How To Break A Barn Sour Horse

A test that can drain even the best of horse trainers.
How to break a barn sour horse. Safety lies in numbers. Barn sour simply describes a horse that will take the rider straight back to the barn if he isn t restrained and sometimes even when the rider is trying to hold the horse back. Working with a barn sour horse can be the ultimate test of patience. Your goal is to get your horse listening to you without engaging in a battle of wills.
Try to stay close enough to the barn that your horse doesn t balk. If the horse is pulling your chain and just want s to go back to the barn this has always worked. Every horse is an individual and although there are good established principles and logical progressions in training it s important to deal with each horse as the unique creature that he is. How to cure a barn sour or herd bound horse.
Unfortunately in the midst of frustration or anger many handlers will make some fatal mistakes that exasperate the problem rather than lessen it. The difference between a buddy sour horse and a horse that willingly leaves the barn all comes back to respect. Instead of trying to force your horse down the trail when his attention is on the barn or a buddy he s left behind use your horse s preoccupation to teach him to leave willingly. Trying to force a horse in that situation might get you into a wreck.
Leaving the barn can be a sticking point for some horses. The worst cases are those where the horse runs full speed and doesn t stop until inside the barn thus the term barn sour. A barn sour horse is no fun not to mention dangerous. As you and your horse become comfortable working on these school figures increase the size and change the pattern gradually so that you work your way further from the barn.
Your goal is to stop just short of the point where your horse balks. Over a period of rides your horse should become more comfortable working further away from the barn. A rider assumes if he can get a horse down the trail then everything will be fine but if your horse doesn t mentally depart chances are he ll physically make a break for his comfort zone when he gets. With patience and persistence charles demonstrates how to work through a horse s resistance by closing escape routes.
Working with a barn sour horse part one by jeffrey rolo. Your barn sour horse becomes insecure when you ask him to leave the safety of his herd.