Dealing With a Barn-Sour Horse on the Trail

Does your horse throw “I don’t wanna go tantrums” every time you try to ride him away from the barn? Or, when you turn him back toward the barn, does he start power walking or jigging home? If so, you’re not alone. Horses are social animals and quickly bond with one another, which can make them reluctant to leave the barn. Horses that are barn sour are not only frustrating but dangerous, as they often rear or run backwards when they don’t want to leave the barn.

“When I address barn-sour horses, I always tell people to think of their horse’s desire to get back to the barn like this: If you worked for me and I made you work all day in a field under the hot sun and at the end of the day, I took you to an air conditioned room, let you relax and gave you ice cream to eat, it wouldn’t take long for you to resent going out in the field and start looking forward to quitting time. If knockoff time was at 3, you’d want to leave the field at 2, and then 1, and pretty soon you wouldn’t even want to go to the field at all,” Clinton says.

“That’s exactly how your horse feels about leaving the barn. At the barn he gets to rest, relax, eat and socialize with his buddies. Out on the trail or in the arena, he has to work and get hot and sweaty. Which sounds like the better deal to you? When you stop and think about it, it’s no wonder that a lot of us have to deal with barn-sour horses.”

If you’re dealing with a barn-sour horse, Clinton shares tips on how to correct your horse’s behavior in the Problem Solving section of the Downunder Horsemanship app. Learn how to solve a barn-sour problem in the FREE video: Barn-Sour Horses on the Trail

To access the video, download the Downunder Horsemanship app. When the app opens, scroll down to the Problem Solving section. Select the video you want to watch.

The Downunder Horsemanship app is a free download from the App Store and Google Play as well as AppleTV, Amazon Fire and Android TV. Learn more about the Downunder Horsemanship app and adding it to your device on our website.