# Too fast!



## Dare2dream ersgirl (Feb 10, 2010)

Hey everyone, 

i have an older Arabian, appaloosa, and we go out on the trails next to our house quite often. Whenever im heading out she does great head low, perfect energy, soft and stuff, but once we turn around to go home everything goes down hill. She speeds up and tries to trot or gallop home. She never actually gets away with it cause i am a good enough rider that i have it under "control". But i really want a way to make her more comfortable on the way home, so that she doesn't feel like she needs to rush. It happens whenver she is or isn't with other horses.

thank you!


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## sandy2u1 (May 7, 2008)

My horse gets in a hurry on the way back, too, but not because he is uncomfortable or anything, but because he knows we are headed home and wants to hurry up and get there. The only thing I have found that helps is circles, circles and more circles. Somebody else might have a better solution, but that works for me. It helps also if you don't let them open up and run back to the barn. I've done that a time or two . It was fun but that makes it all the more harder when you don't want to run home.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

My horse is pretty good going home. Usually just a nice energetic walk. If I did have your problem, I would probably just turn him and walk away again for a good 5 minutes before turning back around. Maybe after a few times of that, a little cause and effect might set in.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

MyBoyPuck said:


> If I did have your problem, I would probably just turn him and walk away again for a good 5 minutes before turning back around. Maybe after a few times of that, a little cause and effect might set in.


This is good to do, or you can even just stop and make her stand for awhile as a patience excercise. Be consistant and be prepared for this to take lots of repetition.


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

In addition to the above good advice, I've also just kept on going past home ( the trailer in my case) and rode for a couple of miles in the opposite direction.


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## Brighteyes (Mar 8, 2009)

My old mare use to do that. I tried circles, but they just didn't seem to work. After some struggle, I decided to nip it at the bud. Horse wants to go home? I'll make it so horse wants to do anything but.

I went home in the typical struggling, circling fashion, but once I got to the field right before the barn, I jumped off and lunged her until she was about to drop. Then I got back on, trotted away down the trail which we had come from, and let her rest once we were far away. Soon, she started to associate coming home with work and going away with rest, so she never rushed back again.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

I have fixed some horses that are like this for people. What I do is slow the horse down to where I want it and then release the pressure on the reins. If the horse speeds up I pull it right back down again a release the reins. It doesn't matter if the horse takes two steps or ten steps or a hundred steps as soon as it gets too fast I pull untill there is a change in the feet and then I let the horse walk on. It takes time and it isn't the easiest thing in the world to do but it works the best for me.


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## Roxy (Feb 15, 2010)

Dare2dream ersgirl said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> i have an older Arabian, appaloosa, and we go out on the trails next to our house quite often. Whenever im heading out she does great head low, perfect energy, soft and stuff, but once we turn around to go home everything goes down hill. She speeds up and tries to trot or gallop home. She never actually gets away with it cause i am a good enough rider that i have it under "control". But i really want a way to make her more comfortable on the way home, so that she doesn't feel like she needs to rush. It happens whenver she is or isn't with other horses.
> 
> thank you!


Oh! I know what do to! My horse does that! Take her out and just do walking. Stop and start her HEAPS! Then, do trotting with stopping and starting heaps. And it's OK, she's comfortable, she's not doing that because she feels uncomfortable, she's just excited to get home!  She just wants to go back into her paddock! Also I just had a day of disciplining her. I also did the stopping and starting her on a lunge rope. And I just took my horse out and disciplined her when I found she was doing that and now she's good!  So try that. Hope it works. Seeya.  Goodluck.


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## Cheshire (Oct 17, 2009)

Everyone has given you great advice. Lilly used to be this way...to the point of prancing in place when I held her back. Circles did not seem to work with her, so whenever we approach home I make a point of walking past it once or twice, and usually just make her stand with me (mounted or dismounted) for a few minutes in the driveway or tied up to the hitching post before turning her out. Lately after returning from a walk or ride I remove the tack, groom her down and then work on getting her to square up, learn what "whoa" means and other ground cues.

After a while she began to learn that coming home did not necessarily mean she was going to be put up straight away and her barn-sour-yness is pretty much gone now.


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## CloudsMystique (Mar 3, 2009)

My gelding jigs on the trail (at all times, not just going home). I do pretty much what kevinshorses said.

When he starts going any faster than a walk, pull his nose into his chest until he slows down. As soon as he's at the speed you want, throw away your reins. Give him a TON of slack so he really gets the idea. As soon as he starts to speed up again, pull his nose back into his chest. Keep repeating this and he'll get the idea.

It took a long time for my gelding to stop and it was very frustrating, but it eventually worked and now it's wonderful to be able to set the reins over the horn and trust him to keep walking.

This way is simple and gets the point across. Personally, I disagree with the people who say to work him hard on the way home so he associates coming home with work. I think that will make him hate trail riding and make him want to go home even more. Also, I think associating coming home with working is too complex for a horse to understand. He'll associate the work with the trail ride, not just with trail riding in the direction of the barn. He'll end up hating the trails.


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## Cowgirl140ty (Jan 7, 2010)

My horse is the opposite. He is spunky and ready to go when I leave. But he hates goin home. He loves the trails to much. 



Brighteyes said:


> I went home in the typical struggling, circling fashion, but once I got to the field right before the barn, I jumped off and lunged her until she was about to drop. Then I got back on, trotted away down the trail which we had come from, and let her rest once we were far away. Soon, she started to associate coming home with work and going away with rest, so she never rushed back again.


^^^But I agree completely. Chances are she wants to get home to her home to relax. So make it a a place of work. Take her home and trot her in circles. Work her. Keep her feet moving and her guessing. And she will start realizing that home isnt really where she wants to be. Then to cool her down, take her down the driveway and let her relax away from her home. It has worked with mine.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

My new Foxtrotter wants to go fast coming home. I call it barn-sour! 

I mostly do what kevinshorses suggested, pull her down to the speed I want and then give her a slack rein, then repeat if she speeds up. She is doing really well now!

A few weeks back though, when I couldn't keep her ridden enough due to the weather, she would be so excitable going home that I had to do the circling thing, weaving in and out of bushes, etc. just to work some energy off of her. 

So all three of those methods (circling, going away from home, pull and release) work pretty well depending on how hyper the horse is. If she's really bad, then we go away from home and work up and down hills and around bushes until she listens and I work off some energy. (I think the circling is more for working off energy than slowing the horse down.) 

Then when she is calmed down to a dull roar, I turn for home again and try the "slow to the correct speed and release" method. What's funny about that is she will sometimes get excited and walk REALLY fast, but as long as it is a walk I give her loose rein. 

I tell her she can go as fast as she wants, as long as it is a walk. :lol:

Some rides I felt like I never got her calmed down where I wanted her to be, but usually the next day riding is uneventful, so I think the main cure is keeping them exercised. If they sit for weeks, well, it's almost like they can't help themselves.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

I also like to ride through the sagebrush and change directions. It makes them engage thier brain and lengthen thier stride.


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## Dare2dream ersgirl (Feb 10, 2010)

thank you everyone for the great replies!!! i have tried some of this..and found the stopping her while out and waiting till she relaxes then go again..and repeat until she gets the idea...she has days where it works then days where we have problems ahha but overall its working great! thank youu!!!


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