Teaching to rear

[Enfys]

I taught my mare to rear on command, as well as go off and jump jumps I pointed to, lie down and lots of other things. Why is that irresponsible? She never once reared under saddle or when not instructed to do so.

It isn't at all



I taught one of mine to rear on command as his 'playing' was getting dangerous. I stopped using the cue, he stopped rearing. Problem solved.

Teaching a rearer to rear on command, and thus having control over the action, is a valid reason for doing it.

 

[the watcher]

Likewise, I have quite a lot to do with horses that are trained for stunt work and similar. Naturally those that are comfortable with it, and balanced, will be taught to rear. For them it is work, with specific aids, not a form of resistance and therefore not dangerous - you could safety put your granny on most of them

 

[Ibblebibble]

Marydoll - there are certain horses that have been taught to rear that I wouldnt touch with a barge pole and I can see why you wouldnt want to put your children or granchildren on them so I'm not completly discounting them (and your post wasnt up when I wrote my reply and no mention of children yet). But a lot depends on how it has been taught and I can honestly say I'd have no worries about fergie going up with a child on him, I really struggled to find the right button on him and JFTD had to help me from the ground and even then he only did a tiny one like the one in the second photo (not me but I was there when it was taken).

from a buyers standpoint if i was told a horse had been taught to rear i would be concerned at the methods used to achieve it and why the owner felt the need to do it, you know fergs and JFTD well enough to trust them both, would you trust a complete stranger the same way?.
I can understand why you feel comfortable with fergs, i used to ride a pony that reared as an evasion when i was a teen and was not worried by her at all, i knew her well enough to know how far she would go, but would i have bought her for one of my kids, hell no. perhaps that is the reaon for my opinion, as a mother my primary concerns are my kids safety and my self preservation so that i can be there for them, while i may have been unphased by a rearer BC (before child), now my instincts tell me to leave well alone

 

[Paris1]

Kids teaching ponies to rear is dangerous. After seeing a girl with a Broken pelvis after the pony fell over backwards, its not worth it. Stunt training is different to people messing about. If you understand the mechanics and feel you need this trick who am I to judge. I would love to ride a stunt horse. Trusting the training is good enough that it won't fall over Backwards.

 

[siennamum]

We had a pony that reared on command 40 years ago. he was the safest laziest pony imaginable, there was no connection between him rearing for show and being naughty. If he were to protest it would be a humped back.
My mother of course was horrified that we actively encouraged it and showed off doing it, I would be horrified if my kids had ever done I suppose, but by and large it's not a big deal.

 

[Jesstickle]

My mother was clearly a lot more gung ho than you all are. I had a pony that reared when I was about 9 And not reared in a trick trained way, just reared! I'm sure that woman is trying to kill me off! lol

 

[JFTDWS]

would you trust a complete stranger the same way?.

Absolutely not - I wouldn't trust a stranger (or indeed many of my acquaintances) to train a horse to do anything under sadde. That is why you never try a horse for sale without seeing someone else ride it first - they may have trained it so badly under saddle it bucks, naps, bolts, etc. And if they tell you it rears on command, you would ask them to demo, judge how they ask for the rear, how the horse performs it (how high it goes, how relaxed and calm it looks, whether there is resistance) and then make your decision accordingly, surely - the same as you do with anything else looking at a potential purchase.

Fwiw, I don't have kids, but if I were looking for a quiet hack for my novice mother, I wouldn't dismiss one that had been trained to rear on command, if I was confident it had been done in a sensible and responsible manner.

 

[noodle_]

stupid thin gto do!!!



best and worst thing i taught mine was is to stop when my feet come out the stirrups.... (in case i come off on a hack or whatever)


i can no longer ride without stirrups as she has a massive paddy as its "wrong"

lol

would never teach her to rear on command tho!

 

[dafthoss]

from a buyers standpoint if i was told a horse had been taught to rear i would be concerned at the methods used to achieve it and why the owner felt the need to do it, you know fergs and JFTD well enough to trust them both, would you trust a complete stranger the same way?.
I can understand why you feel comfortable with fergs, i used to ride a pony that reared as an evasion when i was a teen and was not worried by her at all, i knew her well enough to know how far she would go, but would i have bought her for one of my kids, hell no. perhaps that is the reaon for my opinion, as a mother my primary concerns are my kids safety and my self preservation so that i can be there for them, while i may have been unphased by a rearer BC (before child), now my instincts tell me to leave well alone

No I wouldnt trust just any one but it goes to prove that there are horses that have been trained well and it causes no problems for any work they do and fergs is a perfect example of that. I'm not that comfortable when my horse rears, not because I cant sit it but because he does it because he is angry and he generally doesnt have much regard for whats arround him when he does it be it people or things. The little sit on back legs and turn round I dont mind but when he goes full on temper tantrum its not the nicest place to be sitting.

My mother was clearly a lot more gung ho than you all are. I had a pony that reared when I was about 9 And not reared in a trick trained way, just reared! I'm sure that woman is trying to kill me off! lol

Thats because your mother was awesome


I'm probably going to get shot down but I think a few people could do with sitting on a trained rearer so that if something does go up with them unintentonally they know how to deal with it.

 

[Shooting Star]

As somebody sat at home typing one handed because of a broken wrist caused by a horse rearing over a few weeks ago afraid i have to join the "no way" side of the fence

- and if when i can eventually ride again it happens again the fur ball will be turning into dog food faster than any of you can say pedigree chum

 

[Marydoll]

If you are a balanced rider, sitting a rear is no problem if you remain calm, but there are many very experienced riders who wont entertain a rearer, and find it very frightening, never mind novices who are learning, i do however disagree that it would be a good thing to try to train riders in general to sit to it, get it wrong and the consequences are unthinkable, for horse and rider, for in the split second and slight bit of back pressure that can flip the horse, someone could be killed.