Training Tip: Troubleshoot a Buddy-Sour Horse

Do you have a horse that behaves as long as he’s with his buddies, but as soon as he has to leave, he becomes hard to handle? The secret to overcoming this problem is to make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult. If you’re riding with a group of horses, use them as obstacles to trot and canter around. If your horse wants to get back to them, let him, and when he gets there, really put him to work by hustling his feet in and out and around all the other horses. Then take him 100 feet away (or less if you need a better starting point) and let him rest. Then take him back to his buddies and do the same thing. The objective is to get the horse to think that his buddies equal work. Make it hard where he wants to be and easy where you want him to be. With repetition, your horse won’t think his buddies are much fun anymore.