Does your horse hate to leave his friends behind when it’s time to head out on a ride? Riding a herd-bound horse can be a challenge, but there are steps you can take to help make separation from his buddies less stressful for your horse.

Understand Why Your Horse Is Herd-Bound

When working with a herd-bound horse, it’s important to remember that this behavior is rooted in your horse’s instinct. Horses are herd animals by nature, and in the wild, a herd offered protection and safety. A horse that traveled out alone was vulnerable to predators, so it’s really no wonder that your horse has strong attachments to other horses.

Sometimes those attachments go too far, though, and it’s at that point that you need to do some work to break your horse’s total dependence on other horses.

Establish Yourself as a Leader

In order to ask your horse to leave his herd, you will first need to establish yourself as a leader who is to be expected. Much of this can be done through ground work and through developing your relationship with your horse. Ultimately you need to provide your horse with leadership and reassurance, and he needs to provide you with respect. If establishing a leadership role for yourself is something you struggle with, it may be wise to bring in an experienced trainer to help you with your herd-bound horse.

Separate the Herd Gradually

Regardless of how well you’ve established yourself as a leader, asking a herd-bound horse to simply leave his entire herd one day is asking a lot. Instead, start the process gradually by asking the horse to go out without some of the herd members, but with others still along. This can be accomplished by riding your horse with a few other horses, but not the whole herd, or by gradually separating your horse and just a few of his buddies into a different pasture. With time you can continue to decrease the number of horses present, gradually asking your horse to leave more and more of his herd.

Establish Boundaries

Even if you get to the point where you can ride your horse with just one other horse in the arena, you may find that your horse still constantly wants to be close to the other horse. Your next step is to gradually ask for more and more distance between the horses. Do this gradually and calmly to minimize the stress on your horse and to keep him relaxed and confident during the process. As you ask your horse to leave the other horse, keep his brain busy by asking him to focus on various tasks.

Herd-bound behavior is not something that you can quickly fix. Be patient and always keep yourself safe as you are working with a herd-bound horse. If the situation ever becomes more than you can handle, bring in an experienced and reputable trainer to help.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/smerikal/6209944675

Original Source: Riding the Herd-Bound Horse By Classic Equine Equipment

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Comment by Marlene Thoms on December 4, 2014 at 5:43pm

My horse tends to be herd bound, buddy sour, etc. The thing that worked for us was to keep him at home (as opposed to boarding out with a bunch of other horses), and arrange some rides with other horses, and some rides alone. It took some time for him to accept me as his leader/ partner,through frequent daily contact, but he realizes all good things come from me. He still enjoys seeing his buddies frequently but he is much calmer and more manageable now.

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