Dealing with a Buddy Sour Horse or Mule

With owning a trail facility, I get to see a lot of different mule and horse people throughout the year.  Lots of different levels of riders, lots of different equine, and lots of different confidence levels. 

One of the issues I see that has caused all sorts of issues is buddy sourness.  I have seen animals hurt themselves, damage property, and just come unglued.  They can become dangerous monsters and literally ruin a weekend that is supposed to be fun.

I have seen people bring three equines so they could ride with their friends and leave the other two in the stalls.  I have seen people have to bring a goat to leave in the stall with their horse.  I get it.  My mule, JoJo, does not stall well and will have ulcers within three days unless he is able to touch noses with one of our herd members through the stall.  However, I can ride him alone. 

We love these animals.  Some horses and mules are just more nervous than others.  Here are a few things that have worked for me in the past to help combat buddy sourness.  By the way, this problem takes me a considerable amount of time to address.

1. While in an arena, do not always stand with the group.  Keep doing this until your equine gets more comfortable being alone.  Typically, they will be a manageable amount of cranky since they can still see their friends.  Don’t give up and keep working on them separating from the group. 
2. While trail riding in a small group, have everyone stop and go in different directions and then come back.  Keep repeating this drill and increasing the distance out.  When your animal is busy and you are task oriented, you will both be too distracted to notice what is happening. 
3. Tie them up in a place they aren’t going to hurt themselves and walk away.  Do not come back until they are standing politely.  I will feed them hay or alfalfa cubes before, so they have something in their stomach for the acid from the stress. 
4. Increase speed to a trot.  This is sometimes that same thing I do when my mule starts acting spooky.  When the feet are moving, the mule is thinking about other things.  Locking them down gives them time to see that they are alone.  Basically, if you don’t focus on it then it doesn’t exist. 
5. Hire a trainer.  If the buddy sourness is something you are not equipped to deal with, then hire a trainer.  Be very clear about exactly what you are needing and be prepared for the issue to take more than 30 days.  Maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t, it will take the time that it takes.

Buddy sourness can be extremely dangerous.  Think about if you were on a trail ride and someone gets hurt and you must go back for help.  Would your mule let you separate from the group?  If you answered no, then there’s you a goal.