Signs of a Sore, Injured or Unhappy Horse

Does your horse "swish" or "flicker" its tail up and down or back and forth repededly when you ride or when you run him/her? If your horse does this them it might meant hat he is lame, sore or unhappy. This happens to many horses that start to dislike a certain event that their owner compete with them in. The term for a horse that dislikes a certain event after a while is called "going sour" because the horse will act up, pin back its ears or "swish" its tail.

"Going Sour" is commomly seen in barrel horses or gaming horses that just run the patterns over and over. Although horses like rutien work this doesnt mean they enjoy being riddent hrought e same thing over and over again. I you are going to work on a certain event like barrle you should do a lot of slow work and only run the pattern a few times so they don't "go sour" and start refusing to run. Mixing up your practices or what you do when you ride will also help keep your horse wanting to be ridden because it makes it fun for you and your horse!

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