An Unpopular Horse Position — Buddy Sourness is Just Anxiety

What’s in that pocket? Photo by author

Buddy sourness and its relative, barn sourness, is a common problem faced by riders and trainers. (In the U.K., both behaviors are called, confusingly, “napping”).

A buddy sour horse is one that refuses to ride away from their friends or the rest of their herd. It can manifest even in controlled spaces such as a small arena. It can also manifest as a simple refusal to be the first horse in line. This can lead to an amusing but frustrating game of “you first no you” if none of the horses want to, say, walk down the chute into the outdoor arena.

Buddy sourness can escalate into dangerous behaviors such as bucking, rearing, taking off back to the other horses and “diving” into the group of horses. Sometimes the other horses object to that last one and somebody gets kicked.

It more commonly manifests as a simple refusal to go forward, stopping, slowing down when moving away from the others and speeding up when going towards them. The horse might also break gait as they pass another horse. I’ve even seen a buddy sour horse refuse to leave the others, give in, and then perform the exercise as perfectly as possible so they don’t have to do it again! Her name was Bandit and she was a very smart horse.