Alright, this may sound stupid to some people, but I've always wanted to teach my horse to rear on command. My biggest problem is that the horse I want to train is EXTREMELY laid back (a very good thing), and sometimes lazy. I've had her for 6 years and have seen her rear once. I'm just wondering what I could do to make her rear, so that I can teach her. Any ideas?

BTW, the mare is 11 years old, and there is no chance of rearing becoming a vice if I teach her. She's very calm, soft, and obedient.

My advice? PLEASE DON'T!

I had a Paint when I was a teen that would rear on command, using the word "up" and just a slight change in how I asked with the reins (vs a backing request)
The problem is, it can be dangerous for both you and your horse...and should anyone else ever ride him, it could be a disaster if they do not know the cues and it comes unexpectantly. Not to mention, your horse can easily loose his footing as your weight throws him off balance. Additionally, a very layed back horse probably wouldn't be easy to teach this to.
In my case, I had a horse that would already rear...so I just refined it so he would only do it on request. Had I the chance to do over again though, I would not repeat it.

I had a desire to train my horse to rear once. Its a neat trick but the fact that the trick riders don't have trouble teaching their horses to do it dosn't mean its right for you. I have a 20 yr old mare who is bombproof and willing that I wished to teach to rear. I mentioned my idea to my farrier who is also a trainer and the first thing he said was "well I realize the mare is calm, obediant and isn't likley to rear out of turn, but are you the only one who rides the horse?" well no I'm not, I give lessons to a few kids on her and she totes my non horse oriented friends around somtimes. My farrier was quiet for a bit and then replied. "Well all those trick horses you see rearing up under saddle are most often ridden by only one person who knows the cue, the horse and what to expect. Even if you tell the lesson kids 'don't give this cue otherwise she'll rear' they may accidentily do so. So unless you want to retire your horse from being a lesson horse and make her you personnal trick horse which no one else rides, then don't teach your horse to rear." He also pointed out the fact that I had only 3 yrs of actual horse training expeirience under my belt at that time (which he explained was much different then riding expeiriance when I protested sted that I'd had horses most my life) and that certainly wasn't enough to go around teaching horses potentially difficult and dangerous tricks. Needless to say I didn't teach the rear. But if your heart is set on it relize that its "your horse" now and no one elso should take her for a spin.

My mare will do just about anything for me, but nothing for anyone else. My husband even has a hard time with her. We were out riding with some friends last fall, and he was riding my mare. I was riding a horse that needed quite a bit of work, so I was taking everything slow. The people we were riding with were galloping around an open field, and my husband wanted to gallop too, but try as he might, he could barely get her into a slow canter and definitely no faster. I hadn't been able to gallop all evening because of the horse I was on, so I had him hold the horse I had been riding and I got on my mare. A squeeze of my legs and she was off. I was even racing some of the other riders.
All I'm saying is, once in a while I do let others ride her, but I have to be right by her side or she won't do a thing for them. Granted, if someone who trains horses rides her, they can accomplish a little more. If she was trained to rear on command, I plan to make the cue something that will not be easily confused with anything else.

No offence ridecowgirl, but I cannot, in good concoius, tell you how. The dangers of you or your horse getting injured are real and outway any desires of teaching a hse to rear.
I wish you luck and safety.

I understand - no offense taken. Right now I'm teaching her to bow, so we'll see how that goes first. I have a lot of work to do on my gelding so I don't know if I'll even get to it.

Bowing! I am working up to that right now with my horse. My horse will kiss and hug right now and I hope to progress to the bow. When I first started trick training this winter I tried to start with the bow but every time I asked her to let her leg rest on the ground she would lean back like she was going to let me get her down and then she would take a big hop backwards to regain her balance on the three legs. I had hobbled the fourth leg up. I've done a bit of searching on the subject and i have Carole's book Tirckonometry which says to do basic tricks first to help the horse undertsand the reward system but even after a few tricks my mare still won't bow. How are you teaching your horse to bow?

Try using a carrot or other favorite treat..hold it up between their front legs while holdin one foot up, then slowly coaxing their nose down to the treat between their legs...this should help set them up for the bow and makeit more enticing good luck. (and don't forget to give them the trewat for the tinyest try at first..asking for just a little more with each new try.)

I started her the way MustangBlue just said, but it really put me in an awkward position. I trained her to back up when I applied very slight pressure on the front of her shoulder(chest), so I lift up her leg and with my other hand ask her to back up. For a while she did what you described your horse doing - getting almost to the ground and then sliding back. I rewarded her when she tried, but when I knew that she knew what I wanted, I didn't give her a treat until she went all the way to the ground. I still haven't figured out how to get her to pick up that leg on her own, so if anyone has any ideas I'm open.