# New Barrel Horse?



## Harlee rides horses (Jan 13, 2008)

Have you tried spurs?

Do just regular arena work. You have to get her in shape to do running. You don't want her burnt out on the pattern, I have seen many, many horses burn out because they have been through the pattern too many times.

Just make her do a consistent speed when you work the pattern. Like start out and walk the whole thing.
Then start jogging or trotting it, but whenever you go around the barrels make her walk around the barrel so she knows to automatically slow down at the barrel which will make it easier whenever she starts running it. Then after she has it comfortably at the jog, take it to a lope. Whenever she gets to the barrel, check her down to a jog around the barrels. And eventually do it at a run, and lope the barrels. She will eventually associate that she has to gather herself up when turning the barrels.

To get her in shape for running I would get her working with some arena work, then after that maybe a little figure eight action so she understands her leads and which one she should be on at all times...It helps!

Then after that, she shouldn't be too sweaty, depending on how hard you make her go throughout all that, and then I would do what I call "breezing them out." What you do is you find a big stretch of land with good footing and you sprint them as far as they'll go, don't push her, just let her do it all on her own. Eventually, if you have a horse that enjoys running, you have yourself a barrel racer.


Hope I helped.


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## chasin the dream (Jun 2, 2008)

haha thanks HRH..yeah i mean shes lazy but once she gets going she can go.and so far ive noticed she has great turns.we jog the pattern a lot and walk it a LOT. but every once in a while we lope it.and i walways make her stop right before we go because i don't want her rushing to run..is that good? yes i do use spurs harlee...is that good or bad? 

i think i do need to slow it down a bit.we do figure eights at the jog and walk.because shes just learning to neck rein and it helps with directing her and stuff.i think she will have fun with it though. my problem is that the one thing she HATES is arena work..just boring running in circles and patterns and stuff.she loves trails so could i run her out there instead of in an arena?we don't really do arena stuff...because she would rather run up all the hills on the trails.lol.also one more thing.i use polos. should i use them on all fours or just fronts or just backs?


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## Harlee rides horses (Jan 13, 2008)

No, the arena work I'm talking about is like just basically pleasure work. Making them work with a nice frame and listening completely to you and not thinking about running all the time. Trail rides, like you said, are also great because they take their mind off of work and let the horse be, well, a horse.


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## chasin the dream (Jun 2, 2008)

thats truee...i love trails ^^^^


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## Harlee rides horses (Jan 13, 2008)

It's good for the horse too!
They also build up endurance and sure-footedness.:wink:


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## chasin the dream (Jun 2, 2008)

yeah..she seems really sure footed.and shes been SOO much more confident since we trail ride so much.


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## Harlee rides horses (Jan 13, 2008)

Back to your question about stopping before you run...
I personally wouldn't do that, what I always did was I would lope a circle and then run.
It's easier on their joints and can give you better run times.
What you do to get them to not rush into running barrels, is to not run them every time. Then they won't associate seeing the barrels as "Oh my god! I have to run."


And with spurs, it isn't good or bad.
I only used spurs on my horse when we were timed. Some horses just need that extra lift that spurs provide to go fast.


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## carriedenaee (Apr 17, 2008)

when i was at the Josey ranch we did long trotting and short trotting...maybe that will help

you long trot between barrels and short trot around them....maybe that will help her learn when she comes around the barrel she is supposed to go up a notch and not down
yet you could do it several times without over working her...remember to always walk the pattern the last time you do it...never finish with running it... and run it no more than you need to

i was always told that prevented them from getting sour to the idea of always running it and helped keep them from being over excited in the entrence way

thats all i know that has been passed down to me...but im no expert..Martha Josey may have some dvds out that will help


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## chasin the dream (Jun 2, 2008)

carriedenaee said:


> i was always told that prevented them from getting sour to the idea of always running it and helped keep them from being over excited in the entrence way
> 
> 
> > yeah thats why i thought that stopping before you run was good because it teaches then not to take off.and you will let them know when to run.but i guess theres also the fact that it may and will be bad on their legs.


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## Harlee rides horses (Jan 13, 2008)

Yup, that's why you just don't run them every time then they still have to focus on you because they don't know whether or not you want them to run or just jog.


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## chasin the dream (Jun 2, 2008)

how many times do you usually go over the pattern every time you ride? wether it be walk,jog,loping,or running it


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## Harlee rides horses (Jan 13, 2008)

It all depends on the horse, my horse never got revved up, so I could do it all day long.

But I would say walk it for a little until they have it down pat.
Trot-down pat.
Lope just until they have some good turns.
And run, only at shows.

Not even an hour of pattern work.


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## Spastic_Dove (Oct 4, 2007)

Don't focus on doing the pattern so much. You don't want her to just forget you're up there and start doing the pattern herself. She needs to listen to your cues, not just make some circles. Like Harlee says, do arena work. Before you do anything, make she is conditioned though. I do a lot lengthening and shortening strides. I lope circles, asking him to lengthen and strenthen at the four "points" of the circle. I don't know about other people, but I do a lot of dressage exercises with him too. These are PHENOMENAL for helping barrel horses. All sorts of lateral work, bending,pivoting, haunches in flexing, collecting, and I sometimes through in groundpoles. You want to keep them fresh, so only ride the barrels a few times a week or maybe once a ride. Do walk to lope transistions without the barrels. Make your horse change from all gaits normally. Once she can do all this, then work on the barrels. If you just keep walking her in a cloverleaf, she's going to hate it fast.


Hope that helped.


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## Harlee rides horses (Jan 13, 2008)

I agree with S_D:wink:


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## chasin the dream (Jun 2, 2008)

yeah...we do need to work on the conditioning a lot more.the only problem is i can only get out there once a week...or twice maybe.bc i can't board her anywhere else..maybe ill just stick with a trail mare..bc i don't think this is going to work out very well.


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## Spastic_Dove (Oct 4, 2007)

Yeah, It may be safer to not try to do anything serious with the barrels if you can't get out there very often. It's very hard on horses and conditioning is extremely important.


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## lilkk11907 (Oct 23, 2008)

I think that you should start out with trotting your horse around the barrels. And when you do, Make you horse circle them a couple of times each. You know, to get him used to you being in control. I think you should try a crop but don't use it right away. Use the spurs that you have and if those don't work, then use the crop. After you have him trotting through the pattern then try loping/cantering him through it. It takes time so be patient.


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