Barrel racing....?

Question

i wnat to find a way to get my barrel horse to run the pattern faster, hes 15.5 hand arabian, yes big for the breed i know.... but he can run the pattern in 18-19 seconds, hes done it faster...but i cant seem to figure out why hes lagging all of a sudden. we tried running him up against other horses, but he just wont give me the speed that i know hes got.

Answer 1

Well one horses are not measured 15.5 hands they are in equal 4 inchs honey

Now it sounds like he is just not that fast

have you ever watched Arabians run at the track ? they have the slowest times in history  they are NOT BUILT FOR SPEED



I really think you need to find a horse that has running blood in him Like a quarter horse that has short speed

I think your asking a bit much from him

Answer 2

If you haven't given him any time off for a while I would try that, he may be burned out. I would also look at feedind a more prefomance based grain. You may want to increase his grain and reduce his hay as that will sometimes make them heavy.

Hope this helps. These are some of the things we do with the polo ponies.

Answer 3

Goodness! Are you wanting a grand champion performance from that horse? Don't you think 18 seconds is a respectable time for an Arabian? For Quarter Horses, the best small pen times I have seen have been between 12 & 13 seconds and large pen times from 16 to 17 seconds. I don't know what advice can be given to someone running an Arabian whose course time is 18 seconds. Maybe warm-up longer? Maybe work on flexing exercises so your horse can arc more? Maybe work on balance so you will be in better harmony with your horse? Are you guiding him too much with the reins? Forget the reins! Use your balance and legs to cue him. Stand on the inside stirrup to give him a pivot point and with your outside leg apply some pressure behind his outside shoulder to help him arc. But if you are running 18 seconds, who am I to coach you? I don't think you should need coaching. Just set up a video camera when you practice and when you view it I am sure you will see where improvement is needed.