Rearing

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emilya

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19 March 2008
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Hi, went to see my friends new horse last night and it rears. It seems to be a nappy thing but only does it a couple of times when you first get on and then seems to be ok. Any advice on how to handle this. Back & teeth etc are all ok.
 
depends how high it goes, whether it does it in a panicky way, just chucking itself up in the air, or in a "i know what i'm doing, i'm totally balanced and i think i can scare you" kind of way, or in a half-hearted "lift slightly off the ground" sort of way. obviously, the ones who just chuck themselves vertical with no balance and no clue are the most dangerous ones... these will go over backwards, the knowing ones usually won't.
i would get saddle, back and teeth checked by someone different... we've all been in the position where we thought they were fine but the horse was saying something different. listen to the horse more than to any 'experts'!
how it actually rears, with what triggers, and how quickly it desists, would determine the next course of action, tbh. also, if it's new, i'd contact the former owner and ask nicely whether it's done it before, and if so under what conditions. it may be that it's nervous/finding its feet in a new environment and trying it on a bit.
 
first thing i would do would be to contact the previous owners and see if it did it with them and if they had any ideas why. also def get a second opinion on back and saddle. if it does it every time i would be more inclinded to think there was pain somewhere.
 
The problem with asking the previous owner is that chances are they'll say 'rearing? Ooooh no, it's never done that before' and you won't really know any more than you do now. It's worth a try just in case they do tell you though! Def agree with others about getting a second opinion on back, teeth etc.

Does your friend use a mounting block or odes she get on from the ground? If she gets on from the ground, try a block and see if it makes any difference.
 
When you first get on, she'll usually walk a couple of paces then decide to stop. If you insist she goes forward she then will go up almost vertical. the most she has done it is 3 times and then once your moving forward she's ok. the previous owners claim to know nothing about this habit. She also seems to be a little spooky about things. she doesn't always do it but more often than not. She doesn't panic she just quite calmly goes up in the air. If you give her a smack she just ignores you. My friend has had her for about a month and is starting to lose confidence on her. I've never had a horse that rears so I;m not much help!
 
Thats exactly what happened! She gets on from a mounting block. If you walk towards the gate then she's fine, its when you turn away from the gate she does it, that's why I;m a little inclined to say its nappy rather then in pain?
 
Definately make sure its not in pain first but if not.... It takes alot of effort for a horse to rear and it has to be stood still therefore, you need to shift it quick, if it won't go forward then spin it in a circle twice in both directions then leg on and make it go forward if you think it might do it again then circle again. Make sure you do this BEFORE it goes up otherwise you may pull the horse over as you'll be knocking it off balance, even if the horse is napping it can't refuse to go in a tight circle, this acts as a humane punishmant aswel as stopping the immediate rear, spinning in circles is not much fun for the horse.

Recently done this with a Welsh Sec D which someone had just bought and really think she was testing her new owner, we persevered with spinning her everytime she even thought about rearing or napping and now she can't be bothered to do it coz its not worth the hassle lol, didn't take her long to catch on.

Goodluck
 
Tie its tail to its girth!
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I was actually advised by someone this is a trick to stop an established rearer (which this one sounds like as you seem to know when it's going to do it). I told a friend who had a problem with a new horse rearing. He tried it and it worked apparently so could be worth a try. Wish we'd heard abotu it with my sister's horse, could have been worth a try - he was sh*t for going up when he didn't fancy doing something.
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