>From: "Janice McDonald" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Can anyone think of anything I might could >try on the ground with this mare to help her before this a-hole gets >ahold of her again? I have been praying for rain since I planted my >grass but now I kinda hope it doesnt rain for a while... >Janice
The Beery manual has what some might consider a drastic method to cure confirmed rearers I've used with good effect for some nut cases who liked to flip over, which will doubtless incur outrage from some. It takes steady nerves and some athleticism. You buckle knee pads on the problem horse, padded ankle straps with strong rings on them-hobble straps work well-and a circingle, then just drive the horse in a light snaffle with driving lines on soft ground in a safe place. There is a cord rope clipped to a ring on the left side of the circingle that runs down and threads through a ring at the back of the left front fetlock, then up through a ring in the middle of the bottom of the circingle, then down through a ring on the back of the right front foot strap, and back up through a couple of rings to the driver's or a helper's hands. If the horse balks and rears, simply pull the rope, which will fold the front feet back. This does not allow the horse to come back down except to its knees. Just hold the horse on its knees a few minutes, the let it up and give it cues to go forward again. It usually only takes a couple of times to completely discourage rearing. The first few times you hitch up (to a sturdy training vehicle), leave the ropes in place, in case the horse associates the rearing behavior with pulling a cart. If I had realized that Levi was thinking about bolting, I could have used this method to stop him, but he'd been a great driving horse for a year, so I was caught off guard.
