Vertical Rears

wellsat

wellsat

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Sorry, I know not CR but I find more sense is talked in here.

G did a number of shocking vertical rears with me tonight, finally fell off backwards, really thought he was going to go over backwards on me...

Don't know what caused it but fairly sure it was a "Get Off!" Worried its something serious.
 
Teeth are fine, they've only been done recently. He's in the process of recovering from a suspensory injury but we've been given the all clear on that and he's not had a chance to do anything entertaining enough to injure it again. Physio last saw him two weeks ago and was very pleased with his progress. I rang my vet straightaway and she thinks it could be an abcess. Farrier's coming tomorrow but he doesn't think he's going to find an abcess. Seems too much of a coincidence that he's slightly short on his leg that has the suspensory problems.
 
Hmm was he always a nappy type? Perhaps now that he has had a long lay off he is actually starting to enjoy not being worked?
My girl does it when I 'push' her to do something, just means I have to be inventive in the ways that I ask her to do things :rolleyes:
 
Unfortunately last year I got pretty good at staying on :cool: not something I would like to spend another year doing though...our problem was discipline. He was fairly traumatised when we got him so we spent our time going nicely-nicely with him and then he realised he could start testing his boundaries a bit and behaviour was just ignored. And by doing that we inadvertently caused ourselves HUGE problems.

Maybe of no use to you but it could be worth considering discipline.


ETA: I don't beat my horse but an example. If he nips me he is told off for it before it becomes a bite etc
 
Sanolly said:
Hmm was he always a nappy type? Perhaps now that he has had a long lay off he is actually starting to enjoy not being worked?
My girl does it when I 'push' her to do something, just means I have to be inventive in the ways that I ask her to do things :rolleyes:
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He wasn't nappy at all before he went lame in Feb. He would happily go first or last, would go miles on his own and we didn't have a problem.

Since he came back into work he has begun rearing on a fairly regularly basis when out on hacks, usually only as we leave the yard and if we don't take the quickest route back. They've not been vertical before though, normally just about half way then he gives up if youre firm with him and carries on really calmly. I've never, ever given up and let him get away with it, he always gets ridden through the rear and we carry on with the hack so I don't understand why its escalating but can only assume its pain.

He doesn't rear if I take him in the jumping paddock for "schooling", only if we go out on hacks and he starts napping.
 
OneInAMillion said:
Maybe of no use to you but it could be worth considering discipline.
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Not sure how to discipline a rearer? I'm not loping along on the buckle end, he is walking our purposefully into a nice contact. If I catch him going up I growl and spin him but tonight he was very, very quick and I couldn't catch him in time. Several helpful folk made comments about hitting him with some hosepipe but not sure how to do that without getting thrown off and I note they weren't offering to have sit and try it!
 
Sanolly said:
I think OIAM meant before he goes up. AFAIK you can't really do anything whilst they are in the air/
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Yep. I'm not saying it is definitely your case my for us it was lots of little things he could get away (obviously we didn't do it deliberatley) and then he brought out the rearing whilst riding knowing that as a rider you are powerless when they rear
 
My youngster did rear for a bit. With him it was naughtyness and I've found pushing forward as fast as the terrain allows helps, as he's a naturally lazy pony so he doesn't like that.

These arn't vertical rears though, so it's not so scary for the rider...

Hope you find something that helps :(
 
Having had my 4 year old fall over with me a few weeks ago, i've gone off vertical rears!

Best method with her is to uber flex her her to my foot and spin her round until her feet stop moving and she no longer leans.

I then praise and release, if she tries again its repeated and I might slap her down the neck to make her work harder.

Downside is you need space and no tarmac
 
Did his routine change at all when he was having treatment any bute/danilon etc, if so have you considered ulcers.

We have one on the yard, no outward symptoms at all, apart from under saddle at times would rear vertical, after every check going, asked for him to be scoped and sure enough Grade 3 ulcers sat there. Poor lad, must have been going up in pain. This was not everytime he was ridden, but occasionally. Once he started his rearing stage, it didnt stop and napping would also occur.
 
Try a standing martingale or a running as a standing if you don't have one. You will only need it for a couple of weeks but it will shut the "up" door ;) good luck :)
 
am of total opposite opinion-dont put any kind of martingale or draw reins on a rearer as sometimes they feel it, push against it, and go over unintentionally, i want them to know how far they can move their necks.......

if you can catch it, pull one hand out and back to the side, forcing them to take a sideways step with a front leg, keeping neck flexed, they cant go up with front legs wide and head bent.

agree that once in air, sit it out quietly.

managed to get this on candid camera:
Untitled1.jpg
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
am of total opposite opinion-dont put any kind of martingale or draw reins on a rearer as sometimes they feel it, push against it, and go over unintentionally, i want them to know how far they can move their necks.......

if you can catch it, pull one hand out and back to the side, forcing them to take a sideways step with a front leg, keeping neck flexed, they cant go up with front legs wide and head bent.

agree that once in air, sit it out quietly.

managed to get this on candid camera:
Untitled1.jpg
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Blimey!! You sat this well!

My mare has gone up once when a lorry nearly squished us and this is how I got her back down too. Instinct played a big part and nothing to do with skill.;)
How to deal with a perpetual rearer?:eek: I've not got a clue?:o
 
Thanks everyone. There was a saddler on our yard today so I got him to look at my saddle. He thinks it may have been a little tight on the withers so I'm hoping that may be the answer. I'm going to give him a couple of days off ridden work but with inhand hacking to take him round the route and rule out nappiness. He can have his massage pad on in the evenings and then hopefully he'll feel better in an adjusted saddle next week.
 
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Prince33Sp4rkle said:
am of total opposite opinion-dont put any kind of martingale or draw reins on a rearer as sometimes they feel it, push against it, and go over unintentionally, i want them to know how far they can move their necks.......

if you can catch it, pull one hand out and back to the side, forcing them to take a sideways step with a front leg, keeping neck flexed, they cant go up with front legs wide and head bent.

agree that once in air, sit it out quietly.

managed to get this on candid camera

.
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Thanks for sharing. Its comforting to know that it happens to other people, if Gerry and I go on to have a fraction of the success you've had I'd be very happy. One of my friends was reassuring me that its his sensitivity and his spark that means he will also be a fantastic dressage horse once he's fully recovered. Just hope she's right.
 
emmyc said:
Forgot to say, it needs to be quite tight to stop the head coming up but you won't need it for long, they get the idea pretty quickly :)
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They won't need it for long because they will be decked!
Send it to a professional and get it sold, unless it is very talented you will not enjoy riding it, Some horses get really adept at lifting you up but not scaring you, some are adept at scaring you but are not likely to tip over backwards, either way they are ones to get rid of.
 
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Mine has always been capable of putting in a "rider-scarer" little front-leg lift, not really worth calling a rear TBH then recently at a show he went up really high/vertical, like in the photo, which did scare the shite out of me if I'm honest.

Whatever the reason, be it pain, or whatever, I think sometimes you can make excuses for this sort of behaviour. Yes, sometimes there will be a pain/discomfort issue, but if the rearing is happening when you are going on a hack, then basically I think it sounds like a napping issue which is being manifested by the rearing, and you'll need to tackle the nappyness first.

What you need to do is to tackle the issue in a safe environment, i.e. school, where you're not on tarmac or get traffic up your @arse. With mine, I put two lines on him up in the school, one line was the normal cavesson lunge line, the other was a chifney with a line on it. I lunged him knowing that he hates it and will strop out and usually he does this either by rearing and/or trying to p!ss off with me. But I left the line with the chifney well alone and did'n't touch him with it, just left it slack. Predicably, he reared, trying to frighten me and making himself taller than me (and waggling his front feet around as well as a frightener), so THEN I let him have it with the chifney and by god by the end of the session he was looking at me with a bit of respect.

I know some will have a seizeure and say how cruel, but its not funny when you're on the road and have something lifting up its front legs - sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind; in the old days if you had a rearer we were told at Pony Club to "get off, stay off, and ring kennels", and sometimes I wonder if that isn't advice that ought to be taken more often. Not that I'd like to do it with my boy, coz he's 99% sweetheart and 1% ASBO, but I know I could never sell him coz if I did I'd have to say he'd reared, and I'd have to take the risk that someone who couldn't deal with it would sell him on and he'd end up in a dog food tin.

I think with anything that rears you need expert help; Michael Peace is expensive but might be worth a go? Or an IH practitioner.

My trainer has worked in the school with me and mine; getting respect on the ground is the only long-term solution really, then you could progress to trying to do what you're doing under saddle, i.e. leave the yard, and have a pressure halti under a bridle (or a chifney), and then make him do it with you leading, and if he does rear up you'll be able to tell him definitivly that this is not the behaviour you want! Timing is vital, which is why I really valued expert help to get it right.

Good luck.
 
My horse rears when bringing in from the field. Im dreading riding him and Ive got to move yards tomorrow and hack there. He reared countless times the other night when I tried loading him in a trailer. He did little rears when I last rode him at another yard (had to move yards and since then he hasnt been ridden). Im thinking of selling him because he scares me but who would sell him for me (I dont know anyone)?
 
i wouldnt give up so soon, send him for schooling with someone who knows how to ride out a real tantrum.
iv managed to turn some small rearers back in to A* citizens with a bit of work, bluster and balls. sometimes you have to fake the balls part but if its only small rears and there are no physical issues, i bet you can do it.

also, bloody glad iv kept mine, he's an out and out winner and i wouldnt swap him for the world, rears and all. they dont bother me (i mean sometimes they do make me breathe deeply, but they never make me think about getting rid), and there are plenty of competitive people who feel the same......very few top class horses are sane 100% of the time, esp hacking.i no longer hack as worry he will injure himself (not me!!!), but he does do it occasionally in the warm up too, but then goes in to do a fab test, cant have it all roads.
 
My friend had. Rearer. She bought one of those actin bottle that smash really easily or whatever, and pit pigs blood/fake blood in it and when he reared smashed it over his head. Course didn hurt because of the bottle type, but the horse bought he had hit his head and never reared again :) x
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
i wouldnt give up so soon, send him for schooling with someone who knows how to ride out a real tantrum.
iv managed to turn some small rearers back in to A* citizens with a bit of work, bluster and balls. sometimes you have to fake the balls part but if its only small rears and there are no physical issues, i bet you can do it.

also, bloody glad iv kept mine, he's an out and out winner and i wouldnt swap him for the world, rears and all. they dont bother me (i mean sometimes they do make me breathe deeply, but they never make me think about getting rid), and there are plenty of competitive people who feel the same......very few top class horses are sane 100% of the time, esp hacking.i no longer hack as worry he will injure himself (not me!!!), but he does do it occasionally in the warm up too, but then goes in to do a fab test, cant have it all roads.
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Don't worry, I have no intention of selling him. In the six months I've had him he's never reared like that before, the occassional little one when a scary pheasant comes out a hedge but nothing like that. I genuinely think he was saying he was in discomfort somewhere. All the checks are being done and I'm fairly confident it won't happen again.
 
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