New mini loves to rear

[minisorrelpinto]

So I just recently acquired a mini. He turns 2 in March, is AMHA registered and currently is a stallion. I plan to get him cut in January so I can get his wolf teeth pulled in one go. Right now I am taking my mini on walks and introducing walk on, woah and trot commands. He is doing amazing. My only issue is he rears a lot. Is this normal mini behavior? I go to put his lead on, rears, I ask for a trot, rears and lunges into a trot, I ask him to step over a board he again rears then steps over it. I don't want this to become a habit when we get to actual driving. We have a long way to go. Should I try to deter him from rearing or will it naturally wear off? He seems to stop when I don't give into the rear

 

[minisorrelpinto]

Here's my boy.

 

[Dragon Hill]

No, rearing every time you ask him to do something would not be considered normal to me. Is he an especially frisky youngster? Is he fearful? Is he being aggressive? Is he uncomfortable is some way? Since you said he seems to stop when you don't give into the rear, I would guess he's a frisky youngster playing around and trying to see what he can get away with. The behaviour should stop as you work with him, and he learns to trust you, and, look to you as leader.

 

[minisorrelpinto]

No, rearing every time you ask him to do something would not be considered normal to me. Is he an especially frisky youngster? Is he fearful? Is he being aggressive? Is he uncomfortable is some way? Since you said he seems to stop when you don't give into the rear, I would guess he's a frisky youngster playing around and trying to see what he can get away with. The behaviour should stop as you work with him, and he learns to trust you, and, look to you as leader.

After working him more yesterday the rearing seems to have stopped. He halfheartedly attempted when I asked him to walk through a puddle but otherwise no rear what so ever. He is very spunky and has quite a prance.

 

[LostandFound]

Quite a few people allow that sort of behavior for whatever reason. I would consider it normal, but not acceptable. If you allow it to wear off it never will, rearing is something that they have to be taught not to do while you are working with them. There are a ton of ways to stop it, I would start with just telling him no sharply and then asking for the correct behavior again.

 

[Dragon Hill]

Good to hear minisorrelpinto. He's very pretty.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

He is gorgeous!
I've had a few young stallions; rearing is pretty much what they do. The best way I found to correct it was to walk into the rear, making him back up by snapping on the lead rope with an authoritative command of "no". If he is just a frisky youngster, that will stop the rearing. If you do not have him on a lead, walk into the rear with a stern command. Raising your arms in a backing up motion. Do not back away from the rear.
Best of luck with your handsome guy!

 

[Standards Equine]

I don't know guys, I've had 5 or 6 young stallions over my years and none have been prone to rearing. If that behavior was ever offered (maybe it was, I can't remember it) I'd shut it down IMMEDIATELY! They figure out what's acceptable or not mighty quickly. Having all their boy parts is not an excuse for rude behavior.
I can see using a bit of a rear (loading on the hind legs) to negotiate going over an obstacle or through water, as a young horse, but not when being asked to simply walk or trot forward on plain ground.

Anyways, that's just my 2 cents for what it's worth. He's a cutie! I hope you have loads of fun with him!

 

[Cayuse]

Ok, here goes my answer. When my vet did a pre purchase on one of mine (Peanut) and he reared up several times she told me that she's found that minis "go up" more than big horses as it is a defense mechanism because of their small stature. Some may or may not agree with that but it makes sense to me. When Peanut gets stressed he'll go up. When he's afraid he'll go up. When he is angry, yup . . .he goes up. The trick was to learn how to differentiate between his fear/stress/crankiness. With the fear or stress response I have learned that going with it is OK as reprimanding fear or stress responses is useless. The cranky/mad/angry stuff gets a hard no. My form of "no" is to go with the rear and NOT pull, pulling will instigate a fight. I've seen horses flip over from being pulled on when they rear. I shake the lead at him, make myself "big" and make him get the h3!! out of my space. Once he's down, he immediately is put into some sort of work to reset his thinking. If he's on a long lead I will lunge if not I will do something like a pivot or a sidepass, anything to show him rearing will be rewarded with a little bit of work. This has worked for Peanut and may not work on another. Peanut's special

 

[HersheyMint]

My vet told me the same thing." Mini would not be a mini if they didn't go up" My gelding, Hershey has only done this when stressed, like when the vet is here.