Question - Herd Sour

I'm considering purchasing an Appendix TB/QH that has been called "herd sour". Is this a reason to not buy the horse ?? He gets very anxious / nervous if there are no other horses around; he even does circles while in the stall if he cannot see others. If he is put in a separate pasture than all of the others, he paces the fence line where the other horses are. (He is 14 yrs)

Answer

Some horses are very attached to their stable or herd mates. This sounds like that could be the case in this gelding. At 14 you are not going to change his personality drastically so you will have to decide if his behavior is going to interfere with your enjoyment of him. If you always ride in a group and never alone and plan on keeping him at a barn with a group of other horses you should be able to deal with it. But if you are going to ride out by yourself at all, or keep him at home on his own he will not be happy.

You may get him to accept being on his own but...do you really want the hassle? You do not mention what you plan to do with him, or whether his herd sour attitude affects his work under saddle. You have to decide if you can live with this behavior. If you are a novice rider you may find that you would be happier with a horse with a more relaxed and willing attitude who does not have a behavior problem that you may not be experienced enough to deal with. If you have an instructor you may want to ask his or her opinion as they would be a better judge of the situation as they know your skill level and can assess the horse first hand.