Barn Sour

I am a beginer rider i have only been riding for about 2 years. I just recently got my 2nd horse he is a tennesse walker around his 20's when i ride him even in the pasture if he is not right by his barn I cannot keep his attention even when he is with other horses or keep turning him away form the barn, when I do so he tries to toss me off backwards. I even tried having another horse with him but it doesnt matter. I seriously want to throw the towel in but i made that mistake with the last horse I had and he has such a great peronality. Not only being barn sour if you take his halter off of him good luck trying to get it back on... and he will not strech his back feet out for me he tries kicking me, so how would i ever get him shawed. I feel that if i cannot even ride him in the pasture how would i ever ride him out of the pasture and have thought about returning hm back to his original owner but i love him so much. Please Help Me!!!!!!!!!

Can you walk him around & away from his buddies while you're on the ground?

Yea i can walk him till m heart is content but he just does not want to be ridden away from his home.....

First of all, can I suggest that you try to make your writing a little more clear. Your post was hard to understand. Some periods would help.


Because you have just gotten this horse, and he is older and set in his ways, it will take some time to work out the kinks. Remember that horses are not cars, stick in the key, turn it on and go. They've got personalities and plans of their own. So don't give up.
I think you need to get some coaching, at least in the beginning with this guy. Having someone there to guide you will give you more focus and confidence on teaching him to mind you in the basics. It seems to me that at this point, he hasn't decided to let you be the boss horse. So you will have to earn that and the first step is getting basic riding dominance over him.

Regarding the halter issue, I had the same kind of problem with Sierra over her fly mask. And what worked there was giving her her grain, and while she ate it, standing beside her (for days and days and days..)just gently rubbing her head, her face, her ears. It could be that his problem is a combination of being somewhat headshy, and knowing that if the halter goes on, he'll go away from his place of safety. The feeding and head rubbing will help him learn that you are a safe place for him to rest his horsey-soul. If it is more being headshy, you may find that you have to start lower on his neck where he is comfortable and then gradually work your way up to his sensitive zone and sneak in a little pet now and again and as time passes, spend more time in that area. If he was shown before and clipped regularly, particularly in the ears, he may remember the clippers and the twitch and all that nasty business and so figures that it is safer to keep you away from his head which as you know, means no halter. At least to him.

Now I don't do the showmanship thing, but it seems to me that if you are trying to get him to stretch out when he hasn't even agreed to let you put a halter on or ride with respectful attitude (on his part), you are fighting a losing battle. I would leave this alone until you have the other issues ironed out.

Just remember that the minute you feel yourself getting frustrated, back off by asking him to do something that you know he will do without a fight, even if it is only walk forward five or six steps, and then quit. That way he doesn't get the idea that he won on the hard issues. In his mind, you won because he gave in to the easy thing. And be kind, and fair in all things. Don't give up because it's tough right now. It will get better if you persevere.

Its seems like you need to punish him more. He is taking advantage of you. When picking up his feet, he tries to kick you, smack him real hard. Try again, he does it again, smack him again. Once you can pick his foot up without him trying to kick you even once praise him. With the halter thing, if he takes off when you take the halter off grab onto his nose and cut off his air supply, back him up as much as you can. Make him stand there and listen to you. Don't let him get away with pushing you around. That behavior is not acceptable.

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I agree that I need some help with him and with my confidence.... I think another reason he gives me problems is because of the fact that the last horse I had threw me off and drug me... So i get nervouse as soon as he makes any kind of quick move without my consent when i am on his back. About the halter thing i have tried many of times to put it on when he is eating but i guess he just feels that he is free when he is not weraing it.... although now that i have it on him i never take it off incase of an emercency.

Its seems like you need to punish him more. He is taking advantage of you. When picking up his feet, he tries to kick you, smack him real hard. Try again, he does it again, smack him again. Once you can pick his foot up without him trying to kick you even once praise him. With the halter thing, if he takes off when you take the halter off grab onto his nose and cut off his air supply, back him up as much as you can. Make him stand there and listen to you. Don't let him get away with pushing you around. That behavior is not acceptable.



I agree when he tries to kick me I grab right above the back of his hoove im not sure what its called but its his ankle and i squeeze it Im not sure if that is a smart thing but Ive tried it and he has gotten a little better but he still tried to walk all over me and pretend he is boss.... and hes not i am... yesterday after he tried to toss me my boyfriends sister who has been riding for a while tried working with him and once again he tried to throw her but even if he listens to her does not mean that he will listen to me... i feel that i have to make him listen and not anyone else. Anyways i lunged him afterward and he tried coming in after me kind of rearing up at me trying to kick but didnt take it to that far of an extreme

It can be very scary to be drug and I can definitely understand being afraid when he moves too quickly, unfortunately it sounds like he's playing it up.. he knows he can get away with things, so he's going to. Some horses love to test their riders, and it sounds like your boy is doing just that. If you give in, he wins... and it sounds like he's been winning a lot.
Do you have an experienced rider friend that can come over and do a tune-up? Sometimes that's all it takes.
Unfortunately, unless you can get very confident and adopt the attitude of "he will NOT do anything I don't tell him to do" it sonds like he's just going to keep pushing. You HAVE to push back twice as hard and make yourself the leader if you want results.
The kicking thing is NOT acceptable. Actually, all his bad behaviours are not acceptable, but this is a huge no-no. I would definitely do what Delete said in regards to the kicking thing. How is he for the farrier? Farriers generally are no-nonsense and won't put up with that, but if the horse tries too hard, some farriers won't work with them.

[Its seems like you need to punish him more. He is taking advantage of you. When picking up his feet, he tries to kick you, smack him real hard. Try again, he does it again, smack him again. Once you can pick his foot up without him trying to kick you even once praise him. With the halter thing, if he takes off when you take the halter off grab onto his nose and cut off his air supply, back him up as much as you can. Make him stand there and listen to you. Don't let him get away with pushing you around. That behavior is not acceptable.
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Horses, they are what you make them.]

Boy are you and I ever different in our philosophy on working with horses. While we agree on the one issue of not allowing dangerous behaviour, our methods in other areas are decidedly different.

First of all, you've got a beginner here and you are telling her to grab this 800-1000 lb animals nose and back it up. What! The only time I have ever beaten my horses is the very few times in the early years, that they tried to bite me. At that point, I follow John Lyons method, "for 15 seconds, beat them with a broom or the flat of the rake or whatever is at hand, and make them think that you are going to kill them, then stop and go back to whatever you were doing just before the bite attempt". Something like that.

You've got a beginner rider here, and from the sounds of it, not only a horse that she doesn't really know yet, and a horse that may be new to this barn. If that is the case, he is anxious, and fearful because he doesn't yet know his place in the hierarchy of this new place. He also has not been convinced that she is worthy of the respect due to a herd boss, so he's not gonna go along with very much that she wants to do. Firmness, patience and consistency are called for, not beating on him.