what is this dumb attraction

DabDab said:
Is she unbacked, or was that under saddle?
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No it was under saddle. I have owned and been riding her for 9 months. And there is nothing wrong with her back sack or crack, honest ;). She has in the past in one specific situation where she napped, spun and half reared round. This was different however. Went into the arena, went to tighten the girth and I felt like she was threatening, although I don't think her feet left the ground, I just felt her hopping almost, hardly perceivable. Abandoned girth and sat up, she stood straight up proper job boxing the air (I'd always wondered how folk got their hands round their neck quick enough, turns out its instinctive!:rolleyes:). Got off, did the girth, got back on, she did it again, I then started trotting her and she bronked half way around the arena in a rage then carried on as if nothing had happened. She was definitely wound up, it was in her head, not physical, she is normally very chilled out but she was looking at the horses in the field, almost transfixed by them and according to the spectators had a wild look in her eye (she certainly felt like she did!!). Normally she doesn't give two hoots for other horses. The next day she was again not herself but not as bad and the third day I lunged her first (call me a wimp but I wasn't enjoying this!) but she never put a foot wrong and is acting normally now. It was very weird and hopefully not be repeated but if it is, then I might think about getting some lessons from JFTD to put a command on it to stop her.
 
Done correctly, I have absolutely NO issue with people teaching to rear. I know how to get Ned to rear, but I don't, because he doesn't know it's a trick, it's a napping technique for him.
I have to push him forwards, away from another horse and keep my reins loose, then he'll go up. If I want to counteract this, I pull his head to the right.

Done by kids (or adults!) who don't have a clue what they are doing, is dangerous. I knew of a girl who taught her pony to rear because "she'd never get rid of him" Well, a few months later he was for sale. Goodness knows what happened with that.


I got his photo when I didn't realise he would nap away from someone he'd only just met! Oops! I didn't pull him around in time.

 
I once owned a rather mischevious Anglo arab who was good at rearing. No,to tell the truth ,he was a blooming expert at it. He could happily walk around on his back legs for a good 30 seconds . I did my best to avoid this ,though to be honest ,it didnt worry me in the slightest.We had more chance of being struck by lightning than of him falling over. I never taught him any tricks or encouraged him in any way .To be honest it was entirely the reverse.
But once and only once ,circumstances changed. Then girlfriend,with aspirations for eventing ,asked to ride him . I joined them half an hour later in the field ,to be greated with a long list of what was "wrong with" my horse. He looked absolutely fed up !To this day ,I have no idea how it worked ,or even who was guiding whom. I just remember thinking ,lets wipe that smug expresion off her face ,as I stared at my horse. I stood absolutely still and clicked the fingers of my right hand,and then gave a slight ,palm upwards gesture . All of which was barely visible. He launched into the most amazing rear . It was more than a rear, he launched himself like a ballistic missile.
In fairness ,she sat it out ,but was white as a sheet and ever so quiet afterwards. Later she asked me how I had done it . Perhaps I should have said that I didnt know ,but I said that I couldnt tell her. That was prettymuch the end of our relationship ,but I kept that horse for the rest of his life. Oddly enough ,and I have truely ,only just realised it. I have often wondered at what point and why he suddenly gave up rearing. That was the last time he ever reared. Perhaps he felt that he could never follow that one and that it was time to retire.
 
I did see a leaflet advertising a riding school that had a pic of a rearing horse (with rider) on the front! It could be an excellent riding school for all I know but didn't exactly make the horses look safe or the staff seem responsible

That's a lot of assumptions on my part and I'm sure the horse was taught carefully to rear on command but to me not a good advert for a riding school!
 
Friend taught the 'perfect' loan horse to rear, all very controlled until one day, said perfect horse went a little too high, she jabbed in mouth and boom, both in a heap on the floor, rider in excruciating pain, but refused me to get her help because she was scared she'd get told off, looking back, I should have ignored her, but was young and niave
 
If I'm totally honest I don't see the issue. If your keeping the horse and you want some fun and bonding time tricks are a great way. 90% of ours lay down, sit, give paw and some rear. We don't teach the youngsters or the children's ponies rear but certainly don't see a problem with an adults horse they look to keep.
 
There was someone on here who had a pony that reared and rolled with its rider who were also advertising as people who could break in horses.
They happily put that on you tube!
 
This is where I think its stupid, that pony is in a western gag I thinkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llxqGMmAUgs&feature=youtube_gdata_player
 
I agree with the others that it's a taught skill like other things. My horses do not need this skill nor I am skilled in asking correctly. So it is not incorporated into my program. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy the photos JFTD and Cortez have posted of beautiful working horses that have been taught correctly. Just not something I feel I should do.

And totally weird the post about horses rearing in the field being translated under saddle. I wouldn't get on Abba if that were the case. She's very good at it and very well balanced when doing so. As in the control and staying power.

The OP's scenario is annoying and I agree with her view. Also the umpteen pics of a person on the ground with arms and legs a flapping to get so called rear. I'm sure it could be done gracefully.

Terri
 
I taught my old pony to do it from the ground (he wasnt ridden) he only ever performed it on que. The one time he did try to use it to nap on the longreins i stopped as i realized he was too clever to be taught tricks that he could use to get out of work. When he did that i stopped asking him to do it and he never did it again. He was a very level headed sort that never put a hoof out of place bless him and i wanted to keep it that way so taught him to bow etc instead.
Wouldnt do anything like that with current pony she would be walking on 2 legs constantly :eek:
 
Not sure either how playing in the field can be translated to under saddle either mine do perfect airs above the ground piaffe and passage for hours but as they are barely balanced to carry a rider in a 20m circle yet I doubt very much they could do any of it under saddle and still have a jockey at the end
 
I think it's absolutely fine to teach your horse whatever the hell you like. Have it rearing, bucking, leaping or even doing Gangman Style if you want...IF...you are absolutely sure you're going to be keeping it for its entire life. Otherwise someone's fantastically justifiable rear could then be passed on to someone who could easily and accidentally give the animal the aids for whatever fun party trick it can do, not realise it and end up completely freaking out theirselves, and the horse and potentially causing injury and even earning the horse a bad name which in the wrong hands that could mean some pretty undeserved discipline. Sure it may not be the person you sell it to...but the person after, or the person after them.

Seen this happen several times before.
 
cattysmith said:
Otherwise someone's fantastically justifiable rear could then be passed on to someone who could easily and accidentally give the animal the aids for whatever fun party trick it can do, not realise it and end up completely freaking out theirselves, and the horse and potentially causing injury and even earning the horse a bad name which in the wrong hands that could mean some pretty undeserved discipline.
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You'd have to be pretty odd to give Fergs the cue to rear accidentally. It really would take some pretty spectacularly awful riding to manage it :D
 
cattysmith said:
I think it's absolutely fine to teach your horse whatever the hell you like. Have it rearing, bucking, leaping or even doing Gangman Style if you want...IF...you are absolutely sure you're going to be keeping it for its entire life. Otherwise someone's fantastically justifiable rear could then be passed on to someone who could easily and accidentally give the animal the aids for whatever fun party trick it can do, not realise it and end up completely freaking out theirselves, and the horse and potentially causing injury and even earning the horse a bad name which in the wrong hands that could mean some pretty undeserved discipline. Sure it may not be the person you sell it to...but the person after, or the person after them.

Seen this happen several times before.
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Same goes for anything you teach a horse - in the wrong hands it can be dangerous. I knew a gentleman once who bought a lovely hunting horse who he fell off the first time he rode it in the school because he gave it a kick when it was pointing towards the fence...he got jumped out of the saddle. I am sure that JFTD's commands are far more specific than that.
 
DabDab said:
I am sure that JFTD's commands are far more specific than that.
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Apparently my 3 year old interprets any form of kick as a cue for buck so don't be so sure :D

Fergs you'd have to stand him up, back up, slide your legs forward so they're right on his shoulders and give him a soft but distinct kick. Then he'll probably offer you a tiny hop - if you pat him and repeat, he'll give you the full monty :D It's almost impossible to do by accident. You'd have to be really silly to manage it!
 
Oh absolutely...but you can't deny four legs are generally more stable on a horse than two, no matter what the command.

JFTD, you can't deny that some people really DO show some spectacularly awful riding, and that is my point someone could end up with something who has been trained to do whatever it is, flail their arms and legs like drunken octopus and then the **** hits the fan.

I'm sure you would part with your own limbs sooner than you would your highland so I doubt this situation will ever apply to you at all, but there are many others who no doubt aren't in that position.
 
cattysmith said:
JFTD, you can't deny that some people really DO show some spectacularly awful riding, and that is my point someone could end up with something who has been trained to do whatever it is, flail their arms and legs like drunken octopus and then the **** hits the fan.
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True, and you're right - I wouldn't part with them for the world! - but I think there's an element of teaching the right sort of horse too. I taught Fergs because he's not the sort of horse to use something against you - he's beyond honest. He rears when he's scared hacking (I mean genuinely panics, he's done it about 4 times in all the time I've had him) but he's not the sort to do things nastily or punish you for your mistakes. And I'd know - I've made a ton of mistakes with him! It's just not in his nature - he also looks after novices like a star. I would have no hesitation about putting a novice on him, I honestly am sure he wouldn't rear, even if they asked him!

On the other hand, I have no idea whether I'll teach his mini-me, Dae to do it. He's a totally different character - much more likely to try his luck, I think. Character suitability is part of good training in my book.

I'm not actually disagreeing with you, I totally agree that so many people do it badly, sell the horse on when it's unsuitable or train a temperamentally unsuitable horse to do it (or equally, a horse whose temperament has been ruined by their poor training). I'm just offering a different perspective :)
 


This is an elderly heavy cob I used to own. He was 18 when I taught him to rear, he retired to a lovely life of gentle hacking and his new owner was keen to make him stand up; he utterly refused to do so, and I didn't share the "secret" with his new dad either - much better for old hocks to have a rest, and new owners to learn to ride a bit better before leaping about.
 
My daughter (who is 20) was on a yard last year that is just for ponies (as hers is 14hh)... and she said a lot of the younger kids were all teaching theirs to rear, purely to show off and think they were clever.. drove her mad,

Problem with teaching it ponies is when its sold on, and they dont bother to explain, and some poor person buys it and thinks they have a rearer...
 
Well that's kids for you :rolleyes: If we do get reincarnated I would rather come back as a cockroach than a child's pony :D
 
If you planned to sell a horse that had been taught to rear, you would tell the buyer.
Surely this adds to its value. ;)

Strangely I don't see horses taught to buck as that is generally put under a vice.
 
As others have already said - if you know what you are doing and do it responsibly, there is no difference between teaching a horse to rein back/gallop/shake hooves and teaching it to rear.

I have ridden rearing horses for stunt work and those that have had a bad habit: the two are worlds apart.
 
Well I Never said:
If you planned to sell a horse that had been taught to rear, you would tell the buyer.
Surely this adds to its value. ;)

Strangely I don't see horses taught to buck as that is generally put under a vice.
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My yard once got a horse on loan from someone. He was broken in and he was a very lovely horse! He was given back, but shortly returned. Their son had taught him to buck as a trick. Furious could not describe the feeling we all felt (having all had a hand in backing/breaking him!)
 
I think encouraging a horse to jump over obstacles is madness , there is a world if difference between ' showjumping ' horses and every day riding horses :)

Clearly SJ horses have to do it :)
 
I must admit in my gymkana days alot of us used to train our horses to half rear and get a flyer off the starting line. This never caused an issue whenever hacking etc.
 
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