Barn Sour!

Question
I have a 3yr old Appaloosa Gelding that is really barn sour. Well, more like 'pasture' sour. We rent a pasture just up the road and he will rear and try to take off everytime we go by it or if we are working at home he seems to favor the corner closest to the pasture. Help!

Answer
Hello Caitlyn,

Your three year old is just a baby. He is behaving normally for his age and the amount of training he has had.  I suggest that you work him away from that pasture or barn, or, everytime he misbehaves you turn him around and ride him away from it.  Let him learn to associate misbehavior with more work away from his favorite place.

You will need to continue the light work (he is not old enough for heavy lunge work until he is 4) and be patient while he adapts to his new life. Patient but firm. You and he are a herd of two and he is instinctively vying for leader of that herd.  It may take you a few months to convince him that you are the boss. But try to keep him as happy as you can while you do it.  When you ride by the place he wants to go, be prepared for his bad behavior and simply ride him through it. Don't stop or slow down ... trot firmly past.  He will favor that corner closest to the pasture for many months.  I have a 6 year old mare who speeds up slightly when she approaches the gate that leads from the arena.  It is to be expected and we do what I call riding it through.  Ignore the bad behavior as much as you can by forcing him to go forward in spite of what he wants.

There is no magic cure for this ... only time and work.

Happy riding,
Dorothy