On barrels, how many competitions or how much time do you give to see if you click with a horse on the barrels?

Bump

You should kind of feel the chemistry after first run. Get it lined out by 2nd. Certainly by 3rd run. I see people who buy horses and 6 months later “ still getting with them” some will say a year. That’s totally crazy in my opinion. 

I once gave it way too long on a younger gelding....like over a year. I was so glad when I sold him and would never give myself a year to get used to a horse again. It completely wrecked my confidence . I had a mare once that I gave it 3 mos. I'd had about 10 runs on her and we were getting progressively worse and frustrated so I knew it was time to call it quits on her. She was a lot of fun. Just not my style and I wasn't hers.

I find those replies very interesting. I hate giving up on trying to get with a horse, but sometimes it makes me wonder if I'm not doing that horse justice, especially when it has been close to a year. 

It’s not that easy of a question to answer. If you dropped $60,000+, you’d better be winning checks within a couple of runs. If you paid a cheaper price because of the horse having problems, it could very well take a year. If it’s a colt, you might never get together with it. It really depends on what the horse is, what your abilities are and how much time you are willing to invest.

Its a very well broke horse I bought two years ago, one owner horse, that I sent to a barrel trainer for 60 days last year (I've had her train others, so our styles match) so I know he had a fresh slate to start from. But I am having a having a hard time getting together on outdoor pens, in Montana in the summer thats where you mostly run. We either way over run the barrels or hit. Inside we are okay for the most part. Its getting frustrating, to say the least. 

60 days on the pattern. Is he finished or is he still being seasoned? 

That's a good question, LOL. During training my trainer took him to time onlies etc, and I've been entering him for the last year. Some days he acts like he's seasoned, other days acts like he forgot you were supposed to turn. This isn't the first horse I have taken, had trained and gone on with. My last one was super push style, and this one is by far more of a free runner...and I'm wondering if I'm trying to hustle him too much.

A very wise woman once told me it takes 90 GOOD runs to get with a horse.  In my experience there is a "honeymoon period" when getting with a new horse....and by that I mean new finished horse.  Typically things go well for a few months then start to fall apart.  The new owner gets upset at the horse and things sometimes go from bad to worse.  More times than not if we will go back to the person who trained the horse or we purchased it from and get some help, things will come back together eventually, but it can be a difficult journey.  With a green horse like you have, I would take the pressure off of him outdoors.  Don't over ride him.  Let him get his sea legs under him.  It's a difficult transition for alot of finished horses indoors to outdoors, as the timing is completely different.  I'd cut him some slack, take the pressure off of him and you, and just let his and your confidence build in each other.  He's still green it sounds like to me, so need to cut him and yourself a little slack.  

I rode a horse for a girl (lease)  this horse had a completely different style than what I wos use too.  So I basically had to retrain

me to ride him... He had some quirks.. I had him from Oct to about June... he was quirky in the pasture but a gentleman at the gate.

begining was rough, I am not a jump rider and i have to have a lot of trust in one... we went to some indoors thru the winter and we were 

getting better... by June - my confidence was up on him and I was trusting him.... we made a good run (won the 3D it was a little jp)  and she decicded she wanted him back. 

I always wondered what him and I could have achieved.   So probably about the June run,  I had 10 runs on him.

I think you answered your own question. 

I would like to add that the older you get the longer it can take to adjust to a new horse.

My new-ish DTF mare and I have still only run a handful of times because she was off almost all last year, and now this year we have run at only three shows. I did great in NC in March, she was slow in April (found out she had an abscess when it blew out a couple days after) and we knocked all three runs at the VA Classic.

I feel like we are knowing each other better. But she is SO DIFFERENT than anything I've ever ridden that it is going to take time and then some for me to learn to ride her. Example - I have always NOT looked at the first barrel, intentionally, so as not to ride it down. With Love you MUST look at it or you will pocket too much and she will have issues with the turn. And with Love, ALL turns feed off that first barrel! It is another mental battle for me to look at the barrel right out of the alley. 

I'm sure there are ladies, and men, who are no longer the jockey they were in their youth who cannot adjust to a new horse in fast time and a few runs. Horses have to adjust to their new riders too and no matter how much you spend the horse may or may not be able to adjust to their new rider. 

In general, IMO it takes a year to establish a good partnership with a horse. By then you should have each others quirks figured out.

Of course I do realize there are jockeys out there who can ride just about anything and the first time out they do really well, and will continue to do really well. I am talking more about your average weekend barrel racer.

I agree with Lonely va barrel racer, when you get older it does take longer to get with one. Trusting a new horse is hard and can take a lot of time.

I had a FG grandson I could not get with at all on the pattern.  And it wasn't for lack of trying. He was just so different then what I was used to. After riding him for a year I was doing no better, just more frustrated and my confidence took a nose dive. So I sold him.

The mare I have now I love how she rides. She is the 2.0 version of my 26 yr old gelding. I love running her and have a lot of fun with her. I have had her about a year and half.

I have had this horse nearly 2 years, he's 9 years old this year, and to just ride I love riding him and we have a really good connection that way. I thought I would have figured out his style by now because my old mare and I took like 2 runs to figure it out when she came back from the trainer. That's probably why I'm so flustered is I thought by now we'd have it. 

When I bought my first finished horse, it took me about 6-9 months to start making consistent runs. That was about 50 competitive runs on her. We went from 5D all the way to consistently bottom of the 1D-top 2D. I sold her the 4th time she coliced and spent another week at the vets. She went north and never coliced again. Something about the humidity down south and different grass she couldnt handle. I miss that mare alot. The other one finished one I got, Ive had 4 years now. We are FINALLY starting to clock where I know she can but she was a different case. She came to me with undisclosed alley issues (tihink hi ho silver) along with spurs in her hocks, and front feet issues. So between the bad habits and pain issues, its taken a LONG TIME. She showed me early on how nice she is and I have stuck with it. Of course I adore this mare and she will never go anywhere. The last few big races 300+ runners we have been a solid 3D and even bumped into the bottom of the 2D. 

If you are constantly beating yourself up over the runs or you know you dont click, cut ties. Theres always another one out there. But if you feel like you can do it, give it some time. 

Sometimes you just have to know when to quit and just accept your riding styles doesn't click. Especially if you are not happy when you run. Most of us doing this are in it because it IS fun and a hobby.

I agree with Herbie 110%. As a person who used to always buy finished horses. It took a solid year. First it was great, then it fell apart before we finally clicked with each other. I always had to have patience and be open to new tactics. I have only come across one horse that I decided wasn’t “my style” it took me a couple years however to “give up” on that horse.

I think it’s personal preference, I have one that’s taken me 2 years (with some set backs due to injury) to get with.  Heck I had one for 8 years, sold him and got him back and now we’re running faster then ever.  I think it takes a talented person/jockey to adjust to different styles and that’s why I don’t give up on my hard to ride horse, i want to be able to run anyhing, but I train and sell so that’s my goal.  I also think people don’t give some a fair chance, 90% of the time it’s the rider and not the horse.  

When it comes to barrel racing I don’t think you can ever stop learning or getting better.