Barrel racers!???!?

Question

any advice on barrel racing, or any riding for that matter! Thanx!

Answer 1

Hi there!

I am a barrel racer! :-) I have a few pointers and tips to share with you...!!!:-)

Here are some tips for general riding:

1. Do not lean WAY back when riding.  Try to sit in an upright position with your shoulders some what squared.

2. Do not keep your arms as straight as sticks.  Bend them at the elbow and keep them loosly at your sides.

3. Look where you want to go not where you are! This is important because if you look where you are the horse will look wherever it wants because you are looking and avoiding hazards for them!

4. Be gentle in the horses mouth.  Being rough doesn't do anyone any good.

5. Keep your butt glued to the saddle!  

6. Rotate and Move your hips with the horse! So not sit there like a rock! Move rotate your hips feel the motion.  Do not OVER move though! lol..

7. Get your stirrups at the perfect length.  Not too long and not Too short.  This will help you keep your seat nicely.  Stand up in the stirrups and to judge the gap take your hand sidways from the thumb to the pinky and see if your hand touches your bum and the saddle at the same time.  If it does your stirrups are the perfect length.  About 4-6 inches.  Lol... Not something to do around a LARGE audience! lol...

8. Hold your reins with 2 hands do NOT when using split reins gather them up on one side and hold them with one hand! It looks BAD! Okay do NOT DO THAT!  Hold your hands about 6 inches apart and keep both hands like that on the reins.  Or when riding one handed take on hand put it on the center of the rein and the other at your side or on the horn.

9. Relax, the horse can sense EVERYTHING!

10. BREATH! You will get a nasty side ache if you don't BREATH!

11. Laugh, Have fun, and DOn't worry, everyone was a beginer at some point in their life!

Here are some tips on things that you should do while barrel racing:

1. Keep both hands on the reins when running towards each barrel including the first. Unless you MUST hold the horn, use both hands to drive your horse deep into your pocket.

2. Rate your horse around the barrels. Do this by shoving you butt down into the saddle deep and saying whoa. *you just want to inforce this now even though you are going slow.

3. Instead of yanking his head around the barrel, lift the rein up and into your saddle horn. This will help a BUNCH! This will prevent the cans from knocking over.

4. Press your inside leg(the one closest to the barrel you are turning) up and into his side. Tap with the out side continually. Kick normal in-between barrels.

5. Drive your horse into each barrel using two hands and be sure to pass it about 8 feet off and insure that when you come off you are about 2 feet away.

6. Drive your horse out of each barrel using two hands, TURN WITH ONE! GRAB THE HORN WITH THE OTHER!

7. Figure out which lead your horse does better turning on.

If he does better on the left lead, go to the right barrel first. If he does better in the right lead, go to the left barrel first.

LEFT barrel first: One left turn, two right turns.

RIGHT barrel first: One right turn, two left turns.

8. Make sure your horse is in the correct lead before starting the pattern. If going to the left barrel first, your horse should be in the left lead. Then the right lead on the other two barrels. If your horse goes to the right first, your horse should be in the right lead. The other two barrels should be in the left lead.

9. DO NOT PUSH YOUR HORSE TO HARD! This is important especially if you are training him. DO NOT CONTINUOUSLY LOPE OR RUN THE PATTERN WHILE PRACTICING! This is important horses can get blown up so easily on the pattern. So just be sure to walk and trot a lot, and only lope a couple of times a week at most!!!!! I cannot stress this enough! Especially once he is patterned!

10. Do not look at the barrel as you are turning them. You should look at the next barrel or the finish line. Look when you are around the back side of the can.

You should take the barrels slow at first! Do not try to run the barrels immediatly as soon as you get the hang of it, then you run. You should also only run at barrel races.

I never used normal traditional spurs I used bumper or barrel spurs instead. They are like a boots heel but a little sharper. Be sure to turn your heels at the correct angle to get the best affect.

Here are some bumper barrel spurs, I used these to make my horse go faster. This way I do not feel as though I am hurting him but at the same time applying more pressure.

Here is a link:

If you would like to use straps I would recommend one of these:

http://western.smithbrothers.com/search?...

~Do not RUN THE BARRELS UNLESS YOU ARE AT A RACE!~

The above are things you should do....

Here are some pointers for training your horse on the barrels:

Well I would recommend that you practice the barrels at a slow easy pace and take him both directions. (left or right)

Try and choose the side that you feel your horse is most comfortable with. (my horse is left my sisters is right) It does not make a difference.

Now just turn a barrel, be sure to show him how to turn a barrel properly.

Then walk the pattern, nice and slow and just let him get familiar with it. I recommend that you DO NOT lope, canter, or run the pattern. Slow trot or walk only!

If you just let your horse get familiar with the pattern before you know it you will be able to go faster. The best way to train your horse to do something like the barrels is nice and slow!

Believe me you don't want to blow your horse up on the pattern I have seen some pretty sad excuses for "barrel horses" thanks to being blown up on the pattern.

If you are looking for other things to do then just barrels try pole bending or figure eights. Maybe even just turning the last barrel and trotting home! Nice and simple!

Be sure not to over work him on the barrel pattern as well, try and find a nice balance of working and play. I recommend that you trail ride or do other fun activities that are slow and calm.

Just take it nice and slow and you and your horse will have a great time!

Hope I Helped and Good Luck! :-)

Answer 2

Yep ,,

TAKE lessons and learn how to ride Correctly first

then decide on what type of ridding you want to do

trainer for over 37 yrs