Rearing- what would you do?

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Tamski

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My horse has always had a tendancy to rear. It is his way of having a temper tantrum and generally doesn't happen very often, twice this year so far. He's not in work at the moment following surgery last year and is out 24/7.
I went out to the field last night to feed both of them, I have a sensible mare as well. I had moved her into a seperate paddock and given her her tea. I then went in to give him his- same routine as normal, but he was having a strop. He was trotting circles at the gate and then lashing out with his back legs. This is his typical tantrum behaviour. I pushed the gate open and shooed him back a bit and instead of retreating he went straight up in the air. Now I'm really not a fan of staring at the underside of his tummy and I did feel rather threatened as there wasn't anywhere for me to go. I shouted at him and then gave him his dinner. After geting his tea he was fine and this morning he was back to being a dobbin again.

He had a similar episode about a month ago but it happened when I was leading him in from the field. Essentially he had a tantrum because it was raining and he wanted to come in but when I wouldn't let him tank off into the yard he went up. I chased him off and forced him forward, sort of mini lunging him but he was still creating so I put him back out then went out again later with his bridle, lunge line and hard hat and brought him in without any more airs above the ground although he was still a bit lively.

So what should I do with him? 99% of the time he's a soppy dobbin and very easy to do but he does seem to have bad temper. I starting to lose the plot with him especially if he's going to be unpredictable in the field.

Help!
 
Firstly, I would not have given him his dinner when he went up on you, that is not accepable behaviour and by fedding him you almost rewarded him for do it!
I think from now on, Id go out with a schooling whip, he needs to learn some manners!
Archie has gone up on me a few times when bringing him in from the field, maybe try a pressure halter or put the rope round his nose.
 
u could try one of those anti rear headcollars, some sort of pressure halter may help. apart from that always wear a hat!!
 
I would have left him to have a stop. Come back 15mins later and if he is still being demanding, I would go away and go back again in 15 mins. I would not feed him after doing that. Secondly I would use a pressure halter. Go into the field put the halter on him and then feed him. If he doesn't allow you to do this, go away and come back later and then see if he will comply. He will eventually get the message. As for the leading in, he is being rude! Whenever he is lively or stupid say nothing to him, Just push him back out of your space (Use pressure halter if needed) and if he doesn't, bang your hand on your coat (Or bring a whip and smack it on your boot, don't use it on him) and give him pleanty of eye contact. My mare used to be silly to lead in and this is what the behaviourist told me to do. If you shout at them they can see what type of mood your in and some horses can feed off it. I hope this helps.
 
I went to a Monty Roberts Demo several years ago and one of his cases was a horse that reared for a pass time, when they walked him in hand, when they walked past him whilst he was feeding, rugging him and in ridden work so decided to try Monty's clinic for help. Monty had, what I could only describe as a lead rope with about 2 feet of it all frayed so it was soft and fluffy. He started to lead the horse and all of a sudden it stood up on its hinds so Monty faced him and flicked the frayed end of the rope on his exposed belly, with this the horse can straight down. Monty then tried lots of things to make him stand up again but the horse didn't attempt it again so they decided to put a Jockey on him as he was also proned to rearing with a rider on board, he allowed the rider to ride him for about 5 mins and then he reared without warning but the rider was riding with the rope in his hand so he just leaned over to one side whilst the horse was up and he flicked his underside with the fluffy end and down he came very quickly!! Monty explained that horses are very sensitive to having their stomaches touched because when in the wild that would be the area that would be attached by a big cat or snake etc when a horse reared at his hunter! and apparently that instinct never leaves them! The horse in question was from my area and so I used to see him at competitions after his Monty session and apparently the horse never attempted it after that and has now jumped his way to becoming a Grade A Show Jumper. You used to be able to buy the ropes off the Kelly Marks website, it may be worth ago whilst your on foot!! P.S. I am not one of those natural horsemanship extremists!! I just got invited to go with a friend and took on board some of his theories that I must admit do work.
 
Hehe - its funny that you are defending yourself for going to the Monty Roberts thing DressageBabe! I think Monty Robers is generally classed in HHO politics as ok !

With regard to OP, pressure halter. He is taking the pi*s and you are on the receiving end, and as I am sure you realise, it is dangerous. You are also probably beginning to lose your nerve with him, so better to get it sorted sooner rather than later. Otherwise, hobble him. (Heh heh..joking really!)
 
If a pressure halter doesn't work (they don't make a blind bit of difference to my horse) try a chifney. He can't be allowed to behave that way - it's not acceptable. Agree with the others about not feeding him when he's doing it as well - it will just reinforce the bad behaviour.
 
My horse was rather prone to temper tantrums when he was younger, purely because he wanted his own way.

Sometimes he would do this in the field if I was late getting him in or if he was cold. I found that the best thing was to walk away until he behaved in a civilised manner.

He soon got the idea, now even if he's really cross and running up and down bucking etc he will always come and stand by the gate politely when I walk up to get him. He will then lead in perfectly politely as if nothing was wrong.

I would have done the same thing in this case, walked away until he had calmed down and only fed him when he was polite and calm.
 
All you need is a schooling/lunging whip.
If he tantrums and lashes out, hit him. Don't tickle him, hit him.
Do NOT feed him if he trantrums at feed time.

Rearing is incredably dangerous. Don't pussy foot about with him when people could get hurt. Stuff all the anti rear headcollars and Monty Roberts stuff. You know he's having a strop, have a bigger one and scare it out of him!
 
Thanks everyone. I agree on the not feeding him front but I didn't think I'd get out of the field without losing the bucket! It's awful cos I go from loving him to absolutely hating him and wishing he was dog food!!

I'll park a lunge line at the gate and see what he thinks of that!
 
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I would have left him to have a stop. Come back 15mins later and if he is still being demanding, I would go away and go back again in 15 mins. I would not feed him after doing that.

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I don't think, personally, that I would keep coming and going until the horse played ball (esp with feed in my hand). I just think that coming and going is likely to agravate him even more.
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I would either leave feeding him at all that night or come back once, several hrs later and see if he is behaving. If not, then that is it until tomorrow.
If he does this regularly and you just go home every time he does it, I think he will get the message.
I do agree that groundwork - getting him to move away from you when directed - etc, may help him to gain respect. My horse rears sometimes when he is brought in/out from the paddock. (Normally only once/twice a year). I do a lot of groundwork with him but sometimes it occurs with the yard staff.
 
Country_Gal: You cant match a horse its too clever!!! its about being consistant and calm not about hiting it with lunge whips, if you bully a horse into submission it never really respects you and when your in a situation where you need it on your side you can forget it, it won't look after you! all my horses have total respect for me and don't overstep the mark but this is through my training not beating!
 
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