It’s Q&A Wednesday! Today’s question comes from Nichole… Q: I have horse with a sloppy first barrel. We spent her futurity year running to the left and always had a bad first, and nice second and third. I switched her to the right, and now have the exact same pattern - bad first and better second and third. She isnt getting her hip up under herself well for the first turn. I was thinking your exercise to free her up as well as get shape would help. Any suggestions? A: I’ve put my detective hat on, and the first clue came as you described the issue is with the first barrel whether you go to the right or left. I suspect that something about the way you’re approaching and getting positioned for the first barrel that is causing the problem. You’ll want to be certain that you’re not bracing in your body or leaning to the inside in anticipation of the turn. Running at speed and then turning a barrel efficiently is a very physically advanced maneuver for most horses, which requires us to instill good positioning habits in them. Making sure WE have excellent positioning habits is part of this. Barrel racers that come into the first barrel stiff and straight, with more weight in the inside stirrup, are more likely to have a horse that floats by or around the turn a bit. Leaning to the inside causes the horse to shift under our weight. When this happens their body isn’t balanced in 4 wheel drive, and their no longer in an athletic position to turn and will be more likely to float out and away from the barrel. They may even seem to be “spinning their wheels,” and taking extra steps. Make sure your own weight is even in the saddle (even step slightly harder in the outside stirrup a bit), and be sure you’re staying soft and flexible through your own rib cage. There is a mental aspect to this as well. When a horse is really locked onto a turn mentally, it becomes much less likely for them to drift because their body will always tend to follow where their mind is already going. If there are mentally committed to the turn, their body is much less likely to sloppily scatter around it. So make sure your horse understands what is expected, and that it’s her responsibility to stay on track while you provide only subtle guidance (not PULL her around the turn). Also, pay close attention to your footfall, especially the angle that you’re approaching that first barrel. If your mare is having trouble getting “squared up,” experiment with making a more exaggerated arc instead of slicing straighter across the pen (so she’s not as likely to lean coming into the turn). Technically you may be covering more ground, but if it helps you establish better positioning habits and really nail that first barrel, you could easily make up for it time-wise. Although you might benefit from reiterating shape in the approach to the first barrel, this doesn’t sounds like an instance that calls for freeing up. Perfecting your first barrel will require some positioning adjustments, as well as making sure you’re mare’s mind is in the game. I’m confident that when it is, her whole body will be too and youll clock much faster as a result! - Heather Smith, BarrelRacingTips
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 23:35:07 +0000
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