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Veteran
Posts: 211
Location: El Paso, Texas | I have a great horse that is arena sour. As we approach the arena he will stop short of the gate and start backing up, kicking dont help, he will jusr rear up if I kick too much. I put the reins forward, look straight ahead and still he stops. He wont do it for warmup, only when there are people waiting in the alley (i guess he knows). If someond grabes his head stall, he leads in just fine, or sometimes he will follow another horse in. ANY TRAINING SUGGESTIONS, its real hard to duplicate an arena full of people at home, and most folks do not want you training a horse at an event. | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 522
Location: Tucumcari NM | Most horses that are arena sour are that way because of negative experiences in the arena. Barrel and pole bending horses are notorious for being sour because they are whipped, spurred, and jerked on while in the arena. Making the entry into the arena a pleasant experience instead of a bad one can help. Most people won't object if you take a moment to pet your horse or offer him a treat after he enters the arena. Try giving him a treat every time you enter the arena, whether it is during a warm up, at home, or at a show. Stop a moment before leaving the arena and repeat the petting and treat. Soon he will begin to associate the arena with pleasant experiences.
Marla | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 824
Location: Kansas | To expand on what Marla said, don't do the same thing with your horse every time you go in the arena either. And spend lots of time walking in and out. Maybe go in, walk or trot across the arena (is there a second gate?) back, go out a minute or two, come back in. | |
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Regular
Posts: 99
Location: New Mexico | Another thing to do is work him at the gate doing small circles, any other exercises that you can think of that would be work on his part. Then go in the arena a little bit and rest. Go out work more at the gate, rest inside the arena. Change up your riding routine, don't do exercises in the arena but just ride around. I too have a horse that hates the round pen and arena but take her out on the trail and she loves it. Thats when I work on serpentines, circles, stops, back up, etc. | |
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Expert
Posts: 1989
Location: South Central OK | I'd say to try troting in, keeping the forward motion will help his mind not to lock-up. | |
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Expert
Posts: 1723
Location: michigan | I agree with most of the responses. I have seen some horses at speed shows kicked,whipped,screamed at,reins yanked,spurred thats before they get into the ring. Then they are screamed,yelled,whipped,kicked and spurred some more only to be hauled back on when they stop. I don't blame a horse for trying to avoid all that.I's say,try going to the gate and before he backs away, you turn him around. Then start walking in to and out of the arena ( with and without people there. Sometimes during a break at a show you can do this)don't ask him to do anything but stand there. Only if and when he can do this, then ask him to trot a bit. Take everything slowly. Don't kick,spur or whip ever. If it doesn't work, this horse might not be able to compete again. | |
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Member
Posts: 36
Location: Wellington, Texas | NM-Rider is right on. Make the problem where he gets relief or rest. Make him work outside and after a while he will want to go to where he gets to rest. | |
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Expert
Posts: 1351
Location: Decatur, Texas | Originally written by Rostrenga on 2009-06-05 2:45 PM I have a great horse that is arena sour. As we approach the arena he will stop short of the gate and start backing up, kicking dont help, he will jusr rear up if I kick too much. I put the reins forward, look straight ahead and still he stops. He wont do it for warmup, only when there are people waiting in the alley (i guess he knows). If someond grabes his head stall, he leads in just fine, or sometimes he will follow another horse in. ANY TRAINING SUGGESTIONS, its real hard to duplicate an arena full of people at home, and most folks do not want you training a horse at an event. Do MORE than arena work! Go for a trail ride, let them know you are not going to pound them in the gound with the smae ol' stuff all the time. We have 14 horses, 6 which we ride most of the time and 2 of them are barrel/pole/roping horses and one is now a mounted shooting horse and none of them have any issues with the arena at all. But we do more than just arena work, we trail ride with them a couple of times a month. Best training you and your horse can do. Just like the girls we see at the barrel races running tons of expos and then try to figure out why they have a problem when it comes time to actually run! | |
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New User
Posts: 1
Location: Moses Lake Wa | Hi, I just wanted to say that I totally agree with you on this one. My daughter rodeos and her horse became very sour this year when it came to the arena. So this entire season we've paid entry fee's so that my daughter could walk, lope, stop, trot, throughout every event that she did. I can't tell you how much this has helped. Also all the way through she is talking to her horse and giving her lots of loving encouragement. Sucksss, but very necessary. | |
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ARENA SOUR
