Rearing / running off... - Chifney?

anj789

anj789

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My 6yo is getting into a nasty habit of rearing and p*ssing off when she's being brought in. I've always managed to hang onto her but yard staff have lost her a few times and she had 3 goes today & got loose from me on the 4th attempt. She's a biggish girl, goes right up and waggles her legs over your head and is being cheeky cos she wants to go back to talk to the boys; it has to stop. She's in a Dually anyway which worked for teaching her to lead & load but she's worked out that she can do this & the nose pressure means nothing. In fact I think it could be winding her up. Could use a longer rope / lunge line but would rather she learns not to do it at all - don't really want her gallop off with long lines round her legs either.
So - Chifney? - hopefully not long term but do they 'learn' it's a bad idea so it doesn't come into play often? I Don't see that a conventional bridle will help though I spose could try it - but we'd need to strap it down as v. good at xing her jaw.
I can try a 'Be Nice' but £40 for a bit of nylon rope strikes me as a bit much (unless it def works I spose).
Damn mares!
 
We use hat is effectively a stallion chain to lead out our naughties!!!
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We put it over the nose when they put their heads up to run and under like a curb chain if they put their heads down. We run it through the headcollar rings to make it more stable and less likely to slip. We lead out in a lunge line as well with this attached to the end so that we can go with them and stay attached hopefully. We have stayed away from the chifney in case they run off or get away and tread on the end of the lead rope.
 
Chifney or bridle would be good, including a hat I think.

There is a time and a place for all the 'be nice' halters and nicely nicely approach but there is also a time when enough is enough and they need telling right from wrong and this is possibly one of them as legs in the air above head do not mix well in my experience.
Attach a lunge line or a long lead rope to the bit as well as if she does go up and try to piss off with you will have a better chance of holding on and not letting her. Once they know they can get away from you some of them just take the you know what.
Do wear a hat though until she learns to keep feet on the floor.
 
Im with Cyberchick....there comes a point where top priority has to be the safety of the handlers no matter what the cause of, in your case, the rearing and buggering off.

Out of interest have you had her teeth checked lately? I only ask because I know of a 4 year old who was doing just what you horse is doing and then started to do the same when saddled. She was fine until you picked the reins up to mount and would then go vertical. Dentist came and took off a LOT of very sharp points which where lacerating the underside of her tongue. It does seem to have worked (touch wood)!

But yes....chifney, lunge line, gloves and hard hat.
 
My last horse had wobblers and was incredibly strong through the neck. The dealer we bought him off warned us he had to be led everywhere in a chifney, even to be loaded in a trailer. It worked very well for us, but the one day we forgot to put his chifney on and unloaded him there was my Father , me and my partner all hanging off his lead rope with him running around the carpark at the local riding club totally out of control! The only thing you must remember to do with a chifney is to always put it on over a head collar so that when you come to tie him up you can clip the rope on the headcollar. You must never leave a horse - even for a minute tied up with a chifney. If the horse panics and pulls back it can break its jaw, with disasterous consequences. If you want to use one make sure you tell the Y.O and other staff that they must never tie up your horse directly wiht it also.
 
i'd recommend using a parelli rope on her (not attached to a chifney tho - a headcollar should be fine and will snap if the worst happens) - they are so much easier to hold onto without getting rope burns and give you enough space to hang on whilst they are dancing around, she is probablty only doing it because she knows she can get away, once you have got her through it a few times she will be better - this has worked on my last two youngsters who liked to "wave" at their friends!
 
Funnily enough I always wear a hat & gloves - lunging too - and have told yard to do same, said to manager and any of the girls I see without. I'm amazed that they don't have hats as policy, it's a large equestrian centre but people like to think they can chance it (I don't, got to live to earn cash and pay those livery bills!).
Teeth should be ok, had them done not long ago. From the glint in her eye yesterday I'd say she's taking the p*ss in a way that she reckons is quite good fun - it's spring, she's 6, been talking to the boys next door and she's found this works, for now at least. Thinking about it more, I reckon a normal bridle & lunge line first then Chifney if that fails. Though the risk of yard tying up to that is a bit too high unfortunately...
 
I used a chifney a few times to load my lairy mare. She knew she was beaten and didn't even try to go up or tank off. Leather lead chains are good too as the leather is so much easier to hang onto!
 
Yeah, sometimes you just add something to help you and then they dont even try to do anything. I had a big old lump of a horse that used to barge. My god he was a bugger. There was 2 things I used to do, one was to only put his headcollar on over the door and two was to always lead him with a rope round his nose and believe it or not if that rope was around his nose he never even tried to drag me to the grass or over the muck heap or wherever else he decided he wanted to go but if it wasn't on then off we went!
Hopefully, a couple of times of knowing she actually cant do it and she will stop or to be on the safe side for a while just make it common knowledge that when leading, they keep the bridle on and if you think the yard might tie up or anything silly with a chifney then probably better to stick with the bridle (and a lunge line to give you more space to move out the way of flying feet)
 
I would go with a chain before going to a bridle or chifney. Have found very rude, strong horses react pretty well to the chains, and as they work with pressure/release, it's not a constant pressure.
You can buy lead ropes with 9 inches or so of chain after the clip - attached to one side of the headcollar and thred through (over the nose IMO) the other side. It only comes into affect if they're trying to tank off or go up.
Chifneys I have found affective but I'd be a bit concerned if there's lots of people handling her - would want to be confident the person using them had used them before.
 
I use a 'be nice' on mine.

I have had horses who used to like to rear and spin round when loading, I tried a bridle and it didn't work. But if I just put the be nice on they walk on straight away.

I use chifneys regularly at work and I am not a huge fan. If you have a horse that is being really naughty then sometimes you need to be able to apply some serious pressure. With the be nice you can do this. Properly used I find them very effective.

You need to make sure that you get the correct size. I would also say that if you are going to have staff at a livery leading your horse then I would far rather something like the be nice over a chifney. I would also be wary of a chain, used by an inexperienced person and you could find yourself with more problems.

Good luck
 
I use a chifney with my mare as she can be quite difficult sometimes and likes to stand on her back legs waving at me!
I was a bit worried when i first used it, but when she went up she got a sock in the gob and she hasn't done it since whilst wearing it!
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Sometimes when i think she is going to be ok i am often proved wrong and she starts to misbehave again. She definatly respects it!
 
i would use a chain before a chifney- through headcollar rings as suggested above and with a lunge line so you can get out of the way if they go up and still be able to give them a good yank!

i have had lots of problem horses with histories of barging and rearing and they have all been fine with a chain and i haven't needed a chifney
 
When our welsh cob 'thinks' he's hungry he bu@#ers off regularly.

Chains and an assortment of halters made no difference to him. Put a chifney on him and he ambles along next to you no questions asked! He's like a completely differnt horse.

But i would be wary of who was handling him in the chiffney!
 
I dont have anything to add from what everyone else has said but PLEASE do not use a long lead rode or lunge line with a chifney - if she gets away from you then she could tread on the line and break her jaw. I have only ever used a chifney with a short lead rope (usually with lunge on the headcollar if I'm leading one that is likely to pi$$ off) just in case.
 
A "Richard Maxwell" halter plus his DVD is well worth the money! A hard hat and some time teaching the horse what it's all about mean you can knock the problem on the head and move on.
 
My first lad would drag me down to the field so yard owner suggested i try the chain attached to leadrope and after a week of using it he was like a different horse to lead. I only applied pressure when I needed to and it gave me the confidence that if he did try anything I was prepared for it. Only problem was the leadrope attached to my chain was fairly long so if he did manage to get away from me he could have stood on it but on the whole v.impressed and would use it again if I ever needed to.
 
Sorry in the minority I know but a Chifney is trying to cope with the problem not address it! From what I understand and perhaps it would be worth reading up on them Chifney's can also encourage bad behaviour (rearing), your horse is being disrespectful and for safety's sake you need to regain respect and quckly before someone is hurt or your horse is labelled with a bad reputation, I have found a white stick used to "donk" on the nose, hold in front of his nose or to move them forward as necessary works, once you have the respect back then you can be nice again but never complacent!
 
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Chifney's can also encourage bad behaviour (rearing)

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BOLL8CK!!!

In correct hands chiffneys will work everytime.........
 
I have used a chiffney many times and as long as it isn't abused it works fantastically well. I use mine as a backup to a rope halter and use two ropes. i ask for repect first with the rope halter and if i don't get it I ask with the chiffney.

I have never had a horse question the chiffney and it is only as harsh as the hands that use it.

I also always wear a hat and as pair of gloves if I am leading out and it is amazing how much more confidence it gives you. I have also used a chain under the chin which worked pretty well too.

I have to say though, I lead all of mine in rope halters.. I find you have so much more control than the flat head collars as they don't have the same cushion to lean in to. I just swap them to leather in the lorry as it is safer.
 
sussed it (fingers crossed) - I went for headpiece & snaffle with a lunge line in case she went up & she gave up fairly quickly. One thing I noticed was that (junior) yard staff were expecting her to misbehave and she did - if you turn round to look at her when she stopped she'd go up whereas if you just march on & don't react she follows. We've moved yards since and no problems so far...
 
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