Riding through a rear ...

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My hot headed ginger always threatens to rear before she does, back tenses up takes a few steps backward and then goes up.

When you fell her doing this what is the best thing to do to stop her? I fear just giving her a good kick would make her go up higher? Shes a mare so should i 'ask' her to do something else and go back to that when she has cleared her head?

Any advise helpful! Thanks! :o
 
i always have to pull my lad around quickly on one rein to disengage his shoulders so he can't go straight up.
 
What do you do normally? I would have automatically pushed on but sounds like it might not be the right thing to do!
 
My mare occasionaly rears as a way of avoiding going out on her own (not pain or fear related she can just be a bit nappy out hacking). I usually turn her in a small circle while very gently squeezing with both legs. May not work for everyone but it does for us as it means I've carefully redirected her attention rather than forcing her which would make her worse.
 
Well with my old horse i used to just give him a sharp kick and he would stop and move forward, but with my new mare as soon as you put more leg on she moves backwards and curls up more...

I might have to try moving her head round sounds the best as her feet seem to become super glued to the ground when she has a paddy! hah
 
I've known a few that threaten like that - and I just sit there like a sack of spuds, totally quiet, breathe deeply, and give them no reason to go up. That gives them a second to reconsider and they will then move off without going up.

What provokes the rearing?
 
What Paddi22 said is what I didnt to Toffee, she only ever did half rears if asked the halt when she was excited (hunting, fast hacks), a bit more than what I would call crow hopping but spinning her tight stopped her going up.

Samba used to rear (verticle) when I got her, but one day she went up and I felt her stumble, I bailed off but hadnt let go, ended up with her on knees on gravel. She hasn't reared since (2 years). But obviously that is not a solution, I just accidently sorted it.
 
thanks for all the advise! Not sure what causing it at the moment, think shes just trying it on in a new home. As soon as you get on and kick her on she starts to back up and threaten to rear and then does if pushed.

Some days shes forward going and away and others you cant move her off the spot!
 
If forewards doesn't work try 10m circles/spiralling circles, turn on the forehand etc as soon as you feel her resist you.

If it persists then you really want to be looking at the root cause of it in order to stop it in the long term, but hopefully the above might work as a short term solution.
 
My old mare would go vertical under certain circumstances. In the start box when eventing if asked to stand for the countdown and out hunting if asked to wait for her friends! Suffice to say I never repeated that experience and would just keep walking her on till time to move on or set off!
 
One of my horses naps quite badly at certain places on the yard and if I don't deal with the napping he goes vertical. I do the same as many others here seem to do, turn him in a circle then kick him on which doesn't give him a chance to go upwards plus seems to leave him confused as to how I won that battle! :)
 
I had a nappy mare that would threaten to rear but never really did much more than a small rear, but would follow it with a sharp buck. I found that if i asked her to for something she didn't want to do and she started to threaten to rear, the best way to deal with it was to take the pressure off, sit still and quiet and wait for her to relax then calmly ask again for what i wanted. This usually prevented the rear happening.
 
I have a nappy rearing mare who sounds similar to yours -see my thread from the other day
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=539904

The past two days, after the above incident, just prior to where the incident happened, I sent her forwards into trot and the past two days she has been fine - a bit joggy, but at least going forwards!
In fact this morning we managed to take a deviation to our usual route and as soon as I felt her becoming reluctant I sent her forwards into trot again. I only turned back when she saw some cows on the other side of a fence right by the lane. My options were to get off and lead her past BEFORE she started napping/rearing, let her start to nap, or turn for home while it was still MY idea and not hers. As she'd been so good I decided to turn for home while it was my idea and not hers.
If you can feel it, it might be worth a try for you - it wouldn't have worked for mine this morning when she saw the cows as I had lost the "moment", but it did work in the other situations. Good luck - they're a pain in the arse arent' they?
 
I had a mare that would rear to evade going out hacking alone. We had one solitary argument which consisted of her going up followed by me giving her a smack with the whip. This continued for a few minutes before she gave up and accepted rearing doesn't scare me. She never tried it again.
 
As others have said, turn her in a sharp circle.

However, when my big lad starts pratting about and threatening to go up, he tenses and sets his neck. Not cool when you're on 17.3hh of Andalucian x ISH muscle! So with him I always ride in spurs, with a racing whip, and if he threatens to go up, or actually goes up, he gets a jab in the ribs and a crack on the arse. Works every time. He tends to leap forward out of it, but I'm expecting it and just hang on!
 
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