Need help getting my horse to move!!!!!

Question

i have an 8 year old quarterhorse/tb

for the last year and a half he has been sitting at the stable where he is at with no one caring for him

well i recently bought him only to find out that he hates moving and going away from the barn

if he can he will turn around really quickly and try and bolt back home if im on the trails

if im able to hold him back from going home he will try and buck and do little half rears

i have tried spurs and i have tried whips

none have worked

i also have a problem him being tied so i cant put him in a trailer and haul him to a trainer (i dont even have a trailer)

please give me advice on what my next step is

we dont have alot of money to pay a trainer to come out and work with him

the most we can do is ask our friend with a trailer if they can haul him out for some clinics and we dont have enough money to send him to a trainers barn so they can work with him...

please help me

any advice on the tying or the stopping would be really great and appreciated

he is a very slow horse to trust ppl. i was working with him for about 6 months before he trusted me. for a while i thought i was getting somewhere with him on the moving but then a pitbull charged at us and all of our work was gone and since then we have had a hard time moving forward in our work. i have been riding horses since i was 7 and i am now 17. i wouldnt consider myself an expert rider but im not a beginner and i can handle horses pretty well. he will follow horses out onto the trail but sometimes my friends with horses cant go on a ride so i go by myself but if he wont go then i cant ride

i need help

thanks in advance

Answer 1

so you feed grain or any concentrates?  if you don't then find some special treat that he really likes and  then start giving them to him on the trail only.   sounds strange, but it works, I would at first have him on a halter and lead him just out of the site of the barn, then feed him his grain or treat  stand there with him until he finishes and a few minutes after, try to get him to graze as well.   work a little farther up the trail every time.  pretty soon he will be looking forward to going out and getting his grain.  Make absolutely sure that you do this in a different place every time.  

horses are very much food oriented, you can help his fear by showing him that food does not just come in a stall, and there is a whole big world out there.  I would walk him on trails with a halter and for awhile before ridding him since he already has trust issues

Answer 2

Before taking him anywhere away form the barn just down the road is fine. Have some treats in your pocket and after you get him away form the barn give him a treat praise him and go back. Go a little farther every time. Every little improvement he makes reward him for it! And as for the trust. Just keep trying. After you have gained his trust again don't risk it right away! Take him only to places that you are sure nothing will spook him are make him angry. If he is trusting you, you have to let him know that you understand. Don't push him farther than he will go at that moment in time. If you do you will lose all trust again. Just remember to praise him for every little thing he does right and he will eventually catch on!

Answer 3

You don't need money - you need horse sense.

Here's something I've seen work a hundred times.  The horse lacks confidence in you and himself - as a herd animal, he wants to be close to the comfortable barn and/or his buddies - called barn sour or buddy sour.

You must make him believe that comfort = work.

Have you an enclosed safe place in which to work with him like an arena away from the barn?  Here's some ideas and I must say that you should focus on correcting this issue and learning more before you attempt to take off and ride to the trails - he hasn't got confidence in your enough yet to keep you out of trouble.

Option 1:  take him in an arena that is enclosed by away from the barn.  Lead him there if needed.  Relax you reins or drop them completely but do not lose ability to grab them if needed - like don't let them fall on the ground.  Pick the place in the arena that you know he will go to be most comfortable -likely near other horses or the barn.  Then pick a place away from that comfortzone - like the opposite end of the arena.

Now allow him to walk where he will - don't squeeze or prompt him to move.  Allow him to walk and he'll move to the comfortable place.  When he gets there, squeeze, kick whatever to keep him moving - doesn't matter where, just keep moving.  when he begins to move AWAY from that comfort zone, stop prompting and allow him to stop, think and make a decision - he WILL do this, it's the matter of how long he'll do it before he decides he'd rather walk back to the comfort area - at which time you start squeezing or kicking or whatever to make him move - again when he gets out of that comfort area- stop and allow him to stop, think and relax - here is what you are doing: you are establishing that the most comfortable place for him to be is where you want him to be -  you are making the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.

You'll keep this up until he goes as far to the other end of the arena as he'll go.  Within an hour or so, I bet you'll get him to walk to the end of the arena and just stand there sighing.  Then you go outside of the arena and practice the same things.

Another thing that will help if you can do this is to have friends with their horses at one end of the arena, the comfort zone, and the uncomfortable end of the arean open.  Same thing - he'll go to the other horses where they'll stand still where they are held or sat upon firmly while your horse must walk around until he goes away from them where he gets reward and relaxation.

Additionally, if you don't have an arena, you can do about the same thing just in the yard - begin by riding him away - get as far as he'll go comfortably - when he turns and wishes to go back, allow him to go to the barn, not in, and make him work by turning circles or simply walking around - keep making like a figure 8 near the barn until he goes throught the figure 8 fluidly going to and from the barn as you wish - make the figure 8 wider or switch to a large oval incorporating the stop and relax when he's away from the barn - maybe you do some figure 8s in increasing larger sizes until he seems to allow you to walk away.  Go about to the edge of his comfort zone, stop and allow him to relax out away from the barn.  when he gets fidgety, OK, walk back and work until he'llgo away and stand longer and go farther and stand longer, etc.

I'd give up the trail riding for a while until you get through this - if you get him to work with you on this, then take him out on the trails, he'll get a bit over come and not realize the learning he's getting.

Here's some books to help you and some trainer's names to reference for additional help like this:

Dennis Reis

Chris Cox

Pat Parelli

Clinton Anderson

Curt Pate

Books by Western Horseman by all these guys help - there are many different ones like Problem Solving and Colt Starting by other good authors too.

If you can get some colt starting videos, they will help you because you really do need to start from scratch with this guy.  When you get a couple months into a program or working through a book with him, you'll look back in awe at the progress you've made, guaranteed if you diligently read, watch and practice.  If you have RFD TV avialable to you they have great shows on this stuff too for low cost.

I've had horses for 41 years and it's amazing what you think you know until you learn you don't know much by reading some of this stuff and watching it - you wonder how the heck you ever missed knowing it because it all makes such great sense.

Oh - Buck Brannaman has  two great books that are easy reads that I've found great value in too - Believe and the Faraway Horses - I bet you'd really like them and learn a lot too.

Good luck!

Answer 4

To begin with, you already know what the problem is.  For all of these years, this has been his home, his safe place, and he is so barn sour  (no fault of his own) that he simply feels that he has to go back to where he feels that he belongs.  Keep in mind, I did used to be a trainer, and one that trained problem horses, but I have NEVER seen nor heard of a horse that has been married to one small location that your has has had to endure, so the methods that I would suggest, should work, but I am not saying that I have ever used them on a horse that has been that barn tied for so many years.  My method is actually not complicated, not aggressive and very humane.  I always ride with split reins, so at the first sign of balk, I step off, take the off rein and tie it around the horse's neck, just to keep it out of the way, then take the close rein and tie it quickly in a quick release know around either the stirrup or back cinch.  When I used to ride a lot of outside horse, I would have a snap attached to my back cinch to that it would shorten the time that it would take for the process.  You don't want to tie your horse's head around severely, just where he gives his head, and quits fighting...immediately, take it apart and give him a chance to go forward..he might, but not for very far...repeat the process...don't be mean, don't be loud, just be deliberate.  After a while, you will get further and further before you have to repeat the process.  What this does is let the horse fight himself, not you...in that instance, he can never win, right?  This method works!  Don't overdue...if you are successful 3 or 4 times, turn around and walk slowly back to the barn...increase each time...I am serious, this works...for the treats, they do nothing but reinforce negative behavior...it only satisfies  the treat giver any way.

Answer 5

start with just leading him on the trails with a halter and lead. if he tries going back just keep walking and pulling him along. do this until he stops trying to go back then start trying to ride him on the trails. another thing you can do is ride with at least one other person horses tend to be more comfortable with other horses but make sure both horses like each other. one more thing you can try is start riding the horse close to your barn so that he can see it each time you ride move him farther away. try these things and work with him as much as you can, reward him for good behavior!! good luck  

Answer 6

Move him to a different barn or if you can't do that at least move him to a different enclosure. He is too attached to his paddock now and that tie needs to be severed.