Comments on: Barrel Racing Drills and Exercises

By: Dave Harper

Dave Harper — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:20:24 +0000

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.

By: Haley McCord

Haley McCord — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:50:53 +0000

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.

By: tipster

tipster — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:50:43 +0000

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.

By: tipster

tipster — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:49:17 +0000

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.

By: tipster

tipster — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:46:13 +0000

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.

By: tipster

tipster — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:40:22 +0000

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.

By: Kayla

Kayla — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:12:39 +0000

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.)

By: Emily

Emily — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:33:39 +0000

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.

By: Tyranee Balentine

Tyranee Balentine — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:25:27 +0000

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.

By: carmelita allen

carmelita allen — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:56:39 +0000

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…