I have a 6 year old QH mare that i am wanting to train on barrels. My plan is to teach her to stop quick and turn sharp before i introduce her to the barrels. That way she turns around them the proper way, fast and sharp! Is this the right method i should take, or should i go directly to working the barrels? Is there a website i could go to talk to other people training their horses to get more tips and things? I have a lot more questions that are related to training my horse. All of your input is welcome!
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I would say before even touching a barrel, you need to get your horse supple and listening to you. Remember that speed isnt everything. I use to have a fast horse but my horse that could turn better always beat him. You lose seconds if your horse doesnt know how to turn.
Start with flexing. Start on the ground and make sure your horse can flex from side to side and make him supple to your hand pressure. Then make sure he can do it while your in the saddle. Then start with bending. Use your inside leg to get him to bend around it but use your outside leg to keep him moving and on the right lead. Put pressure on with your outside leg. Your horse needs to know leg pressure. When going around a barrel you should be able to apply pressure to either get them to move away if they are too close or to come closer. And if they swing their butt, then you can put pressure towards the flank with your outside leg and they will bring their butt around instead of swinging it.
Do many circles. This will help with your horses bending a lot. Circles are great. And so arent figure eights. Also you can put a barrel in the middle of your arena and do big circles, while decreasing them until you turn the barrel tightly. Then you can build up to speed.
Now for the actual course!
First Steps
Start by walking. Walk to the barrels, stop at your rate point, for a beginning horse this is about 10 feet from the barrel, by sitting down in the saddle and if you have to stopping your horse with your reins. Make sure you always stop at the same point. Repetition is what horses learns from. Then, back your horse up at least three steps or until he gets his hind end under him. Then sit slightly forward to ask your horse to go, and walk around the barrel. Keep your horse a little wide and then bring him in as you leave the barrel. Stay straight in your saddle and don’t look at the barrel. Look to your next pocket, he area in which you will start to turn the barrel. Do this at each barrel. When doing any type of practice, after you leave the third barrel, go left all the way to the fence and back down the start. This should only 3-4 times a week when you first start, you don’t want to sour your horse before you have even begun.
Second Steps
After your horse has mastered walking the pattern, and will basically stop on his own at the rate point, you can move on to trotting the barrels. Do the same thing, stopping and backing up at your rate point, the same rate point you established in your walking exercise. Your horse should remember this. So now you are trotting to the barrels and walking around them. Make sure when you get to the point you start to move away from the barrel, push your horse right into a trot so he knows that’s when he is supposed to move out. Do this at each barrel, making sure to go back to the fence after the third barrel.
Third Steps
When your horse does well at trotting the pattern, you can move on. Don’t rush your horse into doing this perfectly. It may take quite a bit of time, and you don’t want him to get bored. Make sure you do other things like trail riding, other events like poles, cones etc. Go out on a trail ride or at least out of the arena several times a week, even after you work on the barrels. So now, you can start loping the barrels. At this stage, it is going to be the time you will need to concentrate on lead changes between the first and second barrel. Most people can feel if their horse is changing leads ok, but if you have problems, have someone watch or better yet, video tape you If your horse naturally slows down at his rate point you have made great success! You should now be loping between the barrels and trotting around them. Make sure you push your horse right into a lope after you leave the barrel though. Repetition is your main training resource.
By now your horse should know the pattern pretty well. Run him in different shows just to get your horse exposed to running in different arenas and you used to his reaction. When you are practicing at home, don’t put a lot of speed on your horse, and don’t do it often. Once your horse is well seasoned, it usually isn’t necessary for your horse to see the barrels between shows. One thing I always stress to everyone is make sure you keep your horses mind sane. Go on trail rides, go to a team penning! Do anything besides barrels. It will keep your horse and you happy.
If you find and deficiencies with your horses pattern, go back to slow work and fix it before it gets out of control. Most times if your horse is have problems it is pilot error, but these things can be fixed.
And with practicing at home. Barely ever RUN the pattern. This burns your horse out quick. Within a two week time I will run the pattern maybe once. Slow work is the key to consistency!
i dont know the how to but i highly recomend to only spend 50% time ridding with barrells. you dont want a " barrel horse" the stereo typed ones. make sure you can control her at all times
good luck have fun
Hello, I haven’t trained any horses, but I’ve worked with dogs. I would go straight to the barrels, but I would take her through the course repeatedly at a walk, and get her use to going tight around them. As she gets use to the routine, start picking up the pace. You will be able to tell how comfortable she is with the progression, and eventually you’ll be able to get her wide open. I’m not sure about teaching her to stop quick, unless you try heading her towards a large solid object, then rein her in fast until she gets the idea of what you expect of her. Just remember you and she are a team and you need to trust each other.
Having been where you are right now, I would suggest going to one or more of the clinics that are being held by top money winners on every circuit…they are top money winners for a reason, they know how it’s done. I have been to a couple of Martha Josey’s clinics and they helped me a lot, especially in starting one out on barrels. You can sure burn a horse out by training specifically on the barrels, yet they do need to know the pattern, but they do need to get the skills down before being asked to perform them. Do a lot of trail riding, working cattle, whatever, anything but running the barrels over and over. Again, I really feel that going to a clinic of one of the top barrel racers is well worth your time and money…good luck, be patient and don’t expect it all to happen for you overnight.
First of all don’t work too much on stopping quick that is not the main tenique of barrel racing.
If you have a round pin then this would be great for starting to train. If you do not have a round pin then get lunge lines.
Before you start introducing her to barrels you should get a saddle on your horse and lunge her around in a circle for about 15 minutes. Be sure to turn your horse by cutting her off and pointing the other way. Do this to your horse after she goes around in a circle 5 times or more. This will get her used to turning sharply. Remember not to stop her or slow her down too much before you turn her just go ahead and turn her when she is just trotting or loping in a circle. Don’t get her loping too fast or too much if you are in a tight space this will injure her. Keeping her at a trot when you are lungging her is the best thing to do.
If she has never seen a barrel you should start off by just leading her next to the barrel. Do whatever it takes to get her used to the barrel. This means put her feed or hay on the barrel, put her water bucket on a barrel and walk her past it as many times as you can until she does not spook anymore.
If you do not know the pattern then you should walk it yourself first. (You can also lead your horse while you are walking it on foot.)
Start by walking your horse through the pattern of the barrels. Do this as many time as you want. Then do this step again put in a slow to fast trot. After you and your horse feel confindent about the pattern then you can start your horse in a lope. Keep doing this until once again you and your horse feel confident about the pattern. Then you are ready to go into a full gallope.
When you are in a full gallop then remember, don’t slow her down to much when turning the barrel, the more you slow her down more seconds end up on the clock, you want to get around them as fast as possable. When she is coming out of a turn and heading towards the next barrel push her as much as you can so she will not slow down coming out of the turn around the barrel. This may sound a little weird but I heard from a pro. trainer that you should not lean your body to much into the turn because it is more weight for your horse to pick up. (This really works)
Remember training your horse like this does not happen in one day it takes several days. And when you are lungging, trotting and loping your horse be sure to praise her for good work and rest her in between work outs.