# Legacy rearing



## drafts4ever (Sep 1, 2009)

***Feel free to skip this part. I've bolded a summary description below***
Between January and now she's come so far with this! I have no videos of her learning in January but she's come a long way with her cue. 
I used to have to pull her up and hold her there. After her front feet left the ground she knew what was expected of her it was just getting up there when she had been so used to being reprimanded for doing that previously. It was retraining her and keeping the knowledge of when it's ok and when it's not. She was a confused horsey at first. 
Once she realized that she was being asked for it she began to find it more fun but getting up on the ground she was sticky about. She'd come up just a little and then go back down. I stuck with that and made it solid. 
In June we had a photo shoot on the beach where she surprised me by coming straight up and standing there while a couple photographers ran around her. She even pivoted slightly towards the photographer on her left. Unfortunately the sand started to slide out from under her feet so she had a bumpy landing and I slid off landing on my feet and giving her a giant hug. 
*We've been working on lighter cues, bringing her up with just a slight hand movement and mostly leg along with her cue work "lift". Now she's come to the point where she knows what's expected from her set up. I set her up by keeping contact, saying "ready" and sitting deep, move my hands forward, squeeze and say "lift". 90% of the time she comes right up. If not, we back up three steps and try again after setting up. She's a smart girl and won't come up if she feels off balance. Usually three steps forward or backwards puts us on more even ground for a good lift. 
Recently though she's decided to walk out of it early instead of holding so we're working on staying up like she used to. All around though with her training including her tricks I'm very proud of her. She still has a ways to go but she's getting there! She's an amazing horse. *


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## amp23 (Jan 6, 2011)

That's awesome  congrats on getting further with her training and her doing so well!


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## RedTree (Jan 20, 2010)

thats awesome


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I wondered how you did that. YOur old avatar picture was just scary, with her so vertical. But I am a timid soul.


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## Horsesdontlie (Mar 11, 2011)

I have seen so many people who just jerk up and kick and the horse, more often then naught has too much backwards momentum and throws their head back. It scares me seeing those people that do that, just asking for the flip.

Yet you seem to have taught forward momentum and subtle cues that have nothing to do with head tossing or pulling back on the bit. Bonus points to you. Looks pretty much to be the same way my boy is asked to rear.


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

I'm glad other people commented so I could read through, you nearly gave me a heart attack!!

Can someone explain (not having a dig!) why you would teach a horse to rear?? Thanks!


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## Horsesdontlie (Mar 11, 2011)

For myself, my horse had a rearing problem before I taught it to him. He was dangerous, throwing himself up into the air, grabbing the bit and fighting. After he threw himself over backwards, almost landing on me, I had two options. First was retire him permanently or the other was try to teach him to balance himself. (All other options had been tried and failed to get him to stop rearing)

So I taught him to rear by collecting his weight onto his hindquarters and holding it. I taught him to not explode off his hindquarters or throw himself anywhere. He learned to keep his hind legs underneath him and keep his balance.

He has not flipped on me since, neither has he come close. After I taught it to him, it was something that I made him do and it was under my control...so he stopped using it as an evasion technique.


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

Ah.. so its like the old thing if you teach a dog to jump a fence, it won't do it till your command?

I never thought of doing that, really! Never encountered a rearer that bad.. glad to hear he's not tumbling on top of you any more!


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## Horsesdontlie (Mar 11, 2011)

DuffyDuck said:


> Ah.. so its like the old thing if you teach a dog to jump a fence, it won't do it till your command?
> 
> I never thought of doing that, really! Never encountered a rearer that bad.. glad to hear he's not tumbling on top of you any more!


Thats part of it, the other part is I learned to avoid the situations better. He reared because he would be past reason with overwhelming frustration. Most times it was coming home from a trail ride and I wouldn't let him gallop home. Once he started rearing there every time he was upset he reared. I don't put him in those situations anymore. 

Even if he does rear because he is upset he sits on his haunches and holds his front feet about a foot off the ground and holds it. Lol. Its a nice switch.


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## drafts4ever (Sep 1, 2009)

Horsesdontlie said:


> For myself, my horse had a rearing problem before I taught it to him. He was dangerous, throwing himself up into the air, grabbing the bit and fighting. After he threw himself over backwards, almost landing on me, I had two options. First was retire him permanently or the other was try to teach him to balance himself. (All other options had been tried and failed to get him to stop rearing)
> 
> So I taught him to rear by collecting his weight onto his hindquarters and holding it. I taught him to not explode off his hindquarters or throw himself anywhere. He learned to keep his hind legs underneath him and keep his balance.
> 
> He has not flipped on me since, neither has he come close. After I taught it to him, it was something that I made him do and it was under my control...so he stopped using it as an evasion technique.


This was our issue as well at the beginning. Tried everything to get her out of the habit on the line and once she figured out she could go straight up and hold it she started in on it under saddle. After she figured out I wasn't coming off she started bouncing around. I'm a trained rider for tricks. I went to a two year training camp for training tricks so I figured if I couldn't train it out of her I was going to train it as a job. Once she figured out it was a job it was all about tweaking it to make it perfect. 
Now she has photo shoots lined up through the winter (if we get snow), and has a few performances pending next year for some faires we might be attending. It's also massively helped her with collecting and weighing in on her hind end instead of her front especially in her rapid and awkward growth spurts. 
A friend of mine is putting together a group of jousters and is looking for an opening act. I've been asked to use Legacy in it. Given that most jousting shows do no accept loud colors like hers she's been invited to do something fun in the beginning instead which is going to be fun and amazing! I just hope the funds come through to put on the event we've been planning for!

So to summarize it was a bad habit turned into a productive job for photo shoots and shows.  She's also a dressage horse and she's learning jumping (when she's not so butt high) and eventually will be doing lower level eventing.


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## drafts4ever (Sep 1, 2009)

tinyliny said:


> I wondered how you did that. YOur old avatar picture was just scary, with her so vertical. But I am a timid soul.


Here's that picture! It didn't feel so vertical until I saw it! 
She came up and stopped and I was like whoa! hold hold hold and then she came down and I was like YAY!!! but she didn't feel that high up. Her rise is incredibly smooth, it's her landing that bounces me around a bit so we're working on that.


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

I have to say that goes against EVERYTHING I have ever been told about rearers etc, but then I have never personally had to deal with one. I like the idea that if they see it as a job, it sort of changes the way of thinking from bad, evasive behaviour to doing something constructive, especially if now you're making a few bob from it!!

I don't know if I'd want Duffy to do it though, she's too big haha!

Waiting to head more updates and fingers crossed for snow!


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## drafts4ever (Sep 1, 2009)

Horsesdontlie said:


> I have seen so many people who just jerk up and kick and the horse, more often then naught has too much backwards momentum and throws their head back. It scares me seeing those people that do that, just asking for the flip.
> 
> Yet you seem to have taught forward momentum and subtle cues that have nothing to do with head tossing or pulling back on the bit. Bonus points to you. Looks pretty much to be the same way my boy is asked to rear.


That's the problem I've seen too and to start with our issue was part of that. She was using it as a way to get out of work which never worked. Then when it was turned into a job she was reluctant because she had been told so many times not to do it. It was the middle mark where she was still doing it out of spite and then learning it as a command and getting confused. So I did end up pulling her up a couple times just until her feet came off the ground and then it was all her. 
However for the last 4-5 months I've been focusing on the leg cues because I want her to listen to my legs, voice, and my seat when she comes up, not my hands. I mostly rear her bareback, I seem to have a better seat and leg on her and when she comes up my hands are in her mane with little contact on her face. When my legs release she comes down. She's a good listener and focuses on my voice. If she comes up before I say Lift she gets a loud "DOWN!" and she'll drop right back into set even if she hasn't come up all the way. 
So now that she knows what the check on her face feels like from training back at the beginning and that hands down with contact means stand and hands up with a loose rein means "at the ready", I don't need to pull her up anymore. She just needs the feeling of the rein on and then off her neck to know she's coming up. If that makes any sense. It does when we do it. 

Now her little attitude will throw in a mini rear and hold with some of my more experienced friends. She'll come up about a foot and just chill there while they sit wide eyed. It's normally right after they've trotted her a bit and I'm assuming she's saying "you think you know what you're doing, lets see if you can do this!". 
I always tell people that if for any reason she starts hopping on her front end pull either side down and circle her. Puts her mind back to work.


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## drafts4ever (Sep 1, 2009)

DuffyDuck said:


> I have to say that goes against EVERYTHING I have ever been told about rearers etc, but then I have never personally had to deal with one. I like the idea that if they see it as a job, it sort of changes the way of thinking from bad, evasive behaviour to doing something constructive, especially if now you're making a few bob from it!!
> 
> I don't know if I'd want Duffy to do it though, she's too big haha!
> 
> Waiting to head more updates and fingers crossed for snow!


That's the same for me. I know how to ride a trained rearer and have been on a few in training and then a few including legacy who reared just because they wanted their rider off. She's just like one of my danes though and that's exactly what my thought process was: 
Orion used to jump on everybody anytime and he just wouldn't stop. the more you pushed him down the harder he jumped up! When I started saying "hug" for every time he jumped up he eventually stopped doing it whenever he wanted and then would give a hug if he was asked. 
I thought if it worked with him maybe it would work with her and yay it did! I'm just glad I knew how to work with it and make it useful. Once in a very little while I'll get a "slam on the breaks rear and pivot" and that's my cue to get her adjusted. Every time that has happened her left shoulder and head have been out of wack.


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