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 Expert
Posts: 2128
  
| For horses that are running and 80-100% finished. If you race on the weekends what does your tuning/workout schedule involve during the week? |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| I'm curious as well...
I ride in the arena at least 3 to 4 days a week and I try to get the boys out on the fields just for a nice walk once or twice a week. If I have a race during the weekend, the boys get the day before the race off or we just go for a walk...
Do you guys work barrels during the week? (not running, but slow work)
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 It's not my fault I'm perfect
Posts: 13739
  
Location: Where the long tails flow, ND | I put on miles, long trotting and loping about 2+ miles about 4 times a week. I mostly need to work on myself if anything so I will walk a couple patterns, maybe lope through once, once a week. After I come back from road riding I'll do some smaller loping circles to keep those muscles fresh.
Edited by SmokinGirlie 2016-05-02 8:42 AM
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 Poor Cracker Girl
Posts: 12150
Location: Feeding mosquitos, FL | Long trot around my pasture - which includes a big uphill stretch, poles to trot over at the top, then back down the hill and around. I usually do two or three sets of 10 minutes, depending on how fresh the horse is. Then we go back down the hill to the barrel patch, lope big circles to small circles then back to big circles. Stop and back up then we're done. If there's something specific I want to work on, I'll usually cut out some of the long trot and work on that after we lope circles. |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| No tuning at all on barrels, will flex, bend at the poll etc. I have groomed trails and good dirt on my 100 acres, I walk about 10 minutes, long trot 15, lope 5 and respeat -takes about an hour. I do this 3 times a week. |
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Veteran
Posts: 269
| Race Sat & Sun.
Monday - off
Tues & Wed - Long trot and lope in the road ditches.
Thurs - Circle drills around tires and just working on staying broke...hip control work, turnarounds, sidepassing, stops, back up.
Fri - More drills or barrel work if they need to work on something.
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  Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | Little to no barrel work. If i'm making runs every weekend, I will probably only ride 2 or 3 days during the week, and it will not involve any barrel work unless I have a problem i'm working on. I have a little obstacle course i'm putting together that is fun and challenging, so we'll play on that, or just do long trotting or loping around the track in the back pasture. If I could get somewhere to work cattle or go trail riding, that would be ideal.
Once a horse knows the pattern, I choose not to work them much at home unless there is something specific we need to improve upon. |
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Expert
Posts: 4766
Location: Bandera, TX | I sat down with a Million $ cowboy and we discussed difficult horses during the BBR.
I knew he kept up with the latest in racing research (he has race horses as well as the top barrle horses in the country).
He's adamant about three mile long trots three times a week. That's the endurance, lung health and bone remodeling necessary for top horses. They get arena time if needed to work drills and after competition a day off. But they still get stretched and walked on the day off. |
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 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | I ride at least 3 times a week (hauling to an arena) and the days I don't ride I do some groundwork exercises at home. She has a nice hill in her field so I walk her up and down that, lunge on the side of it, and have her back up it. Then I set up some ground poles and do some work with that. In the summer I don't haul to an arena as much, maybe once a week. Most of my riding is done in the hay field.
I don't work on barrels often, only if we are having problems. |
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 Expert
Posts: 5293
| My finished horses get absolutely ZERO barrel work unless there is a rare occasion to fix something. THats the deal I make with them at the very beginning. I don't even make them flex, bend, or what I consider " Pick" on them etc. Barrel racing to them I would imagine is extremely boring. Same thing, never changes as opposed to roping steers etc.. So the ONLY time I make them do that boring can chasing is at the barrel race 17 seconds or less all done. lol |
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Expert
Posts: 2128
| FLITASTIC - 2016-05-02 12:12 PM My finished horses get absolutely ZERO barrel work unless there is a rare occasion to fix something. THats the deal I make with them at the very beginning. I don't even make them flex, bend, or what I consider " Pick" on them etc. Barrel racing to them I would imagine is extremely boring. Same thing, never changes as opposed to roping steers etc.. So the ONLY time I make them do that boring can chasing is at the barrel race 17 seconds or less all done. lol
Do you find that they as sharp if left off the pattern? I like your philosophy, I am just worried as to whether my hourse would stay as sharp. I would say he is about 80% finished. Just needs a little more hauling under his belt. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| Now let me ask you this: what kind of work out would you suggest for a horse that has been on barrels for a year and I am still trying to get with him? (joined the team at the beginning of February) |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| Now let me ask you this: what kind of work out would you suggest for a horse that has been on barrels for a year and I am still trying to get with him? (joined the team at the beginning of February) |
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Expert
Posts: 5293
| scwebster - 2016-05-02 10:17 AM
FLITASTIC - 2016-05-02 12:12 PM My finished horses get absolutely ZERO barrel work unless there is a rare occasion to fix something. THats the deal I make with them at the very beginning. I don't even make them flex, bend, or what I consider " Pick" on them etc. Barrel racing to them I would imagine is extremely boring. Same thing, never changes as opposed to roping steers etc.. So the ONLY time I make them do that boring can chasing is at the barrel race 17 seconds or less all done. lol
Do you find that they as sharp if left off the pattern? I like your philosophy, I am just worried as to whether my hourse would stay as sharp. I would say he is about 80% finished. Just needs a little more hauling under his belt.
In my experience it has made mine SHARPER. THey crave it instead of " Oh, OK, same old 3 barrels out there" lol Its kind of like eating pizza every day and then on weekend someone calls and says " Hey, lets go out for pizza" lol Vs eating pizza once in a while and someone calls and all you can do is crave it all day. |
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Expert
Posts: 2128
| FLITASTIC - 2016-05-02 1:41 PM scwebster - 2016-05-02 10:17 AM FLITASTIC - 2016-05-02 12:12 PM My finished horses get absolutely ZERO barrel work unless there is a rare occasion to fix something. THats the deal I make with them at the very beginning. I don't even make them flex, bend, or what I consider " Pick" on them etc. Barrel racing to them I would imagine is extremely boring. Same thing, never changes as opposed to roping steers etc.. So the ONLY time I make them do that boring can chasing is at the barrel race 17 seconds or less all done. lol Do you find that they as sharp if left off the pattern? I like your philosophy, I am just worried as to whether my hourse would stay as sharp. I would say he is about 80% finished. Just needs a little more hauling under his belt. In my experience it has made mine SHARPER. THey crave it instead of " Oh, OK, same old 3 barrels out there" lol Its kind of like eating pizza every day and then on weekend someone calls and says " Hey, lets go out for pizza" lol Vs eating pizza once in a while and someone calls and all you can do is crave it all day.
I can relate! LOL. I will have to try this!!!!
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Red Hot Cardinal Fan
Posts: 4122
| Unless we are having issues on the pattern, mine rarely see a barrel during the week. Typically I will exercise them 3-4 times during the week anywhere from 2-3 miles, plus a mile or so walking to warm up and cool down. I'm not a big long trotter, so only do about 1/2 mile of it at the begining. The rest will be loping a certain distance on each lead, and I typically let them stretch out to a gallop for a portion of it. Some days I'll breeze one out, and on those days it's a shorter workout. |
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 Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11511
Location: 31 lengths farms | I rarely if ever work the pattern but do have a barrel set up off to the side of my trotting track that meanders thru 2.5 acres of oaks trees so that if and when I feel like it I lope/trot/walk a circle around it. Mostly I do it because I'm a firm believer that doing something once a week or so doesnt' get you in shape to do it. Try walking 4 miles --3 times a week and then go run a 5K on the weekend. Something is gonna hurt. I think we sometimes create our own issues with our horses soreness by only long trotting them all week then making a run and wondering why they got strung out in the turn. Namely we didn't condition them for the job they were asked to do, collect and keep quick feet in an arc. My 15 year old gelding doesn't get hammered on turns, A) he doesn't need it, and B) he's 15, his body doesn't need it, but he does do some just to condition the muscles and tendons that will need to support him come the weekend. The 12 year old mare sees a few more turns on the barrel, A) she's a true free runner so rate and turn really needs to be conditioned into her brain and B) she tends to forget she has a backend in her turns if you dont' remind her a few times a week. |
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Tell me about your weekly workout routine