>On 31/07/07, Lorraine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I love Dagur but he has one fault. He is so barn > sour. It is a battle to ride him from the corral. I > have never had that problem before.
I've worked with several barn sour horses. I'm working with the most barn sour horse ever now! Star(Paso Fino)lived in one place with another horse for 10 years and was always ridden in the same place and when ridden always followed this other horse. The first time I made the mistake of riding her away from our other horses (still in sight), she spun and reared several times! Even when I walked her 50 feet from her friends in the pasture and Star's eyes start bulging out, she starts sweating, and running all over you. She wouldn't even let the farrier work on her in the barn with the other horses standing right outside. I tried taking her on a walk in the empty pasture next to the horses, but as soon as she's gone a certain distance away she comes unglued! I started over doing some Parelli/clicker training ground work with her in the horse pasture and then in the arena to get her a little more responsive. She seems to be familiar with and ok about being in the arena, and is actually well-trained-turning, stopping, backing, smooth gaited etc. there. Even my boss's grandchildren can easily ride her in the arena! After the initial groundwork, I took her on SHORT walks out and then back to her friends. She was too upset to look for treats or graze, she just neighed and neighed and ran around me in circles. After we did many short out and backs we started treating on the way out. If she started getting nervous, we do not turn around and go back, but stand there until she settles a bit, she gets a click and treat and then we go back a short way until she's comfortable again and then we go out a little farther and back a few times treating on the way out. I sometimes treat on the way back if she walks slowly and stops when I ask her to (more likely now than originally). We also stop a lot for grazing, but in the beginning she was so scared, she wouldn't graze! When we get back near the horses I have her do some light work, backing, circle game, moving away from light pressure...when we are farther away we just walk, or graze, or stand. She's doing better, we're going farther each time and she's not happy about leaving but not completely hysterical. Cherie
