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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 445
 
| I just recently bought a colt and am thinking of sending him to the track, but he is eligible for the 5 States, Valley Girls and paid up for the Diamonds & Dirt, Fizz Bomb Futurities so not sure which way I should go with him. His sire is VF Burrs Eye x Burrs First Down x First Down Dash and his dam is a daughter of Takin on the Cash and Luisa Naya. Burrs Eye is unraced but is a 1D barrel and ranch horse and rest of his breeding has raced and has SI of at least 100. Any opinions out there? |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 972
Location: Texas! | I know who your new boy is! Congrats! |
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Expert
Posts: 4766
Location: Bandera, TX | I grew up riding Mystic Eye's and still do to this day. If your guy is not a "hot head" and can handle the pressure then go to the track with him. If you feel you need to keep things on a simmer then I would go straight to the barrel pen. I have a grandson that I'm currently running, he probably should have been run on the track to get him to wake up to the run. He has a little brother that has a very calm dispostion that has no need to learn to run. He goes zero to all out in two strides. He could easily handle the pressure of the track or the barrel pen. The former colt I almost blew up and had to back way off he is now riding pretty good but I'm still not 100 percent confident to throw a JH aged gal up to run him. That's my goal, to have them so well behaved that a young gun can run them. |
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  The Color Specialist
Posts: 7530
Location: Washington. (The DRY side.) | If you want him to be a barrel horse eventually, I wouldn't run the risk of injury (or worse) by sending him to the track. |
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I am your favorite rash and you know it
Location: Being pushed over the edge, NM | Si doesn't mean as much as people think it does. It's not hard to get a colt a huge si but it doesn't truly mean the horse is actually that fast. Now, I'll look at where a colt earned that si and the quality of horses he ran against to earn it. A 100 si in a $2500 maiden claiming race will not hold a candle to a colt that ran an 89 si in an allowance, stakes, graded stakes, etc. Just keep that in mind. Also, if you're truly serious about the track, budget a minimum of $1500/mo, and that's being very conservative. With all that said, OTT colts are a blast to pattern and to run, they have seen everything and have been taught to run, so they appreciate going slow. Just my opinion. |
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Industrial Srength Barrel Racer
Posts: 7268
| RacingQH - 2014-10-20 9:43 PM If you want him to be a barrel horse eventually, I wouldn't run the risk of injury (or worse) by sending him to the track.
This 100%! |
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 I'm not opinionated
Posts: 4597
Location: Online | Vanessa - 2014-10-20 9:45 PM Si doesn't mean as much as people think it does. It's not hard to get a colt a huge si but it doesn't truly mean the horse is actually that fast. Now, I'll look at where a colt earned that si and the quality of horses he ran against to earn it. A 100 si in a $2500 maiden claiming race will not hold a candle to a colt that ran an 89 si in an allowance, stakes, graded stakes, etc. Just keep that in mind. Also, if you're truly serious about the track, budget a minimum of $1500/mo, and that's being very conservative. With all that said, OTT colts are a blast to pattern and to run, they have seen everything and have been taught to run, so they appreciate going slow. Just my opinion. I think you are thinking of the Equibase rating. That number is based on race conditions. Whether it's with cheap claimers or stakes company. SI has nothing to do with the conditions of the race. It depends on what track they are running at. They go by time. At Los Alamitos a 17.23 is 100 SI at 350 yds, whether it's in a $2500 claimer or the Golden State Million. At a smaller slower track a 100 SI could be anywhere from 17.30-17.80 at 350.
To the OP, I would skip the track. Unless you have a trainer that does everything right. Breaks him to ride, doesn't let him be disrespectful. It's a lot harder to take that out of them once they learn those bad habits. I think you are better off taking your time getting him broke to ride.
Edited by rodeomom13 2014-10-21 8:19 AM
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I am your favorite rash and you know it
Location: Being pushed over the edge, NM | Not thinking of the Equibase rating. What I meant were that there is much more to look at than the si. The track where they earned that highest si will tell you a lot. I passed up several mares with very high si (one had an si of 119, but it was earned at a young track and against horses that hadn't earned an ROM or horses that had struggled to) for mares with stakes earnings and lower si. I'm typing from my phone so I'm sorry for the format |
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 Saint Stacey
| My parents have been raising and racing QH's since the late 70's. I grew up taking their OT horses and turning them into barrel horses. My daughter currently runs a mare that came from my parents program. She never ran on the track. She was way easier to start and run than anything I've ever gotten OT. To be honest, if I was wanting a barrel horse...there is no way I'd put it on the track first. Getting the track out of most is a lot harder than teaching one to run is. If they are bred to run, they figure the run out without being taught. It's as natural to them as hunting a cow is for a cutting bred horse. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 554
| SKM - 2014-10-21 10:06 AM
My parents have been raising and racing QH's since the late 70's. I grew up taking their OT horses and turning them into barrel horses. My daughter currently runs a mare that came from my parents program. She never ran on the track. She was way easier to start and run than anything I've ever gotten OT. To be honest, if I was wanting a barrel horse...there is no way I'd put it on the track first. Getting the track out of most is a lot harder than teaching one to run is. If they are bred to run, they figure the run out without being taught. It's as natural to them as hunting a cow is for a cutting bred horse.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^this I agree. When I got my barrel horse the people that owned her decided to put her on the track, then take her to a barrel trainer, and back to the track, over and over in 2 years. It took years to get that out of her and unblown up from the track and trainers. I took her to a futurity and wow I am shocked we got thru a pattern like we did. I took her home and spent the next several years fixing. I found a good trainer that had the time to fix her. So I wouldn't worry about an SI. She would of been a knock out futurity horse in the correct hands from the get go.  |
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Expert
Posts: 1611
| RacingQH - 2014-10-20 10:43 PM
If you want him to be a barrel horse eventually, I wouldn't run the risk of injury (or worse) by sending him to the track.
Why risk it if your paid up already? Plus unless you know the trainer, have an idea of the type of grooms he'd hire, along with the jocks that will be handling your horse I would NOT even consider it as an option. My good friend is a trainer in IN and I've got 3 colts from him. He had a groom he had to fire for poor treatment to the ones he was working. You want have your eyes on your colt to see how he is treated and the trainer will not always be able to either. I would not risk it at all with a colt that was already paid up into things. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 445
| Thank you for all your opinions. I think I will pass on the race track and wait a little longer and head to the barrel pen!
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Industrial Srength Barrel Racer
Posts: 7268
| Whoa U SOB - 2014-10-22 10:22 PM Thank you for all your opinions. I think I will pass on the race track and wait a little longer and head to the barrel pen!
YAY!! |
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Saint Stacey
| Whoa U SOB - 2014-10-22 9:22 PM
Thank you for all your opinions. I think I will pass on the race track and wait a little longer and head to the barrel pen!
Good decision! |
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RaceTrack or Barrel Pen????