Rearing and spinning whilst out hacking...help!!

[adarlinglittlething]

The new horse has now been with us for roughly a month and a few weeks now, whilst she is perfect in the school, green, but moves lovely and does what you ask, all be that she is petrified of the trotting poles/jumps (but this is fine as I assume she has never seen one in her life let alone jumped one, no biggy as this isn't a huge deal for me), she is semi ok to ride out with another horse, however, in a group of more than two horses max, she turns into a nightmare, and if going on your own well, you just don't go.

Whilst hacking out with a 13hh pony (whom she hates in a field but loves out hacking!) she is well behaved, she doesn't rear or nap however he has to go in front which is fine, if he is behind she will nap and rear.

Whilst out with a larger group - I thought i would ride out with 4 others from our yard, all ponies being led minus one old safe as houses horse which was also being led (this is the majority of my stables apart from my other horse and one more horse) she was a complete nightmare, she reared on two occasions and would have on a third had my trusty 13hh pony not come to the rescue, she was unbelievably strong where as she is normal very soft and quiet in the mouth, she was also throwing her head all over the place which she has never done before, and i struggled to hold on to her.

Last night whilst out hacking on our own with my mum on foot, she was stop starting refusing to go forward and then reared up span and attempted to bolt home, i managed to refrain her from bolting however when tried to resume the hack and turn her back the other way she continued to rear, this wasn't near the yard by this point we had come out of the yard, down the driveway and about 200 meters along the lane, I then had to turn back and go home because it was a little un-nerving, i did however ride in the school after so something was done with her and finished on a good note.

Bit of a lost cause here as I am not experienced very well with rearers so any suggestions or help would be appreciated!!

Yes I have heard of the crack the egg theory however I am not skilled enough to do that and I think this wouldn't work with her as she is very sensitive and was a bit headshy when she came and so far will only let me or my mum catch her and will only let me put on and take her bridle off and I am not prepared to ruin this.

Thank you xxx

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

OP how old are you??? Coz rearing is something that would challenge the most experienced riders on here and isn't really something you should feel you have to deal with on your own.

It sounds like this horse has some very real confidence issues and/or she is trying you out. Whichever, rearing is the ultimate refusal to go forward and there are a lot of reasons why horses do it.

You may have to spend some time in the school with this horse, getting her to trust you as the rider by doing confidence-building exercises on the ground first and then progressing on to ridden work. Its about her having the confidence in YOU as her herd leader and this takes time - and patience, and a certain confidence too TBH in order to tackle the issues involved.

This sounds very like my cob when I had him, he'd throw all his toys out the pram when I tried to hack him solo, as he'd come from a trekking centre where all he had ever done was follow the bum ahead and it took a heck of a lot of time, patience, groundwork and more groundwork, AND professional help, before I was anywhere near sorting it.

I strongly suggest OP that you get some professional help with this horse ASAP. Please don't do anything like try to crack an egg or anything like that - that may be an appropriate response for an experienced/professional rider but please do not try this yourself!!!

I know that I could not have dealt with the issues my cob threw at me without professional help; I would have either injured myself, or given up, or both. I would strongly suggest to you that for your own safety you do NOT ride your horse anywhere except in the school till you have asked a professional's help in this. Its just not worth injuring yourself and/or losing your confidence and its all too easy to do.

Ask around for an experienced trainer in your area; or post on here as no doubt someone will be able to recommend a person.

Look at the "Michael Peace" website; he has written some books and articles on this subject and allied ones which may give you some food for thought. Michael DOES take in problem horses, but is not cheap, but may be able to recommend someone in your area???

I feel that in this instance professional help is needed. Possibly your horse has done this before, which is why I think that for your own safety you should get an expert to help you work through the issues involved.

 

[adarlinglittlething]

I am only 22, however my old horse which have since retired, used to bolt upright rear and put his back foot back to stop himself falling back, however this we later found out was due to the fact he had suffered a bad rotational fall before he came to me which we were not told about when we bought him, we had his back checked etc and xrays and this was the cause of his rearing, we then had to go back to basics and he wasnt the same so made the decision to retire him in my nans back yard with my mums old boy . Which is why my experience with a rearer has only been medical.

This girl however has had back checks etc before we bought her and there is no problems there, her back was also checked last week and all fine.

I am in the sevenoaks, kent area so would be great if any one has suggestiopns of any pros in my area that would help that would be great!!

 

[Houndman]

This wants addressing as soon as possible before it becomes an established vice.

I once had a pony that tried to rear a couple of times. I was told to whack it between the ears with the hard end of a whip when it started to rear so it thought it had hit its head. This trick actually worked well and it stopped doing it.

 

[paddi22]

excellent advice above. i've a rearer and i got a professional in to help m and it was brilliant.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

First get a pro in.

Also I would walk her put in hand and do loads go ground work to get her to trust you. Also do it with out another horses there so she is only focused on you not her friend.

 

[littleshetland]

You really really do need a pro. However, if you do decide to ride her whilst waiting for a visit from your professional help and she rears, you could try 'drilling' her, which means after she's landed you instantly turn her very sharply in tiny circles. Pull her nose round so it touches the toe of your boot and drill her round and round, then ride her forward. If she goes forward ok, give her some praise. If she goes to rear again, drill her again. As you can imagine this is not very pleasant for the horse, and they soon knock it off.

However, as the above posters have said - ground work and pro help are a good start. Good luck - I'm sure she'll be fine.

 

[ihatework]

Is it a full on rear or an escalation of a bouncy nap?

If the former get an experience person in to help you pronto.

If the latter it is likely just normal baby insecurity issues. Easily solved with time an patience. Lots of confidence building needed. By all mean get help (a good idea) - but in the short term set yourself up to succeed out hacking. Pick a relatively short easy route. Hack it lots in a pair she is best going out with.
Gradually get to the point where she will lead the hack with that pair (usuful to have someone come on a bike/foot with a leadrope) and then eventually on your own with an extra pair of hands. If she has a wobble take your time and get your pair of hands to lead her for a bit etc.

 

[Ilovemywelshie]

Hi adarlinglittlething I've had Rosie about 2 months now and we had a similar start so i can sympathise with you. Im 23 and in our situation it wasnt full on rearing more of bouncing rear and spinning or running backwards, she's only just 5 so green too.
I have managed to nip this in the bud reasonably quickly by taking her out in hand to the places she used to start napping so it almost became the 'boring hack' I think it helped her gain trust in me and start thinking of me as the leader because i was right there with her. She can completley sense if im nervous or anticipting something so we just walked with purpose!
She is majorly sensitive and if I'd have whacked her with a whip she would explode and make things 10 times worse. It goes completely against what feels right but I had to conciously make sure I didn't have too much contact with hands and wasnt pulling on her mouth throughout the napping, or I think she just felt trapped and the only way to go is up higher or backwards. Just constant leg wrapped round and loads of little squeezes and she had no where to go but forward not once did i let her turn and go home or she would without a doubt take the mick out of me then the next time.
I think inhand really worked for us and I hope you get it sorted it's not fun when things don't go how you imagine them.
The soft and patient approach worked for us because i think she was genuinly scared of hacking on her own. I understand it won't work in every case but we can now hack anywhere because i think she gets the confidence from me it's still eventful lol 'nearly out the side door yesterday over a cat in a bush' never can completley relax.
Sorry for long reply but you had pretty much described my situation. Lots of people say tricky horses often turn out to be the best ones!

 

[kgj66]

Hi, I agree with above to get professional help if possible but I had a similar issue with my horse so thought id let you know how I solved it.

I had very similar problems with my mare and she would still rear occasionally now when she is fearing something. It took a long time for me to realise she needed me to be 'alpha'. She is very sensitive and so I often held back in being hard on her as I thought it would make the situation worse. But in the end I found I needed a balance between where she knew I was the boss, but that she could trust me- it got so bad that I could barely lead her up the yard without her rearing or ride away from other horses in the school never mind hack! One day I just got sick of it when she nearly stepped on a child whilst napping and give her one sharp smack with the stick and a good hard kick. Although this didn't instantly solve the problem by any means she certainly started to think a little more with my new attitude. (This did take a lot of new confidence from me). I also would never 'beat' her/hit her on head because she would have flipped, I just had to time it right if she needed me to be more assertive.
Aside from that ground work really helped, and I began to be able to anticipate when she would rear- I would make sure and keep her head down (she rode in an outline very easily) so she couldn't get it up to start the rear and if she did, I would try to turn her before she got any higher. The same as you OP if she got up and turned she changed into having a mouth of steel! I would continue to hack with ponies, or a person - I found the person on foot having a pocket of treats helped a lot, and just give her time.
I've had my mare 2.5yrs now and only now do I think we really understand each other! Good luck!

 

[Tinsel Trouble]

Don't even start me on the 'cracking an egg' baloney! Who rides with an egg in their hand!

I would get someone behind you with a bucket of water and splash it up her bottom when she starts to threaten. That'll send her forwards quickly enough, if you can't find a person on foot then another rider with a supersoaker will do the trick. She needs to think forwards and you need both your hands available to ride forwards with!

just sit tight she'll jump forwards!

 

[samlf]

Sounds like nappiness to me, I'd be long reining her out daily for a month on her own until she is completely calm and relaxed about it.
If however it is 'proper' rearing, then yes a full vet check then professional help.

 

[TTK]

Jason Webb is in your area, he is brilliant with dangerous problems. Google him & good luck don't put yourself at risk, get professional help.

 

[adarlinglittlething]

Well..... 2 nights ago I hacked her out again this time with the 13hh pony now know as "safety blanket", she was good as gold the entire way, reassured her the whole time, kept a very light contact and patted and stroked her neck also. However.... as soon as we go closer to home one of the other ponies neighed and that was it she changed, she attempted to rear again at which point I threw my inside rein at her, leaned forward and she stopped her attempt, then i was pretty much fighting to hold her together the entire way. This now confuses me even more!!!

Shes such a soppy lovely mare on the ground and goes like a dream in the school, just a different horse when shes out

I have heard very very mixed reviews on Jason Webb... any help?