1st rear today :-(

[k8te]

I am bringing ace back into work since his first case of laminitis, and its been going well. Ace is an ex riding school pony so know and again we have issues of confidence as do i, as i am a wimp sometimes! But the last 2 weeks i have been quite forceful and quite clear that we are doing this and doing it my way. As in we are going to hack alone and we are going to go where i want MR. Ace. It has been great with only a couple occasions of him napping, yesterday i actually thought i am going to come off but, he span and trotted backwards then span again, got him to stand and just think for a second, which was fine then got him to go through. Well today off we set, all going well had a lovely time and as we were approaching our little hill to trot up i got him to stand as there where a herd of wild ponies galloping across, he wasnt fazed by this and waited until i told him to walk up the hill, just incase what caused them to go may be lurking,fine. When up the top asked for trot along the top which was perfect. Then as we are heading for the path home, i thought lets go through the bracken etc... as he doesnt like walking on stones, half way down and there are 2 wild ponies on the path, right lets get back on the road, as we approached the track, his ears went back and felt twitchy so i had a look and there it was, another horse & rider. Now Ace sometimes has issues with other riders, sometimes with a little grrr he just gets on with it, and today he was not! Rider must of seen me given he the look as in please stop trotting, as she did and Ace at this point refusing to go forward, she asked if i am ok and explained ex RS and will want to follow, she asked if its alright if she goes ahead which i replied yes and if you could just walk that would be great, she was fine with this and i could see her watching us through the trees to make sure we were ok. Any way i could not get him to forwards, and he was trying to spin round, which i didnt want him to so we were both fighting as in what direction we were going to go in, me trying to kick him on and also having contact on the right rein to stop him from spinning, walking backwards then up he went :help: not high but up onto his back legs, went down and i think we were both quite in shock! Decided to get off him and try and calm him down on the ground. Walked him for a few mins until i could find something to get back up on him from, and he was good as gold and nice and calm, then off we went home.

Now i would really love to know why he acts this way, but not all the time?
Also did i make him rear, by maybe squeezing or being on the reins too much??

Sorry quite a long post, but here are some photos to say thankyou x x

Oh they are a bit big, sorry :yellowcarded: x

 

[Native Lover]

Firstly great photos, Your hacking is fantastic I am so jealous

I give lorries that 'look' when they are comming towards me but they don't see it lol

You got Mr Ace last year, I remember well done you for hacking out. I know the odd time my mare naps it is because I am not confident enough with her she tends only to do it with me but if I am forceful with her she carries on what we were doing.
I cannot give you any advice other than I am sure others on here will help you nip it in the bud for you. Well sat and good you got off to keep yourself safe

PS. would you like a pony mad lodger with a small herd of ponies I am packing already ;-)

 

[k8te]

You are ALL more then welcome, i'll clear some stable for your gorgeous herd :inlove: The hacking is great, takes 5 mins up our drive to get there i so love living where we are now.
Yes i have owned him now for just over a year, and in that year he has been out of action more then he is in :wink:. Since his laminitis, i have decided well actually gone back to the real reason i wanted a horse, to be a happy hacker. It really put every thing into perspective, when he was out of action and thats why every day since being aloud i have hacked him out. I am much more confident and so is he, just dont know what to do about other horse riders as some days he is fine with a little nudge & a growl but then today he just can't cope?? Thinking about it, meeting horse on the way out he can cope with the nudge & grr it is always on the way home. But i'll be back on him tomorrow and just take it one day at a time x

 

[laceyfreckle]

oooh you could have been describing Harvey as he does exactly that hacking. He hasn't reared for nearly a year though partly because i'm still working on hacking out :redface: and partly because i found that if he gets twitchy bending his head (yielding) round to my boot (you'll have to teach him this on the ground in a halter first) he can't go up and can't really go back, only round. We now do endless circles and when he settles we stop, relax all rein contact and then go forward with open (loose reins) if he is silly then it's back to bend to stop and yielding or sometimes making him go sideways helps him to forget about going backward.

WE haven't completely solved our hacking problems yet but have found these have helped - I am rubbish at explaining though so sorry!

 

[CMP]

I took Caymen out about 6 weeks ago and he was an absolute pain. He napped, reversed, span all the way. He was completly at it and has no issue hacking out alone! :stomp::banghead:

He was being a total twit and I was about to go for a canter up a hill when my 2 pals arrived on their horses. I just said sorry, not stopping, he is being a pest but he wanted to follow and so we had an argument and he reared. He came back down but was really agitated so I got off and walked him up a wee hill, got back on and hacked him home and he was fine.

I was so upset when I got back to the yard. My RI got on him and after I had pulled myself together, I got back on him and rode him all afternoon until he behaved himself and did exactly what I wanted. I have never had a problem with him since. I would suspect its practise, practise, practise!

 

[k8te]

Thankyou for sharing your experiences with me, i think it sort of makes sense to go in circles, as when he used to try and nap i'd catch him before he did with the other rein, so i think if he plays up again we will both just have to get dizzy :giggle:, rather that then the trotting or even just walking backwards.

Other then that anyone live near or fancies a trip to the New Forest by Picket Post and we could try and desentisise (sp) him to horses on our way home??

Honestly, thankyou. I know i don't post much on here, but it really is a fountain of information, and when i do, i get all the advice and support needed x x