Full Out Rearing *Good Update!!!!

[areias]

Here's a little update.

The girl from the rescue came over and got on her yesterday. She reacted much the same way, maybe even a little worse. The girl's immediate opinion was either send her to a trainer, or trade her back in. She thinks that maybe that is why the lady got rid of her in the first place. It's very hard for me to fathom sending her to a trainer, where it's going to cost just about what I'm paying for her anyways (which is not cheap). I don't feel she's worth continuing the payments on her, unfortunately.
If possibly I could stop the payments on her and do the training, that would be fine, but I really can't do both.

And then she offered a proposition for me. She said that a lady had given her Ava (my horse) in exchange for a well broke QH mare. Now, about 6 months later, the woman returned the mare because she was "acting wierd". The mare delivered a foal the next day . They don't really want to give the horse and the foal back to the lady, as they don't think the lady is too knowledgable in regards to foals and such. They said they would take ava and give her back to the lady, and in return I could keep the mare. I would jump in a heartbeat if it was both the mare and the foal (the foal is qh x percheron) but I'm not sure if I would get the foal too. So I have some decisions to make. I really do like her on the ground, but I am getting terrified to ride her. I'm going back down there this afternoon for one more time before I make a decision, a friend of mine is going to be there to help too.

I would love to work through this, but I don't think I have the experience or knowledge to do so. Even with parelli or john lyons, I'm still afraid of being on her back. I think she knows that, and maybe uses that against me, but I can't get around the fear.

[critter crazy]

well from the sounds of it, it would be better for the horse if she went to a home, with a more experianced rider. You dont seem confident enough, nor do you sound like you have enough experiance to deal with these issues. I would Suggest you do not get a foal!! If you think this horse is tough to deal with, how easy do you think a foal will be??? It takes alot of time,. and experiance to rear, handle and train a foal properly!!

[Vela]

I agree with the above post, if you can't deal with this mare, then it is best she go to a home with someone who can deal with her and has the proper equipment and time to help her; however, you should not get a foal. If you can't or don't want to afford training for this mare, the same will apply to the foal. You don't appear to have enough training skills to deal with it from the ground up, especially without a round pen, and would need to hire a trainer to help break the foal anyway. It's not meant rudely at all, but I've been around horses all my life, and have trained some myself, including an off the range Mustang, so I'm not saying it to be mean, but I don't want to see you hurt and there is a lot to it. Any mistakes made with a foal are often lifelong lessons, for both good and bad, and untraining improperly taught foals is very hard, and often doesn't happen once they are adults. Your best bet would be to take in the well broke mare, sans foal, and enjoy her, or else look elsewhere for a different horse.

[areias]

Another little update.

I will not be getting the mare. (Or the foal) She had foundered, and that's why the lady had given her up. The people call it a pregnancy founder, but we won't know for sure until after the baby's weaned. I'm extremely wary of getting into that.

There is another reg. QH mare there, that they're not sure on selling yet. She does barrels and all that, and supposedly has an "on" and an "off" switch. The owner of the barn I board at has seen her ridden and said she did really well. Supposedly she's never offered any quirky behavior. I'm not totally sure though.

I'm going back and forth between options. The barn owner is holding a clinic with a well-known trainer on Sunday, I am going to try and get off work so I can go. I will see what he says, and go from there. Hopefully she will exhibit the same behavior so maybe he could give some advice. As I compare different opinions and options, I'm at a loss of what the best way is. When my mare is going good, she's great, and when she's bad, she's bad. To give her up for another horse would be just about the same as rolling the dice again, I could end up with a worse behavior.

And I have raised and broke foals in the past, just to let you know. Both did great and are very rideable right now. I just fall apart when it comes to rearing. If I were to get the foal, I would probably sell it as a weanling.

[areias]

Also...any recommended reading/videos?

[Vela]

Well like I mentioned earlier, at least look into Clinton Anderson, John Lyons, and Pat Parelli. I think you can even rent some of those videos in the library. Also, Anderson and Lyons have had articles in Horse and Rider magazine, which you could also probably read at the library, that talk a lot about how to work with your horses and build confidence and trust between you, which may be all you need to to do prevent her rearing. You are fearful, she knows how to get to you, and she uses it to avoid being ridden. i just think going back to basics with her may help her learn to trust you and maybe you can work through the difficulties by doing so, which is why I suggested it before. It's more about building a relationship between the two of you than it is about actually going back to teaching her groundwork.

Hope it all works out for you. Training or retraining adult horses can be very hard sometimes, since they don't come as a clean slate like a foal, and since you have some experience there, it may come in handy in retrainnig her as well. Good luck with that.

[Toby's my baby]

I had the same problem with the horse I have now. He was a dream when I first bought him, but after a while he started taking off towards the fence and would do a sliding stop right before the fence and rear up all the time. I had no idea what to do so I called a riding instructer and asked her what to do, all I had to do was : Pull back on the rains pretty hard and kick as hard as you can. Sounds pretty brutal, but it actually works. I'd hold on if I were you, because you dont know exactly how she's going to react. If she doesn't really respond, I would get a pair of "humane spurs" that look like this if you dont use spurs already... good luck, I hope you are able to make a decision!