuck himself over, after 3spills in hospital i gave up on him, 2years down the line im faced with a rear and i just have visions of it all over again even though when i actually challenged rock to go higher he was like 'oh um hm'

 

[Alibear]

well I bet you a virtual £5 sort the saddle and any connected back aches out and you'll both be right as rein again

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

I hope so! He just doesnt seem the type to do something like that, i'm going to hack him out in company tommorow round the same route see if he does it, if he does then i'd say its a physical thing, if not hes napping.

 

[Forget_Me_Not]

Look on ealier post of gadgets... 'Rearstop'

 

[Ferdinase514]

I'd avoid getting off if he does it. Stay as calm as you can **if you can

** and push him on and through it.

Getting off give the wrong signals imo

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

I understand that and i didnt want to but i couldnt get him to go forwards he just kept going up and spinning no matter what i did, kicked him, he went up, coaxed him, he ran off, shouted, he reared up. So it was get off, or go home.
Like i said above my old horse went over on me rearing 3times, so im reluctant to push on a rearer if its going to make him go higher and over, though looking back i have a feeling i could have called Rocks bluff

 

[MillionDollar]

Its easy to say don't get off him but its very scary when you're actually on the horse, it feels like miles up even when they only go up a little way, so it hard to say stay on. It could def be him trying it on, little swines always try everything, lol, but like others have said it could be possibly him being uncomfortable with something.

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

Thanks yeh it is difficult and like i said i have flashbacks of when william went over on me when he reared so that doesnt help!

 

[rach1984horse]

Did they not used to crack an egg over the heads of rearers when they went up? Made them think their brain had exploded or something and scared them out of it? Or am I making that up?

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

Yeh but i dont agree with that type of treatment unless its a really severe case, especially on rock as hes a very fragile horse (which is why i was even more shocked by his behaviour today!)

 

[Tufty]

have you ever tried cracking an egg over a horses head whilst trying to stay on him when he is rearing, dont think there would be much left of the egg, more like scrabbled in your pocket. ! I have heard that one years ago but seems pretty impratical to me. The other one that you use to hear was a sock full of wet sand and hit them with it, can you imagine how ridiculous it would be to carry these things around with you on a hack and then attempt to carry out these proceedures whilst trying to get them out of your pocket and trying to stay on a rearer. There was another one I heard recently and that was to tie the tail down apparently they cant balance without their tail so they wont rear !

NOT FOR ME ANY OF THOSE METHODS think I would try the back route first and teeth and then someone like Richard Maxwell or Monty Roberts research.

One of my horses started to spin on the roads and then go up so I use to pull her head into my leg and then make her spin and spin until she was really fed up (or until I got dizzy) she use to think twice about it after a while but it took ages to cure her.

 

[Parkranger]

I don't think they tend to start rearing for no reason - they're either rearers or they're not! Scarey ride though!

I'd get the physio out too .....

x

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

i've heard the tail one, but i'd be scared that he'd try to rear anyway and it would just make him more likely to fall over!! Will try the spinning thing next time if i can.

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

Oh to add though (general question here) if it was his back, then why did he only rear when he was spooked (and then kept doing it coz he realised he could get away with it) surely if it was a tweak it would have happened before then (as we were about 20minutes along the hack by this point) and why only when he had seen something he didnt like?

 

[Parkranger]

Can you think of anything else that happened before he spooked or anything you did when he spooked?

Has his feed changed? Is he in a different field.....

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

Hm he changed fields about a month ago and feed same time (but has been fine in himself since the changes) and he was generally fine, walking along normally, then spooked at something which i assume was the chickens in the field next to the road, and started snorting so i laughed and said walk on and patted him (hes usually very trusting with me) and instead he started reversing up the bank at the side of the road, so i said walk on again and gave him a kick and he struck out and stamped his front foot, another kick and he went up but like i said not big but big enough!
So i got off and lead him down the road,got back on and he was fine, then walked normally, fine going up the track (bout 10minutes later) maybe a little forward going, then spooked again at a abandoned car which was in bits and started rearing more aggressively, so i got off again, got back on and he was walking fine again, nothing to spook at, then he like sort of slid as he was walking as the ground was uneven (not majorly just a little slip, hes not the best on his feet so does this quite often) and then spun as he did that and when i tried to turn him back around he reared up again.

 

[Parkranger]

That's really weird that he carried on normally then switched again. Striking out with front feet is a sign of temper but that may be cause he's in pain.

The first spook could have been a coincidence with the foot strike out, then maybe when he slipped the next time he pulled something again......

Definately get him checked out.... xxx

PS - my boy went on conditioning cubes and after a month he went apes@it, I had to take him off quick sharpest as he start to bronco!

 

[MillionDollar]

[ QUOTE ]
if it was his back, then why did he only rear when he was spooked

[/ QUOTE ]

Um, thats true!

Tell you what a behaviourist came to our college a months ago Dr Andrew McClean (Australian) he was amazing! Anyway his theory is always about pressure and making the horse understand the rider. He told us when he has a rearer he always finds that when the horse rears the rider leans forward and letting go of the contact (putting hands forward) so he gets on and when the horse rears he doesn't let go of the contact in the mouth. He leans forward so he doesn't pull horse back but the horse doesn't get away from the contact.

Of course its easier said than done but he did it with a student horse and then showed the rider and it is now cured, hasn't reared since.

He also got a horse to load which normally takes hours and now its owner doesn't have a problem with it! He went to the Global Dressage Conference and did a display he was in H+H a few weeks ago.

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

Thats interesting because thinking about it i did drop the contact as i thought *back off pressure and he'll go down* hm

Thing is what do i do now? Tommorow do i just treat him as i normally do, or be a bit cold with him?? Should i hack him out alone again or go out with somebody? I just honestly dont know what to do

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

Btw he had speedibeat added to his feed about a month ago, could that have anything to do with it? Also hes only been hacking for 2weeks as hes had a holiday, maybe that has something to do with it aswell? Maybe hes the type of horse that needs to be worked (though over the last 2years i've never had any indication of this)
Def odd that he kept going as normal after the spooks and rears.

 

[LauraBR]

[ QUOTE ]
That's really weird that he carried on normally then switched again. Striking out with front feet is a sign of temper but that may be cause he's in pain.

The first spook could have been a coincidence with the foot strike out, then maybe when he slipped the next time he pulled something again......

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry but I think Rocky is taking the mick. I'm usually the first to suggest back/tack/teeth checks but from what Kayleigh has described, sounds more behavioural to me. Still think it worth ruling out b/t/t but horses I have had with pain issues don't limit their bad behaviour to scary objects out hacking.

I'm not an expert on rearing so can't really offer any valuable advice I'm afraid.

My current boy ran backwards at anything scary when I got him- could reverse a LONG way. Gave up on the sickly sweet encouragement after a fortnight and started carrying a stick out hacking- one proper smack to send him forwards and off we went. A few months on and a few mini rears/bucks in protest we now move FORWARDS- in fact he'll tuck his bum under and scarper past scary things now lol... better than backwards.

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

Yes im inclined to agree with you, i think he had a temper on him today but i just dont understand what has caused it, hes always been such a sweet mamas boy! Then today he was a different horse, has really depressed me because i trusted him SO much and now, well now i dont trust him at all. Feel like i've lost that bond with him.

 

[YorksG]

When Amber's saddle didn't fit in the summer, she started walking slightly sideways, but the time it showed was when I asked her to canter. My normally obedient, very responsive mare started running on in trot and throwing her head around. The new saddle sorted her out. The saddler is comming over the christmas holiday to reshape as she has lost weight again (much needed as she could have been shown in a fatstock show!)
Tack that isn't just right can make a huge difference.