|
|
Expert
Posts: 2685
   
| So say you came a cross a very nicely bred horse that is very sweet and smart (on the ground) that has not been ridden in a few years that you just feel would make a jam up barrel horse. How old is too old to try? I feel crazy for thinking it but man I like the horse! |
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1035
Location: TN | As long as the horse is well enough broke to pattern there really isn't a limit on how old is too old to pattern. That being said, I probably wouldn't start one on the pattern above the age of 17 because it wouldn't be worth the time to get it seasoned since the horse would be old by the time it was ready to haul competitively and consistently. JMO  |
|
| |
|
 Total Germophobe
Posts: 6437
Location: Montana | I don't know...I supposed it depends upon what you want to do with the horse. If you are fine with just having some fun with jackpots and play days, any age would be fine. If I wanted to rodeo or go every weekend to a race, then I would start one pretty young so it could be seasoned to where I could hopefully win! Ha-ha. My mare I started on the pattern myself at age 9, and then I had a "tune-up" done on her this spring at age 13, and I've never had such fun! |
|
| |
|
  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | My first ever barrel horse was my dad's Appy pack horse. My grandpa had also used her for some calf and team roping. She was 10 or so when I started her and we won 2 year end gymkhanas, a 4-H high point speed event buckle and some others. I did poles in HS rodeo and breakaway in college. By then she was 18 or 19 yrs old and still had it. She was a tough one, both physically and mentally. She is one of the reasons I haven't ridden a mare in over a decade. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 2258
| I started a 13 yr old but he had been a reiner , cutter turned calf horse and he was broke. I was working for the owners and they had bought him for their 13yr old daughter. He turned out to be a very nice horse she won everything she could go to and he held several arena records all around the country. He only took a couple of months to be really going due to him being so broke. They were even asked if he could be used by a rider at the NFR which was pretty cool. If they are broke pretty nice you can get an older horse going fairly fast.
Edited by cutnrunqhmt 2014-11-17 7:36 PM
|
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 1631
Location: Somewhere around here | My husbands horse was 9 when I started him on the barrels. Pretty broke horse that won a small reining competition in his younger years then was a pen horse for quite some time. He took to it really quickly and correctly too. It made me wonder if I want to buy a older broke horse (well, older than 5) to start on my next barrel horse. Personally I think they kind of have their young quirks out of their mind by the time they are 6 or 7. |
|
| |
|
 Playing the Waiting Game
Posts: 2304
| DEAD I'd say if the horse is dead you may have waited too long... I have had occasion to get a few horses that were in their mid teens trained on to run.. Several of them ended up running high school rodeo for quite a few years... They all had pretty good lives because of it. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 2685
| HAHAHAHA
Thanks everyone :)
This mare is 10. I bought her to use as a broodie but man I like her a lot. She was used as a broodie because the guy never had the $ to put her on the track. She has only had 1 baby and I do plan on breeding her in the spring as of now but man the thought of riding her just won't leave me alone! |
|
| |
|
 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| I trained my 16 year old pleasure mare for barrels. She was a very consistent 4D horse until she was 28. I trained a 10 yr old gelding who was a jack of all trades horse (knew a little of everything and a whole lot of nothing) for barrels. |
|
| |
|
 Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | I am running a 12 year old who didn't get started on the barrels until this spring. We're still running around the top of the 4D but as he gets more confident turning the first barrel, I think he'll move up to the 2D fairly easily. I'm not expecting him to make a rodeo horse because he doesn't like iffy ground and he is scared to death of mud, but we should be able to have a lot of fun at jackpots.
This spring in an exhibition - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QciCAD_NU_8
Last weekend placing 3rd in the open 4D - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhPx1aJwbpY&list=UU3h0VmyuYbqBRUor4JBQVlA |
|
| |
How old is to old to start the pattern?