It’s Q&A Thursday! Today’s Q comes from Stephanie: I just recently started racing my mare at local shows after healing from an injury and she is making a nice start. But, the other day she was wanting to blow into the alley WAY too fast for my liking. Everyone is saying she is just excited and wanting to go make a run. I don’t mind her wanting to do her job, but how can I make it a little bit easier and nicer going into the alley? She has never refused just a little too anxious. You’re smart to be concerned about this. So often the behavior patterns and even thought patterns behind the symptoms our horses show, even if they aren’t “that bad (to start with) are only likely to become more exaggerated with time. Something to consider is whether your horse’s excitement is coming from a place of nervous tension or genuine desire. A lot of people get this confused because it can look similar, but even a horse with negative, nervous tension can be a horse that is aggressive (vs. hesitant) at the gate. Whenever the “excitement” is generated from a place of fear and anxiety, its likely to keep growing and eventually may turn into refusal (think stage fright). Really tuning into the TRUTH, and meaning behind our horse’s behavior is so important. For example, excitement from nervous tension will hurt a run more than it helps, even if it IS very common in the barrel racing world. A horse that is worried is not likely to run as hard as one who is confident. Anxiety in any animal also effects their overall health and bodily systems and can lead to ulcers, etc which ultimately effect performance. There is a lot of insight and exercises for working through holding pen and warm-up anxiety in my First 51 book. The second big red flag I see here is that it sounds like your mare took over and determined for herself exactly when and how fast you went down the alley. While I DO want my horse’s to KNOW and LOVE their jobs, and be CONFIDENT, INDEPENDENT and RESPONSIBLE, at the same time - there always needs to be a two way conversation happening. I want a level of education and communication that allows me to influence my horses body anytime, anywhere. The epitome of this is when your horse will soften and yield instantly even in a high pressure or high speed circumstances. You might really look for other places and times that your mare gets a little pushy and correct her by asking her to respect any steady or driving pressure you apply. Respect can be defined as “the appropriate response to pressure.” You may need to test this out in the practice pen at the start of a run, reiterate it in an exhibition, and them make sure your mare waits on you in the alley. You don’t want to have a fight mentality about it, or create more anxiety, but you definitely want to take a few seconds if necessary to spot check and fine tune her responsiveness, especially where and when it really matters most! You want her lightly in your hands and ready to respond as you raise the life in your body and gradually ask her to accelerate to the first barrel. When you have all these qualities in place, you can be sure EVERY run is off to a GREAT START! Heather Smith, BarrelRacingTips barrelracingtips/the-first-51-barrel-racing-exercises-to-develop-a-champion
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 18:20:00 +0000
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