# Why do some barrel horses act up so much before their runs?



## ClearDonkey (Nov 27, 2016)

It ultimately comes down to training - there was one rider during the NFR this year that could easily walk her horse down the alley way, no jumping, no rearing, nothing at all...


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## farrieremily (Jul 8, 2018)

It depends, some just are hyped up in anticipation of their run. Some know they are going to be spurred or smacked. Some times the riders like that behavior for attention it draws. Some horses do nothing else and become ring sour.

It’s not really doing the horse any favors.

I never started a run unless my mare was calm and attentive. She knew she would get to go all out but never gave me a hassle to start. We also did 95% of our barrel practice at a trot or walk with a little cantering. 
We did more than enough galloping and racing on trails to keep in speed shape.


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## AbbySmith (Nov 15, 2020)

Yeah I noticed that too. My fav barrel racer right now is Hailey Kinsel. Her horse, Sister, stays pretty still. Hailey is a great rider and totally keeps her under control the whole time!


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## QHriderKE (Aug 3, 2011)

In high levels of competition, it's anticipation. 
Talking 1D, pro rodeo calibre here. Those horses can be quirky and really hard to ride. 

Otherwise, I think it's carelessness and skipping steps in training. My own mare is about as hot and anxious as they come, but will still walk quietly to the gate. It's a very important part of training that has to be consistently worked on to stick.


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## ~Wildheart~ (Nov 17, 2020)

It varies from horse to horse. Some are anticipating the run while others are foreseeing spurring. Training plays a big part in how a horse acts in the alley, for example, Doc is an ex rodeo horse, he’s patterned to the barrel pattern as well as poles even though he’s 30 years old he still gets antsy right before entering but I make him stop and get his cool together before turning him loose.


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

They have a job to do and they love it...


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## AbbySmith (Nov 15, 2020)

farmpony84 said:


> They have a job to do and they love it...


That is part of it. The horses love barrel racing and are anxious to get into the arena and do what they love. But in reality, it all comes down to the training. The horses should be trained to stand still, and the rider should be able to keep them still.
Sometimes the horses also get extra jittery when they aren't used to the arena. Most riders take the time to bring their horse in the night before and practice them in the new arena, but other rides just don't take the time, don't think they're horse needs the extra practice, or the arena won't allow them.


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## AbbySmith (Nov 15, 2020)

At 1:40 and 2:10 you can see how Hailey controls Sister in the chute


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## Cerceify (Jan 11, 2021)

All About Hope said:


> Recently I've taken up watching barrel races on YouTube and I've noticed that when a lot of horses enter the arena, they're jumping around and acting crazy. Why do they do this? Are they just not trained to stand still? I feel like a lot of the horses have never seen anything but a barrel pattern, and I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it.


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## Cerceify (Jan 11, 2021)

My very experienced neighbor bought her beginner daughter a very quiet Paint mare. Very quiet. I even asked her daughter why the horse looked so still. She said the mare didn't even swat at flies. I later offered the neighbor my horse to ride with her daughter. I found out that she had not come over to get my horse because the pretty little mare had tried to attack her. The guy that sold the mare for a child to ride had doped her.
Later the neighbor tried getting an experienced Barrel horse for her daughter. It didn't go well.The new pretty mare was horrified at going into the ring. Then the next gentle, quiet experienced, gelding was sour So no more barrel racing, She said all the barrel horses get sour. She bought another horse and the two ladies rode trail together. .Eventually it was decided to sell the fat, quiet gelding. She had. ridden him but not much after her daughter went off to college. When the buyer came out she urged the horse into a trot and he ran off and ducked his head, causing her to fly off and she ended up in ICU.


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

Also - at the lower levels I notice some riders will actually rile their horses up thinking they will run faster/harder.

I tried barrels with my first horse but he would get too excited and rear at every barrel... it was quite comical....


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## Cerceify (Jan 11, 2021)

farmpony84 said:


> Also - at the lower levels I notice some riders will actually rile their horses up thinking they will run faster/harder.
> 
> I tried barrels with my first horse but he would get too excited and rear at every barrel... it was quite comical....


I never had a barrel horse, but my first horse that I purchased when I was 30 had been trained in dressage and then polo! He was a handful and I had to work 3 months to get him to walk with a loose rein. Kept him till he died at 23. He finally became very laid back when he reached 21.


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## Phantomcolt18 (Sep 25, 2007)

My barrel horse gets amped before a run but it is controllable because I refuse to ride/own an uncontrollable 1200lb fire breathing dragon. It was A LOT of training. In the beginning I thought that that was just how barrel horses got... until he nearly took my leg out on a gate post trying to run into the arena before I was set up. We put a hard stop on that REAL quick. I love, love, LOVE that he loves to run but he needed to understand that we are a team and he needed to wait for me. Now he will still prance (more like a bounce) and get excited but we have a controlled routine now. When our name is called in the hole we stand quietly at the fence and I sing to him while stroking his neck and encourage him to drop his head and relax. I DO NOT turn him towards the gate until they have called our name as in and the horse before us is completely out of the arena. Then I will talk to him the entire time we approach the gate on a LOOSE rein and he will arch his neck and bounce (it's not really a prance just more pep in the step) I keep my seat back and he knows that the second I lean forward we out hahaha. It took a while to get together and get the timing down but I learned that the more I mess with him the more riled he gets and I'd rather have a calm, focused horse under me than a jittery, skittery mess. Now this is only with me. I have literally ran a competition pattern, hopped off of him, and 15 mins later sent him into the same arena on the same pattern with a peewee rider and he plodded like a 30 year old western pleasure horse. So freaking blessed with that horse!


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## nebpete (May 27, 2019)

Cerceify said:


> My very experienced neighbor bought her beginner daughter a very quiet Paint mare. Very quiet. I even asked her daughter why the horse looked so still. She said the mare didn't even swat at flies. I later offered the neighbor my horse to ride with her daughter. I found out that she had not come over to get my horse because the pretty little mare had tried to attack her. The guy that sold the mare for a child to ride had doped her.
> Later the neighbor tried getting an experienced Barrel horse for her daughter. It didn't go well.The new pretty mare was horrified at going into the ring. Then the next gentle, quiet experienced, gelding was sour So no more barrel racing, She said all the barrel horses get sour. She bought another horse and the two ladies rode trail together. .Eventually it was decided to sell the fat, quiet gelding. She had. ridden him but not much after her daughter went off to college. When the buyer came out she urged the horse into a trot and he ran off and ducked his head, causing her to fly off and she ended up in ICU.


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## nebpete (May 27, 2019)

like many said, it is training. A well trained horse will stand in a starting gate at the track or in a roping chute. No reason a barrel horse can’t do the same. Trainers of barrel horses that allow crazy hyper stuff don’t do those horses any favors. When they are sold after barrel racing to people as riding or trail horses it can be a wreck and dangerous. Takes time and patience to reprogram one that was not trained to be a good citizen from the beginning.


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## mslady254 (May 21, 2013)

I've wondered the same thing. Are they excited in anticipation of getting to 'do their job', or are they a nervous wreck in dread of being IN the arena ? I've got 2 friends who barrel race and I've been to watch several times now. Geeze, I've seen horses ram the rider's knee in to the pole as they turn into the alley, I've seen horses hop 5-6 times on just the back legs before finally being let loose by the rider and finally putting their front feet down and I've seen horses refuse to go to the open end of the alley and just about whatever you can imagine in between. My friend's horses go reasonably calm into and down the alley and they often are 'in the money' for their run. They are well trained and obviously listening to the rider. I ride one of them at the farm and he is calm and easy to ride , unless the feed cart is going to feed the other horses...lol...then all he does is try to turn back toward his paddock. You'd never know he was a barrel racer to watch when I am riding,,I'm a walk, trot rider for the most part, and I ride him in the arena as well as just around the farm and in between the multiple paddocks...... plus he is super sweet.


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