At 19:56:26 on 15.02.10, Becky_doo wrote:
Unfortunately my 4 year old warmblood, despite being my life, pride and joy has a tendency to rear when he has had enough of whatever technique we are trying to learn and makes his point nicely by rearing and napping, usually in one corner of the school. Using a crop on him tends to take his mind off this and his back end comes up just as high- however i prefer this to the rearing. He is lovely in all other aspects, and i ride him through the rearing to make sure I have the last word but no longer want to fear he may rear in a jumping ring or when schooling. Teeth, back and tack are fine he is what I feel a typical 4 year old with a intelligent mind. He is a pleasure to handle and hack his problems tend to be just in the school. I am also confident I am not 'over doing it' with the exercises we are learning. He just likes to let me know when he has had enough. Is it possible I am not doing things that challenging enough for him- even though we vary our schooling, jumping and general routine. He has potential to be a fab show jumper I just would like to sit and know we are doing what I want today and finish when I say enough is enough... Thanks all

At 13:25:18 on 16.02.10, emily1308 wrote:
Hi, my horse was also a rearer, he used to do it if there was something that he didnt like the look of, and then after while if he felt like it because he could! I rectified this problem by learning and teaching him Hind quater yeild. this is just asking the back legs to cross over, yeilding away from pressure. When a horse rears, back legs are usually apart, however if you yeild as you feel him go up, he will have to come down as when the back legs cross over it will effectively bring him off balance. I also use this exercise to build in brakes and encourage softness. I also think it would be a good idea to work on the placement of his feet (by riding HQ Yeild, forehand yeild etc) because in a herd environment the lead horse will be able to move the other horses feet around and is in control of where the feet of the herd are going. As you feel him thinking about rearing, change his mind by moving the position of his feet around. Become 'lead mare' and give his mind direction. I would also look into Parelli Horseanality - as this will help you target training to his needs. You can still do eveything you want to do as normal, it would just keep his interest, in the same way that teachers at school have to use different methods to keep childrens attention. (hopefully preventing the rear) Just my ideas, hope it helps, Emily

At 16:10:45 on 16.02.10, Becky_doo wrote:
Very kind of you thanks!

At 22:34:18 on 20.02.10, angelj wrote:
My anglo arab mare reared years ago i do the one rein stops constantly if i feel her getting tense and it does take her off the arenalin. also have a 4.5yr old dutch warm blood but find he needs to do something then think things out. and i always finish him on what he knows the best even if it is a halt. do some circles and spiral them in and out leg yielding out to the large 20m circle. it is very hard for young horses to bring their legs under them, so do some then move on to something else and also back him up as that gives you the more dominant stance.

At 12:36:52 on 22.02.10, Natasha wrote:
My pony use to rear and still does accasionly. Id say when you feel him about to rear turn him in a small circle, keep doing this until he gets bored and gives up. Hope it works

At 13:39:20 on 24.02.10, Flicka wrote:
I wish troton had been around when Millie used to rear-this advice is so much better than what I was given at the time-unfortunately I'm ashamed to admit that I did follow some of it through although I did stop short of pulling her over backwards which is what a few people suggested!! It did however send me on a quest for more 'enlightened' training. By the way, how long does he school for before he rears? Every time he rears it becomes engrained. Why not go in for a short session, do a few things really well, hop of and give him lots of praise. Vary your times but try and finish without rearing. Then it has been you who's called the shots. Maybe you are asking too much of him and he is getting stressed. The school is physically and mentally difficult. Doing ten minutes of work that remains relaxed is much more beneficial than repeating something over and over and having a fight at the end. I also do a little ridden and then do some free work and mix things up a bit. Just an idea-it's worked for me.

At 18:54:09 on 28.02.10, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
Join up, this is my answer to pretty much everything so people with probably be sick of reading my posts but it works wonders. Also have some lunging lessons and when you ride on your own try and see when he will rear and turn him in a tiny circle so he can't rear. Make not rearing the easier and funner option. Think of him as a toddler and he is throwing a tantrum so you need to make it more exciting to co-operate. You need to make it that if he does something he will get something nice. Try to keep schooling sessions short and sweet so he doesn't get bored and if he has been good take him for a short hack so he thinks if he is good he gets something he likes and increase the time schooling gradually. Also remember not to school more than 4 times a week or it will seem like a chore to him and try and hack at least twice a week. Hope this helps.

At 18:58:25 on 28.02.10, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
Oh also carry an egg/water... I know it sounds silly but if he rears,splash between the ears (with a generous amount of water or crack the egg between his ears) she will think he is bleeding which will make him think rearing is dangerous. This should make him stop (only do this if nothing else works as egg takes a while to get out and water gets everywhere haha)

At 19:12:12 on 28.02.10, Flicka wrote:
Have to disagree with you on the egg/water idea-that's one of the things I'm ashamed to say I tried and it certainly didn't work just gave her even less reason to trust me and certainly didn't address the reason why she was doing it!!

At 23:00:24 on 05.03.10, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
To flicka the egg/water idea worked for me on a pony i used to ride a long time ago and why are you ashamed to have tried it? It does the horse no harm and if it works for the specific horse then i think it is fine :)