# Horse not wanting to return home



## Lins (Nov 8, 2011)

I have never ever heard of a horse not wanting to go back home :/ has he always been like this?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Yeah, usually it's the other way around; they don't want to leave the barn. 
It would make me wonder if something bad happended at the barn. Or, when out on the trails, do you let him graze, and so going home means leaving the grazing? or is there a scary thing he must cross to get there? Sometimes a horse can deal with a scary thing in one eye (going out) but not in the other eye (coming home) . 

Think about the circumstances to figure out what is causeing this emotional tantrum


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I had a little Morgan type pony that was that way. Wonderful little horse. 

I was more insistant than you, though, about going home when it was time to go home. Still, every ride, she looked to the hills a bit when we headed back. 

She was my all-time favorite horse to take checking large pastures. Enthusiastic the whole day.


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## franknbeans (Jun 7, 2007)

Hmmmm.....well, this is a new one. I think personally I would take him out to a big area you know is safe from holes, etc, and work him there. I mean REALLY work him. Then, when he has been worked, perhaps he will be happy to go home. This is the reverse for how I deal with one who is barn sour.....them I take out, then work HARD when we get back......you want to "make the right thing easy" (I know...cliche')......so you want the "right thing to be going home......make that easier than staying out and working. Hopefully you have such an area to try it in.


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## Tracer (Sep 16, 2012)

I have never heard of a horse who doesn't want to go home.

What franknbeans said seems like a good idea, make going out onto the trails hard work and enforce that going home is a good thing. Of course, you don't want this to the extent that he becomes barn sour or bolts home.

I'm looking forward to hearing how you manage this.


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## SoCalCowgirl (Nov 22, 2011)

Lins said:


> I have never ever heard of a horse not wanting to go back home :/ has he always been like this?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


the majority of the time it has been. Even when I do the whole trail and not come back early he acts up right before entering we enter the stables and does the same thing when we turn back early. I've only had him do trail since the beginning and summer and about 98% he acts this way, there has only been a small handful of times he doesn't misbehave. I have also tried going out with a group or horses and had him both lead, which he was happy to lead when going out, and tried to have him lead on the way back and he still did the same thing.

I've talked to other people at the barn and they've said the same thing, normally they want to go home, but not him.


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## SoCalCowgirl (Nov 22, 2011)

tinyliny said:


> Yeah, usually it's the other way around; they don't want to leave the barn.
> It would make me wonder if something bad happended at the barn. Or, when out on the trails, do you let him graze, and so going home means leaving the grazing? or is there a scary thing he must cross to get there? Sometimes a horse can deal with a scary thing in one eye (going out) but not in the other eye (coming home) .
> 
> Think about the circumstances to figure out what is causeing this emotional tantrum


Nothing has has happened at the banr. And once I do get him back by hand walking him, he instantly relaxes and returns to normal. Our trail is in a wooded park that leads to a dry riverbed and around to a row of houses. When I first started getting him used to the trail I handwalked him out and let him eat at the leaves on the ground and trees, as he's the type of horse when he spooks, he has to touch whatever he spooked at then he's ok. The ony problem area on the trail that i've been working on is the dry riverbed, as he acts the same way. This is also normally the area where I turn back around. To get him over the issues of the riverbed i've been walking him up and down and it and he has been improving there. And is calm when I get him back through the riverbed and head back into the wooded trail, and it's like as soon as he realizes we're heading home he starts throwing his tempertantrum. 

I also know he's not afraid of the woods because going out he's perfectly fine. Going off by what you're saying I'd say the riverbed would cause him to be emotionally upset, but even when I turn back earlier in the woods before he even acted up he still does the same thing. He also did the same thing on a new part of trail when we came home by the house trail and he was quiet up until the turn back into the barn, and we had also been with another horse. So he does this no matter if he's by himself, with a single, or group of horses.


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## SoCalCowgirl (Nov 22, 2011)

boots said:


> I had a little Morgan type pony that was that way. Wonderful little horse.
> 
> I was more insistant than you, though, about going home when it was time to go home. Still, every ride, she looked to the hills a bit when we headed back.
> 
> She was my all-time favorite horse to take checking large pastures. Enthusiastic the whole day.


lol sounds like she liked being out in the open. I'm thinking that's the problem with my horse. I've had him for 8 years and never had taken him out on trail up until this summer. And its like wants to explore the whole world while he's out.

Your pony does sound like a fun little mare, despite her going home issues lol


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## SoCalCowgirl (Nov 22, 2011)

franknbeans said:


> Hmmmm.....well, this is a new one. I think personally I would take him out to a big area you know is safe from holes, etc, and work him there. I mean REALLY work him. Then, when he has been worked, perhaps he will be happy to go home. This is the reverse for how I deal with one who is barn sour.....them I take out, then work HARD when we get back......you want to "make the right thing easy" (I know...cliche')......so you want the "right thing to be going home......make that easier than staying out and working. Hopefully you have such an area to try it in.


I like your method, the only thing is there's no area to really ride. Our trail is in a community park and is surrounded by hundreds of trees throughout the park. During the figure 8 I would weave him around the trees and that did seem to help get his mind back into focus. Maybe I could work him like that because theres no real open space out on the trail that's safe, as we also have people riding bikes, dogs, and runners that use the trails as well.


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## SoCalCowgirl (Nov 22, 2011)

Tracer said:


> I have never heard of a horse who doesn't want to go home.
> 
> What franknbeans said seems like a good idea, make going out onto the trails hard work and enforce that going home is a good thing. Of course, you don't want this to the extent that he becomes barn sour or bolts home.
> 
> I'm looking forward to hearing how you manage this.


lol hey, at least barn sour would be progress  I go down and ride 4 days a week and go out on the trails every time, so next time i go I'll let you know how things went.


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## Allison Finch (Oct 21, 2009)

The stallion in my avatar wasn't even put under saddle until he was seven. He spent his life in a paddock until I started training him. There was NOTHING he enjoyed more than being ridden....anywhere.

When I started trail riding, he was the same. He just wanted to go forward, to new places. He had an insatiable curiosity. He did not like to turn around either, though his behavior was not as extreme as your horse's.

What is your horse's home life like? Is he stalled 24/7?


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

Yep, sounds like you have a horse that really enjoys being outside and going somewhere who really doesn't want to go back to his stall. Not sure how many miles of trails you have but I would think the best way to fix this is ride his butt off on those trails. He'll reach the point where he's tired enough that resting for a bit sounds good and will be ready to go back.


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## franknbeans (Jun 7, 2007)

SoCalCowgirl said:


> I like your method, the only thing is there's no area to really ride. Our trail is in a community park and is surrounded by hundreds of trees throughout the park. During the figure 8 I would weave him around the trees and that did seem to help get his mind back into focus. Maybe I could work him like that because theres no real open space out on the trail that's safe, as we also have people riding bikes, dogs, and runners that use the trails as well.


Just to clarify-I am talking about much more than refocusing......I am talking about sweat dripping, begging to stop WORK. That way the barn becomes his place to rest. I do the same thing with horses who act stupid at something they have seen a gajillion times. We work hard everywhere else, and the only time they are allowed to go to that place is when they want to rest.

Obviously you don;t keep doing it once they "get it", but sometimes they do need a little "refresher".......:wink:


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

I had a mare like that. She would go absolutely anywhere except back home. I normally don't believe in giving treats when we get back to the barn, but I did with her. With my horse, I think it was because she was confined to a small paddock and was bored. When I moved her to a new location, she did much better. She ended up being one of the best trail horses that I ever rode. I believe that it you asked her, would have taken you through the pits of Hades just to see what was on the other side. 

Feed her a bit of something sweet when you get back home. Also, go on longer rides. She will most likely get better.


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## Silent one (Aug 22, 2011)

I had a National Show Horse gelding who was just like the one you are describing, he HATED to go home. Always wanted to see what was over the next hill or around the next bend.

I finally got him over it with LOTS of hard work. I mean, to the point where I absolutely couldn't wait to get off, LOL! He started to learn that going out meant lots of tiring work, and coming home meant a nice rubdown with lots of treats and rest. Took a while but he turned out to be an awesome trail horse.

I sold him to some friends of mine. He still loves to go out on trails and will go as long as you will, but has enough sense to go home now too.


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