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Member
Posts: 21
| i have a barrel horse that has been having refusal issues lately, but once hes in the arena he is fine. He usually stops and backs up going to the gate. It's not every time i go to make a run. It's every once in a while. I've tried walking him up to the entrance of the arena or alley and when he refuses immediately turn around and long trot away from the arena for a couple mins and that works sometimes. But like i said, he does NOT refuse every time i go to make a run. I've had x rays done on him and hes fine. teeth just got done in november. Gets chiropractic work Once a month. and he is on an ulcer guard. |
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| I would walk him down the alley and walk in the arena as much as possible (during a drag or just whenever you have access to an alley). Don't let him leave the alley if he starts acting stupid, he'll think he can get away with it and it will progressively get worse. Make him comfortable is my best advice. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
  
| Did you have flexion tests, X-ray all joints in front and back legs?
Do you whip and spur as hard as you can during your run?
Do you jerk on his face, is his bit harsh?
Do you tune on your horse immediately after a run?
How often are you running your horse, is he running 4+ times a weekend?
Do you do anything else in the arena?
All these things can cause a horse to be one sour. It is hard to retrain a horse to get over their anxiety of what has happened in the arena, they do remember.
I would start with eliminating soreness by a competent vet, then I would look at my riding, and go down the list.
Lastly I would work on my gate, I would go up to the gate at e dry rake ride up get off loosen the saddle then lead away, and repeat.
I would haul to jackpots and just work on the gate and not run.
Once he is doing the gate fine, I would enter the jackpot and let him coast at his own speed, then I would work the gate afterwards. |
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Member
Posts: 21
| okay ill do that. At the last gymkhana i took him to i did that i walked him in the arena and just made him walk around during the drag. He refused at first like he stopped and tried to turn around but i made him go in. He thought he was going in to make a run so he was all hot and trying to run lol but ill try that. and try keeping him in the alley when hes refusing and acting up. |
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Member
Posts: 21
| Yes I've had flexion tests and X-rays done on all joints, front and back legs. And no i dont spur as hard as i can. i am weaning him off of spurs and i do kick during my runs but not hard just enough for him to get the point that he needs to keep up his speed. hes a push style horse. And i dont whip much i whip twice with a rope over under whip going to third then 3 times on the way home. and i dont whip hard. NO i dont jerk on his face and no its a snaffle. small shank. not harsh at all. hes very soft in the mouth and if i pull to hard he will stop from a dead gallop and throw a fit. No i dont tune on him after a run i trott him around for a little bit then walk him to cool down. And i only fast lope the pattern at home once a week and haul him Every Other Week. and he never refuses at home. he does fine at home. And thats what i was going to start doing taking him to jacpots just to work on his gate issues. and Ive been letting him run barrels his own speed for the past month. havent been pushing. just a little bit of kissing. |
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Expert
Posts: 1477
Location: In the land of peanuts and cotton | I've had my fair share of alley problems. I think you need to do the opposite of what your doing. You said you long trot him away from the arena? That's letting him get what he wants. He doesn't want to go in meaning he wants to get away and that's what your letting him do, get away. You said sometimes he stops and backs up? So when he's done backing you make him back up some more but be careful with this. Just dont over do the backing but make sure he gets the point. Backing can lead to rearing and rearing can lead to flipping over. When he spins make him spin the other direction. Kinda get the idea "hey if this is what you wanna do then let's do it". Make all his actions have consequences. That doesn't mean you have to spur and whip but when he does something to you(wether it be backing or spinning) you do the samething to him. |
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 Tough Patooty
Posts: 2615
 
Location: Sperry, OK | Try working him just outside the gate... doing circles counter arcs, something that he considers work.. then take him into the arena to relax. Start to change his perception of what is IN the arena, show him he goes in there to relax. |
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 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| Personally, I think I'd stop patterning at home if he knows his job. I work the pattern once in a while, but not every time. They might get to high lope once or twice a month at home.
I would not let him do anything other than walk away from the arena. I would get off an hand walk him after a run, not trot him some more and then walk. Loosen your cinch too. After the run should be reward time, not work time.
Walking him into the alley way and making him stand is good practice. Walking him up and down during a drag is good practice. Stay away from backing him all over the place, especially since he wants to go backwards, that scares me because it could lead to rearing. Make him turn in a circle instead. Do not let him choose the time to exit, that is your job. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 956
Location: Washington | I agree, don't trot him away because then he is getting what he wants and your teaching him to refuse more.
Also have you had him checked for ulcers, or scope to see if he is bleeding?
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Member
Posts: 21
| TessBelle - 2014-03-26 11:15 PM
I've had my fair share of alley problems. I think you need to do the opposite of what your doing. You said you long trot him away from the arena? That's letting him get what he wants. He doesn't want to go in meaning he wants to get away and that's what your letting him do, get away. You said sometimes he stops and backs up? So when he's done backing you make him back up some more but be careful with this. Just dont over do the backing but make sure he gets the point. Backing can lead to rearing and rearing can lead to flipping over. When he spins make him spin the other direction. Kinda get the idea "hey if this is what you wanna do then let's do it". Make all his actions have consequences. That doesn't mean you have to spur and whip but when he does something to you(wether it be backing or spinning) you do the samething to him.
i had a gymkhana on him saturday and he refused quite a bit and he didnt get away with it. i made him work right by the gate then walked into the arena on him and got off. did thatevery drag. he doesnt like the ground where we ran. he had his first fall there last year at arodeo. so he definatly didnt want to go in but i made him then towards my 5th event he walked right in then got super hot and excited and gave me a few baby rears untill i let him run. he quit refusing later on after our 4th event and we did 8 events. |
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Member
Posts: 21
| Nateracer - 2014-03-27 6:31 AM
Personally, I think I'd stop patterning at home if he knows his job. I work the pattern once in a while, but not every time. They might get to high lope once or twice a month at home.
I would not let him do anything other than walk away from the arena. I would get off an hand walk him after a run, not trot him some more and then walk. Loosen your cinch too.  After the run should be reward time, not work time.
Walking him into the alley way and making him stand is good practice. Walking him up and down during a drag is good practice. Stay away from backing him all over the place, especially since he wants to go backwards, that scares me because it could lead to rearing. Make him turn in a circle instead. Do not let him choose the time to exit, that is your job.  Â
i dont work him on the pattern at home. i only do 1-3 times a week and wehn i do its just trotting the pattern and only lope/run him on it at home once a month. i dont over work him. i never push him at home either. And i only work him after if its a bad run. And i usually do walk him by hand if its a good run or i walk a few circes then get off. and i try to keep him from backing up but its kind of hard without having to spur him. And he never usually rears but yeah backing cann turn into rearing. he rears every once in a while but never big enough to flip over. he usually rears if i hold him back. |
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Member
Posts: 21
| BarrelsRmyLife - 2014-03-29 8:02 PM
 I agree, don't trot him away because then he is getting what he wants and your teaching him to refuse more.
Also have you had him checked for ulcers, or scope to see if he is bleeding?
Â
Ive had him checked before. i had him on an ulcer guard before during rodeo season last year. And i had him scoped in february. no bleeding. I'm going to get some more ulcer guard soon just incase he is getting ulcers. And to keep him comfortable when rodeo season begins for us. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2159
Location: NW. Florida | If you're running him 8 times in day, or weekend that's a lot for any horse. I understand why he doesn't want to do it. |
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  Ms. Marine
Posts: 4627
Location: Texas | Carbon Copy - 2014-04-08 1:56 PM
If you're running him 8 times in day, or weekend that's a lot for any horse. I understand why he doesn't want to do it.Â
Ditto to this. |
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