# I need help with a horse balking.



## ParaIndy (Sep 10, 2012)

My Arabian, Paragon, has a bad habit of balking when he doesn't want to go somewhere. It is only when we are riding at home and only when I am mounted. As soon as I dismount, he will follow me almost anywhere. I have tried kicking him really hard, using a crop, and a few other things. How do I get him to move with out having to dismount? He has tried bucking a few times, but I don't let him get his head down very far so he stops trying. I don't think it is pain, because the saddle seems like it fits him really well and he only does it at home, anywhere else when I am riding him in the same saddle he is fine. Thanks!


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## oh vair oh (Mar 27, 2012)

Pivots and spins. Usually it's like beating a mule (no offense to mule owners, I think they are lovely xD) to get a horse to go forward when he has planted his feet. So sit down low, open your outside rein, put your inside leg on, and smack that shoulder. Pull him around into a pivot/spin is my secret weapon for balky horses. Then I just keep them going in circles (they can't buck), until they get ramped up and send them forward as fast as I can with a crop on the butt, lol.


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## 4everiding (Jul 3, 2012)

I'm glad to hear that someone else has the same problem as me, though I'm not happy that it's happening to you...it's frustrating! Dies it happen in the same spot?

My TB does this when he doesn't want to do something, he knows the jumps on the side of the ring are not going to jump and kill him but he knows he can balk at them, stop and that no power in the world can get him to go forward.

I do side passes, shoulder-in, spirals to make sure my horse is focused on me and then when I go past the horse eating jumps, I ask him to shoulder-in before he even thinks about those jumps and it's no fuss...it's prevention rather than cure. Prevent the problem before it happens. I would find what makes your horse slow down and focus on you and then when you are riding ask for that before you get to her "scary area of doom".


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## ParaIndy (Sep 10, 2012)

Thanks! I will try turning him in circles next time he does that, oh vair oh. And 4everiding, he does it mostly in the same spot, going around his "scary" corner. Thank you so much for the advice!


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

Balking is a sign of resistance and is (as noted here) typically fear based. 

You may have brought his horse along in his training faster than he can tolerate (creating fear) or he may be very green and is so unsure of himself he simply stops. The horse sees it as the safe thing to do. 

Balking can become very habitual and can be very difficult to fix.


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

Keep his feet moving in the general direction that you want. Forward, sideways whatever - as long as he moves safely and in the direction you want. Over time that will morph into moving nicely.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## ARTEMISBLOSSOM (Apr 3, 2011)

I had this problem with my appy when i first got him. It wasn't that he was afraid it was that he simply didnt want to go where i wanted him to. This typically happened when we were trail riding alone and came to a spot where the trail split off in 2 directions. If I turned him in the direction he wanted to go all was fine but if I wanted to go on a different trail than he wanted he would plant his feet. I spun him in small circles both directions just to get his feet moving and he soon realized it was much harder doing that then moving forward. Now when he hesitates at a fork in the trail I just say "NO" and squeeze with my legs and he walks on. It only took about 3-4 times to change his behavior.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

If he only does it at home then it isn't fear based. In the UK we call it 'napping'. Its a resistance to work because he thinks in his mind you will give up and he knows his field or barn are close by
Sometimes its caused by being ridden inconsiderately but whatever the cause he needs to realise that you wont give up and that he can enjoy work
I've found that using a whip on these sort often makes things worse and they will either spin and bolt back to the yard or start a rearing and bucking routine
Getting his mind to think about something else is the best way to deal with him - as Clinton would say (And I'm not a follower of anyone but he is right on this) get his feet moving and make the other side of his brain work
Turning him around in small tight circles, constantly changing direction will force him to concentrate on that and not on going home
Dont forget to talk to him, establish a good relationship with him on the ground so that he understand verbal commands and then use these from the saddle - it does sound as if you have already made a good start there so just keep reinforcing it. he trusts you, now he needs to respect you


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## Foxtail Ranch (Mar 10, 2012)

It sounds like barn sour. My mare did that and small circles got her out of it. We have an Appy that balks whenever he decides he is done, and small circles just made him worse, and then you couldn't even get a circle out of him. So with that behavior I jumped off and lunged him there on the trail til he was willing to work again. Took 4 times one day but since that day he has been a good, willing worker.
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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

A true balker will not move PERIOD.. Any direction at all. Very difficult to fix. 

Train a default move that you can always ask for any where at any time (like a right turn). Teach that ad nausem. When your horse balks, try asking for the default (redirects his mind) and then ask him to move forward again. 

The default is always a "safe" thing for the horse to do and can redirect him from resisting.


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

I know someone who just sits and out-waits the horse. Then makes them stand and wait for longer, and then continues on their way. Works with nearly every horse. Some of them take hours, some only a few minutes, but they nearly always end up getting so sick of standing still that they want to get moving again. I don't know that I would do it (gives the horse what it wants) but hey, what works for the individual...

I just get off and lead. My gelding only balks if there's something terrifying in front of him, and if I get off and go first, he'll follow me into anything. My filly is balky too at the moment but she's 2 (not under saddle yet don't worry) and hasn't seen much, so I encourage her to move forward, and then flick her with the end of the lead rope.


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## ParaIndy (Sep 10, 2012)

tiffanyodonnell said:


> It sounds like barn sour. My mare did that and small circles got her out of it. We have an Appy that balks whenever he decides he is done, and small circles just made him worse, and then you couldn't even get a circle out of him. So with that behavior I jumped off and lunged him there on the trail til he was willing to work again. Took 4 times one day but since that day he has been a good, willing worker.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I have noticed that he only balks going away from home, but on the way back he is fine. He is also a lazy, stubborn horse by nature, so I don't think its fear.


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## hberrie (Apr 28, 2012)

My horse also balks at almost anything heading away from the barn and nothing going towards it. I think a small part of it is fear and a large part of it is laziness/stubborness. He is definately underconfident, but i know when he is just being touch and barn sour as opposed to scared. I turn him to the right and circle if we are along a road. if we are on trails I sit deep and close my legs to keep him from moving backwards. Then I ask him to go forward. If he does not respond I don't let him move in any direction unless it is forward. This seems to work, as he gets the idea that if he doesn't go where I want him to he is never going home either lol. Of course this "wait it out " method only works where there is no traffic to contend with.


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

That's the other reason my gelding balks, OP. If he hasn't been worked for a while and I go to take him out he plants his feet and won't move unless I have spurs and/or a whip. Considering I don't ride with a whip any more, and haven't for quite a long time, spurs are my only option. That, or staying home for the first few rides when I bring him back into work after a break.


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## Foxtail Ranch (Mar 10, 2012)

My gelding that balks was also poor at transitions from w/t and t/c. We worked on those transitions and when he picked up quickly I rewarded him with rest. He is much better now. He also only balks on the way out, and only at home, not when we trailer to a trail. He doesn't balk with me anymore or my friend who rides him often. She wears spurs with him. I don't but I don't have to, he moves for me now. This is one of those problems that i dealt with directly when it happened and then it's solved. He doesn't try it anymore.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Foxtail Ranch (Mar 10, 2012)

I retread the other replies about it being resistance and/or fear based. Roudy hasnt balked in a long time since i got off and made him lunge 4 times that day ... With one exception. We were packing into Seven Lakes Basin and took the Pacific Crest Trail around Devils Peak. It was very steep and narrow. Roudy was leading the group and was ponying a pack horse. He stopped and I'm sure it was fear. We were all afraid! His rider got off and led him and he was fine. But I don't blame him for stopping that time!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## ParaIndy (Sep 10, 2012)

tiffanyodonnell said:


> I retread the other replies about it being resistance and/or fear based. Roudy hasnt balked in a long time since i got off and made him lunge 4 times that day ... With one exception. We were packing into *Seven Lakes Basin and took the Pacific Crest Trail around Devils Peak.* It was very steep and narrow. Roudy was leading the group and was ponying a pack horse. He stopped and I'm sure it was fear. We were all afraid! His rider got off and led him and he was fine. But I don't blame him for stopping that time!
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Ok, this is so weird! I rode on that EXCACT same trail last year on Paragon! It was SO fun!


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