History Main / RearingHorse

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[[SomewhereAnEquestrianIsCrying In real life]], it's a Very Bad Thing, and ''only'' experienced trainers should even get on a horse with a rearing habit.[[hottip:*:Please note that there is a difference between an actual rear and several of the dressage moves known as the Airs Above the Ground. One is on command, one is not.]] It is very easy to cause a rearing horse to fall over backwards on top of the rider, which can easily lead to serious injuries or even death.

[[SomewhereAnEquestrianIsCrying In real life]], it's a Very Bad Thing, and ''only'' experienced trainers should even get on a horse with a rearing habit.[[hottip:*:Please note that there is a difference between an actual rear and several of the dressage moves known as the Airs Above the Ground. One is on command, one is not.]] It is very easy to cause a rearing horse to fall over backwards on top of the rider, which can hurt easily lead to serious injuries or even death.

* ''TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'': In "Paw and Order", Winnie-the-Pooh as [[CostumedNonsuperHero the Masked Bear]] tries to do a Zorro-style dramatic rear with Eeyore twice. On the first go he falls off. The second time he pulls it off, but then falls off almost immediately afterwards as Eeyore walks away.

** It is a generally held belief that the number of legs on the ground in an equestrian statue symbolize the way the rider died: one leg up meant the rider was wounded in battle, both front legs up meant he died in battle, all four legs down means he died of non-battle related causes. Not all statues follow this convention, such as the Jackson example above.
** And in fact any that do follow this 'convention' are coincidental - as the story is [[http://www.snopes.com/military/statue.asp completely unsubstantiated]].

* Artwork depicting a general or head-of-state on a rearing horse was a symbol of power in the 17th century. The most famous example is perhaps [[http://newyork.untappedcities.com/files/2011/04/napoleon-horse.jpg this]] painting of NapoleonBonaparte.

It looks wild, powerful, liberating, and, yes, [[RuleOfCool cool]]. It ends up appearing in many cowboy movies, historical movies and European coats of arms. In heraldry the pose is referred to as "rampant" and is so popular that it is applied to pretty much any four-legged animal, including lions, wolves, and even mythological creatures like griffins. Technically, in heraldry, a rampant animal will stand on its left hind leg, with the three other legs elevated off the ground. The rearing pose also appears on some equestrian statues, although contrary to popular myth, the horse's pose has no relation to how the rider died.

* Strangely, one hero's mount does this way off in the distance in Ralph Bakshi's ''{{Wizards}}''. What's strange about it is that mounts in the film only have two legs, so [[FridgeLogic what exactly was the mount kicking out in front of it]]?

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* This is a manoeuvre frequently used in ''Literature/TwentyYearsAfter'' to save the rider.

* ''FinalFantasyXIII'': Lightning's Eidolon transforms into a horse, which does this in a recently released official image without a saddle or reins (possible with strong legs and good balance, but in Lightning's case it's more likely that she's using her gravity manipulation powers).

* Subverted in the novel ''Sovereign'' by CJ Sansom. It turns out the protagonist's horse has been delberately injured to make it do this as a murder attempt, and the character thrown off breaks his leg.

* Happens in ''Film/TheLordoftheRings'' film when Aragorn and his army are at the Black Gates at the end of a RousingSpeech. According to the DVD Commentary, [[ThrowItIn this happened entirely by accident, but Viggo Mortensen stayed on the horse and it looked good so they kept the shot.]]

* Spanish Riding School in Vienna trains horses and riders to do awesome tricks like this.

* In StanleyKubrick's classic ''BarryLyndon'', the protagonist's son tries this at home. He falls off.

* Happens in ''TheLordoftheRings'' film when Aragorn and his army are at the Black Gates at the end of a RousingSpeech. According to the DVD Commentary, [[ThrowItIn this happened entirely by accident, but Viggo Mortensen stayed on the horse and it looked good so they kept the shot.]]

* ''Main/SleepyHollow'' has this occur several times with the Headless Horseman's steed.

* ''BlackBeauty''! It's on the freaking cover!

* In StanleyKubrick's classic ''BarryLyndon'', the protagonist's son tries this at home. [[ItGotWorse He falls off]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Gun}}'' features this, not just for effect, but to trample enemies on foot. It even knocks mounted enemies off their horses.

* ''{{Angel}}''. Holtz makes a dramatic entrance in a flashback to Rome 1771. Likely it was the presence of evil vampire Angelus that caused the horse to rear.

* In one of the ''[[SixteenThirtyTwo 1632]]'' side-stories, a Grantville American is leading the defense of Prague (on a borrowed horse) one of the other Americans tells him to do this to inspire his troops. He flat out refuses (being a decent rider, but a 50-odd year old jeweler) he does agree to wave his plumed hat.

* In ''AssassinsCreed'', you can get your horse to rear as well. Makes for some truly impressive shots when doing it on the bluffs overlooking Jerusalem...

* ''PowerRangersSamurai'': Jayden's conjured horse when he rides in to take charge of his team in "Origins".

* Velazquez's portrait of [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Retrato_ecuestre_del_conde-duque_de_Olivares%2C_by_Diego_Vel%C3%A1zquez.jpg Count-Duke of Olivares]]. Velazquez was fond of this, he has several --more downplayed-- portrayals of the spanish nobility in this way.

* In ''[[{{Discworld}} Going Postal]]'', Moist Von Lipwig and Boris the horse get themselves splashed all over the front page of the newspaper in this pose.

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* Mr. Bison from ''Film/StreetFighter'' is featured in a painting that is just the abovementioned ''Napoleon Crossing The Alps'' [[http://www.cerumen.cl/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/tumblr_ly3dzy2wEr1qghhwyo1_500.jpg after a switcheroo]].

** Happens as well on the title screen from ''OcarinaOfTime''.

* In {{Stanley Kubrick}}'s classic ''BarryLyndon'', the protagonist's son tries this at home. [[ItGotWorse He falls off]].

* Happens in ''[[{{TheLordoftheRings}} The Lord of the Rings]]'' film when Aragorn and his army are at the Black Gates at the end of a [[{{RousingSpeech}} Rousing Speech.]] According to the DVD Commentary, [[ThrowItIn this happened entirely by accident, but Viggo Mortensen stayed on the horse and it looked good so they kept the shot.]]

* Lancelot in the episode named after him does this on ''{{Series/Merlin}}'' just before he kills the griffin.

* You can do almost the same thing in ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess]]''.

* This happens in some of the critical hit animations in the ''{{Fire Emblem}}'' series. FridgeLogic ensues when you realize that even more damage could be done if the horse reared and pummeled the opponent in the middle of the attack, rather than the beginning.

* ''Gun'' features this, not just for effect, but to trample enemies on foot. It even knocks mounted enemies off their horses.