​Why Is My Horse Barn Sour

By Gaye DeRusso
 
Many horses become barn sour. Even a horse that has never been barn sour in its life, in the right situation can become barn sour. So, what makes a horse barn sour? Horses like to be lazy; they like to eat, and they like to be in a herd where they feel safe. If they have all those things at the barn, then why would they ever want to leave?
 
We don't mean to make them barn sour, but so many of us do. We take them out for rides and make them work for hours, then when we get back to the barn, we take off their tack, let them roll, feed them, and let them hang out with their friends, so of course the barn becomes the better place to be. 
 
It’s just like us going to work, we have to do it to pay our bills, but if we got paid anyway if we stayed home, I could tell you most people would not go to work. Well, that is exactly what happens when your horse decides not to leave the barn. He or she throws a fit, scares you, so you take them back to the barn, take off their tack and put them away where they have friends and food. They just scored the ultimate reward, no work. 
 
The best thing to do is to never let your horse get barn sour. When that new horse arrives, you need to show them their new job and let them know you are serious about it. Ride them out with energy, so they get tired and that way they will usually come back home slow. When out of on the trail, stop at times and get off to give them breaks and or graze. Let them visit with their friends, even give them some special treats. 
 
When they get home, don't get off, either go ride in the arena or around the barn for 10 minutes or so. Don't just walk, ride them, and make them work, gait, practice your canter, do some side passing and turn on the forehand, lots of backing up. Things your horse does not think are fun. Then get off and don't loosen your girth, just tie them up away from their friends and let them stand for an hour if you can or as long as you have time for.  Go clean their stall or do something with that extra time, then come back, take off their tack and put them away. If possible don't have food in their stall, wait an hour or so before you feed them. Also, no grazing or cookies or grain when you bring them back or at least not for an hour or more. 
 
In time they will understand this is just their job and when they come home, the job is not over yet. Therefore, home will not be the best place to be, so no reason to rush home for more work. 
 
Now if you horse came barn sour or you made it barn sour, well then you may have to go through some temper tantrums before it is fixed. Some get barn sour just because you are not working them enough, so they think they don't have to work anymore. Such as you were very busy at work and with family, so you had no time to ride or work with your horse for a month. So, they got one month of no work and all fun. They might not want to go back to work so easily, since they had the easy life of doing nothing all day. 
 
As you start to take them out, even if you ride out with energy they may slam on the breaks and not go. You spin them and get after them, and they proceed to buck or rear to say no. You cannot let them scare you, this is the temper tantrum, and you have to work them through it. You don't have to be on their back, but you do need a good plan. If you can't get them to go out, try backing them up. Not just a couple feet, back them all the way to the barn where they want to go. When you get there, keep the saddle on and tighten the girth even more. Then take them to the round pen or lunge them, changing directions every 1-2 circles, so it is very tiring for them. Do this for at least 10-20 minutes and no walking, make them move the whole time. Then get back on and try to ride out again. If they go, just ride out a little, then get off and rest them, graze them and or give them grain or treats, you could even bring a small bag of grain and dump it out there and let them eat it. Then get back on ride back to the barn and ride them around the barn or arena. Work them for 30 minutes, if possible, then tie them up with tack on, away from their friends and let them stand for an hour or so. Then you can put them away but try not to give food right away. 
 
Each time ride out further, but they might have temper tantrums each time until they are sure they cannot get away with it and then it will finally stop. But you must be consistent, and you must put the time in, or it won't go away, and they will always rush home. 
 
You can do lots of things, if you can't get them away from the barn at all.  I just ride around the barn and if they pull me toward their stall, I let them go in and I ride them around their stall or if I can't I just do the sending exercise in there, I back them around their stall, I disengage their hindquarters, I might side pass in their stall, anything I think would make them not want to be in their stall. If they are afraid of something, put it in their stall, they won't want to go in there anymore. Once you can ride around the barn without them darting toward their stall, you should be able to start getting them on the trail. You may have to just hand walk them in the beginning. But every time you come back to the barn, no rewards, just work and standing by themselves. 
 
If done right it should improve in a couple weeks, if you’re not doing it right or you’re not doing it enough it can take months to years. 
 
Just keep thinking what my horse does not like to do, and then do it at the barn or where they keep dragging you. But if you just try to hold them back from running toward home and then they get rewarded when they get there, they will always be barn sour. 
 
We don't mean to make them barn sour, but we do, we ride out slow, they drag us home fast. We are tired so we untack and feed them and then complain to our friends or trainer about how bad they are, but we don't do anything to fix it. I fix barn sour horses all the time, that is how common it is. But once they realize being at the barn is worse than being on the trail, it starts getting better. 
 
Make the time to fix it, ride for less time on the trail so you have the time when you get back to the barn to correct the behavior. It’s up to you, you either make the time to fix it or just stop complaining. 
 
Horses don't get barn sour in the wild, they have to move and search for food. They are with the herd the whole time. No horse runs anywhere unless playing or being chased. You need to become your horse's leader, become your horse's herd, that way they will feel safe when they are with you. Make being on the trail enjoyable, not just work. We create barn sour horses, now it’s time we fix them.