rearer - long sorry!

A

archie1

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just started to ride a horse who naps quite badly and then starts to rear if pushed further forwards or spin. she walks round around 3times then starts, gets over it then starts again in a different place. its not pain, tack, teeth just attitude. she seems to be getting better almost by ignoring the problem then gives up - was better today than yesterday but is it ok to ignore the rears?? she does it, i ignore her and when she stops i ask her to keep doing what i want instead of getting angry which she seems to want. is this ok as i don't want to encourage her and she has to do what i want in the end but she isn't really punished e.g smacked. only a baby horse as well!!
 
Mine did it all the time until he really scared himself and went over with me onboard.He never did a full rear after that but it is usually napping that causes it .I found keeping calm worked with my horse his confidence improved a little with age .We go out on our own (when fit)and he will nap a little for first 10 mins but his age was main factor .
 
Personally I would not ignore a rearer. I think that if a horse does something unacceptable then you should react.

I have a rearer & when she goes up I spin her in a circle and kick her on. It sometimes takes a few circles but then I wait & walk her on calmly.

IMO ignoring it won't make it worse, but it won't make it better either.

(This is just my opinion, mind!
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When I said ignore I meant you don't necessarily need to smack it. Sometimes that just makes it worse. Spinning in a circle or growling to show that it was "naughty" is a good idea, but in a calm way that's not going to wind the horse up and make it worse.

Every horse is so different, it's quite difficult on a forum to give advice. If you're worried, get an instructor out. But I'd say that if the rears are getting less frequent then what you are doing is right. If they're getting worse, then it's not.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Personally I would not ignore a rearer. I think that if a horse does something unacceptable then you should react.

I have a rearer & when she goes up I spin her in a circle and kick her on. It sometimes takes a few circles but then I wait & walk her on calmly.

IMO ignoring it won't make it worse, but it won't make it better either.

(This is just my opinion, mind!
tongue.gif
)

[/ QUOTE ]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

What she said
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I know I might get shouted at for mentioning the P word but I saw on Tv that Par Parelli >_<!! turned a rearer into a circle because she couldn't square her back legs to rear. Just an idea! I've had no experience with rearers.
 
If it's a vice, which it sounds like it is then you should ignore it. My horse would bang on the door when she wanted attention - and guess what she got? Attention! So we started to ignore her when she did it (had to reinforce the door and put carpet on it) but she soon gave it up.

Good luck!
 
I don't think you should ignore it completely as it is very bad and dangerous behaviour and ignoring it could make it seem that it is acceptable to the horse. My horse rears, but when I feel him threatening to go up (it's usually when he doesn't want to do something and you start to pressure him) I turn his head right round to my toe. He stands there like that for about 5 seconds before he thinks better of rearing and gives in
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Smacking/shouting doesn't work with him either - just makes him worse.

Good luck
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I've tried everything with my rearer - smacking works but he gets very wound up, making him stand for ages until he gets bored and walks on works but takes times, turning him in a circle/ bringing his nose to my toe sometimes works, but he's a big horse and not that flexible!
I've always been told that when they threaten to rear turn them in several tight circles then drive them forwards with your voice/lots of annoying nudges with your heels.
Although my friend has a very sensitive horse who rears, and she's found that if she ignores it and carries on what she was doing without a fuss, then it stops. She's improved loads too, hardly ever rears now. I suppose it totally depends on the horse, but you definately need to do something to tell the horse it's been bad. So not much help really! Good Luck.

x
 
I think it's really important to say safe with a rearer and if ignoring her stops her from stressing then carry on.
My horse was a rearer and will do it now on occasions. We've come out the otherside and are happily competing. She was a nappy madam. I found ignoring the nonsense and praising the good bits soon made her want to please most of the time. Alot of it was confidence with my horse.
Good luck
 
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