New Horse that Rears Occaisonally hacking

myfunkyhorse

myfunkyhorse

New Member
Jan 9, 2009
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Being blown around on my horse in Berkshire
My new horse Demi is 99% perfect except on the odd occaison mainly when I've hacked out she's attempted to rear, its only at times when she's scared of something and refuses to go forward so I put my leg on and then she tries to go up, most of them aren't high but twice she's gone up high,

On Saturday she did it and i lost a stirrup, i didnt come off or anything.. we had come to a mini hump back bridge over the bridle path which is over a mini stream/ditch and she just didnt like it, I tried not to give up, eventually I got one of the other girls to go accross first and a wait for me on the other side and she went accross fine!!! we did that three times and she went over brilliantly :S

I ride her with a whip and she gets a smack on her bottom to get her to go forward when she tries to go up, but is there anything else i can try that might help?

I've figured out she usually spins to the left and then goes up

Thanks, Em x
 
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You say she spins and then rears???? Is she sensitve in the mouth? Could you be pulling on her aswell as kicking?? Just thought if you were trying to get her to go forward and then pulling she maybe having a small hissy at the confusion?? Try keeping ** hands soft allowing forward movement, dont block.

If a tap with the whip works then dont see why u'd need another aproach, in theory she'll get the message and start going forward from the leg. Remember for off the leg rather than correction.... squeeze, and no response tap and squeeze and same time.

Hope u get it sorted :D
 
She's in a happy mouth snaffle and is very light in the mouth I make a huge effort not to catch her in the mouth because i know how sensitive she is.

She sort of goes to the left and on turning she starts going up. kinda like "sh*t mum I don't like this Im bailing"

I'm asking for advice to make sure I am doing the right thing because I've never had a horse that does this.

Thanks :)

Madaz_Maddy said:
You say she spins and then rears???? Is she sensitve in the mouth? Could you be pulling on her aswell as kicking?? Just thought if you were trying to get her to go forward and then pulling she maybe having a small hissy at the confusion?? Try keeping ** hands soft allowing forward movement, dont block.

If a tap with the whip works then dont see why u'd need another aproach, in theory she'll get the message and start going forward from the leg. Remember for off the leg rather than correction.... squeeze, and no response tap and squeeze and same time.

Hope u get it sorted :D
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If she's new, doesn't know you very well yet and may not have seen some of the things you're asking her to deal with before then it's not going to help. I'd personally work on building her confidence in you, both by doing a bit of groundwork and maybe some despooking stuff, and also by avoiding putting her under as much pressure when you can avoid it. The last thing you want is for the rearing to become a habit.

If you can give her time to work out that something is OK, or get off and lead her past it, or give her a lead with another horse, then I would for now and you'll hopefully find that the problem starts to diminish.
 
Yeah thats what we did on Saturday I got one of the girls to go over and stand on the other side with another person waiting behind me and she went over fine after that we did that three times.

I can do some do de spooking in the school and see if that helps too.

Yann said:
If you can give her time to work out that something is OK, or get off and lead her past it, or give her a lead with another horse, then I would for now and you'll hopefully find that the problem starts to diminish.
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I have had the same problem with my Trakehner as he hates bicycles.

Fine with most other things, vans, lorries, trailers, tractors, etc, just hates bikes.

To stop the spinning have a very wide low hand, which works with my horse.

If the horse is moving forward, it cant rear so keep her moving.

Unfortunately, I failed to do this recently and mine reared up high and then sat down on his bum!! I came off and as he tried to get up he rolled onto me.

First time he has reared in his 11 years.

Lesson learnt the hard way :eek:

So keep moving forward and do not stop and hands wide and low!!
 
Yeah thats what we did on Saturday I got one of the girls to go over and stand on the other side with another person waiting behind me and she went over fine after that we did that three times.
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That's great, and hopefully next time she'll not be as worried about it. Not forcing the issue does work, I have a friend who had exactly the same problem and working quietly at building her horse's confidence and not overfacing her meant the rearing ended up being just a phase she went through. Good luck :)
 
Yeah fingers crossed, we have a ford and she did the same the first time we went through, and i got someone to lead us through several times and she now goes through the ford happily now in front, I think she just isn't very bold and lacks confidence bless her.

Yann said:
That's great, and hopefully next time she'll not be as worried about it. Not forcing the issue does work, I have a friend who had exactly the same problem and working quietly at building her horse's confidence and not overfacing her meant the rearing ended up being just a phase she went through. Good luck :)
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:eek: ouch poor you,

Dem dem is a Trakehner too.. I will definaltly keep your advice in mind if she does it again.

Claire1605 said:
I have had the same problem with my Trakehner as he hates bicycles.

Fine with most other things, vans, lorries, trailers, tractors, etc, just hates bikes.

To stop the spinning have a very wide low hand, which works with my horse.

If the horse is moving forward, it cant rear so keep her moving.

Unfortunately, I failed to do this recently and mine reared up high and then sat down on his bum!! I came off and as he tried to get up he rolled onto me.

First time he has reared in his 11 years.

Lesson learnt the hard way :eek:

So keep moving forward and do not stop and hands wide and low!!
Click to expand...
 
I had this with my new horse last year but she only did it on two occasions. With her I found that if I held her still and let her look at whatever was scaring her she realised I wasn't going to let her go home & got bored so went past. You need a lot of time but I found it worthwhile.
 
Yann said:
If she's new, doesn't know you very well yet and may not have seen some of the things you're asking her to deal with before then it's not going to help. I'd personally work on building her confidence in you, both by doing a bit of groundwork and maybe some despooking stuff, and also by avoiding putting her under as much pressure when you can avoid it. The last thing you want is for the rearing to become a habit.

If you can give her time to work out that something is OK, or get off and lead her past it, or give her a lead with another horse, then I would for now and you'll hopefully find that the problem starts to diminish.
Click to expand...

I would prob agree, she needs to get her confidence in you. If she is still getting to know you, when something scary happens/comes up she is looking to you to push her and say its ok. Maybe when your bond builds stronger she might be more confident in these situations? :confused: Obviously its scary and needs addressing, but it does sound like she just lacking confidence in herself and you (as your bond is still developing) to push on in these situations. ;)
 
I have had the same problem with my mare, she is very nervy and 'stressy' (hence my user name! :eek:) I have tried groundwork etc but I have found using a running martingale a way of breaking the habit, I know its not to everyones tastes but it has got her out of the habit of doing it and means she is a lot safer to ride, if she sees something she doesnt like the look of now she will stop and 'evade' by dropping her shoulder, spinning etc but touch wood she hasnt gone up since the martingale, she has learnt this a pointless evasion as she cant get her head up to do it and now I dont have to use the martingale anymore. It might not work with your horse but it has worked on mine.
 
MY lad did this when I got him. Started to spin and then pops the rear in.

He always spins to the right. I read in a horse book that you need to block the spin and this normally will block the rear but it means you have to know your horse to see the signs!!!! I always ride with a contact as he is very spooky and if I give him a long rein he spins more. I also always ride forward as if he is working he is not looking at things to spook at. (I know that a lot of people disagree with this through as hacking is meant to be fun and relaxing, but safety is more important to me)

I generally go with, block, leg on, tap (if leg has not sent him on) he has pretty much stopped it now, still does the occassional spin but a lot slower kind of half heart attempt now.

Good luck
 
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