My shoer was here last evening. He is also a
trainer. I put the question to him, about what to do if and when a
young horse rears. He thought about it a minute and said, honestly, that
he has almost never has that happen, as the first thing he teaches a young horse
is to, as he puts it "break at the poll and especially at ribcage". I think this
is similiar to what Kat S. described, in that if you can bend or disengague the
horse, they don't have those muscles tensed, and are not balanced to
rear.....
Frankly, I cannot see riding along carrying a water
balloon or egg waiting for the horse to rear. Although I often ride with
one hand on the reins, or no reins...with a horse that might rear, I definately
want both hands on the reins, so that,with leg and weight, I can bend them if
they try....
While I am a proponent of swift and significant
discipline....I also want to state that everything I have ever read about horses
all my life claims that the very top of the poll is extremely sentitive and you
NEVER hit a horse there with anything solid...unless you want a dead
horse. What do the vets say about this?
I think the egg and water balloon is very
clever. That is the whole reason I like to read these postings , for
these clever ideas. Not for new tips on abuse. Wooden sticks and
bloody knotson heads makes for big problems in other areas.
