Barrel Racing Drills and Exercises
We have launched a new website using cutting edge software. It has been launched to help barrel racers achieve success. The site boasts over 80 barrel racing drills and exercises (and counting). Described by its members as using a recipe book format, the website is easy to navigate. Barrel racers can easily find drills and exercises to solve their barrel racing issues. The drills are categorized by Foundation, Training and Problem Solving Drills, but further categorized with specific problems. www.BarrelRacingDrills.com is an excellent resource for those training a barrel horse or problem solving on a finished barrel horse.
www.BarrelRacingDrills.com
{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }
Love the site. Excellent idea.
Hi Laurie,
)) You’ll want to contact her through her website if you have questions. I can tell you though if you go to her website, then media (or youtube link) there is a video there on the first barrel so you are in luck!
I posted this to help everyone out and to help promote Dena’s channel on Youtube (I’m not Dena
Michelle
hello im just getting into barrels and i have a quasten what are some things you need for barrel racing ?
This answer could be as simple or really complicated. What I would suggest though is that you find someone in your area that is a respected barrel racer and have him or her get you set up with the tack you need and the basics your horse needs to know.
i love the tips they were very helpful. i started to do barrlel last year and your tips helped alot. i won a lot of prizes it was great.i get a lot of money. thanks you soooooooo much. the website was soooooooooo hellpful.
That’s great to hear! Congratulations on your success. Its nice to know our barrel racing tips were able to help you out!
Hi i barrel rac ein NBHA and i am starting to whant to pick my 4 year old hancock filly up on barrels.I could use some tips on anything and evrything
Keep checking back on this site. There are lots of tips provided and new ones coming.
I’m a beginner barrel racer and just got my first barrel horse! I was trying to learn and train a horse last season and to no avail! I just gpot a new patterned horse and he’s awesome, is there any tips ya can give me so that me and my new horse can advance in the barrel world?
Hi there, what kind of supplements/grain (ie… complete, oats or sweet feed and or vitamens etc…) have people found worked the best to help condition their horses and having them season ready!!!
This would be a great question to post in the forum area or on the facebook barrel racing tips page
Hi!,
Your tips were a great help! I have a barrel mare that I just got last year. I started doing barrels and iim training her to know the pattern at heart because her speed is unbelievable! Thanks sosososososososososososososososo much for the tips and I would love to be stocked up on al the tips I can get!.
Hi im just starting out on Barrels and when i go to the first barrel he dont want to go at all.Do you have any tips for me??
I would highly encourage you to find someone in your area that can give you barrel racing lessons. You will never regret getting help from the start.
Hi, I jus started barrel racin, I got a 5 yr old QH that Im tryin to train. He will run to the barrels but wen he goes around the 2nd and 3rd he slows down, how can i make him no he has to keep runnin around the full barrel. And will he get faster over time? He had his first horseshow last saturday, and he got 22 on barrels.
Take your time, he is still young and figuring things out. Keep him happy and enjoying in. You could practice doing the same direction barrel drill where you turn a bunch of barrels in a row the same direction to emphasize you point.
I have a 4 year old mare that is picking up the barrels quickly. I have one problem. When she is leaving the barrel she has a tendency to stop and push off to go to the next barrel. I do perfect circles on her and this has not helped in a run. Is there any other exercise I can do to keep her forward motion.
You could put 4 barrels in a square and turn the same direction around each. Do it from the inside of the square and the outside of the square.
Put barrels up in a circle or a square or a row and do one barrel after an other and find that magic spot she needs to be to be efficient.
Hi, I have a problem I really need help with.. My horse Just started bucking when Im galloping the barrel pattern and she has these bucking dilemas every year. But the last time she bucked on me we were running and i flew on her neck and I have a competition coming up and Im worried shes gonna buck what should I do? She is a mare so she might be in heat, or on her period but I really need help.
Thanks Courtney
I would take her to a vet. There are things they can do to help her with her girl problems (seriously).
I would go to the vet and get her girl parts checked out. There is a fair bit they can do to help.
hi i have a quesation my barrel racing horse every time i walk himm up to the barn he runs backwards and when my little sister gets on him he trys to run backwards with her the only way i can saddle him is in a round pin what should i do i just dont want anyone to get hurt.
I’m am working with my 8 year old horse on barrels but before I start on barrels I want to earn his trust so I work with him every evening brushing him leading him around and giving him some feed. When we ride he will only get into a fast lope but never a Gallop. What can I do about that? and he has a problem accepting the bit on the bridle.
I would work on getting him to work on accepting the bit on the bridle before you worry about going any faster. I like to work my horses in a round pen gently bitted back to get them used to moving forward with contact on the bit.
i use my girlfriends horse calle lena,the problem i have with her is that when i run to the first barrel with her i make wide turns..but on my second and third barrels i do fine..what am i doing wrong with her..help..i will b useing her for this up comeing new year since i dont have my own horse…
Its really hard to say without seeing you run. Is is wide on the way in or on the way out? All I can suggest is look at your positioning 3 strides back and see where your positioning is. If its bad there too, go back another 3 strides and find out where things start to go wrong. Start addressing things there.
Hi, I have a question.How do you get your horse not to turn so wide?Because every time we barrel race, she turns wide on the second and last barrel.I’ve tried using my feet, but I cant get my feet up to where I need them quick enough.Do you have any suggestions?She’s a four year old blue-eyed paint, and she’s a fast learner, but she can’t seem to get this down.She’s SUPER fast, but she just can’t seem to stop turning wide.She can turn a barrel on a dime, but i don’t know what to do. I got her at the end of July and ever since we’ve been running. I’ve been barrel racing since I was 6 and I konw everything else.I’m 14 right now.
Slow down. Horses that blow off the barrels generally are thinking about running more than finishing the turn. I have also seen riders who are aggressive in the turn, ask their horses to run off the barrels too soon. I have also seen horses that are sore in their hocks blow off the turns. Having an approach that is too wide (going into the barrels) will also cause a horse to blow off the barrels. I would go to the vet, slow down and stay quiet in the turns to try and fix this.
I have a horse that has difficulty rating coming into the 1st barrel. He does well on the second and third but usually turn wide at first. What can I do to begin to help him wrap the first barrel? I’ve been doing slow work turning the first barrel 3 or 4 times correctly at a walk or trot before moving on to the other barrels and I don’t do practice more than maybe once every week to two weeks sometimes longer between practices because I don’t want to burn him out on the pattern either. Thanks for the help.
You could practice stopping him a few times on the way to first. I would practice it more than you are, but I would only practice first barrel. Set three barrels up in a row and approach and turn each one as a first barrel. Rateing and turning perfect at slower speeds.
Hi, I have a 16 year old mostly Arabian gelding (mixed with QH) and he is kinda lazy but he likes to run… but only on the way home from the 3rd barrel. He turns pretty good, but we only trot threw the 1st 2 barrels beacause if i canter him at the house he would be cantering torward the gate on the way to the 1st barrel and then he doesn’t want to turn so i have to pull hard on his mouth witch makes him mad and if he decides i’m kicking to much or pulling to hard then he bucks on the way home. I cant hit or spur him cuz he was abused. I cant kick around the last barrel but i dont need to becuase he will go alot faster with just clucking. If i kick around the last barrel on a good day he bucks and i stay on, on a bad day i fly off, if he wants to run and i hold him back he bucks to make me give him his head. -_- Lately he has been in a really bad mood and he just doesnt feel right, he bucks when i ask him to canter and he arces his back and throws is head down when i ask him to trot. He fell about 2 weeks ago but only to his knees and he got right back up and tryed to canter away. He got a new cribing coller so i guess he could just be mad but i dont know. He isnt acting like anything hurts tho he still picks his head up and does lil hops when i havent told him if he can go or not around the last barrel and happly goes if i lean and give him his head. Any tips on how to improve his barrels and movement? (PS he was a jumper so he doesnt bend or neck rein at all and he is far from what u’d think of when u think of barrel horse. He doesnt do the canter in a circle or even trot in a circle but with all that he’s great at poles, for an english horse, and he’s almost ready to canter when he weaves.)
I would take this horse to the vet, he’s trying to tell you something. I think he is hurting or he really does not like what he’s doing. Sometimes they can start to dislike what they are doing because they are hurting.
Hey I am Haley I am new at barrel racing and pole bending and I don’t know much about anything… I have had no training other than what I have seen in the rodeos… I am 15 and I live in New Albany MS. I was getting pretty good with my first barrel horse but a accident happened on a trail ride and my horse had to be put down. I have two new horses now and have plenty of time to practice if anyone would be interested.
I love all your barrel racing tips, your expertise is truly amazing, keep up the excellent educational teachings, one small thing makes a big difference when barrel racing.