Rearing youngster please help :0(

[debutante]

Hi,

I havent posted too mich on here but know your a nice bunch of people and i could really do with some help, im getting really down with this, firstly please try not to judge me, i will be honest this is my first youngster had him from a foal but theres a small story to his background he was at another yard about 3 hours drive from me so i didnt get to see him much he lived out with his mum was then weaned and then gelded and was handled but no real training , i got him home last july he has been a complete star and is really well behaved for his age. i could let almost anybody handle him lead him too and from the field.

We go on small adventures down the private lane and around the yard looking at the farmers machinary etc, now the problem arrived from no where really but around 5 weeks ago he started playing up messin with the leadrope trying to chew is etc so i tried to not make too much of a fuss but then it became a problem as when i was leading him he would get so concernered with getting the leadrope then chewing it that he would then just stand still and go about his business of chewing the leadrope so i decided that this needed to stop before it became a habit so he does take me on every now and then trying to get the leadrope but we manage and thats manily in the morning when leading out to the field.

Then the rearing started he started to shake his head which would undo my arm off the leadrop then he turns into to me and rears which as i am small find a little hard to deal with i try my best and kept managing but then he got a little worse one day and got quite a length on the leadrop his legs were a little close for comfort then he turned and did an excited kick out then managed to get away from me this happened the next day i got help from someone a little bigger! the next day as didnt want him thinking he could keep getting away then a few days later armed with hat and gloves and a positive attitude i went to lead him in and he was as good as gold this happened for 2 weeks running almost like leading a dog! the well behaved youngster i knew - the horses in the field we pass cantering along side us and he just kept walking as cool as you like.

Monday just gone i had to have some dental work done so went in the morning turned out etc and asked the yard owner to fetch the horses in she knew the order in which then come in kept it to the usual time / routine etc and i heard he tried it on a few mini rears then since then he has done it everyday!

I need some helpful advice if possible how can i get him out of this behaviour?? dont get me wrong im not under any illusions that having a youngster is easy and they are going to be perfect i know they are not but i dont want this to get out of hand or become a habit

Ps im sorry for the essay! also if you have any questions to get any info i may of missed out please ask if you think it will help you advise me. 

[shoveltrash]

i had a young stallion once that had a propensity for rearing.  i trained him "head lowering"
it was VERY helpful.
but it takes a lot of patience.  and some type of reward system.
here's a pretty good video for it:

Lowering a horses head exercise (natural horsemanship)

youngster can be frustrating i know - good luck!

[Cabruze]

Youngsters are fun aren't they!    This is natural behaviour - playing to assert his power.  He'll try it with his fieldmates too .... and is probably being told by them in  no uncertain terms to behave himself!   

You already have the answer.  Sounds here as if you're doing a really good job! 

the next day as didnt want him thinking he could keep getting away then a few days later armed with hat and gloves and a positive attitude i went to lead him in and he was as good as gold this happened for 2 weeks running almost like leading a dog! the well behaved youngster i knew - the horses in the field we pass cantering along side us and he just kept walking as cool as you like.

The only advice I'd add is - a)Don't get "emotionally" involved in his tantrums.  i.e. don't take it personally.  Just as you say above - positive attitude in a calm manner. 

b) Make infinite patience your norm!!  You'll need it with a baby.  (I've been through all this with a young Luso - he'll be 6 in April and still challenges me from time to time - it's natural!!)

[DollysMum]

Sounds like my boy If one person lets them get away with it, it takes ages to reinstate the boundaries. As Cabruze said, don't get involved. My advice would be to keep safe (wear a hat and gloves), completely ignore him, keep walking yourself and expect him to follow, chances are he will.

The chewing at the lead rope could well be teething however Kai went through a stage of grabbing the rope and pulling it when he didn't want to go out to the field cause it's cold and bare. I have to admit I cheated, and now take a handful of hay with me and offer it to him to keep walking. Keeps his little mind occupied, forces him to pay attention to me and walk politely, and doesn't make me late to work in the morning.

[janehon]

Firstly keep up the good work. As someone has already said youngsters are always trying to assert their power, see if they are big and strong enough to go up in the world - it is natural progression he is working where he fits in society.

A little trick I used to use when working with other peoples youngsters was to find a selection of willing helpers who I knew could be relied upon to reinforce the boundries. The important thing is that you know the helpers will abide by your rules and this can prove tricky! 

I would often find that I'd work with a horse Mon- Sat then the owner would do the job an sun and on Mon they'd be trying it on again. Some were canny and only bothered to test out owner and were good as gold for me!! Anyway the helpers thing was just a way of getting them used to the fact that it didn't matter who was on the end of the leadrope the rules remained the same. Consistancy is the key as you have alredy proved.

[ukica]

If you get a chance, have a look at my blog, i am having this problem with my horse and getting some great advise and my horse hasn't reared for 4 days in a row!  there are some good links there too.

Good luck

[debutante]

Hi, thank-you for the advice, nice to see you think im doing the right things as you tend to start doubting yourself dont you especially when others come up with these weird and wonderful ideas, and i must say when it comes to my horses i tend to do my own thing and not be easily led by others at the yard or even in the horseworld and maybe some of there more traditional methods,i know they may just be trying to help but some traditional methods can hinder more in the long run in my opinion.

many understand its his age some have labeled him naughty which really rubs me up the wrong way and i can honestly in an un biased way not fault him in other ways for his age he has been a star and tends to take everything in his stride except the hosepipe which we are going to work on in warmer weather hehe!

Ukica - could you give me a link to your blog?

Dollys mum , i wish i could keep walking but im the first to admit i did or have lost my nerve a little with the leading him back in from the field due to the fact his legs hooves have been very close to my head in many of the rears and bless him one when he got loose he ran off then came running back like 'mum' mum'' what do i do now?!
once he has reared he kind of circles so then we end up facing the way we have come from which then i dread as we have to turn around and he goes up again.

im going to watch the video clip from shovel trash and see what i can take from that.

Oh and on the upside he was good coming in today - will see what tommorow brings :0)

any more advice keep it coming im all ears 

[DollysMum]

Have you tried telling him off? Getting really big and really cross and noisy? Sending him back out of your space seriously quickly? Kai is generally very polite and if he's going to rear (fingers crossed he's done with that phase, he's not reared since last summer), does it away from me but the one time he reared towards me I went absolutely ballistic, yelling, rope waving and chasing him. He's not done it since

[ukica]

http://www.enlightenedequitation.com/ee/boards/index.php/topic,38870.0.html

Hope you find it useful...

[debutante]

i replied to dollys mum before and now my reply has gone missing :0(

[debutante]

http://www.enlightenedequitation.com/ee/boards/index.php/topic,38870.0.html

Hope you find it useful...

Thank-you but for some reason it wont let me look at it i will try again in a bit but it keeps saying an error has occured :0(

[winnieandben]

Thank-you but for some reason it wont let me look at it i will try again in a bit but it keeps saying an error has occured :0(

You need to be a full society member to get the blogs.

[shoveltrash]

for general leading problems, i like to use a rope halter (the ones with knots).  it's a NH tool, one that worked well for me with my stallion when he young and 'naughty.'  coupled with a heavy lead rope, you can use it to apply pressure to get him back OUT of your space.  for safety you really need to have your horse respect your space.
i came back & read, and realized that what you have going on might require more than i advised - sorry!
do you have access to a groundwork/NH trainer?  it's so hard to *advise* online.

oh and the blogs and wonderful .  i highly recommend full membership


edited to add: Dollysmum has it right btw, it was John Lyons who said "make them for for their life for 3 seconds, then carry on as if nothing happened" (note, this is NOT reason for cruelty )

[ukica]

http://www.naturalhorsesupply.com/training.shtml

Look at ground manners and have a look at you tube, Klaus Hempfling and stallions as recommended to me also.

[ChrissieW]

Excellent advice, I'd add if its not already been said, get a much longer lead rope or long line, so that if he does rear, he does it out of your space and you can just ignore it, then carry on as normal the minute his feet touch the ground.     Personally if it was me and he was getting his feet in my space and in particular near my head, I don't care how young he is, he would get a pretty scary person on the end of that lead rope - not emotional, just scary and then carry on as normal the minute he moves away from your space.    My older mare reared in hand as a 4 year old and its not pleasant and non negotiable as far as I am concerned.

He's a baby, doing what babys like to do, seeing how far he can assert his authority.     Its hilarious watching my yearling trying to do that with my very dominant mare in the field, the mare puts her in her place in no uncertain terms and she's taught me exactly how to handle my filly.    I had the strops and rearing and front leg waving the first week or so I had her, but I decided that I wouldn't put up with that behaviour from my older horse, so I wasn't going to put up with it from a baby, even though I was worried at that stage about ruining her/frightening her etc etc.

I got assertive in a non emotional way, I didn't have to touch her, I just got a bit big and a bit scary once or twice - she shot to the end of the line, but immediately came back to me in a very "I'm sorry" pose and we built from there and with in days she was good as gold and has pretty much continued that way, the odd stop and plant, but she knows that body slamming and any personal space evasion of the pushy kind is absolutely NOT on the table for negotiation.    She's now a much more confident and happier little filly because of it.

Good luck.