All horses have magnets –the gate to the arena, the barn, other horses, his buddies back at the barn, the trailer, etc. They all involve the horse wanting to be somewhere other than where he is, doing something other than what he is doing. The simplest solution is to make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy. Meaning you make being next to the magnet hard, and being where you want the horse to be easy.

How you ask? If your horse wants to be next to the barn, let him go there and then hustle his feet in front of the barn doing a series of rollbacks and serpentines. The more you can make the horse move his feet and change directions, the better. Work him hard for five to ten minutes or until he’s huffing and puffing and then go rest him where you want him to be. Let him catch his breath and relax, and then go work him again by his magnet. Keep repeating that cycle: hustle your feet; rest and relax, until the horse wants no part of going near the magnet. Fighting your horse’s draw to magnets will require time and consistency on your part, but is something that can be corrected if you chip away at it a little every day.

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