# building muscle for barrel racing?



## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

You could lope him around, and make him do a sort of roll-back, get him working off his hind end, also, you could trot/lope up and down hills


----------



## HarleyWood (Oct 14, 2011)

Im hopefully sending him off to training, he can be a butt in the saddle, so right now im doing a ton of ground work and just making him work and twice a week i try to ride plus an hour of ground/round pen work. a day.


----------



## DrumRunner (Jan 26, 2011)

Lots and lots of trotting is a very good exercise for any horse to gain muscle.


----------



## MySissyGirl (Dec 12, 2011)

HarleyWood said:


> okay so i have 2 horses that i might game off of. and my 16.2(3)hh isnt really big in muscle tone and would like him to have more. i have been backing him up everyday, trying to get it worked up.
> 
> anything else i can do?


Rollbacks are great and so is an extended trot. The longer the better.


----------



## katieandscooby (Feb 14, 2010)

Trotting and hills are great ways to build muscle.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

I am conditioning my horse for endurance...and they all say...trot, trot, trot!!! Builds endurance and muscle.


----------



## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

My barrel horses get a lot of rollbacks into the fence, lots and lots of extended trotting (Make sure they're actually DRIVING with that rump of theirs!), going up and down hills, and loping squares, using the corners as quarter turns and making them as tight as possible.


----------



## Beling (Nov 3, 2009)

Just beware of getting more muscle than the joints and tendons can handle. Muscle builds really fast; bones take more time.

You can see that barrel racing is particularly hard on the legs (turning as well as straight running) which is why a smooth, balanced technique can be more important than speed. Once again, it pays to take lessons with an experienced instructor, in this case, a barrel racer.


----------



## SunnyDraco (Dec 8, 2011)

Also watch what they eat, make sure you are giving them premium grain designed for the amount of work, conditioning, and muscle building they are getting.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------

