What Is a Ring Sour Horse?

What is Ring Sour?

• A horse that is ring sour reacts negatively to being in a horseback riding arena. Ring sour horses tend to be show horses or lesson horses that have burned out. A ring sour horse associates being ridden in the arena, or ring, with an unpleasant experience. In an effort to avoid being ridden in the ring or to express its displeasure with the situation, the ring sour horse will behave unpleasantly in the ring. A mildly ring sour horse may resist entering the arena or pin its ears the entire time it is being ridden in the arena. A severely ring sour horse may attempt to throw the rider off by bucking or rearing and may be virtually impossible to control.

Causes of Ring Sourness

• Ring sour behavior often develops over time. Horses that have continually bad experiences in the ring will eventually decide they do not want to be ridden in the environment that they have come to associate with unpleasant activities or pain. Ring sour horses may be in pain due to an injury, lameness or poorly fitting tack. A ring sour horse may also develop behavioral issues due to an unpleasant or inexperienced rider. A rider who pulls on the horse's mouth, screams, yells or overworks the horse to the point of exhaustion on a regular basis can quickly turn a formerly willing horse into a barn sour nightmare.

Horse Temperaments and Ring Sour Behavior

• Activities that make one horse ring sour may not have any effect on a different horse. For example, a sensitive horse may become agitated and upset by a young rider who is prone to throwing temper tantrums in the saddle while a calmer, mild-tempered horse may simply ignore the screaming person on its back. A lazy horse may behave as if it is ring sour because a novice rider does not have the assertiveness or skills to make it behave, while the same horse may behave perfectly for an experienced rider because it knows misbehaving will not be effective.

Fixing Ring Sour Behavior

• You should never reward a ring sour horse by avoiding the arena unless you never want to work the horse in the arena again. Have your veterinarian rule out all possible medical or physical causes for the negative behavior and then begin addressing the behavioral side of the issue.

  If you are dealing with a ring sour horse that does not exhibit dangerous behavior, ride the horse through the episodes and then praise it for its good behavior. If a specific rider or activity seems to be causing the ring sour behavior, you need to work on making that aspect of the ride more pleasant for the horse. Consistent praise and positive in-ring experiences combined with the knowledge that poor behavior will not gain the horse anything will eliminate most ring sour behavior over time.

  If your ring sour horse exhibits dangerous behavior, such as rearing, bucking or bolting, you need to consult an experienced riding instructor or trainer to develop a plan for handling your horse's specific issues and problems. Dangerous horses should be assessed on a case-by-case basis.