What is considered good times for barrel racing, and how much work is too much?

Question

I have a 10yr old AQHA who I have owned since he was 4. he is getting ridden EVERY DAY for about two hours or more. He is an excellent shape. I work him throught he barrel pattern 2x a week. But I only run 2 runs a week maybe, but do 4 slow practices. But whenever he is not barrel racing he is getting roped off of. he is a head horse and Myself and my dad rope off of him. he is getting fed a flake of alfalfa(22% energy) and calf-manna. He always acts like he has enougth energy but I am not sure if he is getting over worked. He does rest one full day on sunday. Oh he is also kept on 2acers of land with two other horses. But on Sundays we go trail riding to check for bad fences because we own a ranch. But please give me your advice on his work schedule.

also what are some average times for barrel racing? he runs 18 at highest.

Thanks!

Answer 1

his work schedule is excellent! i wish chrome can handle that! she just about falls over dead if i go on an 8 mile trail ride with loping about half the time. lol. anyways, he's in excellent shape, i'm jealous, and an 18 on barrels is decent a great time is in teh 16s, an amazing time is in the 15-14s. Chrome runs in the 18s, so i guess you are at an average speed.

Answer 2

An average on a average barrel setup is 16-18 seconds. I have a 14 year old mare who I ride hard twice a week, and she would do fine doing more if I had the time. It all depends on the horse. As long as he is healthy I think he is fine working as much as he is. My mom rides an 18 year old horse who can take as much work as her 7 year old son. If he is showing no signs of being tired or apprehensive he should be great.

I didn't listen to my mare once, she normally loads into the trailer without a problem, but she didn't want to go one day, and thats the day she went lame at the gymkhana.

Answer 3

That was weird I answered this one but my answer disappeared

Well if he seems to have enough energy and isn't acting tired then he is probably ok now. But this horse will probably break down much sooner then say a horse that gets a couple days

off. Horses like humans need days off to recover and rest. You say he gets all of sunday off but then you said you check fences on him. It sounds like you are feeding him well so thats good. Once a barrel horse knows the pattern it is almost un-necessary to run it more then once or twice. Most good horses only run the pattern at a race. So if he doesnt need to run the pattern then I would cut that out of your practice. Its good that he has more then one job that way he doesn't get bored. If he was mine I would try to give him at least one more day off. He deserves it, he's a good boy. And your question about times, well each arena is different. You can have an arena that the fastest time is 15 seconds flat and another arena the fastest time is 17.8. So its hard to tell you what a good time for barrel racing is. Ask people locally how your times match up.

Also make sure to warm him up well and cool him down.  Those are very important things to do so he doesn't hurt or strain a muscle. Horses are very good at hiding pain for long periods of time.

NFR arena is on a basketball court so the times are super fast because the pattern is very small. They run 14's and 13's.

Also the ground makes a huge difference on times. If you run in one arena the ground might be faster then another but the pattern is the same size. But 18's are a good average time so it sounds like you are on track.

And if your horse is "full of run" as you said. Is he full of run as in saying he is "prancy/head up ready to go" etc or is he pretty calm until you ask him to move out and then he goes?

-ok good, cause when you said full of run I thought that might of been a nicer way of saying hot headed. Because if he was or if he starts to be then he is getting worked too much. So Im glad to hear that.

Well I think you are on the right track. Good luck

Answer 4

Well, I have been guilty of riding my horses everyday just because I love riding so much.  Usually, because I am a jumper, and a barrel racer, I work the patterns 1-2x a week so they don't get bored with it, and it doesn't tire their limbs out.  I have to work 3 horses, as well as a yearling, if my mom rides, then I work 2, as one of my horses is partly hers also.  I try to keep the rides to about an hour, as to build strength, but not tire them out.  If we go on a longer ride, it is a trail ride, usually once a week, just to do something different.  I would recommend working him an hour a day, and definately one full day off, see it gives him some energy.  You could also feed him sweet feed, or an energy supplement to ensure that he is getting what he needs to replenish his strength.

As for times, it really depends on the size of your pattern.  I had a 15 year old pinto that was running 12.2 patterns before she had her baby.  But that was at shows, not in the pasture, do you know the size of your pattern off hand?  If it is larger than the show pattern, then your times are really good, I made a larger pattern to exercise my old pinto in, just to give her stamina for the smaller course.  An average is right around 13.2-14.1seconds

Hope this helps you out some.