I need help with a barn sour horse...?

Question

I have a quarter horse that is extremely barn sour. He will go through anything and is an awesome trail horse once you get away from the house. But he will practically knock you off on trees trying to get back! He is a 13 year old gelding and I've had him for about 1 1/2 years. Thanks for any help.

hey Balthor...barn sour means they WANT to go back to the barn-not that they are scared of it.

Answer 1

Take a day when you have plenty of time. As others have said when he starts to speed up spin him around and go the other way. Be ready for him. I had a neighbor gal terrified of her "free" horse once because he knew he could scare her. She rode with a hackamore and when he'd get a quarter mile or so away from home he'd reach over and grab the shank in his teeth...then run off. That would be dangerous enough but in the flight home they crossed and went along a road. She couldn't outpull him. I broke him of it without hitting him with a whip and without pulling on him. He had a tizzy - but learned. Unfortunately the damage was done - she was too afraid of him to get on and go riding and it wasn't long before he disappeared.
When you get home turn around and go back out. Take him to a shady area or in the barn and tie him, saddled, then go out in a half hour or so and take him out again. Take him out then come back and (as I've described elsewhere) use control circles and patterns which make him WORK. Then take him out for a leisurely short ride. When he figures out the barn doesn't mean getting time off he'll quit being in a hurry. I've had a few like that - a pony who would run off; a saddlebred who learned to squat and bolt (and he could outsprint a quarter horse for a short distance too!).
It takes persistence and patience but it can be done. Good luck

Answer 2

Start by walking your horse out of the barn. Only walk him about 10 feet from the barn door, then immediately turn in a circle and walk directly back in the barn. Repeat this again, but this time walking 11 feet away from the barn. The next time, walk 12 feet from the barn, and so on. Begin to notice the exact instant he becomes excited, and turn and go back to the barn 1 second before he does. What you are doing here is walking the horse away from the barn and returning back to the barn before he can even begin to get excited about it, or begin to ignore your cues.

Each time you walk away from the barn, see if you can walk a couple feet further before the horse begins to become excited and/or begins to ignore your cues. If, at any point in this training, the horse rushes, doesn't listen to your cues, pushes or becomes excited, it means you have taken him too far and too soon. You'll need to go back to the point in training when he does listen to you, and doesn't become excited. If this means the you must go back to only walking 10 feet from the barn, then you must to that. Then work up slowly from there.

Answer 3

I've been told the cure for barn sourness is to make the horse walk back to the barn. Every time she tries to hurry in turn her around and ride around another 15 minutes. Then try to walk her in.
If she seems really uptight take her in a big circle at an extended trot. It may take a long time but eventually she will decide all this work is no fun and walk in for you. Don't give up and take your time.

Answer 4

My mare used to have this problem, so instead of unsaddling when I got back to the barn, I'd take her in the arena, round pen, or if that's not available, just ride around the barn area, so they get the idea that even though they're home, their work is not necessarily over with. Just a few minutes works wonders, just walking, circling, etc I also did the whole turn her around and walk in the opposite direction when she went to fast heading home..all of this together seemed to help a LOT...also, I found that she seemed to think getting home faster got her to her grain faster (which it did) so I stopped graining her directly after the ride...this helped immensely, and we've had seven years of absolutely no barn sour problems. :-) Hope you two find a solution that works for you!

Answer 5

Turning him around every time he tries to break out for the barn and just standing untill he settles will help. Also remember never to feed your horse right after returning home because if they think food is at the end of the trail you will have a very difficult time stopping this behavior.

Answer 6

Clinton Anderson advocates using the method of working the horse once he returns to the barn or home until he gets the idea that getting home doesn't mean he is put away and fed, etc. I also like the idea of going back out repeatedly and then on the way home if he is acting crazy about wanting to get home..spin him around and head back out and or work him in circles until he settles down and is ready to walk back in. I am currently working through this problem with my Tennessee Walker...he is really bad once I turn for home! I think consistency is key to success and riding him every day which is my problem..it is only about 2-3 times a week so my progress is slow. I am also working him at home (I don't have an arena so use his field) to get him more responsive to my aides...ie; stop means stop and then back up, one rein stops and disengage the hindquarters and etc. because these are important to me when he starts being crazy out on the trail wanting to get back home. Clinton says a horse should be thoroughly schooled and responsive before you ever attempt to ride out on him...I agree! Hope this helps ... go to youtube and watch alot of Clinton's videos ..also on RFDTV his weekly show...I love his training methods..fair for the horse, easy for the rider to understand and most of all effective.

Answer 7

My sister had a horse that did that--only she had a thing for bucking you off! Scraping you off on trees was her second choice. I liked the answer about turning the animal around and walking back and working for another 15 minutes. That will work. I just wanted to add for clarity: you must do this each and every time he tries any funny stuff. You may want to carry a crop for a while. Or wear spurs--all mine needed was to HEAR them jingle to behave. Sometimes some controlled, well managed punishment is necessary. Always stop him, tell him no, and then either punish and or walk him back. This may take several weeks. But pick the punishment, and the walking and do it every single time--without fail. With horses, its all about repetition.

Answer 8

When you turn to go home. If he starts to act up spin him around and head away from home or work him in large circles and do walk/trot transitions and directions changes until he steeles down. Head for home again and evey time he acts up work him on the cirlces or head back out.
Pick a day when you have lots of time.
Keep doing this every time you ride and he will get the idea. It will take some time but it works very well.
My mare was like your horse and now she will walks home really nicely becasue if she does not she has learned that I will work her forever if I have to.
Good Luck.

Answer 9

If you get off @ your house dont anymore cuz he might just want to get u off his back. Get off a little before. Or have lots of fun on the trails all the time. Maybe you have the saddle on wrong. Maybe the saddle is pinching him so he knows that when he gets home he gets his saddle off. Also he might just be a spoiled brat so yeah.

Answer 10

My husband breaks horses and My children rodeo along with me and my husband the first thing you should do is lung lung desenceitize him all over again and basical reteach him his manors and if not you need a real good cowboy to run him in the dirt but being 13 he is set in his ways and habits are habits so good luck with him...