Friday, January 23, 2009

Pick Your Poison

Oh this should be super fun!! So last night I working with a training horse when she decided that apparently what I was doing bared ZERO interest to her, so in protest she thought it would be a good idea to rear a few times. Nice big ones and some nice little ones. Either way, I just sat there and pulled her back down and up again she went and back down I pulled her back down and on and on until I finally got off and took her to the round pen for a "Come to Jesus Meeting." Basically she got round penned until I was sure her little front feet wouldn't be leaving the ground for a awhile. Then I took her back into the arena hopped back on her and what do you know she was a perfect little angel!

So S&D was there, of course, and we were chatting about it and she says "I would take a horse bucking any day over rearing." And I said NO WAY! I prefer the rear. Why? Well I"ll tell you, because UNLESS your horse happens to flip all the way over on you, which is REALLY BAD, the odds of you being unseated from a rear are slim to non. To me, a buck will unseat me more so than a rear. That however is MY personal preference. OBVIOUSLY I'd rather do NEITHER, but if I had to choose, I choose the Rear.

So here you go my friends. PICK YOUR POISON!!!! The REAR or the BUCK and why!?!?!?
You have your choice of 2 horses, 1 is guaranteed to buck, one is guaranteed to rear...

54 comments:

Embodied Spirit said...

first :) Mines the buck. Had a horse on loan that would buck at everything. we'd just be walking and a horse would go past then BANG! up would come the ass. He'd buck when we cantered, when a horse in front started trotting, if a horse went past, if a leaf dared blow in front of him. I was not the best of riders then or now so for me that was the clincher that he had to go back were he had come from. They wern't little ones either. these were great big whopping "I'm going to make you hurt" bucks. He was checked for pain and a little arthritis was found in his hip but their was no excuse for the malicious intent to throw us.

Embodied Spirit said...

I also have more of a forward of the verticle position and at least witht the rear you see it coming. Bucks are always behind you. ;)

Trainer X said...

LMAO!! Exactly, maybe I'm just crazy but I do not mind the rear, the horse is typically not moving all over the place they are just going up and down LMAO!!! The buck really bothers me!!

Carin said...

REAR! You can always slide off if it gets too bad. On a buck, you might already be on the way down!

ten blue stars said...

I prefer the buck, and I can usually ride one out pretty well. I've only been bucked off twice and it was within the first few years of me learning to ride. Every time I have been on a horse that reared, it basically came out of nowhere. I stayed on, but it scared the shit out of me because I wasn't expecting it. For the horses I've ridden, you can at least feel when the buck is coming and adjust accordingly. Yeah you might fall off, but the average horse is going to turn rodeo on you and its usually not that bad. I've just seen to many rears-gone-wrong.
Although I did ride a horse that would crow-hop and then as soon as his back feet hit the ground, the front ones would come up, but only about 2'. Felt like I was riding a rocking horse lol

GoLightly said...

Bucking.
It's waaaay more fun. I've seen too many bad wrecks from rearing. Too many close calls. Horse going sideways, and falling over.

If a horse can unseat you with a little crow-hopping, ya need more work without y'er stirrups:)
LOL! Ever ridden a mechanical bull?
YeeeHAW!

Kudos to you for working it through.

Rearing, I hate rearing! I can feel a buck coming, before a rear.
Rearing is the ultimate "No_F-ing_Way" of the horse.
The Ultimate "Forward? NO!"

Bucking is whoop-dee-hoo! Can you sit me? Other people can't! Try THIS!

My first horse, I taught her to buck. It was a baaad idea, but it was fun while it lasted. Nobody else wanted to ride her, strangely enough.
Y'know how they can come out of their stalls all humpy and neck-shaking happy?
I Love that. A horse that rears doesn't wanna do Nuttin'.
You can ride a horse forward out of a buck. A rear, not quite so easy. Planting their front feet, and then going up, is a bad habit. Usually (never always) because of really bad initial training, like that video you posted the other day. Brick Wall Hands and giving a good-feeling horse no where to go, is always a bad thing and teaches them to go up.
JMO.
Of course..

Great work, TrexX!
Tough as nails, y'are.

Malauree said...

Well, normally I would take rearing over bucking.

But when it comes to my appy mare Phoenix.... Well I would take the bucking. She crow hops like crazy when she thinks she can get away with it. Her rearing though.... She has gone over multiple times, and thank God I have been able to get off and (mostly) out of the way.

Any other horse, I would prefer the rear.

Trainer X said...

Actualy it's funny you mention that as I have been on a mechanical bull and got my ass kicked!! LMAO!!! I can ride a buck prety darn well, Im just saying...
Hypothetically~~ You have a choice of 2 horses, 1 is gauranteed to buck, one is gauranteed to rear... Choose... LOL!!!

Malauree said...

Oh btw Phoenix gets her butt worked in any event after she pulls a stunt like that. She knows that she is in trouble and a MAJOR work out is coming. She gets this whole look to her like "Uh, Oh. I fucked up!"

Malauree said...

ROFLMAO - My husband just said that he would choose neither. What a butt. But he said if he had to make the choice he would take the rearing. Athough he would choose the buck with Phoenix also >.< Doesn't say much for Phoenix does it?

Trainer X said...

Mwuahahahaaaa I know right?!?!?!

Malauree said...

I love her though. She likes to push my buttons, but she is an angel with the kids. They can do anything to her. Hell my six year old rode his bike under her nose and she just stood there. Didn't even phase her. Scared the crap outta me and he got his butt lectured. Gotta love the horses that will let kids get anyway with anything with them.

Unknown said...

I would choose the bucking one... I've ridden through multiple bucking fits, but never really been reared with. I found that keeping my heels down really helps to keep my body centered and is therefor the key to riding through bucking. (The only time I had an experience with rearing was riding a 13hh pony bareback... I wasn't expecting it at all, but I just slipped off behind him and landed on my feet. =)

(PS the rearing photo looks like it's a behind-the-scenes pic from the TV show Wildfire =)

S&D said...

Ahhh yes, I would rather take the buck, but that's because my lovely mare had this nifty little habbit of rearing... and has gone up and over on me before. Thankfully, it appears she may have come to the decision that running at a full gallop for 20 minutes until her lungs are burning just isn't worth the rear...
S&D

Nosnikta said...

I think I would take the buck. If I'm going to come off, I'd rather have the opportunity to get thrown than to have the horse come over on top of me.

A couple of years ago I rode a friend's horse for her because the horse was acting like an ass and my friend was recovering from a broken neck (sigh, yeah, don't ask). Anyway, I traded my wonderful gelding for a bitch rearing-mare.

She was just kooky enough to lose her mind and tip over on me. There was one time when we were so vertical that I nearly swung off. By the time my brain got to my butt she was on her way down so I rode it through. I turned to look at some folks coming up the trail and their mouths were agape.

They couldn't see how fast my heart was pounding, but it scared the beejebus out of me.

Saved my friend's neck though.

Rachel said...

Buck! I'm pretty good at sitting them, but if I go off, Oh Well. Rears seem more likely to end up in a horse flipping over on themselves and getting hurt :(

horsesandponies4ever said...

I've done bucking. Ow ow ow, is all I have to say. So I'll go for a rearer.

Just the Girl Next Door said...

I'll take the bucker, simply because if Triton doesn't feel like complying with your request, he will throw out the odd buck.

ponykins said...

A horse that bucks or rears is out of control. I prefer to ride in such a way that my horse never gets out of control.However, if something should happen, I'd take the rear over a buck any day. It's not the buck that gets me off,but the unexpected zig zag and twisty duck and dive.

Cut-N-Jump said...

Either one are bad but...

A rear you can sort of see coming. If not you can still gauge it and pull off to the side & down minimizing the risk.

A buck on the other hand, if you engage the rear end or put it to work up under them where it belongs, they can't buck like they want to.

Was I supposed to choose? hmmmm! Two questions first???

1)How hard is the buck? We talking a single buck, succession of crow hops or something worthy of collecting a check at the NFR...

The rearing horse-

2)Do they rear or show clear intent on springboarding over backwards onto their head?


I think I'll take the buck.

SammieRockes said...

First off, I ride bareback over 90% of the time. I'm kind of split down the middle because I have had horse fall on after a rear, only I was lucky we went sideways and I got my feet the hel outta the stirrups before she got up and took off. Mares. My gelding now, has a little rearing problem, when he wants to go to the barn, or trailer if we are somewhere else, I pull back and have him circle the way I want, and then he throws in a few protestant rears, and eventually gives in after two or three little ones. So, I guess I prefer a rear, in some ways, but bucks don't bother me either. My gelding went off on me one time, I swear people would have thought he was a rodeo bronc if they saw him, but I stayed on. I'm young, well, lets say im crazy too! I'l ltake both to work out the kinks!


Haha, I remeber the first, and one of the few times Ive fallen off. My first pony, a devilish little pony ride pony(THEY ARE THE WORST AREN'T THEY?) Well, after a long day, he bucked me off, and my dad, who wouldn't of cared if I had actually hurt myself as long as the pony learned a lesson, made me get back on, took me into the barn, closed the doors, and made me trot him round and round, everytime my pony passed my dad, he smacked him on the ass with a two by four. that certainly taught me how to ride a buck.

Anonymous said...

Suzie said: (PS the rearing photo looks like it's a behind-the-scenes pic from the TV show Wildfire =)

I thought the same thing! I am embarrassed to say I miss that show...but I LOVED IT!!

Ahem.
Anyway. If it were *my* horse, I'd prefer bucking (and he just mostly crow-hops and kicks out sideways, ie: easy to sit), but he has gone over backwards a few times when rearing.

Any other horse, I'd take the rear because it is easier to (a) get off and not land on yer butt and (b) manage the situation altogether.

Troy Lynn said...

Oh, why do we have to pick??? I'd rather not have either but in reality both the horses I ride have a tendency to buck on occassion. I've only been offed once due to a buck and that was the first time on horse number one because it was such a surprise. Neither one of them buck super hard or crazy and I can feel it coming on so can start redirecting before things get silly.

I guess I prefer a horse that bucks as opposed to a horse that rears--as long as the bucking horse isn't a gifted bucker.

URAn4ssHat said...

I'd take the buck. If you do come off, you are most likely going to be thrown clear. If a rearer goes over or sideways with you, you are pretty stuck. Even if you do get clear, hooves and head are flailing in all directions, and you are likely to get nailed by something.

So, while most of both are no problem to me, the off balance aspect of rearing is worse to me.

Buck, go ahead!

V. Lachelle Henderson said...

I prefer the buck.
Unfortunately, my horse prefers to crow hop. I was reminded of your post about trail riding on my wonderful journey today with two of my friends.
My friend shannon took her little POA over a log jump and my arab decided that he didn't want ANYONE jumping. So he crow hopped for a good 5 or 6 strides.

Anyways...
Bucking for sure. When my horse gets light footed in the front and starts doing that i'm-gonna-rear-for-no-reason-dance, I can feel my heart start racing. When he bucks and crowhops I laugh, kick him forward, and enjoy the ride : )

Jasmine said...

Buck! Seen too many scary rearing accidents. Plus with a buck all you have to do is pop 'em in the mouth and up goes the head and down goes the ass! Keep that head up and you're all good! Rearing the only way around it is to drive 'em forward and that doesn't work so well if forward = up.

Worked a friend's little pos pony. Bratty little thing would buck her off every time she wanted a canter. I was heavy enough and strong enough he couldn't buck me off. He sure tried though!--boy was that one pissed off pony!

Jasmine said...

>>SammieRocks said: "My first pony, a devilish little pony ride pony(THEY ARE THE WORST AREN'T THEY?)"<<



The shorter the legs, the closer they are to hell!

Nicole Falk said...

Buck. Definately. I hate rearing with a passion. It scares the bejeebers out of me, and I feel completely and utterly helpless while it's happening. Bucking I can deal with anyday - I can hitch that head up tight and have a good shot of resolving the issue. Rearing just makes me feel suspended in time until they come back to earth - either on hooves or my HEAD.

2toads2luv said...

Funny, I thought there would be more in favor of the REARING. Me, I'll take a rear before a buck.

For the same reason Trex said, a rear is usually pretty stationary, and not a forward, or "get me off motion".

Taking either at the extreme, I'd take the buck. But most times the rear isn't a psycho crazy horse going over, just reacting to something. But a buck can (and has) unlaunched me before, mostly for reasons of rider error (aren't they all?).

SO, I guess it has to depend on the severity of the said buck/rear. 99% of the time, I'll take the rear. But in a psycho crazy I want you off me horse, please, buck me off, toss me to the side, so I don't have to dodge and duck your body, hooves, and my life flashing in front of my eyes.

Unknown said...

This is a choice with so many variables! I don't think I could choose a blanket statement about which I'd rather deal with.When I was in high school and college I worked for a couple different trainers and they always had me work the horses that they couldn't be bothered with. (Read: Any horses that weren't "easy") Most buckers I could manage pretty easily. Even now, bucking from most horses doesn't bother me much. However, there was a horse at the barn I worked at that was there to be broke and then he was going to go to the track. This horse I HATED riding. He just flat did not want to be ridden on any terms but his own. His favorite thing to do was start sunfishing like a madman while trying to slam your legs into the arena fence. Yeah, if a horse is going to buck like that I'll take a rearer any day.

Then again, I've been given crazy rearing horses to ride too... Ah the joys of being a teenager working for a big trainer. *rolling eyes* There was one in particular who TRIED to flip- EVERY TIME he reared he would try his best to go all the way over. Then there was a horse I owned, a 14 year-old Trakehner who had never been seperated from hi dam until I had bought him 6 months earlier. He had been a spoiled brat for the vast majority of his life and wasn't very keen on learning how to work for a living. He would rear- they weren't bad rears and if that had been the extent of what he did it wouldn't have been an issue. Noooo, he couldn't just rear. He would rear then when he landed he would buck and spin. Yay fun! Make sure if you are going to be a bratty horse under saddle that you use ALL the tricks you have up your sleeve. Why JUST rear or JUST buck when you can do BOTH and throw in some spins too to make sure your rider can't keep their balance! Now THAT'S fun, watch your rider FLY!


I'm sorry, did I go off on a tangent? I guess in all of that wordiness my point was I would rather a horse work nicely without rearing OR bucking. However, if they are going to do one or the other I don't care which they do as long as they aren't nasty about it and trying to kill me in the process. =D

CCH said...

I would take a bucker any day.

Only because many moons ago I had an Arab gelding (beautiful, registered, good lines and about 10 at the time) who went over on me twice in one summer. The first time it seemed like an accident and we both landed in the soft sand. There was no apparent reason for it.

The second timewe were walking outside the arena with a group and he just threw himself over backwards. The horn grazed my ribcage and the rest of me was under him. As he rolled around that horseburger managed to kick me and step on my knee when he got up.

Turns out that had been his random issue and likely why his previous owner had sold him. He wasn't safe and never would be. I wish I could say that we had the forethought to put him down, but he went with a local horse trainer and a group of horses to the Sisseton, SD sale. From there, I have no idea.

Registered as Diamond Santana if anyone is into Arabs & wants to look him up. I don't wish the worst on him, but I don't want him to kill someone either.

Embodied Spirit said...

ponykins said...
A horse that bucks or rears is out of control.

Thats not true. My haffie mare bucks when shes excited, as does my moms horse but they are still listening. If I don't like the bucks I pull her up and make her stand until I'm ready. She's learnt now that if she does big bucks she has to stop, which she really doesn't like. So now she's learnt she can still buck if she does little ones! :D lol!

Embodied Spirit said...

Jasmine said...
Buck! Seen too many scary rearing accidents. Plus with a buck all you have to do is pop 'em in the mouth and up goes the head and down goes the ass! Keep that head up and you're all good!


Don't you believe it! My loan horse would be able to buck you off if his head was cranked back to his ass! Have you seen some of those excited showjumpers? Their head is up in the air but so are those back legs.

Oh one more thing: What is my horse doing? Is that what you call crow hopping or is it something else? I know its bad quality but my cousin got it on her phone. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=F2gpSUULf7Y&feature=channel_page

Smurfette said...

Wow. I didn't know that anyone else thought that way. Haven't read them all, but I agree. Rear is easier to sit...you can see it coming... unless the horse flips all the way over, you are more likely NOT to get hurt (I broke a neck vertabre off of a bucker). A good spanking usually makes a rearer re-think THAT bright idea while ANYTHING you do seems to make a bucker madder. A bucker is running, a rearer is standing still, you can step off if you want.

clara said...

i perfer a rear they are way easier to stay on and i think you get more of a warning.

EveryoneThinksThey'reGoodDrivers said...

Bucking hands down. Easier to fix and hand off to someone else.

Rearing is dangerous, you can make the horse good for yourself but the second someone with a less than educated hand comes along, they'll be back at it again.

People who don't know any better always think rearing is better to battle than bucking.

But to me, a rear is something that reaches for the sky, not coming off the front end a bit.

http://www.blackandalusianhorse.com/picts/black_horse_rear.jpg

Coming off the front end a bit is easy enough to fix, usually occurs with inexperience + inexperience.

http://xa8.xanga.com/d7dc441162d30190353831/z146496083.jpg

To get on a horse that really rears, is really taking and putting yourself in a precarious situation. It only takes one step for them to lose it.

JMHO - don't know how to make things clickable here.

BTW - I found those photos on google, definitely not me.

Merideth said...

definatly bucking
although rearing isn't bad either same way with bolts
what i'm scared of is the magical 180 horse. you know those horses that one second your going right then you blink your eyes and your going left at 100 miles an hour, not fun at all
so i think i'll choose bucking

Amanda said...

Well, I don't have much experience riding and haven't ridden in many years, but I've been on horses that have bucked and never been on a rearing one, so I've gotta go with the evil I know. Bucking it is.

Serendipity said...

I'd prefer the rear myself, because the redhead has gotten so damn good at bucking me off over the years.

He's reared with me -once-, but there was a period where he was dumping me at least once a week. I think people are just more scared of rearing because they've always heard it was some horrible, unforgivable equine sin. But when it happens I don't think, I just react. When he starts trying to buck I get nervous and tense, when he reared I got angry.

The time he reared he was throwing a tantrum because he didn't want to cross a puddle. He got a pop between his ears, yelled at, and never did it again. When he bucks, or in his case, crow-hops, there's a 50% chance he'll have caught me either off-guard or off-balance, and over his shoulder I go.

EveryoneThinksThey'reGoodDrivers said...

Serendipipity - I understand your take.

But rearing truly, seriously, sincerely is not something to be taken lightly from an old cowboys' tale.

The reason people have a tendancy to think this is easier is for two reasons.

The first, fetal position. This goes for everyone (animals included). Our bodies want us to go there when we are unsure about something. Because of this, rearing seems easier, it's a natural reaction. But, also because of this, rearing is that much more dangerous...because we allow it to happen.

Second, the reason it seems easier is because it almost always occurs when the horse thinks they have no where else to go. Because of this, it seems like we have more warning. Keep in mind that our training of horses comes down to what the horse thinks.

One of the things that sucks about rearing is that you need to lean forward to balance the horse. But balancing the horse doesn't teach the horse anything.

Next piece of the "unruly" horse issue:

It scares people. It scares people when they have a horse that isn't doing what they expect/expected.

Add that kind of fear, gets live wire horses.

Not only that, not all trainers have experience in colt starting.

Often a horse's problem is behind the horse. Meaning you have to go back. Trainers that cannot conceptualize where the horse needed to be from the start, have a really hard time correcting those issues.

PLain riding/correcting of an ill-started horse doesn't help. The horses don't reason. An ill-started horse needs to re-learn conditioned response.

That initself is a hard lesson to learn - especially for someone that trains but "won't take colts."

I understand not taking colts. But IMHO you had better be so good at colt starting, you have too many horses and have one or two people that will start for you.

I could go on and on. I won't. But I will say that riding discipline is not the answer for the troubled horse.

The horse does not care about your saddle, the horse cares about what you do to them.

I got horses to save money! said...

I'd take a buck over a rear (of course, I'd also prefer neither). I consider my odds of a controlled fall more likely if it happens from a rear rather than a buck. I hope that I didn't just jinx myself for my next ride...

http://poorhorsebadowner.blogspot.com/

kestrel said...

Oh man, neither! Depends on the horse. A small rear or an excited crow-hop is one thing, but I hate a dirty horse. I've been dumped by buckers and ridden horses that would throw themselves over, but no more.
That's why I finally started raising my own. No bullshit to fix!

Unknown said...

Buck!

Because I've been quite desensitized by it, and rears still freak me out ><

I'm hard to throw from a buck.
Also, I can usually feel them coming just as easily as a rear.

Nicole Falk said...

EveryoneThinksTheyreGoodDrivers - first off, you need a shorter name, LMAO.

But I just want to say AMEN! I don't count obstinate half-rears to get out of doing something "rearing". When I think rear, I think nose to the sky, eyes rolling, flat out ready to do some hurtin if that horse doesn't get his way. At least, those seem to be the only darn types of rears I ever encounter.

When I was 14, I got saddled with this right batty Arab mare (dam to my current Arab actually). She was only about 14hh, but she was loopier then a March hare. Never bucked, but god could she rear. I tried EVERYTHING to make her stop. The minute I asked her to stand for more then 3 seconds, up she'd go. Scared the bejeebers out of me. Finally one day, I got so fed up that she went straight up just as I was about to get on, and I yanked back and flipped her. You know, she never did it again? Now, I certainly don't condone this type of training method, but what I personally took from that experience was it took that mare getting flipped for her to figure out what the consequences were - which means, the idea of endangering us both so severely didn't even enter her mind previously. When do horses ever rear and flip in the pasture? I can't think of a one. So when that horse goes up, he's basically attempting a maneovure in which neither he nor you have any real experience (unless you've been livin with the problem for awhile), which increases your odds drastically of something bad happening if he forgets he ain't by himself and can't rear to such a degree as he normally would without losing his balance.

That probably sounds way more complicated then it should, I just SO much safer with a bucker. The worst that can happen is they toss me - and regardless of which way I land, it still sounds a lot nicer then 1200lbs of horse coming down on me >.<

Nicely dun said...

I would take the bucking over the rearing.
Not a fan of the rearing, bucking I can work with. My horse was a constant bucker, generally in the english pleasure classes, and I learned to ride through it. With rearing I feel like I have no control on what the outcome will be. (I dont have oodles of experience with rearing, which is fine by me...) But wierd enough, I would be more comfortable to stick a buck than deal with a rear...Good point:P

autumnblaze said...

BUCK. I know I can ride that. I have yet to have a horse rear on me and I'm not sure how that will go if and when it ever happens. Though, I can see that as long as they don't flip, it could be a lot easier to ride. That is, as long as they don't throw a combo of rearing and bucking and sheer nonsensical shananigans...

autumnblaze said...

Paigely - My boy can spin and go. Arab teleport. Let me tell you... it has taken me some serious getting used to - I had only ridden WB's and older QH's and one TB when I started riding him. Once, he stopped and spun so fast, I either smacked my nose on his poll or the pommel of the saddle... honestly, I don't know which. It was hard and those are the two hardest things in that area. He was also RUNNING HARD when I noticed we were heading in the other direction (lacking one stirrup and rather dazed). However, he's not a run away (thank GOD) so we slowed, stopped and went back. I think it was a deer that jumped up... damn white tail flashed and scared the ever living hell out of him. Had I not seen it (and I almost didn't) I would have thought he was out of his ever loving mind. Oh, he bucked the first time a few weeks ago too. Forgot they put up new boards in 1/2 the arena didn't think they might freak him out a little. Plus my damn dog was on the other side crunching around in the leaves, didn't help. Buck, buck, buck everytime we'd get near the new section. Finally I put two and two together got off and walked his silly butt over to them. I just react in those situations. Sometimes I think I'm more likely to fall off sitting still.

Horses. Gotta love 'em.

Lulu said...

I'd take the one that was a purdy color.

Ha ha ha... It makes no difference to me if they buck or rear. I've had success with both sides of that coin.

EveryoneThinksThey'reGoodDrivers said...

Mikolaj - yeah the name is a little long, lol.

I used to work for a trainer that was able to successfully "cure" two rearers with that method. It was actually quite impressive. One was a ruined game horse and the other a ruined penner. I believe both horses went back to work but also needed some further training and a really easy hand to keep them calm.

I however would never try that. Plus, the way I understand it, it is a last resort and doesn't necessarily fix the horse. I guess some can come out of it worse than they were. That makes sense to me.

It is really too bad when they get to that point. Luckily, that particular habit does not happen nearly as often. At least, from what I've encountered.

Nicole Falk said...

I agree. Methods like those I find are ONLY a very last resort. I heard a saying once that kind of hit home for people who scream abuse - "the inside of a dog food can is a lot more final." And it's true - it's irresponsible to sell a chronic rearer, but people do it all the time and then these novices get saddled with a dangerous horse who ends up going to auction for meat because the novice is usually to nice to decieve people. If I had to choose between a last resort method or a horse going to slaughter - darn rights I'd give it a try. Then again, if it was my horse, I'd have it put to sleep if it was a flat out danger to society.

kestrel said...

I had a 2 year old saddlebred in for training that had learned every nasty rearing trick possible, and had had everything done to him from head bonked to flipped over. Tried everything with him, finally talked it over with his owner and used an old kid trick. Warned her of possible dangers (horse could break tail) but we had already decided that if we could not cure him he would have to be put down.
soooo, braided a lead rope through his tail, ran it between his legs and tied it to his halter, leaving enough room for him to carry his head normally, but short enough that he couldn't throw his head very high. Voila, every time he tried to rear something jerked the heck out of his tail! He was so head shy that nothing involving his face worked. The first time he went up he actually jerked his butt right out from under him! Lots of sympathy from human (giggle) but he couldn't blame us for the consequences anymore! Worked him like that for 2 weeks, and the war was won. He is now a kind usable horse.

Kim said...

My horse has never reared with me... but in the snow, when he gets to going fast.. hes bucked.. I never know how bad they are since I never seen what they look like, but they must not be rodeo bucks, they are probably more half ass bucks.. since I stay on with his bucks. And I stay on his bucks bareback.. :). And whenever his bucks get scary, I hold onto his mane, and that has always kept me on when bareback, along side of pulling back on the reins, along with tightening my legs.. He's not sure what he should do, so he stops. But he's only done it when riding in the snow.
So I think bucks... but it's all I've experienced..

The Crossroads said...

I'd pick a rearing horse over a bucking horse any day. Needless to say an Arabian I'm training likes to do both, but her bucks are like large leaps into a canter. She's a tad dense ;) When it comes to the rears she lifts no more than two feet. Basically this mare is all bark and no bite, at least that's what I've discovered thus far.

So I'm with you, rearer over bucker.

FawnVamp said...

If there were only two horses left in the world; one bucker, or one rearer, I would choose....A bicycle!

My seat wont sit either very well, so I'll just play it safe and walk! :-P