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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 425
 
Location: GA | Posting to get advice for a friend.
She has an On the Money Red mare that she ran at jackpots the past couple of years with some rodeos until she got her PCA card at the beginning of this year. The horse always does great at jackpots but seems to be a hit or miss at rodeos. Before running in rodeos my friend did drill team with this mare so she's pretty used to the scene.
She does slow work at home and takes her on trails with minimum barrel work. When she works the pattern at home she's a dream. At rodeos the horse just doesn't run right.
IMO - I think the horse is somehow stressed. Keep in mind they're running just about every weekend with work during the week. My advice was to lay off of her during the week. The horse knows the pattern so why keep showing her it at home when she works the same every time? Of course, light riding work is ideal to keep the horse moving and working. My friend rides this horse just about everyday except the day after she runs or so. I'm just wondering if the horse is overworked? This is her first year competing in just rodeos.
Let me know what other info y'all might need to give better advice. My friend is getting discouraged because even though this mare is fast, it seems she blows her turns at rodeos.
Then again, I read an article before about a Rodeo Horse vs. a Jackpot Horse. Could it be that this horse is a Jackpot Horse? Or maybe competing in rodeo is stressing her out and maybe my friend needs to ride her around the grounds to get her comfortable?
Any advice is appreciated! I'll try to get some videos later if you think that will help. |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| Videos are good. Of course, the typical, teeth, hocks, stifles, back pain, saddle fit, blah, blah, blah. I'm very big on controlling pain issues. If I know for a fact my horse is sore, they don't see the pattern until I figure it out and fix it.
But: ruling out pain:
Your friend is probably different at a rodeo in bearing, heart rate, breathing, emotions, everything. Horses are practically telepathic, and rider nerves can be terrifying for them. They look to us for leadership, and when we're freaked or excited, well, they're magnified us times two.
Does the mare work well running all out at home? Runs must be made hard and fast SOMEWHERE to allow for trial and error on the horses part. This is known as seasoning and can be bloody tortuous if you go at it with the wrong attitude. It just takes some horses longer to find the focus and confidence they need to understand their job. They understand when their rider is frustrated, too, and it causes fear, which can cause overrunning the barrels.
Ruling all that out, chlorpromazine can be a helpful aid for a couple of runs to show the horse that it's not that bad. I've never needed to use it more than a handful of times on a sound horse to help them get over the hump to making confident, focused runs. The rider needs to focus on being calm and do everything like she does at home, including keeping her vital signs as relaxed as possible.
Just a few thoughts. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1440
Location: Texas | I could be that your friend is not as relaxed or comfortable with running at rodeos and the horse is picking up on it. Just a thought |
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Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| barrelbasher - 2014-07-20 11:57 AM
I could be that your friend is not as relaxed or comfortable with running at rodeos and the horse is picking up on it. Just a thought
Great minds think alike. ;) |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 494
| I have a top 1d gelding at large divisional races. I only hit about 1-2 rodeos a year. He ran like a goof at them. I would be lucky to place. I would be 7th, 8th, or 9th. He was real scattered like. He wasn't scared or spooky but his barrels were not snappy and fast. At divisional races there is not much to look at like rodeos. The barrels are clearly there and the horse doesn't need to focus and hunt down as much. The more rodeos I went to the better he got. He is now winning them or placing at the top. Even though my horse was a solid divisional horse, he still wasn't "rodeo seasoned." |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 591
| I would look at the rider and see if they are riding the horse differently. They will probably say they aren't, but it's much easier to try and place blame on the horse or atmosphere than ourselves. |
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  Keeper of the King Snake
Posts: 7622
Location: Dubach, LA | If the horse did drills at rodeos, I'm betting it's rider nerves. |
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Expert
Posts: 4766
Location: Bandera, TX | Sound advice from all of the above. |
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| I think there is a huge learning curve in going from jackpots to rodeos......even with the drill team work, running barrels is a whole new ballgame. I say give him time. Rider/horse may need time to get a groove at the rodeos. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2049
Location: Utah | y_do_i_do_this - 2014-07-21 9:12 AM
I think there is a huge learning curve in going from jackpots to rodeos......even with the drill team work, running barrels is a whole new ballgame. I say give him time. Rider/horse may need time to get a groove at the rodeos.
Exactly, rodeos are different. I ride mine different at rodeos, I don't have a good reason why but I do and it is costing us, lol. I would also think that maybe the whole rodeo atmosphere, which is very different from a jackpot, may be causing some issues as well as our ever favorite, rodeo ground. It takes time to rodeo season a horse, and patience lots of patience. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 602
| Does she have the option to run slack? If so, she should start there. I bet she is getting nervous and feels the pressure from competition. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 425
Location: GA | Great advice from everyone here. Thank you all. I've forwarded it all on to her so hopefully it will give her some guidance. |
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 That's White "Man" to You
Posts: 5515
| I had a rope horse in high school that I could rope awesome on at home. But...at the rodeo's he wouldn't run and rate the steer, no matter what I did. As I have looked at it over the last 13 years, i'm conviced part of it was me. I would get really tense, and I know he felt it. Part of it was he was normally kept in a pasture but at rodeos he was in a stall and wouldn't eat or drink normally. He just didn't like the rodeo atmosphere either, and that was okay, not all horses have to excell at rodeo's. He was great for everything else. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 135
Location: louisiana | kgraham38 - 2014-07-20 9:09 AM
Posting to get advice for a friend.
She has an On the Money Red mare that she ran at jackpots the past couple of years with some rodeos until she got her PCA card at the beginning of this year. The horse always does great at jackpots but seems to be a hit or miss at rodeos. Before running in rodeos my friend did drill team with this mare so she's pretty used to the scene.
She does slow work at home and takes her on trails with minimum barrel work. When she works the pattern at home she's a dream. At rodeos the horse just doesn't run right.
IMO - I think the horse is somehow stressed. Keep in mind they're running just about every weekend with work during the week. My advice was to lay off of her during the week. The horse knows the pattern so why keep showing her it at home when she works the same every time? Of course, light riding work is ideal to keep the horse moving and working. My friend rides this horse just about everyday except the day after she runs or so. I'm just wondering if the horse is overworked? This is her first year competing in just rodeos.
Let me know what other info y'all might need to give better advice. My friend is getting discouraged because even though this mare is fast, it seems she blows her turns at rodeos.
Then again, I read an article before about a Rodeo Horse vs. a Jackpot Horse. Could it be that this horse is a Jackpot Horse? Or maybe competing in rodeo is stressing her out and maybe my friend needs to ride her around the grounds to get her comfortable?
Any advice is appreciated! I'll try to get some videos later if you think that will help.
my friend has this exact problem, she is way more relaxed at the jackpots cause at a rodeo there is just more stress on you the horse etc. just have to get her horse rodeo seasoned haul to more rodeos with him instead of jackpots,once ruled out that there is no pain issues etc. |
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Horse Running Different at Rodeos