# Barn sour



## Dontworrybeappy (Jul 21, 2014)

My gelding gets really barn sour and also stall sour at shows. At home we will walk on the trail for about 5 mins and then he will turn around and try to go home, I ask him to keep going to forward and all he does is throws his head and when he does turn the direction I want him he immediately turns around. And in shows he always try's to go back to the trailer. When I try to do serpentines he keep turning and turns the way he wants to. Any advice?


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## Phly (Nov 14, 2012)

Circles, small fast circles that always end the way you want to go. 
I think of it like this, the way I want you to go is easier then you spinning in 6' circles all day. And I stick to it. Even if I want em to stand still. They get to moving around and round and round well go. It's way more work then walking straight or standing still. 

But keep your goals in steps. If you know how far they wanna go, just push the barrier a lil at a time.


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## Phly (Nov 14, 2012)

Another couple of things that can help, repetition, don't do it. 

It's great for good habits, but hard to fix for bad habits. 

Lil things, at a show, don't ride straight back to the trailer. Ride around the warm up or in the parking lot, even ride past the trailer and then dismount. And walk the horse to the trailer. 

How do you feed? We feed at a hitching rail, but sometimes we tie to the truck, maybe the trailer, been know to tie em to a tree to feed. Change things up is all I'm saying really. T


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Don't let him turn around and go towards home anytime he wants.....that is only reinforcing the bad behavior. Easier said that done, I know! But letting him turn around anytime he wants is a huge NO-NO and will only let him think he can continue to do it.


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## MysticTrev (Oct 2, 2013)

Yep, I agree with the above. Except for me i usually do figure 8's (If possible on the trail.) If not, then we do the spin, spin, spin. It works wonders. In fact we took a green horse out just the other day I used this several times while trying to cross a bridge that he REFUSED to cross. A few spins and he was loving to cross that bridge.


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## Dontworrybeappy (Jul 21, 2014)

Feeding: We call them from the field and they get their grain and hay 
The problem is with circle half way through it he will his head down so he can overpower me, I never let him win but its always a fight


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## Phly (Nov 14, 2012)

Dontworrybeappy said:


> Feeding: We call them from the field and they get their grain and hay
> The problem is with circle half way through it he will his head down so he can overpower me, I never let him win but its always a fight


Ok, THEY get grain and hay. Are THEY caught, separated and fed by you, when THEY act right? 
I come off harsh but I m not, actually the opposite, I've found little things that seem trivial can be huge. 


So over looked is the ground work. It's not the fun part, but it's the part that helps prevent your issues. Your horse should never try to over power you, or pack the bit and go. It's just training. Or a loose cannon horse. 

If you like I can tell you what we do.


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## Dontworrybeappy (Jul 21, 2014)

They get caught and fed, one of the horses has to be put into a stall because he snakes everyone's food away from them.
On the trails he grows his head down, and starts turning at the same time. He never a rears or bucks and I win ultimately .I would just like this problem resolved and stop kicking him at shows like I have to
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## TroyLynn (Aug 20, 2014)

I seem to remember a trainer (maybe John Lyons a long time ago) who said to head out down the trail and before your horse starts to pitch a fit, turn around and go back. I would add, when you go back, work the horse's butt off for a little while--don't let him rest. Then go back out a little further at a nice easy pace then turn around again before he gets worked up about going on and when you get back, get to work... repeating this until he realizes that home is where work happens, and out on the trail can be nice and enjoyable. Also, I never feed my horse directly at the conclusion of a ride when we get back home or to the trailer. 

When I am going to be out for a long time, I like to feed my horse on trail. That also gives him something to look forward to when he's away from his buddies.

These are just things I do or would do if I had a barn sour horse.


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