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Had a 3 year old 14.2 hand quarter horse flip over on me about 20 years ago. Worst thing that has ever happened to me injury wise. Crushed my pelvic area. Couldn't afford to go to the hospital so I tuffed it out. Crippled for 3 weeks. My mistake was allowing the horse to choose the direction that he would turn or in this case not turn but flip over backwards. He was afraid of the sound of another horse on the other side of a row of eucalyptus trees that he couldn't see. I sat there thinking I would turn him if he made a move. Didn't dawn on me that he would come over backwards instead of jumping left or right. A small horse can flip over backwards quicker than a larger horse. Hind sight I should have directed his nose either left or right to begin with so he wouldn't have been able to flip straight over backwards. That was my hardest lesson ever learned. Some people have been killed by horses flipping over or permanently maimed. Took me 3 years of getting in the saddle to get over the mental shock. Turned out that the horse wasn't any good outside of a fence in the country (always looking for lions tigers and bears). He was great inside of a fence sorting cattle and roping. When they freeze up direct their nose so you can see one eye or the other. Never let the horse decide. Had 27 years of experience when this happened.
I have some what of a sore spot when it comes to horses that flip. I bought one and when I asked the seller if he had anything that he does I should be concerned about, she looked down at the ground and said no. I was riding him a few days later and he kept rearing up but not high but then he pinned his ears and flipped himself over and he landed on my leg and broke it in three places. Number one I wouldn’t suggest just anybody work with flippers it should be a qualified horse trainer. This is not something just anybody should try to work out with little or no experience on how to accomplish this or how to get off and away from the horse if it does flip.
Good Morning, Any issues should always be told to who ever is buying the horse. I have worked with behavior issues in horses for that past 32 years and he is a good boy he just needs time and help to work him through this issue. At any rate since I have posted this video there are a lot of people interested in wanting to have me solve the issue. Every horse out there today that has issues can be solved, it is just a matter of time working with the horse
Like you say here, it would be 6 months of training to get this guy to not think about flipping over. It's a long term process, not a quick fix. The horse needs to change his mind, and his mind has already decided that flipping over is a solution to a problem (the problem probably was being ridden badly in a harsh bit, but now he just sees being ridden as a problem). Lots of going forward, but also backing up more freely, helps these horses who get "stuck" and think there's no other way out except up
Wow. I wish you the best of luck working with him and I really hope you help him with that flipping. I also completely understand why the person who owns him is not interested in taking him back (it sounded that way to me), but it's the responsible thing to do to have a professional work with him. That flipping over would be a deal breaker for me, but that's me. Any horse is capable of rearing up and flipping backwards but it sounds like this stinker figured out it's a sure way to get someone off his back and stop working. Such a dangerous vice.
