What Should You Really Do If A Horse Rears?

you got it klu!

Just to clarify, Lisa - if you catch 'em before they go up, that’s the best, but spin 'em when they hit the ground again if you don’t! They will put 2 and 2 together quick enough

Me, I just hang on for dear life and pray when they are in the air

When my horse reared, he was not nose up in the air. THhs, I felt comfortable pulling his head to my knee because that made him go back down. Then I added the inside leg kick kick kick as a punishment.

I think the running martingale helped lots, because it gave me downward leverage at the same time as I was pulling his head around to my let knee.

It’s been 6 weeks or so since the cowboys were here, about 4 weeks since he last reared, and I am now working with a standing martingale. Can’t do the hunters with the running martingale. I will use the running martingale if we go out on the trails, or when we try the beach again.

like the rider had it under control.

Based on your description - she knew full well how to handle the situation. You gotta have some skill to be able to stay on and crack a rearer over the head.

My approach is to try and prevent the rear IF you think it’s coming by keeping their hind feet moving. Or get OFF. LOL!

I disagree about the draw reins suggestion given the rider was jumping. Also draw reins can incite a horse to rear if not used correctly.

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i read a book by a british, english version of monty roberts, though i forget his name… he said that usually rearing is a pain/fear response and stressed not to punish it 'til you know that’s not the cause. then he says you should smack your horse’s belly, since that’s his most vulnerable spot when he rears. it teaches the horse that when he’s trying to assert dominance over you he’s not going to be successful. accordign to this guy, you can do it from the saddle, and it prevents the horse from associating pain with the rider. i would think it would be okay from the ground, but more difficult from the saddle. anyway, never tried it, it’s just another idea.

Two words: “Goodbye, Trigger!”

“Get another horse.”

Pull the head one way or the other, go forward to a phone and call someone to take the beast away. It costs just as much to keep a good horse as it does to keep a puke. I wouldn’t ride or let anyone ride a confirmed rearer. That’s basically what happened to Brian Jones and look what happened to him.

Betsy

I didn’t thing the posters were implying that, either… It was just something CdnRider posted that got me thinking… oops, that hurt…

Do you, perchance, happen to train with Art Coomes?

I would advise against using draw reins unless you are incredibly competent and even then I would say not to. If the horse has draw reins on and does try to rear they will lose their balance very easily and flip…
I have been fortunate enough to not have a horse who really rears(like what I beleive Jair was talking about, not just come up halfway)…I have always been taught to send them forward but I think that that is not always practical, sounds like this girl handled it about as well as anyone else would have. If I were in her position i would not hesistate to pop the horse on the poll with the whip.
Rearing is one of the most dnagerous habits in my opinion. I have also heard the water balloon trick(but you also must be very skilled)…of course this is assuming it is not a pain, tack, rider problem

“There are times when you can trust a horse, time when you can’t, and times when you have to.”

agree with DMK it is a refusal to go forward .Do not use draw reins serious injury if horse flips over on you!The leg spin works but you have to be quick as rabbit! Have had several sent to me because of this when I broke young horses, the egg or a baggie with jello works too but again you have to be quick .My personal feeling is that once a horse has mastered this very bad habit you must be quite a horse man to break the habit.I was successful with some but one I had one that was so bad about it that after three weeks I sent him back to his owner because I literally felt if I got hurt badly I could’ve been crippled .So be warned unless you are very compitent do not attempt to train this out alone!

Va-I have also seen that done by a very experienced rider. The mare had gotten very aggressive(like she’d attack people because another trainer thought he could work her into submission). She would bolt, rear, etc. The rider took her on a hill, she reared, he flipped her. She never did it again. I would use this method only as the absolute last resort and you wouldn’t see me doing it

“There are times when you can trust a horse, time when you can’t, and times when you have to.”

I have a 17.1 hand mare that will sometimes rear when being led. How on earth do I reach her poll with an egg or whip at this point?

To everyone who said a horse can’t go forward and rear…I know of one who can!

A contesting horse at my old stables would rear and walk or hop forward on her hind legs. She was an Arab/Appaloosa cross and was crazy! They finally got rid of her after she fell on the rider for the third time and the saddle horn (western saddle) broke ribs.

VTRider-I’m not saying that you did that…sorry for the miscommunication. I was just saying that a little less inexperienced person could be told to spin a horse around, but they may not have the timing right and the result would be a fall. I guess what I was saying in my last post was “What if” a person were to spin in mid-rear. Sorry for the confusion!

There are pros and cons to most things people have suggested, but a lot of it comes down to knowing the horse you are on, and being good at reading the situation. The first and foremost thing to do is KNOW that you must get the horse’s feet moving. Rearing is usually just a really nasty way of saying “I WON’T GO FORWARD”, but it can be “I’m really, really scared…”

With that in mind, my first plan of attack is to take the decision out of the horse’s hands (or feet as the case may be!). If a horse starts to rear, I whip his head around to my knee and move his hind end off with my leg (kindly or with great vigor, depending on how entrenched and nasty the rear behavior might be). This serves two purposes: First, he is moving his feet and it is MY idea; second, a horse with his head to your knee can’t rear. We circle a few times like this, then I ask for FORWARD again. If the rear repeats, we repeat circling behavior with more vigor, for lack of a better word, and so on until FORWARD is achieved.

Eventually the horse will get tired of staggering around in a circle and decide that forward is easier than rearing or circling. And I won’t hesitate to use lots of voice and stick along with my leg if he insists on repeating the behavior. Rearing is nasty stuff and needs an appropriate response! And of course when they do go forward, that is no time to get picky about what speed or frame - reward forward even if it is the most pissed of spine jarring trot you have ever sat on.

After you know the horse, you can generally catch the rear before they even commit to it which is safer for all concerned.

If you REALLY know your horse, you might know he is the kind that will tolerate being whacked between the ears, and decide that a whacking is not worth the pleasure of a rear. I don’t particularly object to the hitting between the ears - I am no fan of rearing, and if it works on a particular horse, then more power to the person. What I am most concerned with is taking a willful horse with a bad behavior and turning him into a scared, defensive horse who flips over on said rider. That’s where the “know your horse” part comes in real handy.

When they are rearing, you do want to try to not overbalance them, hence the more forward seat with a following hand. That is just good riding and a strong dose of self-preservation!

I had a chronic rearer, and my trainer recommended hitting him on the poll with the crop. That worked…for a while. He eventually figured out how to rear and twist his head so that it was difficult to smack him…and then he’d buck. So it may work once or twice, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a long term fix. In this particular situation, the trainer never helped me fix the problem and I subsequently left her (also after finding out the horse had navicular problems which I had suspected but was convinced by my trainer that I was imagining things…LONG STORY!). I have since heard that the circling mentioned by everyone is an effective way of dealing with a rearer. Fortunately, I have not had to deal with that problem again!

I started reading this topic and was all set to reply but as I read through it, it dawned on me that there are some really good posters here on the COTH BB. While some mention ruling out pain, etc. first…others offer some great (tried and true) experiences in their advice. It is a well rounded “conversation” as most serious topics are. I really don’t have anything I can add except that you guys are a great “think tank” and we are lucky to have such a helpful, intelligent, experienced group of “advisors” to go to for brain picking! GOOD JOB, EVERYONE!!!
COTH BB RULES

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I hate rearers, I’ve only been on one once, and I hope to never encounter one again, it gets quite frustrating.

I have a question…VTRider said that when she felt him go to rear she would dig her left spur in and pull him in a tight circle. I agree that this would work. Let’s say though you aren’t expecting a rear and the horse does rear. You go to pull him in a tight circle, while jabbing him in the ribs. Would this not cause him to fall over and possible seriously injurying the rider??

I only ask because I am thinking of movies where they make the horses fall down. The horse appears to do a half-hearted rear and the rider pulls the horses head and down go the horse and rider.

but to my knowledge they need to have both hind feet planted (no moving) in order to lift their two front feet off the ground (aka rear)

IOW they can’t rear WHILE going forward.

See the difference?