new and green horse owner

Question
I actually have two question/problems.  The first horse I purchased turned out to be herd sour.  Is there any way to work with this?  I have now purchased additonal horses and took one for a ride.  He is not herd sour, but got very nervous and bucky when he was away from the others.  I am sure that is normal, but what is the best way to handle him when he gets that way?  Thanks!

Answer
Wanting to stay with the herd is instinctive, because in the wild horses had to stay together to stay alive. You want to become the leader of his herd. You want to bring up his sense of self esteem and also strengthen your lines of communication with him. Start him with ground work in the arena. You will want to teach him to walk, trot and canter using the correct leads at the same speed around the round pen.

Keep doing this until he is comfortable and relaxed every time you do this. You do not want him whinnying at other horses or stopping to look at them.

When you start to ride him keep your rides short until you get to the point where he starts to get nervous and wants to go back to the other horses. You will want him to go in small to medium circles when this happens. Keep him walking in the circle until he is relaxed again. At any point that he starts to act out you will want to again bring him into circles until he relaxes. When this happens ride him home at a walk. The next time you ride him then go for a longer ride. Keep making the rides longer and longer until you no longer have to circle him.

Your other horse is also herd bound and you will need to do the same sort of exercises to get rid of this issue.

I would recommend that you sell one of the horses and get yourself a well trained riding horse. This way you have a horse to ride who does not have issues and you can work with the other one.

Good luck and let me know what happens.

Lisa