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HANDLING THE REARING HORSE
I rank the rearing horse as the most dangerous of the vices that can face a rider during their career. Give me the buck jumper, shyer, bolter any day as I believe the danger of serious injury is far more acute with the rarer. Riders' are the predominant cause of raring in horses under saddle. Horses rear as an evasion and they evade because of either a lack of riding with justice or because they are the type of horse that always wants to say 'No' rather than be a willing partner. There are a percentage of horses that are just plain naughty. THE CAUSES
So let's examine them one by one: A lack of forwardness and a failure to answer leg is probably the most common cause. It never ceases to amaze me how many people do not have their horses forward. Way in excess of 50% Even in the Dressage ring, so many horses are simply not forward. When I say "forward" I mean that the horse answers immediately without question, leg or whip and doesn't "suck back" as I feel so many horses do. This generally means that it is also a horse that will not say "No" when confronted by a frightening obstacle or creek crossing. During such fights with horses, I find that the ones that rear are definitely the ones that fail to answer leg well enough. Forward also means to be forward in the mind. That comes from the influence of the 'Breaker' and the education process. It also comes from happiness and an enjoyment of the work. That in turn comes from a rider who thinks about the ridden welfare of the horse. I mean the giving of appropriates breaks for a job well done, to not over ride a young horse, to trail ride it, jump it and above all, stay out of the Dressage Arena as much as possible. Forward also means that it is actually ridden forward. I would hate to think about the percentage of people who think that plodding around on a 'green' horse, not taking any chances, is going to protect them from the dire consequences that their brain is imagining. Very early in the training of the young horse, it learns a thing called 'speed rate' and that comes from how the rider rides it. It gets accustomed to certain speeds and is later often governed by what is set in it's mind. The other highly important thing is that the horse does not become dead to leg due to the over use of whips or spurs or a failure to use the whip or spur assertively enough when required. They are two different things. A horse that says 'Yes' to leg on, normally never rears. Frustration and confusing in horses is rife of course but that doesn't mean that all horses rear. It normally comes from the horses that have to do flatwork for a competition rider. Flatwork is probably the main cause of rearing and for me, that is completely understandable. If one stops and has a think about what flatwork means to the horse, it helps to realize what may go through their mind. For a start, flatwork is about going on a journey with no real beginning, no real focus points along the way and definitely with no end in site. This can equal boredom, frustration and thoughts of evasion. Evasion can be represented by any of the following:
Horses are far smarter than some riders' and due to that fact
can be learning all sorts of lessons during a flatwork session. Often though,
the wrong lessons. All sorts of "Learned evasions" can be taken on board
during a workout, especially on an arena when the fertile mind of the horse is
wandering to wanting to be in more enjoyable places. These can range from
dropping the shoulder causing the rider to flex the horse off to achieve a
reasonable course and yet the horse really knows it is winning the evasion
battle. Cutting corners, especially the ones that are further away from the
arena exit. Lugging out of circles and again, especially the one near the
arena exit. Changing leads to suit the preferred direction of travel that the
horse might even be dreaming about, like out of the arena.
"Learned Evasions" can influence the frame of mine of the horse, ignorance, attitude and cunning. It can also escalate a frame of mind to the ultimate evasion, the rear. The more a horse is getting away with little evasions, depending upon the temperament of the horse, it can be enough for it to increase its lack of respect of the rider, thus increasing the chances of escalating various vices. The term "Upwardly mobile mind" in the horse could be my invention as I have never heard it used prior. I see it in a small percentage of horses that have an attitude of "Up", they think it and act it. Even in the paddock, they stand around like sentry guards with necks set on like the "Lama" They usually have "Upside down Necks" I can see them think "Up" and if you get on their case at all, they usually go "UP" Of course, Veterinary problems must always be ruled out before ever undertaking any remedial ridden work on horses. They can't talk and we must make real sure they are not hurting. Often this is the cause. Things such as sore backs, sharp teeth, worms, stifle problems, out in the poll or lower back can do it. PREVENTION
THE GREEN HORSE
The majority of buck jumpers, bolters and
rearing that I meet are
caused by over exposure to flatwork in arena's. Most people think that you can
teach green horses more in an arena than you can out on the trail. Well they are
wrong. Read my lips.
THE VALUE OF TRAIL RIDING Here are some major benefits of work on the Trail
Horses can learn to leg yield many times faster if they are avoiding a log, hole or stump. Horses can learn to neck rein far faster if they are going around a bush and changing direction around another bush, rather than work in an arena, If you need to back a young horse up because you have run into a dead end of prickle bushes, the horse will certainly see the reason why and thank you for it. This means co-operative learning. Horses rarely think of evasion out on the trail, they are happier and their overall consolidation moves faster. They are more nervous but that is actually a plus. Reason? The horse that may have suddenly bucked on an arena is far less likely to even think of such things out on the trail. They are nervous and desperately looking for the leadership of the strong assertive rider which they love and need at that time. As a result, they do not think of vices and evasions. THE WALK Young or 'Green' Horses should never be collected at the walk unless in a lesson situation or a competition. The rest of the time, they should be ridden with a pleasure rein or at least long rein walk as required for the Preliminary Horse. Collecting walks jams horses up and that can lead to rearing. HOW TO CURE THE REARING HORSE "Old Wives Tales" say that you should break a plastic bag of water or eggs over the horses head and it will think it is bleeding. It will then stop raring. I think that belief is a complete fallacy. Fixing a rarer is often not a pretty business, is highly dangerous, requiring a high degree of experience, skill, courage and above all, timing. Horses that continue to rear normally end up being killed at the
abattoirs.
HITTING HORSES OVER THE HEAD I have cured hundreds of horses that rear. I have saved hundreds of lives. If you, the reader, is a little on the "Animal Liberation" side of things, you may frown upon this description. I care about that but because of the extreme dangers that I face to save the lives of such horses', I figure I am more of an "Animal Liberationist" than most. Putting my life on the line for theirs. Two examples appear hereunder.
If a person hits a horse over the head, for any reason at all, the horse will not know why the person did it and head shyness will probably result. The horse will simply think that the rider hit the horse about the head for no reason. If a horse commits a sin, like rearing and the rider hits the horse over the head upon the horse landing back down on the ground, the horse will most likely have forgotten the event prior to the hit over the head and therefore think that the rider is hitting it over the head for no reason at all. Timing is therefore imperative and that is why this is the job of a trained and practiced professional. In short, if I hit a horse across the ears as it is rising upwards, the horse thinks that it has just hit its head on the rolled up newspaper. Conversely, if I wait until the horse has landed back down on the ground, the horse thinks that I have hit it around the head, will not understand the meaning and may become ear or head shy. So, given the split second timing, hitting horses across the head, without injury, mostly shock, results in no negative responses. I have never met an ear shy or otherwise distressed horse after using this negative re-enforcement. The degree of power one uses should be governed by the maturity of the vice. If you have a horse that has been rearing for years, having victories left right and centre and set in it's ways of training humans, the slap has to be increased in strength. For the young horse that has just started to jump off the ground a bit, all that is needed is a swift but soft swipe across the ears with a rolled up newspaper or even an open hand. They are fixed in one or two events. Every single time. I have ridden bad rearers that, should you dismount during the problem time, they will rip the reins out of your hands in blind panic to escape a whipping from ground level. Previous riders' have dismounted and then thrashed the horse which is a total waste of time as the horse has forgotten the crime. You see horses tell us everything if you can read them. So this sort of behavior by a rider will never cure rearing and will certainly compound the psychological profile of the horse in all areas. I can tell you that the rider who jumps off a rearer and whips it from the ground is far more cruel than I am.
A few years ago I rode the worst rearer of my career. A 16.3hh
Thoroughbred horse that had been through many owners. He would rear to the sky,
completely upright, good enough to frighten most riders and to make most believe
that he was going over. That horse was the toughest challenge that I ever faced. I asked him to go through a puddle one
day and he stood and reared about 20 times in a row. In the end, he not only
went through the puddle but he walked home with his head about 300mm off the
ground. He then went on to an eventing career with Mrs. HP (pictured when 19) and his life was
saved.
The weapon of choice should only be a rolled up Newspaper. It doesn't hurt them but gives them enough of a shock to make them think twice about it. They must realize, that if they are naughty enough to put their head up there, they are going to hit it on a newspaper. Can Natural Horsemanship fix a rearer? I doubt it. Can installing equipment fix them. I don't think so. So the key with the rearing horse is to never allow it to happen
in the first place and if it does, nip it in the bud on day one when it is easy peasy.
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What would you
rather do if you were a horse? Think about it! In the flatwork session, given
the fact that the green horse cannot fathom why the hell you are even asking it,
why should a young horse be happy in its work and why wouldn't its mind wander
to green pastures? Why wouldn't that wandering mind move to thoughts of evasion?
I want people to
understand this before reading on. Rearers usually become pet food. Every time I cure a horse
that likes to rear I am happy in the knowledge that I just saved its life.
Another horse, one of the best moving horses in this Country, headed towards the
Sydney Olympics, became impossible to compete. He would eliminate his very good
rider by refusing to enter the Dressage Arena. He jumped on Judges cars as well.
I purchased him for $300 but he had been worth $80,000. Here is a photo of him.
