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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 911
 
Location: Northern Ontario | So, my mare slashed open her coronary band last summer 2 days before our first show and was off for a year. I started riding her again mid may and we have gone to 2 shows so far. A little bit about us.... I am 28 and have been riding since 13 but I took a 5 year break when I went to school due to finances
I bought Lola at 25 after graduation when she was 2.(after I said I wouldn't buy a baby-I was broke and desperate for a horse and she was cheap )
Ok so back to barrels. We have taken a few barrel clinics and lessons last summer. She is very nicely broke and lopes a decent pattern without much help, but she is a lazy type mare. The footing is horrible at home so I cant work barrels at speed, but I breeze her on the trail. Our patterns are pretty, but our times suck. These are my first barrel shows for me too
... 1d times are high 16s and we run high 20s/low 21s(but our times improve every shows) I have to learn to hustle, but I already find our times fast. I rate her too much before the barrels and ease off after three instead of pushing because I am scared of the closed gate at the end of the shoot. Any tips for us? I thougt it would be easier. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 634
| Oh dear. My 1D mare slashed open her coronary band about 8 weeks ago, I know it's going to take a while to recover, but sad to hear to took yours a year, any advice for me other than a hoof supplement and time?
As far as your issue, breezing them to let them know they CAN run really helps. It seems like she's really patterned, so don't be afraid to hustle her into the turn and don't worry so much about going a little past them at first. Another thing, if she's got a good handle and stop on her, don't worry about the closed gate. Maybe practice your stopping on the trail after you breeze her to get more comfortable. Good luck!! Some of them just take a little hustle to get them to not be so lazy.  |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 911
Location: Northern Ontario | The only reason it took so long is because the cut was deep and started growing in her foot. We tried to keep it clean, but it started getting thrushy on tje inside, so she had a big hole in her foot. .it's a series of infortunate events. If your mare isn't lame atm, im sure she will be fine. Mine was very lame the entire time. Thanks for the advice |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 634
| Yea, mine is growing in her foot/ hoof too. My farrier put a bar on the back of her shoe to kindof take some of the pressure off of it. She doesn't limp in a straight line really, but if she goes to turn on it you can tell she's a little gimpy. I've just got her turned out and have been monitoring it. Can't really tell if it's getting any better or not. On a side note, her coat looks amazing because of the hoof supplement!  |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 878
Location: "...way down south in the Everglades..." | My one mare basically ripped the one side of her heel bulb off and has been off now for over a year and still dealing with issues and is not rideable...so I share your pain there!
My advice would be just keep doing it. Not being able to run a real pattern at home will definitely slow the process down. The mare I'm talking about was sooo similar to your story as I only had a small area with terrible footing to ride in. It's basically like she never learned to run the pattern. It took a long time for her to figure out the pattern is supposed to be RAN not loped, and it wasn't either of our faults as much as circumstances. She went from 24's to 16's (in pens where 1-D is high 14's) and believe me, the first time she got under the 20 I celebrated lol. It took a good solid year and 1/2 to get there. Sounds crazy but that's how stuck she was on loping.
I think one thing you should do if you have the opportunity, is to talk to a friend about borrowing or taking some lessons on a good been-there, done-that, horse to help you get your feel and timing down. I think riding another horse would help you tremendously in gaining the confidence you need to push your mare out of her (and your) comfort zone. Once you gain the confidence I really feel you will see a world of difference. Set small goals. Say you're running 21's in this one pen, shoot for 20.5 or faster. Keep pushing yourself slowly out of your comfort zone. It will certainly take time, but don't give up and hang in there 
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 575
| Since you're both beginners, I think taking things at a pace that you're BOTH comfortable with is a good thing. Maybe you're not comfortable with the throttle down to the first, but will push a little harder to the second, and so on. If you're improving every time, you're making little victories (in my opinion). But with that said, you have to make sure that you head into the arena aiming to satisfy a new goal every time. Whether it be, 'kick to the first barrel', 'don't lean on the second barrel' (that's been a good one for me lately  ), 'don't pick up before the timers', etc. I think if you've got a solid foundation, which it sounds like you do, you're setting yourself up for success as long as you make sure to keep pushing yourself forward a little more each time. I'm also a SUPER advocate for taking lessons and/or riding with people who are better than you are. Trainers and lessons are something I don't think we take advantage of enough in the barrel horse industry! |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | Don't worry about the clock. You've only been to 2 shows. Don't be so hard on yourself. You said your time improved from the first show to the second show. That's great! Focus on that. Focus on getting a little bit faster with each run you make. You will get more comfortable and so will your mare. The more runs you make the better you will find your rate spots and you won't be as scared of the gate. The clock will work itself out. |
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 Regular
Posts: 84
| keep going to races and keep practicing your pocket points. It took me a 8 months of racing and 2 years of practicing everything to get it from a 20.19 to a 17.10 Its finally all falling into place and we just keep getting better. Don't worry about your time just have fun ,run your race, and do it at the speed your comfortable at. good luck it will all come together in time.  |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12838
| This is not something that happens n a month. It definitely takes time to develop a good horse. Have patience and things will slowly come together. Good luck. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 889
| babbsywabbsy - 2016-07-28 8:27 AM
Yea, mine is growing in her foot/ hoof too. My farrier put a bar on the back of her shoe to kindof take some of the pressure off of it. She doesn't limp in a straight line really, but if she goes to turn on it you can tell she's a little gimpy. I've just got her turned out and have been monitoring it. Can't really tell if it's getting any better or not. On a side note, her coat looks amazing because of the hoof supplement!
I am not a dealer so I have nothing to gain here but I would recommend some PHT CuHorse or MagnaCu bell boots for your mare. Put them on and leave them on. I think you'll see a difference. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 911
Location: Northern Ontario | Update: so the last few days, I have been doing just trail riding and getting her to get up and go from the walk. I trailered to a friend's arena tonight and worked barrels. She felt alot faster on the pattern (but it probably looked like we were just loping again lol) anyway, she does not want to stop after a run (it takes a while). I did some stopping work in the arena. She stoppes on a dime at the walk trot and lope, but just shakes her head and keeps running after a pattern (like "wee, I'm free!) She is currently in a snaffle but I do have this brittnay pozzi short shank dog bone bit that she wore a bit last summer to work on collection when she was leaning on the bit. Do you think it might be a good idea to switch or its too soon and I should hustle less going home to be able to stop in a decent fashion? |
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Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | SuperTrooper - 2016-07-28 9:51 PM Update: so the last few days, I have been doing just trail riding and getting her to get up and go from the walk. I trailered to a friend's arena tonight and worked barrels. She felt alot faster on the pattern (but it probably looked like we were just loping again lol) anyway, she does not want to stop after a run (it takes a while). I did some stopping work in the arena. She stoppes on a dime at the walk trot and lope, but just shakes her head and keeps running after a pattern (like "wee, I'm free!) She is currently in a snaffle but I do have this brittnay pozzi short shank dog bone bit that she wore a bit last summer to work on collection when she was leaning on the bit. Do you think it might be a good idea to switch or its too soon and I should hustle less going home to be able to stop in a decent fashion?
This can possibly be due to the snaffle you're using. Snaffles are designed to work off the corners of a horse's mouth. When you pull straight back with both hands you get what's referred to as the "nutcracker" effect. Because a snaffle only has one break in the middle it jabs the horse in the roof of the mouth. Probably why she's shaking her head and not stopping. If your mouthpiece is like #1, straight across, that's the most likely to poke into the roof of her mouth, a curved mouthpiece like #2 or broken in more than one spot like #3 is more comfortable.
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 Veteran
Posts: 110
| If I were you I would just keep working on drills and getting her soft. It will take time and nothing is going to change over night. If she still is having issues with stopping, then maybe look at a different bit, but I don't think your current one is the problem. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 575
| SuperTrooper - 2016-07-28 9:51 PM
Update: so the last few days, I have been doing just trail riding and getting her to get up and go from the walk. I trailered to a friend's arena tonight and worked barrels. She felt alot faster on the pattern (but it probably looked like we were just loping again lol) anyway, she does not want to stop after a run (it takes a while). I did some stopping work in the arena. She stoppes on a dime at the walk trot and lope, but just shakes her head and keeps running after a pattern (like "wee, I'm free!) She is currently in a snaffle but I do have this brittnay pozzi short shank dog bone bit that she wore a bit last summer to work on collection when she was leaning on the bit. Do you think it might be a good idea to switch or its too soon and I should hustle less going home to be able to stop in a decent fashion?
I would do exactly what you've been doing. Take the 'problem' away from the pattern and work on correcting it. Ask for speed and work on getting her to soften and stop for you. I like mine to work in a snaffle. And I think that you can probably work through this without moving up into a 'bigger' bit. But agree with Bama, the shape/break of your snaffle can help or hurt you a ton. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 911
Location: Northern Ontario | Thanks for all the advice....it is super helpful! |
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