# barn sour horse



## hberrie (Apr 28, 2012)

My horse seems to be getting more barn sour the more I take him out instead of less. I used to be able to get him to walk down the road from the barn undersaddle and he may be apprehinsive but I could keep him moving forward. Now I almost always have to dismount and lead him down the road until I get to a safe place with no traffic where I can continue the struggle under saddle. After we get about a 1/4 to 1/2 mile away he becomes more pliable and the road home is never a problem as he is obviously eager to return home. On the way back I always turn him around and make him walk a little away from barn and he can't go home until he cooperates, but I don't know if any of this is working. Is it a bad idea to dismount and lead instead of staying in saddle? I have heard the advice to push, pull, or drag as long as you get where you want to go. Any other suggestions? Sorry so long.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

I have led them and had it work out ok. One thing for sure. I never give them a treat or any type of feed (except what they can get in the pasture) when I get home. Rewarding getting home makes things worse. I found this out the hard way. 

It would be really nice if you had somebody to ride out with you until your horse gets more confidence. My horse will go by herself. She is just a nervous wreck. The more we ride together, the more she seems to tolerate working alone.


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## hberrie (Apr 28, 2012)

thank you Celeste It would be nice to be able to ride with someone else but if you have read my other posts the only person I have has a greener horse than mine and she chooses to sedate her horse before trail rides. I feel like I make some progress as long as I get eventually get him out there it is just sometimes frustrating.My other concern is that if I go out with another horse he will become buddy sour. I actually think he got worse after I rode out with a friend on another horse. I want to be able to ride with other people and without. I made a BIG mistake today by taking my lead rope with no halter cause I couldnt fit it in my saddle bag. I hooked the rope under his chin and through both sides of the bit rings. He shied and I pulled and he reared because the rope was pinching him. I realized what was happeniong and let loose instead of pulling tighter and he came down and I removed the lead and walked him the rest of the way with just the reins. I learned from that mistake and will never do that again so please don't chastise me for it. HE HAS NEVER EVER REARED BEFORE SO PLEASE DONT CHASTISE HIM FOR IT , IT WAS MY FAULT AND I REALIZED IT IMMEDIATELY.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

Just so you don't let him get by with not going, he will probably eventually be fine. It takes a long time to make a great trail horse.


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## Paradise (Jun 28, 2012)

If he is getting worse, it definitely sounds like you are the problem. 

Check out Cherie's thread over in the training forum..
http://www.horseforum.com/horse-training/how-we-train-fearless-trail-horse-99776/


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

Paradise said:


> If he is getting worse, it definitely sounds like you are the problem.
> 
> Check out Cherie's thread over in the training forum..
> http://www.horseforum.com/horse-training/how-we-train-fearless-trail-horse-99776/


I just read Cherie's post. It has some good advice for sure.


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## hberrie (Apr 28, 2012)

I have read that post many times and have tried to follow their advice. I wonder if he is just getting more comfortable with the barn and his friends there because we have only been there for 4 months. If you think it is my fault can you give me some ideas as to what I may be doing wrong to cause this? I have really tried to follow others advice. I want my horse to enjoy our rides as much as I want to enjoy them. How do I make it pleasureable for him?


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

I don't know if you can make it pleasurable for him. He has to decide to enjoy it on his own. What you can do is to make him work. Then he will start to enjoy himself when he gets over his rebellion. 

One thing that has helped me a lot with my horse is working at home in the arena. She is getting better at responding to me at home and it translates into doing better on the trail. The horse that I am working with now is more difficult than ones that I have worked with in the past. She would prefer to be the boss. Just being consistent and riding her fairly often is starting to pay off.

Keep on riding him. Ride him often. He should get used to working for a living eventually. I work a job. I like my job pretty much, but after a vacation, I would rather stay home. I get used to being lazy and doing things on my own agenda. Once I get back into the swing of things, I don't really mind it so much. I suspect horses feel the same way.


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## hberrie (Apr 28, 2012)

Celeste I totally agree with you and it has been so danged hot that I have not ridden him much in the past 2 weeks. I should've expected him to digress but I thought that the break would do him good. I guess horses get as lazy as people do ha ha. I shouldn't get discouraged so quickly. thank you! i like your attitude because you really seem to understand people AND horses and are not so quick to place blame on one or the other like some people on here.


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## Mason72 (Jun 1, 2012)

i was reading that the Join Up Technique worked with barn sour and buddy sour horses. Not sure though never tried it.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

in all honesty i think you are making it to easy for him. 
these are the two ways i found that helped me with my barn sour horse.

riding away from the barn the minute he acts up we head back to barn and lunge. i mean lunge as in make it a hard work out!!! when he settles and is listening to you get back on and try to walk him down the path you originally wanted to go. if he acts up again repeat process. do not give him treats do not tell him he is a good boy until you get to your goal spot. ride a little bit past that then turn back. 

the other thing i have done which worked better for me was to work on bending. everytime he would try to turn back we did a good amount of bending until he showed he was actually doing the right thing then continue down the road. next time he did it we would bend again. however the way he turns his head to turn back is not the direction you want to bend him..you want to bend him the opposite way that his body orignally tries to turn. keep that up until you reach your destination. again do not praise him for anything until you get him to where you want to go.

you can also try getting off of him where ever he acts up and lunge him in that place.but again no encouragement until you get to the place you want to go. 


but i also worked him in a roundpen before hitting the trail practicing with him to focus on me. if he cried out for another horse he had to bend when i was on him or if i was on the ground he had to change directions and work. once i was comfortable he understood both those were his way of having to work veruses just relaxing then when we hit the trail it was a bit easier to control his sourness and control it to move on.

goodluck

edit: also on the way back my trainer made me focus on making sure my horse didn't pick up his pace. if he did without me asking we turned back around and headed back down the trail until he calmed down then turn back for home. the minute he picks up speed we turn back around..etc etc. the horse should only move as fast as you want him to no matter what direction you are going.


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## roanrider (Jun 13, 2012)

If your horse does not want to do what you ask (walking away from home) then make him work harder, back him or make him do circles so that his options are to walk away or work harder, they generally figure out it is just easier to do what you ask. This has worked really well for me and my barn sour friends.


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## hberrie (Apr 28, 2012)

Thank you all for you responses I will keep trying until I find something that works


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