# Rearing Horse Whilst Lungeing



## SmoothTrails (Oct 1, 2009)

I'm bumping this for you. I have no idea what to do about most of the problems, but I would try to catch her in the act or move to another barn. Good luck. Maybe some of the more experienced people can give ou good advice on the lunging. I would do what you are doing adn use a whip, but there may be better advice out there.


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## Scoutrider (Jun 4, 2009)

*1) What do I do about his rearing? It is a total lack of respect and it could become a dangerous habit. Would lungeing with a whip be more effective?*

I think lunging with a whip or NH stick would be helpful in dealing with the rearing. When he pops up (or even starts acting like he'd rather do something other than go forward), raise the hand holding the line high and "point" in the direction that you want him to go, and spin the whip toward his shoulder to drive his front end away while it's up. When he comes down, keep twirling the whip behind his withers to drive him onto his circle. I'd ignore the fact that it _is_ a rear, and otherwise treat it like any other evasion of an aid: keep asking correctly until he gives the right answer. To me, if he feels like evading up, more power to him, as long as he's doing it at the other end of the rope. It's no different than the horse who won't circle, or faces up instead of going forward. The whip lets you get in and cue without getting close enough to be in danger. 

*2) What should I do about this lady? Should I catch her in the act and then report it to the lady who owns the property?*

I'd just keep my eyes open. There's not much you can do without concrete proof of what is happening. Maybe you could use the spy-movie trick and stick a piece of tape on the gate latch of his paddock and stall while he's in there, and if it's come loose you know it's tampered with (jk :lol. Seriously, maybe ask the BO if she's seen anything out of the ordinary. Someone else can probably field this one better than me... I don't have a lot of experience dealing with boarding barn drama.

*3)And his fear of being tieing up, I believe it stems from her! How should I teach him to tie properly?*

I personally like the Blocker tie rings, but I know they're not for everyone, and I may get plasted for suggesting it. Clinton Anderson did a really good demo on his tv show on how and why the rig helps with green and problem tie-ers.

*4) What are some techniques I could use if he rears and I don't have a lunge whip?*

Keep the tail of your line in your rump-side hand, ready to drive the front end away, and then the back end forward, just like the whip. Not ideal, but if you're in a bind it can do the same job. If you anticipate needing to use the rope a lot, I advise practicing some first. There is some potential to get tangled up. 

Hope that was helpful to you. Good luck!


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## Marecare (Jan 1, 2009)

Horses rear to defend themselves,to make a comment about their treatment,out of total excitement,and to release the pressure on them.

Lower the pressure that you are putting on the horse and SLOW DOWN with your expectations.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Gidji said:


> *1) What do I do about his rearing? It is a total lack of respect and it could become a dangerous habit. Would lungeing with a whip be more effective?*
> *2) What should I do about this lady? Should I catch her in the act and then report it to the lady who owns the property?*
> *3)And his fear of being tieing up, I believe it stems from her! How should I teach him to tie properly?*
> *4) What are some techniques I could use if he rears and I don't have a lunge whip?*


You can do 2 things with rearing: one and most important to just keep his feet moving. Also if you feel he's about to rear you may bend him or make him busy with some other stuff he knows how to do. I do carry whip when I do lunging. I don't use it though on horse just the position of it tells her how fast to go. Also my qh had very bad habit of running into you intentionally, letting her run into the whip couple times solved the problem.

As for lady, getting video cameras is expensive. I'd suggest you or your friend would show up unexpectadly (may be even park the car away and walk on the property). Have your digital camera (or cell phone) ready, so if you see that person touching the horse in any way - make a shot. Then report to the BO with the full story (including horse started to behave strangely, warnings ignored by that cleaning person, etc.). Frankly BO ALREADY should take care of running kids. Any respected barn in my area is pretty strict about the rules. 

If the horse rears you can do pretty much nothing whether you have a whip or you don't. You either have to catch right BEFORE it happens or wait till it'll be back on all 4. Just make sure you stand by its side with enough distance, so you wouldn't be hurt in any way. From there try to find the reason for rearing. Marecare already brought up all reasons horse would rear. 

Good luck!


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## G and K's Mom (Jan 11, 2008)

How old is this horse?


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

Marecare said:


> Horses rear to defend themselves,to make a comment about their treatment,out of total excitement,and to release the pressure on them.
> 
> Lower the pressure that you are putting on the horse and SLOW DOWN with your expectations.


 
I agree. If you want him to go forward and he rears, making him back up is just confusing him. Think about why he would rear. Maybe take a step toward his hindquarters to encourage him to move forward. Make sure you aren't moving to quickly and don't punish your horse for something unless you understand why he's doing it. 

I won't comment on the other issue because I think it's unlikely the cuse of your problems.


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## Gidji (Dec 19, 2008)

G and K's Mom said:


> How old is this horse?


 He is 1 year and 4 months.

Now I know I sound paranoid, but Ricky has gone from being a perfect lunger to rearing and not respecting space. I was also teaching him to tie but I caught this lady with him tied up one day. Apparently it was so she could clean up the paddock but she doesn't do that with any of the other horses.

The only people who actually touch this horse are Lauren, my trainer and I. Ricky used to lunge perfect (for a baby), and now he rears and misbehaves. Why now? Why should there suddenly be a change in his behaviour? Even whilst leading he is figetdy.

And just yesterday, I caught the cleaning lady's kids driving the quad bike into Ricky's paddock and Ricky was running away from it. That's not the horse I know. Ricky has been around quad bikes since he was born and he was never afraid of them. I suspect the children have been chasing him around on it, and I've seen them chasing around other people's horses on the quad.

Its a good thing we're getting horse fences put up on our property. I can't wait til he's gone from there.


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## lacyloo (Jul 1, 2008)

Anyway you can get a video of someone lunging him?


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## Gidji (Dec 19, 2008)

I will try to get one this afternoon. Would a video of how I normally lunge him without a whip be best? Or with a whip?


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## lacyloo (Jul 1, 2008)

Whichever way you normally do it.


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## StormyBlues (Dec 31, 2008)

Lunging is boring and monotonus for horses. He could be trying to tell you something. Lunging just helps horses think of things that they can do to get out of work. (This is of course, unless you are making him ligitamently work underneath himself and think, which can only happen if the horses is in side reins, holding a light contact as a person would in a saddle, which as your horse is only a yearling, I suspect he is not working undersaddle.)

Try playing some games with him, try joining up with him. Mix it up a little.


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## aynelson (Jun 13, 2009)

The first thing you need to do is calm down. Young horses try things. Your job is to reinforce their decisions in ways that mold the behavior you want. If you are upset, they sense that and pretty soon you have a real problem. Young horses may understand something perfectly one day and then "try" something the next day. My 3 year old just went through a phase where he all of the sudden thought it would be a good idea to turn and face me on the lunge line. I just chased him on. It amazed me that he tried it a couple of times before giving it up. In his mind, he was just trying out an idea. You just need to be ready, patient, and either positively or negatively reinforce. I know, it sounds really simple. But, take a breath. You want the experience to ultimately be fun - for both of you!

As far as rearing, you need to get him to move forward. The Monty Roberts Join Up techniques have always helped me. You can check out their website for info. Also, lunging is an art - it is hard to explain what to do. 

I am sorry your barn sounds like a nightmare. But, just asking someone in a frank, calm, polite, "are you working my horse when I am not around?" way sounds like a good start. Good luck - let us know how it goes!


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

Babies can and will go through growth spurts, of not only body, but mind as well...He may just be going through some of the chaotic growth stuff at this point, and YES that can make a young horse who seemingly understands a concept one day, turn into a fiend who doesn't seem to want to do it at all. 

At just over a year, I wouldn't be so focused on longing in the first place, unless you are using a 25 ft lead on him; even then, the strain of going in a smallish circle for a prolonged period is going to tire him out, and possibly make him sore, even if you don't 'see' the soreness. I would back off on longing, and focus on tying, leading, and other ground work (desensitization to various tools, objects, etc). Even off lead round pen work in a large round pen will be much less strain on his joints, so if you have one, I would use it. 

I know that hasn't been the most helpful, but unless you are working on a really long lead, I just wouldn't longe a baby every time you are out with him; He knows how to do it, so when he is older, you will easily be able to pick it up again.


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