# Are all Barrel Horses "Hot" or is it the training they receive?



## Eclipse295 (Nov 30, 2010)

I am looking into getting a barrel prospect. I have ridden barrels and everything before but mainly in non-competitive fun events my best time on Sherman was something like 20sec on a horse that had never galloped in his life and my best time out of all the horses was like 14 something on a crazy horse that I had no hope of stopping until we were pass the starting line. 

Are all good barrel horses Hot, excitable, and hard to stop? Or is it that the riders run their horses all the time and whenever they are at a pattern they are running full-out and it makes them Hot? I understand that a barrel horse isn't going to be like a western pleasure horse in temperament as barrel horses are trained to go fast and a western pleasure horses are normally trained to go at a slow pace. Any Barrel horse I have ridden has been insane and you had no hope of stopping it once you started the pattern. I didn't train these horses. They are just ones my friends let me ride at fun shows and in the non-competitive events.


----------



## Spastic_Dove (Oct 4, 2007)

A well trained barrel horse should not be hot or uncontrollable. A good stop is essential on a well trained barrel horse. 

All these hot barrel horses you see that are balking at the gate, run around in huge bits with floppy riders and have to get hauled on to stop are a result of bad training.


----------



## Eclipse295 (Nov 30, 2010)

Awesome so If I train right I shouldn't end up with the crazy uncontrollable horse.


----------



## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Exactly. So long as you keep the training calm and well balanced (for each minute you spend on the pattern, spend 10 on calm work), then there is no reason why your horse should end up acting like so many of those. IMHO, another one of the biggest causes of those hot and hyped up horses is that they are so bombarded by pain every time they run the pattern, they get antsy and sour of it. Stabbing a horse with spurs whenever they aren't turning and then yanking them to turn or stop fries their mind and makes them hateful and sometimes dangerous.


----------



## TheRoughrider21 (Aug 25, 2009)

No, the good barrel horses shouldn't be hot. With my old barrel horse, we would walk the pattern a lot. I think it helped with keeping her calm in the arena.


----------



## BarrelRacer86 (Jul 6, 2010)

They shouldn't be, a well trained barrel horse should be calm and under control. As long as you don't run the pattern everyday, 10 times a day. Burns them out. You can practice alot, but don't spend your whole time on it, and quit as soon as your horse runs a good pattern, then turn around and walk back through calmy. To teach the horse they don't always have to run through. But it's a excitable nerve racking sport, sometimes even a horse whose had all the right training will act silly at shows just because their a "hot" easily excitable horse.


----------



## SparksFly (Nov 20, 2010)

My horses are not "hot," but they do get excited before a run. I don't really know how to explain it. When we get to the gait I can feel them get excited about the run, especially my main guy Tango, and he starts prancing. He's never bucked or reared or anything, though.


----------



## dressagebelle (May 13, 2009)

My dads horse was my friends champion barrel racer for years, and I know that she rode him in a gag hackamore (don't ask me why), she always had light hands, and more often than not, he was sleeping at the gate before his run. Unlike a lot of other horse's I'd see where the rider had to force them to stare at the wall so they didn't start towards the barrels before the rider was ready, he would walk in, stand calmly and quietly until told to go, but when he went, he burned rubber. He loved to run barrels, but he wasn't stupid about it. He also spend a lot of hours just out on the trails behind my friends house when she had him, and as she got older, and started giving lesson, he and her old mare were her two main lesson horses. She got a few "hot" horses, but she would spend a lot of time working on the trails to get them to calm down and relax. I think it helped that they had another outlet, and they weren't always seeing barrels, and running barrels, and nothing else. I think some of it is training, some of it is genetics, some are just bred to be "hotter" than others, and that "hotness" is cultivated by some riders, and some of it I think is that younger people think its "cool" that they've got the "crazy" horse, that gets all hyped up, and hard to control before a run, and they intentionally ask the horse for that, so that they look cooler than the people who's horses are asleep at the gate.


----------



## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

Not one horse I've owned has been hot and stupid about running gaming events...but I also never even spent time 'practicing' the events either, especially at a dead run...if I practiced them at all at home it was at a trot, or canter. My horses were also trail, and pleasure trained, so it was important to keep them in a "good sound mindframe", not just wired and thinking about running. Horses that are so hyped up and crazy at the gate are a result of poor training and poor handling. They may not have been that way before, but it just starts out subtle and the rider just thinks it's because they are excited for the run, and then the behavior starts to escalate until they are no long controllable in or around the gate.


----------



## Gus (Oct 22, 2010)

SOme are, but...like my old horse Aladdin had people who would constantly run him oveer and over in the barrels and he gotsoooooo bad at throwing his shoulder in. It was so bad, he was in a blind panic, and would run straight on at the thing and he almost broke my leg doing it! It took me months to get him to go around 1 barrel without me hitting it. 

But my other horse Skylar, no he gets excited but he's not hot.... and we get like 18

It all depends on how you treat the horse


----------



## live4myhorses (Dec 4, 2010)

hot isn't necassarily a bad thing for a barrel horse but uncontrollable surely is. if you pattern a horse slowly and don't let them run the event every time, they won't assume that's what you want from them. the reason i say hot isn't a bad thing is that my barrel horse is an arab TB cross, a mixture of two very hot breeds. she loves what she does and the fact the she gets excited before she runs doesn't make her out of control. i patterned her myself and even though she's been gaming for two years now i can still walk her through the patterns. a barrel prospect is better than an aready patterned barrel horse because it's alot harder to undue bad training than it is to train a horse.


----------



## Gus (Oct 22, 2010)

It depends on your definition of "hot" spirited and eager to go isn't bad but I agree with live4myhorses, an uncontrollable horse is definately what you don't want! Like Aladdin


----------



## paintluver (Apr 5, 2007)

Yep, my horse walks in and out of the gate, he runs cleanly and I stay on during the ride lol. We have been riding in the shows for 3 years now.


----------



## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

There's a differance between being hot and being stupid. 

Hot= Excited, wanting to run and do their job, etc.

Stupid = Rearing, bawking, shying, pulling the bit, etc.

Most stupid horses are the result of bad training from teenage girls going "Oh look at how hot my horse is! I must be a super good rider since I can run barrels on him!"

......Yeaahh.....You do that....


----------



## BuckOff41570 (Nov 15, 2008)

Most barrel horses, at least decent ones, are on the muscle, not hot.

Hot horses, are hot all the time. Horses that get on the muscle are horses that get stoked to run. SOUR horses are horses who refuse to walk into the chute.

All my horses can walk in and out of the alley way and conduct themselves like gentlemen. Any other kind of behavior is unacceptable.


----------



## xEquestrianx (Aug 30, 2009)

A good barrel horse should be controllable and not insane. But in general, a horse that will do good in speed events, needs to be very energetic by nature. They need to have that "go" in them. But they need to be trained and controllable.


----------



## flytobecat (Mar 28, 2010)

I agree with what's been said already. A good barrel horse should know his job & be excited about doing it. Some hot horses are bred that way, but the "crazies" you are talking about is training.
I also agree with Moms & Dressage don't overwork you horse and diversify its training. Take it on trail rides, change up the pattern, get the horse thinking & listening to you instead of having him run just out of habit.


----------



## BarrelRacer86 (Jul 6, 2010)

xEquestrianx said:


> But in general, a horse that will do good in speed events, needs to be very energetic by nature. They need to have that "go" in them. But they need to be trained and controllable.


Somehow I wish that was true about a good barrel horse being very energetic by nature. Yet doesn't explain my gelding who I sometimes need a whip to carry just to make him pick up a faster trot or a canter. My legs get tired from riding him. But he's a consistant 1st Division horse, the most exited he's ever walked into the gate was at a easy trot. Rest of the time he walks in like were going for a trail ride.


----------



## sarahver (Apr 9, 2010)

Just to clarify from the start - I am not a barrel racer.

However I AM a horse person :wink:

Seems to me that barrel racers (and their trusty steeds) get somewhat of a bad name in regards to having 'hot' or 'crazy' horses. Whilst there are probably some out there that perpetuate this stereotype, there are many that don't. 

Although barrel racing and other competitve gaming endeavours are high energy and fast paced, not all horses will be uncontrollable as a result. Just look to the captain of the ship if you want answers as to how the horse is behaving prior, during and after the event. I am quite sure that no barrel racer wants a horse that is so above itself before entering the arena that they lose precious seconds while the horse jumps around like an idiot. 

So my advice would be if you are looking at buying a barrel horse - have a good chat to the owner/rider. Find out how they handle the horse, what they expect of the horse in terms of behaviour and you will have a much better idea of what to expect from the horse in question.


----------



## DunOverIt (Dec 14, 2010)

My stallion spends his home time walking and trotting the pattern. Sometimes loping. He only works on this a few times a week. He is also a roping horse. He gets jiggety and excited, but never spinning, rearing, or stupid. The excitement is them knowing their job and anticipating doing it..


----------



## spence (Nov 8, 2009)

this last fall i nearly started getting one of those obnoxious horses myself. it was starting to get cold and work didn't allow me to do a lot, if any, riding outside of fun shows. there were plenty of girls with those psychotic horses, and their parents ENCOURAGED that crap. 

before ANY run i made, i would make him STOP and stand for several seconds and stop and calm down before we would head for the gate to leave. he was just about as antsy to get OUT of the arena as he was to get in. 

when i really realized what was happening i said that was it for the fall because i wasn't going to start getting that kind of horse and knew he needed MUCH more just fun riding instead of shows/speed.


----------



## horsenrider (Nov 22, 2010)

My QH, Lady, has a real calm personality although she is extremely responsive with a lot of energy and makes very tight corners in whatever sporting event (We always gets me ribbons in sporting, it's like her thing..)
Where as I have a stockhorse who is so fiery in every discipline. She thinks everything is such a big deal and tries to take off because she is excited (esp canter) it is just her persona. (I never win hardly anything on her..Especially in sporting) 
A calm horse gives you control and I find that it helps when you have to be precise with cornering and manouver around barrels and other equipment. The way you ride also effects your horses temperment. Avoid riding with a hot seat that fizzes a horse up because.
Like RoughRider, I don't gallop everytime. I walk trot and take a slow canter for most barrel racing (Except at comps). That way my horse doesn't expect to go fast everytime and they won't bolt as much.
I am a PC rider who does a lot of English too, I was luckily blessed with a horse that puts up with English even though she is initially trained in Western. Therefore I do lots of slow riding aswell.
Vary your routine so that you don't end up with a crazy out-of-control horse that only barrel races at a gallop


----------



## banman (Dec 14, 2009)

a well mannered and traind barrel horse should not be hot, fast and quick responding witch sometimes people mistake for being hot.


----------



## jethroish (Sep 19, 2009)

SparksFly said:


> My horses are not "hot," but they do get excited before a run. I don't really know how to explain it. When we get to the gait I can feel them get excited about the run, especially my main guy Tango, and he starts prancing. He's never bucked or reared or anything, though.


My horse is similar. We can go into the arena in the off time and he is easy going. But he knows when it is "go" time.


----------



## yukontanya (Apr 11, 2010)

I am training my gelding for barrels.... When I enter the arena, I face him away from the barrels then I spin him and take off at a full run. When we are doing slower work, I walk into the arena and then turn him to face and stop before my pattern. I do want a little bit of a hot horse (ie... driven) that will help you win, but theres a time and a place for that exciting behaviour, if you are consistent, you will have a horse that takes off and is "hot" when you want it. But a horse who is very level headed when you want it to.

Cheers Tanya


----------



## Streakin (Jan 8, 2011)

Spastic_Dove said:


> A well trained barrel horse should not be hot or uncontrollable. A good stop is essential on a well trained barrel horse.
> 
> All these hot barrel horses you see that are balking at the gate, run around in huge bits with floppy riders and have to get hauled on to stop are a result of bad training.


 HUH?

So a horse that is ready to go isnt well trained?

Guess I have some untrained whackos.

Theres a difference between a hot horse, and an uncontrollable one.
2 of my horses are bred VERY hot, but Im taking my time seasoning and hauling them, basically just getting them used to the sounds and the atmosphere and performing. I think that if barrel horses are brought along CORRECTLY they wont blow up. Some horses you see that rear or balk either
are in pain
hate their job
have been blown up.

Hot horses are just naturally ready to work, but are controllable. Dont mistake a horse that gets in the alley and is ready to go as being a nut. That horse just knows his job

As for as stopping being essential..well..yes...but thats only one piece of the puzzle.

In my opinion all barrel horses should have a solid foundation. Mine wont see a barrel until they know how to
collect
respond to leg cues, weight shifts
lead changes
pivot
sidepass
counter arc
stop
cross over
transitions

By knowing these things, any problem I encounter while patterning them is easily fixed.


----------



## OneFastHorse (Jan 13, 2011)

Streakin said:


> HUH?
> 
> So a horse that is ready to go isnt well trained?
> 
> ...


Not really much more to add to that. I agree.


----------



## DiamondsMyLady (Jan 14, 2011)

A well trained barrel horse should be controlable. You won't do very well if the horse doesn't listen to your cues to switch lead, or to collect before a turn, now will you? As for being keyed up, it truly depends on the horse. Some people (idiots) breed horses to be hot tempered. That's what happenedwithmy appendix QH. Backyard breeding AND training really jacked her up. But I'm not ashamed to say it- I own one of the crazies. She just really loves to run, but she listens to my cues. She just gets really excited is all. like she'll canter in place, shake her head, she start doing turn on the forhand and sidepasses too. lol. But it's all harmless suff now. When I first got her she would rear all the time at the starting gate. So yes- it's all about training, but some horses are just hyper.


----------



## BuckOff41570 (Nov 15, 2008)

Let me see here... A lot of people are right on the money as far as the difference between a horse that's out of control and a horse that's on the muscle.

I have a horse who happens to be bred "hot"... a lot of run and a lot of race horse. But you know what? I dont ride him that way. I expect him to be a gentleman. I focus on fundamentals first and foremost. Training is what makes a horse on the muscle. A lack of training is what makes a horse uncontrolable.

My Montage 12/12/10 at One True Media - share slideshows, slide shows, Facebook slideshows, free video sharing, video montages.

My Montage 11/22/10 at One True Media - share slideshows, slide shows, Facebook slideshows, free video sharing, video montages.


----------



## Streakin (Jan 8, 2011)

Hes nice buckoff!
Heres how my 2 are bred
Sizzle for Cash Quarter Horse
Sompin Lika Jewel Quarter Horse

I expect the same out of mine.
I want to enjoy riding them...I do not want a struggle. Ive spent alot of time hauling and seasoning them as well.

Look how hyper Cash is:
(dern horse wasnt rolling back and getting his leads Lol!)


----------



## HopalongCassidy (Dec 19, 2010)

Well...... My horse is hot. I can control him though. But if he sees a barrel even if its just one barrel he thinks he has to go turn it. If i tell him to walk he'll walk, if i tell him to trot to the first one, walked to the second one, gallop to the third one, and run home he will. But i really never do that. I was just saying. 

My horse listens to my cues. He's a runner, and off the track so he's a head held high type horse and very very hot/hyper.

But the thing is i can control him and he listens. Yes he hot when we do the barrels, but just riding around he's fine and interested in every little thing we past. (And if he heard a twig brake he'll look at me to see if i have anything for him to eat.LOL i don't know why.)

He'll even start prancing around after a barrel run wanting to do it again. My warm up is the rodeo queen pattern. Really good. He loves to do the figure 8. He's most hot when he's sweaty.


----------



## Streakin (Jan 8, 2011)

HopalongCassidy said:


> Well...... My horse is hot. I can control him though. But if he sees a barrel even if its just one barrel he thinks he has to go turn it. If i tell him to walk he'll walk, if i tell him to trot to the first one, walked to the second one, gallop to the third one, and run home he will. But i really never do that. I was just saying.
> 
> My horse listens to my cues. He's a runner, and off the track so he's a head held high type horse and very very hot/hyper.
> 
> ...


 Jewel is off the track and he isnt "hot".
Being off the track is irrelevant, its how you train the horse, and how you approach things. 
You cant just stick them on the barrels, off the track horses need to be re trained to an extent, and have a foundation put on them.


----------



## OneFastHorse (Jan 13, 2011)

Buckoff and I pattern the same hehe

Mine are bred like this:
Redmans Foxy Chic Quarter Horse

Ms Desert Pride Paint


Wanted to add: I have had a bunch of off track horses (mostly tb's) and none of them have been "hot" so to speak. Clueless, yes. Hot, no.


----------



## HopalongCassidy (Dec 19, 2010)

^^^^^ Streakin ^^^^^ OneFastHorse^^^^^

I'm not saying all horses are hot of the track, horses are different. I think it was his owners before use that did that to him. He's almost terrified of a rope being swung over his head, his owner before use roped off him. Hero was trained to neck rein and do thing that has nothing to do with running track from the people before use, Yes i worked with him on the ground and he knows what i want, i do use different methods on him but the one i use the most is Clinton Anderson's methods or just make up my own that i KNOW is effective. The way Hero was, was made by the people that owner him on the track and his previous owners. Now he would do anything i asked. Yes i may have rushed a few thing like barrel racing him but he knows the barrel not an expert on them. I don't go out and barrel him every time i ride. he's learned to rein better, whoa better, back up better, and everything in between, know bout this leg pressure my horse know that, but i don't always use it, i go YA or kiss to him. My old mare knew if i leaned forward i was ready to run. When i went back she knows to stop. It's just different methods for different horses. They may sound wrong to you but everyone to there own way. See i maybe doing it wrong but the wrong is not wrong for my horse. its not hurting him or anything its just not the way yal do it. I've learned a lot from yal two and yal both have great horses but maybe i can't ride like yal. And my horse has more running blood but no barrel that i know of. Doesn't mean he can't do it. And yes i know yal didn't say that just wanted to add.


----------



## Streakin (Jan 8, 2011)

OneFastHorse said:


> Buckoff and I pattern the same hehe
> 
> Mine are bred like this:
> Redmans Foxy Chic Quarter Horse
> ...


All 3 of us do Lol.


----------



## HopalongCassidy (Dec 19, 2010)

OneFastHorse said:


> Buckoff and I pattern the same hehe
> 
> Mine are bred like this:
> Redmans Foxy Chic Quarter Horse
> ...


We didn't get him straight off the track, His owners before use had him for two weeks they say. If they did they didn't change his horse shoes. They were almost wore out. I've got a picture of them.


----------



## Streakin (Jan 8, 2011)

HopalongCassidy said:


> We didn't get him straight off the track, His owners before use had him for two weeks they say. If they did they didn't change his horse shoes. They were almost wore out. I've got a picture of them.


Thats not unusual for aluminum shoes


----------



## DiamondsMyLady (Jan 14, 2011)

I think people are getting a little off the subject here. This isn't just about off the track horses. It's about barrel horses.


----------



## OneFastHorse (Jan 13, 2011)

DiamondsMyLady said:


> I think people are getting a little off the subject here. This isn't just about off the track horses. It's about barrel horses.


But a very high percentage of barrel horses ARE off the track, so not tooo off subject


----------



## Streakin (Jan 8, 2011)

Like OFH said, a high percentage of barrel horses are off the track QHs


----------



## BuckOff41570 (Nov 15, 2008)

Hehehe...mine is also OTT...


----------



## HopalongCassidy (Dec 19, 2010)

HAHA, i just rode my horse Hero, I didn't see hot no where. I must be mistaking his hyperness with hotness. He was really calm and collective. My step dad rode him around the barrels. For one thing i didn't know my step dad could barrel race. (He seemed better then me!) 

Anyway DiamondsMyLady My horse barrel races and he's off the track. If you read Streakin's post she has a off the track running barrels to. And if Eclipse295 Has no complaints about off track horses i guess we can talk about them. Like the two said a high % of barrel horses come off the track. (Witch don't feel bad i didn't know that either.)


----------



## DiamondsMyLady (Jan 14, 2011)

HopalongCassidy said:


> HAHA, i just rode my horse Hero, I didn't see hot no where. I must be mistaking his hyperness with hotness. He was really calm and collective. My step dad rode him around the barrels. For one thing i didn't know my step dad could barrel race. (He seemed better then me!)
> 
> Anyway DiamondsMyLady My horse barrel races and he's off the track. If you read Streakin's post she has a off the track running barrels to. And if Eclipse295 Has no complaints about off track horses i guess we can talk about them. Like the two said a high % of barrel horses come off the track. (Witch don't feel bad i didn't know that either.)


 
I realize this, but a lot of OTTs are used in other disciplines. It's more towards barrel racing, not just breed. And I'm not saying not to, obviously I have no right, but we should try n incorperate some talk of what the subject is too. thats all :]


----------



## HopalongCassidy (Dec 19, 2010)

^^^ Right

Well i say some people might mistake hot for hyper, My horse is really prances when we finish the barrels, yesterday he wasn't that bad, my step dad barrel raced him though, so ya i think some horses are trained to be hot just some people mistake hot for ready to go. if you can't control the horse its hot and rambunctious and not good to have. you can get your self and your horse/horses hurt.


----------

