A horse owner contacted me today with this question. I thought I would share it with everyone, since it's a very common issue:

Q: When asked to go somewhere he does not wish to go my horse throws his head up and down and refuses to move in the desired direction. What is the best way to deal with this behavior?

A: Sorry you are having a problem with your horse, so I hope I can help you with some advice.From the perspective of equine behavior and pyschology, I want you to think about "balking" and "head tossing" as two separate actions, with two very different meanings:
When a horse "balks" and refuses to go in a certain direction of travel - this is generally a "confidence" issue - i.e., the horse that is "herd bound", and doesn't feel confident leaving the door yard because his buddies aren't with him. The confidence issue is a problem of
trust. Just because we like to think that our horses trust us and love us, doesn't necessarily mean that it's true. In the case of a herd-bound horse; they don't completely trust the rider. They would rather get the safety and comfort from the herd - or a buddy - instead. It's a hard pill for us to swallow, but that's the reality of it.
When a horse balks, and it's coupled with head tossing - that's dominance. It's like the snotty little kid telling you "up yours - I'm not doing it"! The underlying problem may, or may not be a confidence issue. However, the snottiness is a threat, and all threats need to be taken seriously. Each and every time we ignore the warning and try to push the horse beyond his level of willingness, we are taking a big risk with our own safety. This is how rearing and bucking starts . . . definitely these two behaviors are not something that I want to teach my horse to do as an evasive tactic.
Let's say that you can ride from the barn to a fence post about 50' away, but your horse always stops at that same fence post and refuses to go any further. Instead of performing the same ritual with him that you know will have the same result; ask him to perform some challenging tasks at a distance of only 25' away from where he wants to be: sideways, backward, forward, turn on the forehand, turn on the haunches, put your nose on this and that, put your foot up on this and that . . . give him something to think about, instead of finding ways to react and misbehave. Idle hooves are the devils workshop - so to speak. Engaging the feet will engage the mind. If you don't have a good handle on how to ask your horse to do these kinds of things - rapidly, with lightness, and with creativity; then I recommend attending a clinic or some private training sessions.
If your horse's behavior escalates, and he gets pissy . . . GET OFF AND SOLVE THE PROBLEM FROM THE GROUND WHERE YOU CAN BE SAFE. You can always get back on when his behavior returns to calm and submissive. This is where ground school pays off. I NEVER ride without an intense 5 minutes of ground work while I walk my horse from the pasture to the barn for tack. I'm not a fan of round pens, and lunging is completely useless and pointless to me personally. Although round pens have their place; I only encourage people to use them after the horse and handler learn how to accomplish the work on-line. I feel that horses should learn how to do everything on-line, and then learn how to do it at liberty. If the horse can't or won't do the task on-line; they won't do it under saddle, and they definitely won't do it at liberty in a round pen.
Back to solving the problem: If your horse can keep "on task" at 25' away; you can see if he's willing to stay on task at 35', and 45', and then 55'. Don't get greedy and keep pushing him beyond his threshold. Slow and steady persistence with the tasks over a week, instead of focusing on the distance - will pay off every time. Pretty soon, your horse will think "Wow - I would rather just go forward instead of doing all of this other stuff". Suddenly, your idea becomes his idea!
No matter if it's herd-bound behavior; refusing to take a certain fork on a trail; or, balking about changing directions in an arena - the psychology is the same. Without becoming emotional and angry about it, just say "okay - if you would rather go there instead of where I want you to go, then let's do some challenging tasks while wer'e there".
Horses that get snotty with people won't think twice about "turning up the heat" to intimidate you into submitting to them. From the first sign of trouble (head tossing) - be prepared to retreat back to his comfort zone and challenge him with a variety of tasks.
Actions like retreating to a more comfortable place, or getting off your horse, isn't an issue of "winning and losing". In a partnership; no one should be the winner or the loser. It's a relationship based on mutual trust and respect, and it takes a long time. The more unemotional and compassionate you can be (compassion doesn't mean you are passive and permissive); the more your horse will develop his absolute trust for you as his leader and protector - and the quicker you can move toward respect. On one end of the continuum is trust; and on the other end is respect. There is a big gap in between.
I hope this makes sense. If not - don't hesitate to let me know so I can try to explain it a little differently. Take care & let me know how it goes.
Best wishes,
Lisa