On the recommendation of friends I had taken my 5 yr old colt to a university here in Texas who had a excellent equine program. He was there for 3 months and when he came home he was an entirely different horse. My problem is that after a month and a half he became barn sour. I am looking for different opinions from you all as to how I should handle this as far as going back to the university and helping me solve this problem and any role that they may have in this. Thanks.
The only role they might have in it would be that your horse worked hard there, is very happy to be home, and associates the barn with not working.
I’d first look at what you’ve been doing with him since he came home. It’s tempting to overdo the work after your horse goes through such a transformation. After 3 months of intensive training, I’d have given him a month off from work…just turnout in pasture to let his mind relax and absorb all he learned in training. I think he may be ring sour as much as barn sour. I’d give him a break and not rush into anything yet. If he still has a problem after time off, then it may be something more.
I dont think they have anything to do with the horse being barn sour. And it is fairly easy to fix with some time and effort. I find the process hard to describe though…
All horse owners usually face this obstacle. What I do to remedy it is when they want to go back to the barn really bad, work them in small circles at the barn for about 20 minutes (or until they’re tired out). Work in small circles, do roll backs, do anything but just make sure to keep them working hard. Then, when they’re tired, move away from the barn (somewhere where you like to train anyway like the arena) and rest them. Keep doing this EVERY TIME until the problem is corrected. This gets the horse thinking, "gee, when I go to the barn I have to work my butt off but if I stay here (where you want to be) then I get to rest!" Also, if you’re in an arena a lot (not sure if you are) don’t get off your horse at the gate or at the barn. Stop your horse in the middle of the arena and walk them out. This also helps with that problem. Good luck!
its not there fault ..but it aint hard 2 fix
Other than becoming barn sour after 6 weeks of being home, was he well trained?
I agree with the other writers – I don’t think the barn sourness is a result of anything they did at the university. It’s just a horse’s insucurity about being away from his buddies and someplace where he feels secure and gets his food and water.
It is pretty straightforward to fix, and you already have a good description of one way to go about it.
One thing to keep in mind: When you set out to reschool him, do it when you have plenty of time and aren’t going to feel rushed to finish up. You have to take as much time as the horse needs to get to a point where he’s doing what you want, and then quit for the day. If you stop at a point where you’ve made no progress, then you’ve just reinforced the behaviour you’re trying to get rid of. It will probably take anywhere from 3 to 20 sessions to get him to quit trying to head back to the barn.
Sending him back to the university won’t really help, because once he’s back with you in you’re environment, he’ll revert. It’s an issue bewteen him and whomever is on his back (i.e. You).
Good luck and be determined!
P.S. One other quick note: when you do end a training session, after he’s untacked and cooled out, tie him up for a while. It will help if he doesn’t think that getting back to the barn equals freedom, food, and frolicking with his friends. (that alliteration was totally unintentional!)
Was this Texas A & M? At any rate, if it were my horse, I would call the University and ask. Would not hurt since you took the horse there in the first place.
Lin,
Often we can get wonderful trainers who do wonderful things for our horses, but if we lack knowledge or experience in WHY they do what they do and HOW we do it, we aren’t helping our horses at all – a trainer teaches a horse, sends it home, the owner undoes the training and the trainer must start all over again.
Quite often a horse becomes barn sour – and this is a general answer – because he equates what you are doing with him as work – it isn’t fun and at the barn is a more comfortable place to be.
One must understand the horse’s mindset – is he comfortable riding with you alone? Is he comfortable riding away from the barn area yet? Has he had the proper training to build confidence? Have you had the proper training with him to assist him and yourself in making your self the leader you should be?
Personally, I would suggest, if you are able to find one, to find a good, natural horsemanship trainer and clinician in your area. You are lucky enough in Texas to be in the epicenter of natural horsemanship trainers. We, here in Michigan, don’t have the luxury of many ranches and trainers in our area, we must search long and hard for good ones.
I am unsure if the university you contracted your training with is one that uses "natural" training methods or ascribes to it’s ideas. If so, you should be able to take your horse to that place and be trained together.
Barn sourness is a very common problem that should be able to be fixed easily.
I would also suggest purchasing books and videos – I know Western Horseman has a book all about problem solving which I’m pretty sure includes this problem to solve. The collective knowledge of the trainers they get to write usually use the methods so popular today in understanding the horses’ nature and getting him to understand what we want and getting us to understand how they view what we ask of them.
Watch for books, videos and shows on RFD TV by Clinton Anderson, Chris Cox, Craig Cameron, Dennis Reis, Pat Parelli – there are a lot more that I can’t think of right now.
Books by trainers like Buck Brannaman, Ray Hunt (he’s a biggie), Curt Pate, Mike Kevil – there are lots of them out there that will help you understand why your horse is doing that and how to fix it.
The basic fix will be about the same from all of them, perhaps with slightly different twists. Basically you must find the horse’s comfort zone – at what point does he begin to become uncomfortable leaving the barn area. Then, why is he not wanting to go? Does he spook and show fear immediately when he leaves that comfort area? A head held high, nostrils flared or quick looks one way or the other might tell this.
Is he uncomfortable with his headpiece or saddle? Does he pull your hands a lot, does he stick his tongue out, does he seem to hold his head behind the bit, does he hold his head inordinately high or low? These are all signs of bit resistance and if he’s not comfortable on the bit, he’s not having fun. FOr the saddle, does he step with short, choppy strides, does one stride seem longer than the other, have you done flexion exercises and does he seem stiff or flexible? These things might all be signs of an uncomfortable saddle or discomfort simply in your seat or how you hold your body.
You could even be the problem, do you tense up when you get so far from the barn? Even a slight stiffening of the spine the horse feels and equates to alarm – if you’re afraid, he won’t want to go farther either. I have to constantly consider my body – I have no reflexes in my right leg, therefore I ride rather heavy in left stirrup and perhaps poke with my right heel or my heel pops up taking the weight off my right side – so I’m lopsided and the horse definitely senses this.
If you are an adept rider, your tack all fits well – I would have to say he’s simply not liking going out. He’s either afraid and needs to be trained properly and you need to be trained properly to further his training to become confident in himself and you. OR he’s learned that when you get on and go away from the barn, he must work – perhaps you trot a lot or run a lot or there’s something you’re doing that he doesn’t find enjoyment in. Really, when a horse is out riding and he’s not pushed beyond what he’s comfortable accepting in terms of work and stress he will be happy to find new things. It’s a matter of figuring out what types of things he’s ready to tackle and helping him find success in tackling them.
Equate it to a kid in school. If you verbally get after a kid to do his homework, and he’s having a tough time with math or english, getting after him won’t build his confidence or get it done correctly allowing him to find reward in success. It’s a better alternative to sit down with that kid, learn what he’s comfortable with and help him find the right solution to grow his comfort zone. With one kid, this might be going through today’s problems step by step – with another it might be going through one or two problems step by step then letting them go – later, checking back to see how he did on his homework and celebrating his success will teach him how wonderful it is to tackle new things, learn and grow.
But – the bottom line is you must find a trainer that will work with both of you – perhaps even at your home a trainer might come out and instruct you on the proper things to do. It might cost you $100 to have one visit, but in the long run it’s $100 well spent that you likely won’t have to spend again – whereas if you send the horse back to the trainer, they don’t have your barn, your riding style and your background with the horse to get the same reaction – kinda like taking you car to get it fixed – it acts up over and over yet when you take it to the shop, it acts fine for the technician…….
Good luck!