Rearing please help!(sorry its along one)

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starandgarfy51

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Hi there sorry if this is a little long.
I bought a horse five days ago he has a nice temperament and is good to handle on the ground.I bought him as a project and although i am not the best rider in the world i have my stage three riding and have worked with and schooled horses that need bringing on.
The other day i fetched him in from the field he seemed chilled out and calm so thought i would take him for a little walk round the menage no pressure just to show him the arena etc.I mounted up fine and walked him across the yard past a busy horse walker then past a coop of chickens, he didnt bat an eyelid!
As i walked him into the arena he stepped through a puddle with no adverse reactions.Then the problems started.First he stopped dead so i pushed him on firmly using my voice which at first he did so i praised him.Then he tried to nap towards gate which i didnt allow him to do.I kept my leg on firmly tried easing my contact to allow him to go forward no luck then he reared.I sat it and pushed him forward he reared again and when i say rear he stood right up.
After that i remember nothing although from what my partner said that he reared about seven or eight times i came off on the eighth attempt.Apparently i tried to ride through it.The next thing i came round on the arena floor.I couldn't remember where i was or what id been doing so couldn't remount and got taken to hospital.
I am now faced with a dilemma. The general advice im getting is send him back which im not sure i can even do!Im not afraid to get back on him but have been advised by a number of people that its simply not worth it.
Does anyone have any experience of dealing with a horse that rears so violently.Is there any hope for him or do i send him back before i get attached.
Please bear in mind that i was looking for a potential riding club horse for the future. i am a patient person and am willing to give him a chance to come right but i know when im beat and am also not afraid to admit defeat.
Any help or advice would be appreciated and a medal for those who got to the end of this post!!!!!!
 
I bought a horse from some dealers/event riders in Leicestershire in the summer that was good as gold when I tried it out. He was bought as a hunter and spent an entire evening rearing out autumn hunting. I rang them and sent it straight back. I was given the option of keeping him and working through it but it wasn't worth it. I wouldn't say in your position it is worth it either. To have reared like that more than once and got you off and concussed you means this horse knows how to rear - its not a new thing - and its dangerous.

For your own sake - both mentally and physically (!!) find something that is just as nice but doesn't rear. There are lots about.

Hope you are feeling ok.
 
I'd agree with the above. Rearing once is one thing - but doing it repeatedly to get you off, and so high, is dangerous.

I'd send him back. x
 
Who did you buy him from and did they mention the rearing? If you bought him from a private person as a project you don't have much of a chance of a comeback. If you bought him from a dealer as a riding horse you are entitled to return him as unsutable.

Did you have him vetted? If you decide to keep him the first step is to get a vet out to give him a thorough check up, including lameness, teeth, back. Many behavioural problems have their roots in physical causes. He may also need a good physio to check his back and a good saddler to make sure his saddle is not causing any pain.

If there is nothing physically wrong with him you need to decide whether you want the risk of re-schooling a horse that rears. Rearers can become incredibly dangerous if the go over backwards on you. You may want to get professional help to start off with and see what they think of his behaviour.

Best of luck
 
He is six and was owned by a lady who said that she was selling him because she felt that she was not able to bring him on any further due to her riding ability.She was clearly a novicey rider.She said he had been difficult in hand at first but she had practised some natural horsemanship stuff on him and he had come right.
She said to me she wanted him to go to a home with an experienced rider to help him with his education. There was never any mention of rearing!!!!
 
I think it really depends on several factors. You say he is a project so how old is the horse?
For me this would be a major consideration as if the horse is young & green and was just freaked by the new surroundings you may be able to overcome it but if it is say 8 or above I would just send it back as it is probably still a project because his rearing is an established problem.

Also who did you buy him from, private owner/dealer whats his history?
If dealer do you have a warranty period e.g. mine was 3 months, you could perserve with the horse for a few weeks & if it happens again send it back within the time limit.
 
If its from a private home then its Buyer Beware, you will find it difficult to send him back I'm afraid. The same happened to us, we bought a horse that would rear and go over backwards. He came from a private home and we had to keep him. Fortunatley we got him through it and he is now, 10 yrs on, a hack for a grandmother!
 
It's very difficult to return a horse bought from a private owner. It might be worth contacting her and asking her to take him back, but if she refuses you may well need to take her to court. Whether you succeed or not is anyone's guess but either way it is likely to be a lengthy and costly exercise so unlikely to be worth it.

Get a vet out to him to check for a physical cause. If he is in pain, eliminating the pain is the quickest way to solve the problem.

Otherwise, given his history I would suspect he may need re-backing. It sounds like he was never really started properly.
 
Personally I would try very very hard to send him back. It sounds to me like he wasnt going to stop til he got you off. I really dont like rearers and frankly its not worth breaking your neck to *try* to rehabilitate him IMHO
 
In that case I would grill her for more information and lunge the horse in the arena before you attempt to ride again so he is familiar with the surroundings, then get on in the presence of an experienced instructor and see what happens.
Also get back teeth ect checked to rule that out.

The horse is still young so probably can be overcome but whether its worth the risk depends on how bad the problem is.
Good luck, really scary behaviour, not sure Id have the nerve.
 
Is he only like this in a school? Whats he like on a hack?
I would keep trying - have him checked out, speak to the previous owner and lunge him get him used to his surroundings. The see what happens - you say you bought him as a project! Did you pay a lot for him?
The black horse in my sig was a rearer,bucker, napper you name it! never completely cured but hunted hounds, showjumped, xc and evented!
 
I rode a horse for a friend last summer, she had just brought him seemed a nice sort. She was nervous to ride him as had bad hips so I said i'd hack him get the feel of him for her then help her when she feels confident around him.
1st time I rode him in the school, he was fine done everything asked.
He was in a paddock next to my lil mare, I brought him in before she came in got to the gate and in hand he done a tiny rare then back down and saw another horse in front and was fine (thought nothing of it).
Took him out in company with said lil pony hack was fine. Brought him back to the yard and sisters pony went in the stable while I mounted outside on the hard standing. The second the pony went out of sight he reared with no warning and flipped straight over on top of me and broke my femur. The horse had only been with the owner for 10days and she took him back to the dealer to seel but I think the owner had kept him on full livery there. My mum is the owner of my yard and every1 was scarred from the accident that noone wanted the horse on the yard as he was a danger to everyone espically as we have a children on the yard.

I have not lost any confidence from my accident but I will know knowingly ride a rearer. Its not worth it, I'm very luck to make a full recovery but not everyone as lucky. Rearers need Professional help.
 
This sounds like a classic case of the seller getting rid to me. Sorry if this sounds harsh but he is going to need expert handling from a very experienced rider. Horses that rear like this have learnt to use it to evade. It is dangerous. If you do not have the experience in cases like this you are going to have a problem.Maybe seek help from a person who has past experince with horses like this.? The risk is that he rears over backwards and lands on top of you and that is no joke. You need to make sure there are no medical/physical issues that are troubling him. If he is napping when he is in the arena, it sounds like he is just not liking the idea and trying to get out of it. You could try natural horsemanship with the help/guidance of someone with experience and see if you can work round the issue. What ever you decide to do, please be very careful.
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When i went to see him he was very chilled out as he has been at this new yard.He didnt rear when i tried him although didnt do that much with him as he is very unfit.
I had him vetted and the vet couldent find anything wrong with him although i realise that it dosent rule out a physical problem.
I am very aware that he is a new horse in a new home and i dont want to be too quick to write him off as a bad egg.
 
Wanted someone to further his education....that old chestnut.

However she may not of helped situatons if she was a bit of a novice/confident enough in handling the horse, although you'd of thought she'd of told you that it rears when it naps for your own safety.

You've only had him 5 days and you both need to get used to each other project horse or not so there is going to be times where he will test you.

Forget riding it for now, do plenty of ground work, then when you have a bit of mutual respect for each other and he knows your not hear to play around, get him on the long reins eventually, that way if he messes around he's not going to put you in hospital! no horse is worth that.

Maybe the horse is a bit of difficult lad, maybe he's not had the best start in life, in which case time, hard work and patience will pay off, providing there is nothing medically wrong with him, maybe you just need to work on his mind?

Either way, I wouldnt get on it until you know how his mind ticks and 5 days won't tell you that.
 
I had an ex racer who was a rearer, I had a few accidents (including getting hit by a van) he used to do it for no reason now and again but 9 times out of 10 it was because he didn't like going anywhere alone.
To be fair I really don't know this horse's history but I persisted for 15 months with mine and eventually I got him hacking alone without servere rears but he'd still spin now and again and panic a lot of the time.
You sound like me, I bought something to bring on etc etc but seriously you are better off getting maybe a young horse thats just done not a lot, not something that rears and is dangerous, its much more enjoyable believe me and in the end I had to come to a heart breaking sale with this horse when I could of done it a year ago but I wanted "to give him a chance" and then fell in love with him! But my senses came through and it was the right thing to do. Now he's happy and Im happy, were just not together!
But I so sypathise with you hun, good luck whatever route you decide to take x
 
really it all boils down to experienced you are with rearers, what your plans are for him and whether you actually WANT to try and sort this out.

if you do keep him i would go back to long reining and get him really going forwards without having to worry about staying on!
 
hi, i went through this situation once. the horse went up approx 3 times on hack & i came off. i did the normal trials on him before i bought him, xc, hacking etc. he flew through the vetting. i decided to send him back as the trust had gone & like yours it definately wasn't the first time the horse had reared. luckily we had a good vet & he told the prev owners that they had to have the horse back as it wasn't fit for the purpose it was bought for. so you could go back to your vet.
 
I'd get him checked over to make sure there is nothing physical going on - back, tack, teeth etc. If it's pain or discomfort then you could understand his behaviour to a degree.

If not then you either have to think about getting some professional help in or move the horse on.

Rearing is one thing which is an absolute no no for me if it's an established behaviour. If is because of physical issues that's a different matter and one that can be more easily sorted.
 
Hi there.

I really feel for you. I bought a horse from a trekking centre, a big lad, love at first site and all that. BUT......because he had always been ridden in company, suddenly hacking out alone (and past another trekking centre) set off the rearing. Totally fine in company though.

It was bad, backing into stone walls, trying to nap and rear, jibbing, anything to try and get his own way, it really was scary, and i tried everything, every bit, the vet, saddle, etc, but deep inside I knew he was just being downright pigheaded.

In the end, I put him in a hackamore,just another trial really, as soon as a rear was likely, I turned him in a tight circle (harder for him to go up), used a long whip and even longer spurs (!) , and eventually I got it sorted - BUT, and it's a very big but, it took me two years.

It was very hard to get through, and I would try and send the horse back if you can. A rearer can be helped, but it is dangerous and you will always have it in the back of your mind when riding.

Hope that helps.
 
My decision woul dbe based in part on whether this 'project' was bought for myself or to sell on.
If you bought him to sell on then in all honesty I would send him back. He could prove unsellable with a vice like that.
If it was for yourself (I would still demand she take him back) you might want to longrein him around, to make him go forwards. I have to say he does sound like a horse who has learned that rearing is a great way of doing precisely as he wants and I wouldn't even get on him.
 
Wow thankyou everybody for the amazing response and help.
I will get him checked out by the vet just to be on the safe side just in case there any physical problems.
I now realise that i have a serious problem on my hands and will proceed with caution.Maybe it was a blip however i have a feeling it was a little more than that!!
I will keep you posted on how things are going if you can bear another one of my long winded posts
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Am I wrong in thinking that even when buying from a private seller then 'fit for purpose' applies........

I thought that it wasnt quite as bad as it used to be when buying from private sellers?

Sorry OP but I can't see how something that rears 8 times in a row, vertical and stays in balance doesnt have some sort of history...
 
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