This is an excellent video from Ty Mitchell from the Josey Ranch Team of trainers. He talks about some of the things we can do as riders to prevent alleyway anxiety in our horses. He will demonstrate how to be prepared for different setups and still be successful.

Prevention really is the key and he talks about some of the strategies to do that. Every horse is a bit different so getting your game plan and strategy for the alleyway in mind in advance, is key. Being prepared in the alleyway is part of getting consistent.

The horses don’t necessarily know our names, but they certainly feel our nerves!

Ty suggests trying to channel any nervous energy you may have in a positive way.

If you’ve already got problems, you’ll want to watch right through to the end. Ty talks about what to do with horses that want to turn around and circle. He suggests you turn them the opposite of where they want to go, while keeping an eye on where you want to go (even if you aren’t facing that way). Your body will follow your eyes. Try and stay relaxed and ready to make a move.

He also suggests to use progression where you would walk, trot and lope into your run rather that blasting from a stop.

One barrel horse training exercise he likes to do is “Loping in the Hot Zone”. He suggests loping circles down at the stopping end, then walking through the pattern. Make him work where he feels the anxiety and continue loping until he starts to relax.

The Josey Ranch has a lot of great resources on Youtube and online and on their website www.BarrelRacers.com

Here is a great drill that Sue Smith (NFR Qualifier and Futurity Trainer) shared on her Spur UP – Sue Smith Facebook page.

The purpose of the drill is to get control of the horses shoulders. Sometimes a horse will “float” or drift in a turn where their shoulders are not following the inside rein pressure.

Sue teaches “separation” where she has the horse stop on the way into a turn and on the way out, giving the horse time to prepare and absorb the information give in the turn. Sue feels this helps the horse to soften and relax for the turn.

In this drill you will see the rider stops the horse before the barrel and counter bends the horse around the barrel pushing its shoulder in (which was wanting to drift/float). The second time the horse circles the barrel (not counter arced) it is more engaged in its hind end. She stops the horse on the way out before proceeding. This rider felt the horse drifting out on the way into second and quickly corrected it. You will hear Sue applaud her for her judgement there.

In Sue’s words:

The counter arc helps to drive the hip forward & down, “hooking” it to the front shoulder, this also “frees” the front end up, helps to elevate the shoulders and gives you rib control.

Thank you Sue for sharing this video with the public. You can find Sue online at www.SpurUP.com or find her fan page on Facebook.  Sue trains barrel horses, does barrel racing clinics and makes amazing tack.  Watch for her at the NFR!

Professional barrel racer and trainer Dena Kirkpatrick demonstrates how to get a great stop on a barrel horse.  She will start at a walk first, she will sit,  say whoa, make contact and have them take step back.  Dena emphasizes that you stop your horse in a straight line and to get out of their mouth (release) the moment they step back and give at their face.

Give this video a watch to get a visual of this great barrel racing tip from Dena Kirkpatrick

Fallon Taylor offers several great free barrel racing videos with tips on YouTube. Here is one of her helpful videos that talks about how to deal with a barrel horse that has a tendency to shoulder the barrels.

In the video she focuses on the second barrel. The second barrel is the hardest turn because we have to make a full circle turn around it. One of the first problems she discusses at second barrel is when riders don’t finish their first barrel properly and end up moving their horses over too far and going into second on the wrong lead This in turn causes the horse to change its lead in a difficult position making him come out wide on the backside because he has to take his room there.

Fallon Taylor demonstrates a few solutions to shouldering including counter arcing the horse away from the barrel, then pushing him past the barrel following up with finishing the barrel.
Here is the video:

As the barrel racing tips video continues she demonstrates where she likes to rate and position her horse going into the barrel for the most efficient turns (she likes to be 4-6 feet out and rate and stop when her knee is at the barrel). Fallon talks about body and hand position too. She suggests you sit deep and being sure to not pick up too early on your horse.

The bit she mentions and shows at the end would be a good bit (as she suggests) to use on a horse that has a tendency to shoulder.

Sometimes when things go wrong with our horses we are quick to point the finger. “My horse keeps running on the wrong side of the barrel, My horse keeps hitting the barrel or My horse won’t do this, my horse won’t do that”.

Horse aren’t that smart, they don’t just run into things for no reason and they don’t think things through and decide to ruin your day. Horses get tired and sore, horses get scared and angry.. They will fight or flight. Meaning they may buck or kick up, tune you out or they may take off running (flight).

Most often it is us as riders that are not giving the right message to our horses. One extreme would be not giving them any guidance or leadership at all and they walk all over us or refuse to work. The other end of the spectrum would be “making” them do things instead of setting them up for success and asking them for what we are looking for. When we make them do something they don’t learn they just do it because they are scared or frustrated.

When your horse makes a mistake think about why they did what they did. What were you doing or not doing that prevented your horse from making the correct move. Were you giving them a conflicting message? Were you leaning to the inside? Kicking and pulling at the same time? Maybe you actually asked with your body and your horse listened even though in your head you meant to do something else?

Is YOUR body doing what your brain is trying to tell it? Maybe its YOU and not your horse making the mistakes.

Be aware of the messages you are sending to your horse and have some compassion for him if you are having an off day and perhaps sending some confusing messages to him. A horse can feel a fly land on him, he can surely feel your body off balance or horse leg bump him accidentally. We work to get our horses broke and soft, but the pitfall of that is that they listen better. This means we had better ride better!

Ride for your horse and be considerate and aware of the messages you send him (whether you mean to send them or not).

In barrel racing we often try and coordinate or match our outfits to the horses gear, but when it comes to personalities, too much of the same can be a bad thing.

The idea is to compliment your horses personality with your own. Too much of one thing can be a trouble. If you are nervous and your horse has a tendency to be nervous it can be a recipe for disaster. If you are relaxed and laid back, teaming up with a lazy horse will likely result in a slow time.

We could put that lazy horse with the nervous rider and the nervous horse and the relaxed rider and have a dynamite team. Selecting your horse to compliment (rather than match) your personality and riding style is the ticket to success in barrel racing.

If you aren’t able to pick, it is really important that you aware of how you affect your horse and how your horse affects you. You may need to adjust your energy level accordingly. For example, if you are laid back and your horse is standing there sleeping before you run, you may need to raise your energy level to get some spark in him. If you are nervous and you can tell you are making your horse nervous you need to find a way to calm yourself down, even if it means getting off and walking your horse so that you don’t channel that energy to your horse. Horses are so sensitive – they can feel how you feel.

Are you an aggressive rider? Some horses run better with an aggressive rider, some worse. Some run best with a quiet rider, some will just lope through with a quiet rider. If you are aggressive, its important you ride a horse than can handle the pressure you put on them. Not all of them can handle it.

Give this some thought – do you match or compliment your horse? Do you need to adjust your energy level up or down?

Here is a great barrel racing drill or exercise to remind your horse to stay locked on a turn and not to leave it too soon.

What you will do is circle the barrel twice (and sometimes more if necessary to get it right) before moving on to the next barrel.   Remember to properly prepare your barrel racing horse for the turn (with two hands if you would like), then ask for the turn.  Make a perfect circle around the barrel with four wheel drive forward motion.  Your horse should be moving forward in a controlled fashion arced/bent around the barrel soft in the mouth and body.

You can do this at a walk, trot and lope as long as you are working at a controlled speed.  You can use one or two hands on the rein depending on your horses level of training and your comfort level.  Its good to practice with one hand around the barrel since that’s how you are in competition (when the other is on the horn).  Remember to use your legs to help position and guide him as well.  Your inside leg will help get bend and keep him from coming in too tight.  Your outside leg should be keeping the hip in and stopping him from drifting out or going wider than you’d like.

This drill is great for the horse that bows out and off of first, goes wide off of second and/or blows out of third.   It will emphasize that you want them to finish the turn before you more onto the next barrel.    Remember to do this only at a speed it can be done correctly and with control before moving on to a fast speed.

Many barrel racers often struggle with knowing when to ask their barrel horses in training for an increase in speed. Joyce Loomis-Kernek is a very experienced barrel racer and coach to many.  Her website offers many articles and tips to help you become a better barrel racer.  You can check out the tips archive here.

One article I particularly enjoyed was the one titled “Know When Your Horse Is Ready To Speed Up”

In this article Joyce states: “When your horse is understanding everything you are showing him, he will get quieter, better and faster. When he is not understanding everything you are showing him, or he is not ready for the next step, he will get fussy, worse and slower. The slower you go in the early training stages, the faster you will go for a longer period of time. A horse that is trained slow enough to understand the steps and then speeded up as he shows understanding of the steps will have a longer career”.

Horses that are rushed or pushed to go faster than they are ready will loose their confidence, loose their rate/gather and start dreading their job.  If you have a horse that doesn’t want to work, ask yourself why.  Are you pushing him too fast? With so much money being added to futurities many horses are pushed to peak in their 4 year old year (and in some areas 5).  Training using a calender rather that listening to the horse and training at their speed results in a less than solid horse in the long run.

Joyce says in her article: “Few horses can peak early and remain a great horse. A horse will never reach his full potential if he did not solidly understand each stage up to his competition. A horse will actually tell you when he is ready to speed up; barrel racers just need to learn to read the signs”.

Pushing a horse too fast to make a futurity event is like cramming for an exam.  You might be able to get a passing grade on your exam having crammed the information in your brain in a short time, but try and write that same exam a week later or a month later!? The info just isn’t there, you didn’t really learn it.

We want our horses to actually learn and understand what they are doing and build on it.  Finish and pass grade 4 with flying colors before going on to grade 5 and so on.  A good example of whether a horse is actually learning (rather than just doing it) is when they can do what you were asking in the next lesson better than you left them on the last ride.

Listen to your horse and follow their lead.  Every horse will learn at a different rate and every horse will handle the information differently.  If your horse is proceeding with confidence and understanding, consider taking the next step.

For more of Joyce Loomis-Kernek’s articles check out her website for articles and tips.Her website is www.loomis-kerneck.com

Joyce is a former Miss Rodeo America, World Champion WPRA Barrel Racer, AQHA World Champion, Professional Clinician and Speaker.

Martha Josey and her Josey Ranch Team have a great website with many resources available.  There is information there suited for the beginner barrel racer just learning to barrel race, to the advanced racer that needs to freshen up and be reminded that good horsemanship is where it all starts.

In Martha’s Winning Ways section for the website you will find all kinds of tips including horse care, training and developing that winning attitude.  Seeing that it is the beginning of a new barrel racing season in many parts I thought I would focus on one section she has called The Barrel Racing Checklist

This is a great review for all levels of barrel racers.  Its a good list to go through and assess where you are at in your own program.  Kind of like a “spring tuneup” to see if you have any issues you are missing that could be improved on before you get too far into the season.

I encourage you to go to her site (BarrelRacers.com, then Winning Ways) to read more, but here is a quick rundown on some of the things we need to be in tune to with our horses:

• Check for soreness and injury.  Know your horse, know what he SHOULD feel like
• Check his ears for soreness, check his teeth for problems
• What is your horses overall appearance? Step back and think what a stranger would think.  Is she underweight, dull hair coat, have you de-wormed lately?
• Assess your feeding program? Is your horse getting everything he/she needs?  Are there changes you could make?
• Look at his/her feet? Are they up to date? Is your farrier doing a good job.  The condition of your horses feet will directly affect its ability to perform to its best.
• Check your equipment.  Is it fitting your horse correctly? Properly adjusted? In good condition? Is it safe?  Check your tie-down, curb strap, rein length, headstall – every piece.
• Is your tack clean?  Dirty tack can make a horse sore and uncomfortable
• How is your saddle fitting?
• As a rider – are you doing your part? Are you fit and able to ride to the best of your ability?  How is your mental game?  Are you mentally prepared to help your horse?
• Consider videoing your run to see if you are causing your horse problems – perhaps sending an incorrect message.
• When you are trailering, is your horse comfortable? Too hot? Too cold? How’s your driving…are you giving a smooth ride so your horse doesn’t arrive more tired than when he left?
• Are you remembering to properly warm up and cool down your horse before and after a workout or run?
• Is your practice productive/constructive.  Are you over practicing or not enough?
• Is your horse in adequate condition for what you are asking of him/her?

Martha Josey goes into much more detail than I have here and has so many other great tips on her Winning Ways section of her website.  I encourage you to check them out.  She is very positive and offers  great advice that stems from decades of barrel racing experience.

We had great feedback on our Facebook page when we posted some videos with Dena about bits for barrel racing.   Now Dena has her very own channel on YouTube!

I think this video on positioning your horse around the barrel for a turn is great.  It is a caption from her new video “Dena’s One Smooth Motion”.   Have a look at this video below.

(Click here to watch video if you are reading this on Facebook)

In this video Dena points out the importance of positioning your horse properly to make the best turn.  She suggests that no matter your training style or your horses style, you always want to position the barrel behind your leg or at the horses hip before you start the turn.  Reason being is that in your horses peripheral vision if you turn earlier, the barrel will be in your horses way and he will react in an unfavorable way.   He might stop forward motion, move himself over, slow down, blow off etc.

If you are able to continue forward motion at all times, your resulting time will be quicker.   The overhead video is awesome for showing how a horse can keep those feet moving continuing in a forward motion.  Dena also shows how when you start the turn to soon how the horse will have to reposition himself take make the turn which will cost valuable time as he gets out of the most favorable position.

This fundamental is important for training a young horse, keeping a seasoned horse honest and schooling one that has some bad habits.   I would hedge a guess that this bodyto barrel positioning is a key and integral part to Dena’s training program that has been coined  Dena’s One Smooth Motion – “The Unique Training Method of Dena Kirkpatrick”.

Dena’s new video is available through stores that carry the Classic Equine Brand.  I haven’t had a chance to watch it yet but I’m sure it is great.  I have been to one of her clinics and thought it was great.  5 and a half hours of video from the lady who has trained many futurity champions and NFR qualifying horses (including the 2008 World Champion barrel horse “Martha”).   Check out the YouTube Channel here or go see Dena’s website www.denakirkpatrick.com Go to”media” and you can watch the videos right on her website too.

Some of the other clips you can find on her website or youtube channel include those on how to put polo wraps on properly, speed to the first barrel, handling ground,  saddling and controlling your mind for barrel racing and more.

Thank you Dena for this great visual showing us the importance of proper positioning around a barrel.