Rearing youngster please help :0(

[shoveltrash]

well said Chrissie

[ChrissieW]

Thanks Trish - it was you who helped me remember I knew that at the time with Daisy! 

Another point, is something I've always read and been told, is do not under any circumstances pull down on him when he rears, it just makes them go up more.     I've always found the most effective thing with my older mare when she used to do it, was to wiggle the line at her as she went up, like a wave.    It also as the effect usually of keeping them out of your head space.

[debutante]

Hi thank-you for the further advice, im trying to remember what i needed to write now!

im using a rope halter at the mo i do have a dually aswell but i swapped from that to my rope halter.

he was good again tonight so thats good news, and on turing out with the trying to chew the rope situation for the last 3 days ive been ignoring that and walking on he soon stops chomping the rope and catches up with me walking nice and forward
so with that im going to try the ignoring him rearing up advice, make myself big and scarey then walk on see what he does.


im going to follow the links and the you tube clips now, thank-you everyone its been nice reading your advice as youve helped me realise im not so much of an idiot that a think and that what i was doing and thinking wasnt so far off track , sometimes being at a yard with more traditional people can be a little isolating on matters like this :(

ps yes i really need to get full membership along with being able to afford to get emma bailey back out to us to have lessons and learn the art of clicker training but will do as soon as finances allow it. 

[ChrissieW]

  Sounds like the behaviour is dying out, which means you must be doing something right, so have faith in yourself.

youve helped me realise im not so much of an idiot that a think and that what i was doing and thinking wasnt so far off track , sometimes being at a yard with more traditional people can be a little isolating on matters like this :(

What you mean you haven't sucumbed to the normal traditional "stick it in a chifney" advice

[debutante]

hopefully will just keep my whits about me and see how it goes thank-you 

Kind of, just the whole ''well i heard you can crack and egg over there poll'' kind of advice oh and i said sometimes if he gets the leadrope in his mouth i have to get it out which is kind of giving him attention for it so that i could then lead him off balance to get him waling on they said well just give him a yank with it!! knowing that he gets the metal clip bit in his mouth!! and then someone about some kind of contraption over his head! good job i dont take on board these things!

[sandpiper]

It's good to hear that his behaviour is improving, without you having to resort to the 'traditional' methods!!  Another method I heard was to pull them over backwards and they will 'never do it again' ... hmmmmm, you maybe might break their backs into the bargain  .

I had a youngster who was a rearer, he'd do it under saddle as well as inhand, but he did grow out of it eventually.  I think the key is to be assertive enough so they respect you, but once the situation has passed to carry on as if nothing has happened.  The trouble with many people is that they get angry and stay angry with the horse for some time, who has forgotten what happened after a few seconds!

I'll never forget the sight of a pony who had thrown his rider on a hack and run back to the yard, where he was put in his stable.  His young owner arrived some time later, went into the stable and thrashed the living daylights out of the pony who had absolutely no idea why he was being punished ..

[ChrissieW]

Yep Sandpiper, I've come across that kind of awful behaviour too in my past - in fact my nieces came home from PC camp with stories of being told they all had to stay away from the stables, whilst one wayward pony was "dealt" with! 

My sister and I were both appalled, but as my youngest niece is in her last year of PC and is a very strong willed girl who would no way on earth let that type of behaviour happen to her pony, my sister is happy to let her carry on and take the good (of which there is a lot) out of the PC experience and leave the rest.    Maybe we shouldn't have that view, but you can't unfortunately fight every battle in this world.

Luckily both girls know that this type of behaviour is not acceptable, hence why they told us, but even so in this day and age, its awful that it happens.

[debutante]

Hooorraaayyy! another good day went on my own got them all in one at a time, Spirit was last as usual he dosent bother at being left and he had horses in the field next door, we walked in (i know its bad but i was ready for something to go wrong  ) then he was walking fine like the well behaved boy i know, then from out the blue the mare in the field we were walking past went from 0 - 60 in no time and he usually doesnt care but it startled him he pranced a little bit so i was careful in how we set of again i didnt want it to seem as though he had done something wrong , but then i was ready for him to be a bit 'giddy' and jog in as he had the perfect excuse to play up but no we just strolled in so i was really happy with him 

[debutante]

Still going really good except the day after the last post when i went to fetch them in spirit had found his way into the field next door with some other ladies! but he was really good to fetch in and still being good, today we did some loading practice into a friends trailer he was great went and stood on the ramp for a bit then had a little snack of haylage inside then strolled of the front unload ramp like hes been doing it all his life and infact he has been in a 3.5 box twice but never in a trailer so im really pleased 

[ChrissieW]

Brilliant news, well done 

[Jane C]

You have been give loads of good advice already, and it sounds like things are greatly improved.  You could consider introducing clicker training too - so that you reinforce his good leading behaviour.  By consistently rewarding him when he walks nicely you will not only help to get that behaviour more often, he is also more likely to be focused on you and less likely to be distracted by other things.  I find it is a really useful tool when they are upset by something to ask for a behaviour that is really easy - like targetting my fist, and I can get them refocussed on me and not worrying about what ever it was.  Long ropes are a definite plus. 

Also, he could just be going through a chewy stage due to teething - so you could always provide him with something that you are happy for him to chew like a rubber ring you get for dogs which he will be able to learn that it is ok to chew that and distinguish it from other things which you can set boundaries on of it not being ok to chew.

Sounds like you are doing great so enjoy him - they grow up so fast

[jenb]

Gazdag went through a rearing phase too.  I must admit, I never shouted at him for it.  Growled a few times, yes, but certainly never went ballistic, that would have frightened him to death and induced more bad behaviour.  Gazdag thinks his world is ending if he ever does get a verbal b0llocking, lol!

He didn't come at me or be aggressive or anything, he would just go up vertical, box, and then come down and look at me as if to say "Well!  Well!  Now what are you going to do, I just reared!!!"  It was all for effect, and was part of his "What happens if I do this?" phase of growing up and learning about the world.  I just waited for him to get down and then walked on, briskly and business-like.  I wanted him to learn that nothing at all happens, it is a wasted effort and you may as well not bother.  Obviously hat, gloves and long line are important!  He sometimes did it during lunging sessions, he was a devil on the lunge for a while, but I would just persist and wait for him to give me a few calm circles before I put him away.  I think I would have had to take a more aggressive approach if he was rearing at me though.

I have found with my horse, being like a naughty little schoolboy sometimes, that ignoring his bad behaviour and attempts at attention-seeking is more effective than a reprimand.  Then when he's good, I can praise him, and he learns that to get attention he must do the good behaviour and not the bad.  We have all seen those horses who seem to enjoy being "told off", because it's the only sort of attention they know how to earn!