Rearing horse

Lillian_paddington

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I'm not sure why people are taking about returning this horse. She was sold on good faith with full disclosure, there is no basis whatsoever that I can see to return her to the seller.

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On the chance that the seller is genuinely interested in the horse’s welfare and wants it to go to a suitable home. There’s not a legal case to return the horse, but I think it would be best to offer the seller the opportunity to take it. At least they already know and can handle the horse, and I’m assuming if they’ve only had it gone for a week they would be set up to take it back.
I totally agree the seller is not legally or even morally obliged to take the horse back, but on the chance that they would it would be better than selling on to a stranger who doesn’t know the horse. Better for the horse too if it can go back to an environment it knows.
 

Freck.19

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This honestly may not be the case- I know a rearer who only does it when alone or forced to leave the group, regardless of how silly the company are being. However, obviously you should only do what you feel comfortable with.
I think when I get to know her more then I’ll feel more comfortable riding her and expecting her rears. I can sit them, Im not getting off, I’m not giving up. I’ll get some lessons. And I’m still going to keep riding her every day.
 

charterline

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Firstly I’d make sure teeth back and saddle are all checked. (This should be done with any new horse.)

as other posters if it’s a private sale you have no option to send back.

in the meantime do not ride the horse in a situation that’s going to put any pressure on and start the rearing
 

Wishfilly

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I think when I get to know her more then I’ll feel more comfortable riding her and expecting her rears. I can sit them, Im not getting off, I’m not giving up. I’ll get some lessons. And I’m still going to keep riding her every day.

I really hope it all works out for you but I would be wary of getting fixed on the idea of never getting off a rearer- if the behaviour escalates and she's at risk of going over backwards, then I think you need to be ready to bail.
 

Nari

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Get some help now. It's no good saying you can sit them, sooner or later a horse will make a mistake and end up going over - at that point sitting them is the last thing you want to be doing. If you intend to carry on you need to learn how to see them coming and know how to prevent them. If she's already got you out of your depth the first time she's done this then the chances are things will get worse not better unless you get proper help.
 

Bellaboo18

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If you've lost confidence on your first ride it's not a good idea to keep her. You can sit to all the rears you like but either she's in pain (you don't say how you know she isn't) or like the previous owners say it's an established behavioural issue. She needs a very experienced rider. This won't end well, you'll get hurt.
 
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splashgirl45

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always be ready to get off if she rears , you risk serious injury if she falls over backwards. you sound like a novice owner who doesnt have any experience of rearers and you really must get some proper help from a good trainer before you have a nasty accident. please dont be silly and think you can sort this out yourself, you may be lucky and manage to but you could also have many problems and you are not doing the horse any favours by trying to do it on your own...i am very experienced but would never have bought a known rearer. there will be a reason that she rears and i would also suggest you get your own vet to assess her as well a a trainer to be sure she doesnt have pain issues. has she been scoped for ulcers and had her back checked properly?
 

laura_nash

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I think when I get to know her more then I’ll feel more comfortable riding her and expecting her rears. I can sit them, Im not getting off, I’m not giving up. I’ll get some lessons. And I’m still going to keep riding her every day.

When you say she rears, is she going right up and how balanced is she?

My most recent experience of a rearer was a teenage girl who was over-horsed and the horse learnt to rear whenever she was excited and not getting her own way. It was only ever very low rears, and didn't ever look in danger of unbalancing, she'd just learnt that getting her front hooves off the ground worked to get what she wanted. After a serious chat from the YO the girls mother arranged an adult sharer who gave the horse some hard work and also an instructress to work with them both and the rearing was all sorted within a couple of months.

I'm always VERY cautious of rearers though after being present when one did go over on someone and cause some pretty serious injuries. The rider was a very experienced, capable and confident horse-woman who had the horse on schooling livery due to established napping and rearing. It hadn't reared for some weeks and she was hacking it out with me when it spooked, went up, slipped and went right over on her. It all happened very quickly. She was told she was very lucky she didn't lose her leg and had a long period of physio before she was able to ride again. If your mare is going right up, I would seriously consider how you would feel if you were in a wheelchair for the rest of your life before you say "Im not getting off, I'm not giving up".
 

Flicker

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Please, for the sake of this horse and your own safety, have a trusted equine vet do a complete work up on her. Horses don’t generally ‘try it on’ - they have a brain roughly the size of a potato and lack the mental capacity. What they do do is react. To pain, to fear, to adrenaline. This mare is screaming at you that something is not right, and just ‘sitting her rears’ is the equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and going ‘lalala’.
There is every likelihood that she will scream louder at some point and that may very well end up in serious injury for you. In the meantime, can you in good conscience continue to expect an animal to perform for you when something is so clearly causing her distress? This is not the time to try to prove what a great rider you are, this is the time to prove what a great listener you are.
 

honetpot

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Please, for the sake of this horse and your own safety, have a trusted equine vet do a complete work up on her. Horses don’t generally ‘try it on’ - they have a brain roughly the size of a potato and lack the mental capacity. What they do do is react. To pain, to fear, to adrenaline. This mare is screaming at you that something is not right, and just ‘sitting her rears’ is the equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and going ‘lalala’.
There is every likelihood that she will scream louder at some point and that may very well end up in serious injury for you. In the meantime, can you in good conscience continue to expect an animal to perform for you when something is so clearly causing her distress? This is not the time to try to prove what a great rider you are, this is the time to prove what a great listener you are.
Well what ever brain capacity they have, some, usually ponies, can work out if they do X, and evades the rider it a good tactic to get what they want.
It usually starts by accident, the rider in trying to get horse to go one way or stops them going forward, blocks the forward movement and the only way out is up, perhaps with a leap to the side. It’s when the behaviour becomes established it’s a real worry.
Our old pony only did it once with me, he wanted to go to the field in stead of going to the house and spent a few minutes going side ways, back wards and up before realising he was going home.
It’s finding the trigger in the first place and working round it, and finding some way to stop them boiling over, so they go forward not up.
 

Lois Lame

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They have assured me that the horse has been turned inside out and there are no health issues, It’s just a learned bad habit.

To me, this is not evidence that there is nothing wrong with the horse.

Maybe the owners believe it, maybe they did this, and maybe they didn't.

What vet was used? He or she would have records.

Bucks are one thing, but rearing is another kettle of fish. I wouldn't get on a rearer. (I'd also prefer to not get on a bucker either, come to think of it, but bucking isn't nearly as dangerous.)
 
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Thanks for your sarcastic, unhelpful comment. It doesn’t bother me that much that it made me not buy her, as I think I can work through it. I’d just appreciate some helpful answers/ tips or people with experience dealing with this.
To be fair, the writer has a point. Knowingly buying a horse which rears isn't your best decision of the year. And there is no reason, moral or otherwise, why the previous owners who sold him to you should be expected to take the horse back and they certainly wouldn't refund the price of the horse. You were warned and chose to take the horse anyway.- no comeback. It probably isn't a problem you can solve unassisted. It might be worth asking around the local riding schools if they can suggest someone who specialises in sorting out horses with this sort of problem. You may need to send the horse away for training which isn't going to be cheap and it may not work. In the worst scenario you may have to retire the horse or, sadly, if it's dangerous to handle from the ground, the only choice might be to have it put to sleep. I know that's hard but a horse that feels it has to rear all the time isn't a happy horse. If you knowingly bought it, regardless of the sellers information you probably won't be able to insure it for any damage it may do and if you were thrown and badly injured you wouldn't get anything from the insurance company.
On the chance that the seller is genuinely interested in the horse’s welfare and wants it to go to a suitable home. There’s not a legal case to return the horse, but I think it would be best to offer the seller the opportunity to take it. At least they already know and can handle the horse, and I’m assuming if they’ve only had it gone for a week they would be set up to take it back.
I totally agree the seller is not legally or even morally obliged to take the horse back, but on the chance that they would it would be better than selling on to a stranger who doesn’t know the horse. Better for the horse too if it can go back to an environment it knows.
On the chance that the seller is genuinely interested in the horse’s welfare and wants it to go to a suitable home. There’s not a legal case to return the horse, but I think it would be best to offer the seller the opportunity to take it. At least they already know and can handle the horse, and I’m assuming if they’ve only had it gone for a week they would be set up to take it back.
I totally agree the seller is not legally or even morally obliged to take the horse back, but on the chance that they would it would be better than selling on to a stranger who doesn’t know the horse. Better for the horse too if it can go back to an environment it knows.
On the chance that the seller is genuinely interested in the horse’s welfare and wants it to go to a suitable home. There’s not a legal case to return the horse, but I think it would be best to offer the seller the opportunity to take it. At least they already know and can handle the horse, and I’m assuming if they’ve only had it gone for a week they would be set up to take it back.
I totally agree the seller is not legally or even morally obliged to take the horse back, but on the chance that they would it would be better than selling on to a stranger who doesn’t know the horse. Better for the horse too if it can go back to an environment it knows.
 

Red-1

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I bought a known rearer from one of the most honest horse sellers in England, as well as one of the most talented riders. I don't know why, I simply fell in love with the horse. I resigned myself to the fact that, if I could not manage the issue, I had just bought a huge, expensive field ornament.

The horse quickly came round and became my immense Jay Man, who was my soul horse.

However, I was already a professional rider and had worked with rearers before. It is a dangerous thing, rearing. It is also easy to make the problem worse (not to mention easy to unbalance them if you ride the rear wrong).

It also depends on the type of rear. I have seen a pony simply go straight up and over on the rider, if a horse has no self preservation, I would not ride it.

My horse was very sensitive to the saddle. Needed a flexible tree, or rear facing tree point. That was the turning point, not me. I simply had to manage the condition until I found out what the issue was. He had a lot of holes in his confidence, needed a lot of ground work, needed a new saddle of a particular type, needed time, needed his brain keeping busy and organising.

In the end he became a wobbler. I suspect he was always a wobbler. I suspect we worked round that by me being sensitive to what he could or could not manage. We never did achieve what I wanted to competitively as I always thought there was 'something wrong' even when he was going great guns at eventing. We only did BE100, I had done to intermediate and he should have been a 4 star horse. I only did 2 BE100s at that, it felt wrong. We hack round a few BE90s, mainly.

The last 2 years, he was pretty much a pasture ornament, with a bit of light hacking and occasional play in the school. Then, one day, he said no more riding. I didn't listen and he told me stronger. That was the last time I rode him, he was his own pasture ornament after that, for 6 months more, before the wobblers took over.

I am trying to say that rearing can be a many faceted issue. The previous owner had tried to tell him off, it didn't work. The immediate issue solved gave us some fun. But there was still a physical issue that any work up would not have found. Even as a medium wobbler, his X rays weren't that bad. I never regretted buying him, he was my pal. I had physical issues too, we rubbed along just great.

I think if you buy a horse with issues, that the previous owner tried to solve, then it is a big risk that you have simply bought a pasture ornament, or that you will have to PTS.

You don't sound very experienced. I would get a very good trainer, after a full work up by a vet and then a physio, who will also check saddle fit.
 
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They have assured me that the horse has been turned inside out and there are no health issues, It’s just a learned bad habit.

To me, this is not evidence that there is nothing wrong with the horse.

Maybe the owners believe it, maybe they did this, and maybe they didn't.

What vet was used? He or she would have records.

Bucks are one thing, but rearing is another kettle of fish. I wouldn't get on a rearer. (I'd also prefer to not get on a bucker either, come to think of it, but bucking isn't nearly as dangerous.)
 
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Thanks for your sarcastic, unhelpful comment. It doesn’t bother me that much that it made me not buy her, as I think I can work through it. I’d just appreciate some helpful answers/ tips or people with experience dealing with this.
To be fair, the writer has a point. Knowingly buying a horse which rears isn't your best decision of the year. And there is no reason, moral or otherwise, why the previous owners who sold him to you should be expected to take the horse back and they certainly wouldn't refund you money
 

Flicker

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Well what ever brain capacity they have, some, usually ponies, can work out if they do X, and evades the rider it a good tactic to get what they want.
It usually starts by accident, the rider in trying to get horse to go one way or stops them going forward, blocks the forward movement and the only way out is up, perhaps with a leap to the side. It’s when the behaviour becomes established it’s a real worry.
Our old pony only did it once with me, he wanted to go to the field in stead of going to the house and spent a few minutes going side ways, back wards and up before realising he was going home.
It’s finding the trigger in the first place and working round it, and finding some way to stop them boiling over, so they go forward not up.

Yes, of course. I guess my point was more that they don’t have capacity to plan their evasiveness, they react to the situation they are in. And if that reaction consistently results in a release of pressure (to do something they are fearful to do or find difficult, confusing or painful), it becomes an entrenched, conditioned pattern of behaviour.
 

Pinkvboots

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I think you need to find out what checks were done by the previous owners vet even speak to there vet, then go from there if it turns out the horse had a basic once over I would want further investigation done to make sure it's not a pain response, thing is now it was a known thing before you bought the horse so probably not even covered by insurance.

It's fine you saying I can sit the rears I am not giving up but I have had a horse rear and go over on top of me, very luckily I only had concussion but I could have been killed, so I wouldn't ever get on a horse that tended to rear let alone buy one.
 

Polos Mum

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If you're 1000% sure it's not pain (I would want my own specialists to confirm rather than rely on the say so of a seller) then you need time and patience and the ability not to panic / worry.

Work out what triggers her and to start with avoid those situations. When she's happily going / doing what you want in other situations then start to work on / build up to her triggers. Be really careful to keep notes / track that you're not going backwards.

I had one clever boy who'd been inadvertently 'taught' one rear = back to stable and no work (he did have other issues that made hard work tough for him). He was very surprised when I didn't get off. For him just ignoring it worked. I never pushed him into a fight but equally I never panicked and got off. On occasion getting out of the drive took over 2 hours (probably 25 rears).
It never went away, but over a long time he learned that there was no point in doing it so it's frequency became much less.
 

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Can you tell us what you expected to happen after you bought a known and fully disclosed rearer? What was your training plan, your approach to dealing with the causes, methodology and execution of the behaviour? Or did you just think that it wouldn't happen? If that was what you thought, why did you think that?

You need to get a professional involved, pronto.
 

stormox

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Please, for the sake of this horse and your own safety, have a trusted equine vet do a complete work up on her. Horses don’t generally ‘try it on’ - they have a brain roughly the size of a potato and lack the mental capacity. What they do do is react. To pain, to fear, to adrenaline. This mare is screaming at you that something is not right, and just ‘sitting her rears’ is the equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and going ‘lalala’.
There is every likelihood that she will scream louder at some point and that may very well end up in serious injury for you. In the meantime, can you in good conscience continue to expect an animal to perform for you when something is so clearly causing her distress? This is not the time to try to prove what a great rider you are, this is the time to prove what a great listener you are.

Not all horses with problems are in pain. Horses are feral animals and have instinctive responses. If this instinctive response to turn away from perceived danger and is rewarded by getting what they wat (ie fleeing the danger) there is every chance this behaviour will be repeated.
That is why it is so important that young horses are brought on by competent understanding sympathetic riders. A horse only has to be rewarded for rearing once (by rider dismoumting or turning home) and it will repeat the behaviour. After 3 times the behaviour is ingrained.
Good luck Freck. If you think she is going to rear slip your feet out of the stirrups (they wont help you stay on) so you can jump clear if necessary.
 

Teaboy

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Please, for the sake of this horse and your own safety, have a trusted equine vet do a complete work up on her. Horses don’t generally ‘try it on’ - they have a brain roughly the size of a potato and lack the mental capacity. What they do do is react. To pain, to fear, to adrenaline. This mare is screaming at you that something is not right, and just ‘sitting her rears’ is the equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and going ‘lalala’.
There is every likelihood that she will scream louder at some point and that may very well end up in serious injury for you. In the meantime, can you in good conscience continue to expect an animal to perform for you when something is so clearly causing her distress? This is not the time to try to prove what a great rider you are, this is the time to prove what a great listener you are.

Agreed horses don’t just ‘try it on’, they can lack confidence in their rider, handler, environment enough to feel they need to take matters in to their own hands, which can be expressed in a multitude of ways! If the previous owners really did get a proper investigation done by a reputable equine vet then I would be looking at getting some proper help.

With horses like this you really need to instil confidence and in a calm but determined fashion. Other posters have given you the tips on how to deal with this behaviour and also pointed out with rearers, particularly ones who really go upright you need to be able to think quickly because they can come over.

It does sound unfortunate that the horse has ended up in this situation, as fundamentally even with full honesty should this horse have been sold? And more importantly should it have been sold to someone (and I really don’t mean this to sound offensive) that doesn’t have the experience to actually work with the problem?

I’m baffled why despite it sounding like you had no experience with rearers you bought her. I can only presume she was a very good price and is a capable horse in a competitive environment for you to want to purchase?
 

scats

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A 14 year old horse whose go-to is to rear is not going to be an easy fix. It sounds like the seller was very honest with you, although it would be interesting to find out what checks the Horse has had, as some people’s versions of a thorough investigation massively differ to what I would consider one.

The long and short of it is that you need professional help before you get hurt. And I mean seriously hurt. I know somebody paralysed after a horse reared and slipped on top of them.
 

CanteringCarrot

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I had a rearer before, and he was full of ailments when I investigated further. He had kissing spine, SI issues, arthritis in his neck, and pedal osteitis. He was young, I have no idea why his body was such a tranwreck. I think he did get himself into a wreck when he was a foal.
It's funny, because people would look at him and say he's sound and that I just needed to "show him the way" Yeahhh, ok.

I wouldn't touch a rearer with a 10 foot pole, tbh. It's the ultimate "F-you I am not going forward off of your leg and responding to your aids" and/or "this hurts dammit!" I did have a young TB rear up and fall over when I was younger, out of nowhere, and luckily I landed off to the side in the sand and not under him! I know someone that was badly injured that way. Not sure of the story with the TB, as he wasn't mine.

I've seen a YouTube vido of a trainer riding a rearer and she does it so skillfully, and is able to turn the horse down out of the rear, but this is not a task for your everyday rider. You really need to do some diagnostics and get a competent pro involved ASAP.
 
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