Rearing problem

Hey,
I am training my 3 year old Shetland pony Maggie to ride. We have done some ground work, and overall she is an easy going little girl. The only thing that she does is rear. She has never done this undersaddle, but I am just waiting for the day. I am so much taller than she is, and I am afraid that my tall turso will through her off balance and make her fall on me!
Any way that I can prevent this with some excersizes or anything? She seems to do it when she is excaping work. Thanks!!

There is really no way to prevent a horse from rearing, they have a mind of there own. But I would suggest doing ground work and lunging her every time before you ride and even times when your not planning on riding her. The more she gets worked I think she will learn to accept it more instead of trying to find ways to escape it.
I worked with one horse that got worse and worse the more you worked him. When you cantered him you couldnt steer him very well so I had someone hold him on a lunge line. When he figured out he couldnt get out of working with going anywere he wanted he started rearing and bucking really bad. I stayed on but I got off right away, and after I got off he tried to run over the person holding the lunge line! Needless to say we sent the horse back to its owner. So in some cases this may not work . . . . But in all my other experiences it does. =]

Actually if you can tell when she is about to rear up start making her do circles. I would do about 4 or 5 then ask her to do what she didnt want to do if she trys again then do some more circles. She will eventually get tired of doing cirlces and do ask you ask.... if you ever feel like she will fall back on you jump off and role to one side that way it will save you from getting hurt if she falls on back (i had that happen with a QH)

Horses start to rear for a couple of reasons, they are confused or too much was expected out of them. When they rear they find that there is a release way up in the air. So it becomes a habit and will get bigger and bigger- so it is wise that you are fixing it now. All you have to do is interrupt the behavior and not give them the release they seek. One person might bend and circle them, I will back them up if I am on the ground. You can see this at Successful Horse - Home. Watch the first video and you will see what I mean. Using this technique I can stay safe and train the horse to be obedient.

Hopefully she won't do it undersaddle. I have tons and tons of advice for working with rearing horses, given to me by old-timers, found in books and training videos, off the web, from trainers, etc. The thing about rearing is that it is the most dangerous thing a horse can do, especially if you are on their back.

If you are on the ground, the biggest thing is to prevent the behavior before it happens by keeping the horse moving and keeping her attention. People will tell you to flip the horse over but so many times that can go terribly wrong and injure the handler or kill the horse, I do not advise that.

When you are on the horse, you want to keep it moving forward, if the horse is moving forward they can't rear. Do tight circles, serpentines, spins, and lots of forward movement. Always keep her mind on you and what you are planning to do. Same with on the ground, keep her eyes on you. Have her always wondering what you are going to do next.

I have a rearer. I bought him as a 3 year old that already reared. I've tried everything. He is 25 and still rears. Some horses can be cured, but rearing... is the worse.

Good luck to you, keep us informed... I'll be interested to hear what you do and how it works.

Thanks everyone! I was wondering if doing circles would be a good idea. I will definetly try this. I have only really ridden her 3 times, I am going to get on her this weekend. Hope I make it to tell what happens!! Haha

I tried spinning with a gelding who reared....he ended up rearing in circles . I spun him to the left and ended up with the saddle horn in the right side of my ribcage and losing my right stirrup. Same gelding dumped my mom halfway out of the saddle when she spun him.

wow sambo, thanks for telling me that. It has always worked for me. That's crazy tho. Thanks for the tip

Ive always found circles the best way to prevent a rear and also the best way to bring a horse down if they're already rearing. However, if she does try rearing while you're in the saddle, you need to get off imediately. I've always found it most beneficial to get off and lunge like crazy. Like seriously, I just mean keeping them moving foward, usually at the canter. If they try to slow down or stop just get after them and keep them going so they can't rear while on the lunge line. Once the horse is tired out I usually get back on and make a few laps around the arena then I hop on again the next day. I haven't had any rearing problems with the horses that i've had to do this with since.

You can try a tie down, it won't fix the issue long term, but it sure makes it more difficult for them to go up while your still in the early training time. Horses generally toss their head up to get the front end up. A tie down will keep her from getting the lift.