Years ago a cowboy trainer told me to be prepared for the rearing refusal and smack the horse in the poll with a raw egg. The raw egg rolls down the horses face and they think they have bumped their head and are wounded. Then they are allegedly not going to want to rear again. I tried it once - it was messy, but the horse did seem to quit that negative behaviour. So maybe it does work?
Susan Black
Santa Rosa, Ca
Mike Sherrell <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I had a very experienced trainer recommend being ready for the rear and smacking the horse on the poll when it starts up -- use something like a crop, I guess. Never done it myself, but it sounds right.
Something I did do, though, was to be ready for it and just go forwards and down on the horse's neck quickly and wrap arms around the neck -- this throws the balance forward so you stay on safely, the horse doesn't tip over backwards, and when the horse falls back down on its forefeet it looks around and realizes it didn't achieve anything.
-----Original Message----- From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of terre Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 11:43 AM To:
sue_jamaica@xxxxxxxxx; ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] rearing
>then finally she convinced me to give up,by half-rearing, and spinning >around while snorting. I was= > more frustrated than scared,we turned back she walked fast but still > jumped at things. What do I do? Or what should I have done?
If you find you cannot 'force' her past the points where she begins fighting you, and the situation with the rearing is becoming dangerous, here is another alternative you might consider: A friend of mine had a horse who would quit and refuse to move--if you pushed it he would rear or back up to the point of falling off the trail. She eventually solved the problem like this: ask once or twice politely but firmly. If the horse won't go forward (or starts to rear), get off, tie it short to a tree or something (too short to graze or step over the rope) and give it an hour or so to think about it (bring a book and
maybe a beer!). Get on again, ask again, and if she doesn't go, tie again. The message is "you go where I want, or you don't go at all". They learn pretty quickly, and without the fight--rearing is a very dangerous form of resistance. The other posters are right; she can't be permitted to get away with this, or it will get progressively worse and possibly more dangerous.
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