what is this dumb attraction

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Well I Never

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Why in gods name do people think teaching a horse to rear is cool and amazing.
I saw some brat at a show the other day pulling on a pony saying go up go up come on go up. It later did this. To my shock the mum thought it was funny and took photos!
Is this the next generation of horseman!
Jeez.
 
People teach people to do it when they throw their arms, really just for pretty pictures..
So stupid.. Why teach bad habits? Plus, even the best of horses could slip and loose their footing.
 
Sadly there are plenty of amateur how to videos on You Tube, maybe they just copied.
But the mum horrified me more to be honest, I wouldn't buy that pony for my daughter if it came up for sale.
 
I know some kids wh insist on teaching their ponies this stupid "trick" IMO it's downright dangerous and completely pointless. I guess they think it looks cool/impressive :confused: ??
 
Why do we teach a horse anything?

Teaching a horse to do anything when the handler doesn't understand exactly what and why she is teaching is stupid.

Controlled rearing isn't in itself inherently dangerous. Teaching a horse to rear on cue (and a cue that cannot be repeated 'accidentally') is a well documented way of stopping horses that are habitual rearers. Funny, but there you go.

At a suitable point in their training the horses at my yard are introduced to levade. Some 'enjoy' it, some don't so it is not included in their repertoire. Exactly the same way that pirouettes/tempis/pi and pa are taught. Apart from them being included in dressage tests (none of ours compete), there is not a huge amount of difference IMO.

I don't see the need to differentiate between 'tricks' and skills to be honest, unless you want every thing you do with your horse to be dictated by the current popular disciplines (was going to say traditional but that would have to include the classical schools which I think all teach levade - SRS and CN do :) )
 
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each to their own and all that, but I had enough trouble after I taught my haffy to give me his paw, took months of ignoring him flapping his leg at me everytime I got near to get over it
 
All of our horses are taught to rear (technically it's a lancade, preparation for levade) as a matter of course - not all can do it. BUT, when they are all strong enough and well balanced enough to do it safely, the riders are taught how to sit in the right place, and no horse ever offers a rear unasked. It is not inherently more dangerous than leaping through the air (AKA jumping) or any of the other things we ask horses to do. Horses which are weak in their backs and hocks, or not balanced should never be asked to rear (this includes most TB types). A lot of horses which go over are actually pulled over by their panicking riders.
 
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quirky said:
There is at least 1 person in here who has done it.
Maybe she'll be along soon to explain.
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Might that be me? I chose not to post this photo on my tilting the ring / jousting thread as I didn't fancy a barney... But...

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rhino said:
Why do we teach a horse anything?

Teaching a horse to do anything when the handler doesn't understand exactly what and why she is teaching is stupid.

Controlled rearing isn't in itself inherently dangerous. Teaching a horse to rear on cue (and a cue that cannot be repeated 'accidentally') is a well documented way of stopping horses that are habitual rearers. Funny, but there you go.
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I taught Fergs to rear because I quickly realised it was his prefered method of complaint. I taught him to rear so that it's not a "fun" game, nor is it an escape from doing what he's told. It also means I am comfortable riding a rear, and he is used to balancing himself in it. I was also then able to teach a stop command.

I don't regret teaching him - he doesn't do it off cue, and a number of folk on here have tried him and appreciate how specifically you have to ask him for it.

If you train a horse properly, it's no different to training it to go for a gallop - you aren't making it more likely to bolt by going for a gallop, any more than you're encouraging a horse to rear as a rebellion by training it to go up on command, in a controlled fashion.

Ultimately, a rear is a natural movement - all horses know how to, same as they know how to gallop. You don't teach a horse to rear - you teach it to rear on a specific command, and any training, done well, is a good thing!
 
blitznbobs said:
There is of course a difference between training a horse to rear and yanking the bit thru its mouth so it does out of protest...
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Of course there is! But there is always a difference between good and ignorant training. The point being made by a couple of us is that just because someone is training a horse to perform a natural movement on command does not make it automatically wrong just because it is not nowadays a common thing to ask a horse to do.
 
It is also important to note that when a horse plants all four feet and refuses to move, and then rears in response to the rider applying extra pressure with their legs, if the rider immediately releases the leg pressure when the horse goes up they have taken the first step in teaching a horse to rear. The problem with that is not the horse is rearing, it's the fact that it is learning to rear in response to what the rider intended to be a forward command. So yes - in particular circumstances, teaching a horse to rear to a very specific command can be very useful in avoiding confusion.
 
Cortez said:
Of course there is! But there is always a difference between good and ignorant training. The point being made by a couple of us is that just because someone is training a horse to perform a natural movement on command does not make it automatically wrong just because it is not nowadays a common thing to ask a horse to do.
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Well said. I actually meant to add a caveat about Fergs being taught to rear without any bit pressure, he'll do it just as happily on a neck rein / tackless, because of course jabbing it in the mouth is no way to train an animal to do anything well.
 
If its trained safely and with the correct balance, by a skilled person then fine.
My post started with a child doing this at a show and the mum took photos, I think the kid was probably ten or so.
To me that's not what you then take in a lead rein class-if only the judges could see what people to before the ring!
 
I don't think anyone would disagree, from your given scenario. Your initial post seemed more geared towards the technique than the individual.

Well I Never said:
Why in gods name do people think teaching a horse to rear is cool and amazing.
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I don't think it's particularly cool or amazing, or not any moreso than anything else done well. Oh and my boy is not one who is naturally inclined to rear so it's not something that's ever been a part of his training. Right horse, right trainer then it's just another skill.
 
FfionWinnie said:
How do you train a horse to do it only on command (specifically, I have one who does it when it feels like it and I'd quite like it not to!).
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Collection, collection, collection: it's the next step after piaffe. Oh, and horses "volunteer" rear when they refuse to go forwards, or are afraid to do so.
 
Cortez said:
Of course there is! But there is always a difference between good and ignorant training. The point being made by a couple of us is that just because someone is training a horse to perform a natural movement on command does not make it automatically wrong just because it is not nowadays a common thing to ask a horse to do.
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I completely agree with this. However, those who I have seen teaching their horse/pony to rear are silly kids, yanking on the pony's mouth to make it go up because they think it's cool. I think possibly that's what the OP was getting at. There is of course nothing wrong with teaching a horse to rear if it is called for/with a reason behind it and done correctly.
 
Cortez said:
Collection, collection, collection: it's the next step after piaffe. Oh, and horses "volunteer" rear when they refuse to go forwards, or are afraid to do so.
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We are a while away from that then!

Actually it was a refusal to stand still and me insisting which triggered it, while in season. I'm still quite shocked it happened after 9 months, out of the blue really (but of course wasn't coming in to season until recently so now I am worrying this will be the norm when in season, crazy hormonal behaviour:().
 
Fergs isn't at the point of piaffe, let alone a true levade, either!

I taught him to rear by asking him to rein back, then stand, and giving him a specific leg and weight aid, and re-iterating the rein back to stand when he offered forwards / backwards /sideways, until he offered a rear (pretty quickly as he's a very smart cookie). Not sure it would work well for others though. My old lad was a devil to teach things like this to!
 
FfionWinnie said:
We are a while away from that then!

Actually it was a refusal to stand still and me insisting which triggered it, while in season. I'm still quite shocked it happened after 9 months, out of the blue really (but of course wasn't coming in to season until recently so now I am worrying this will be the norm when in season, crazy hormonal behaviour:().
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Is she unbacked, or was that under saddle?
 
If trained correctly I dont see the problem. Most dogs with a barking problem are taught to bark on command to control the behaviour, it's all about boundaries.
However, I completely agree with the OP given the scenario that was described :eek:
 
Slightly off topic, but I once posted this photo and got a really panicked reply stating that I should separate the two horses as the mare would teach the youngster to rear and that she (the youngster) would become a dangerous horse and probably kill someone. :eek:



People really do entertain me sometimes. :rolleyes:

Here's the same youngster having fun and frolicking in the field before she met the mare pictured above. :)

 
Oh they're stunning Faracat - yes my current youngster thinks rearing is the best thing ever. I assume he just likes the sensation of rearing up while he's out playing in the field. He does seem to have grown out of it a bit now though. I've never known it translate particularly to rearing under saddle though, even when a horse rears a lot, even if they do it when handled.
 
I've found that too DD. Although, as Cortez said it's surprisingly easy to make a horse rear if you put too much pressure on them to go forwards past something that they are frightened of. Riding with a too strong contact and too strong leg aids will make my CM rear - the hands are saying stop, but the legs say go, so she goes up.
 
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