Myalmost 20 year old  daughter has a barrel horse that she has been training for 2 years. She has had some great barrel horses and is a confident rider.  She really established groundwork with her newest mare and took a slow and easy approach.  She's soooo much more patient than I would be.  We are now at a point where her mare make a beautiful run if she tries at home and completes all the drills successfully.  Unfortunately, when we get to a race this horse acts like she's never seen a barrel before.  We've hauled a lot so it's no longer a matter of seasoning.   We've tried exhibitioning, not exhibitioning, warming up alone........everything.  I don't want to put her on a daily calming supplement but think a calming and focus supplement to be used at races might be worth a try.  Any suggestions on which are most effective on an as-needed basis?  This horse isn't great with pastes but if that's what would work best we'd give it a shot.

thanks

Do you have any videos of a fast run at home and a fast run in competition to share? 

She's using the same equipment?  Is she scared of banners, crowd maybe?

How nervous is your daughter getting, he could be feeding off her? 

I'll have to get a home video.  Her mare could be scared of crowds but has been successfully desensitized to banners.

For clarification, my daughter is almost 20 and has a lot of experience.  She runs much larger and fast horses so nerves aren't a problem with her.  I can say that she's probably not terribly confident with this mare and may be projecting that but it just doesn't explain the complete falling apart.  Her horse has been vet checked several times to make sure it's nothing medical.

Guanabenz and omeprazole 

We have been using purina outlast for years but I'm not familiar with guanabenz.  How does it differ from ace?

Hey there, I have the same problem I am working through with my gelding. He is 7 and I've been consistently running him for 2 years. I've done everything you have mentioned and it also did not work. Is your daughter's horse naturally a more sensitive type? My gelding is very hyper-aware, but not what I would consider spooky. I have found a huge improvement recently by getting a portable JBL speaker and riding and working the pattern with it jamming out to different types of music. The first time I did it he ran at home just like the races, super unfocused and all over the place. He gets better each ride and is less focused/worried about the noisey distraction. I have also been told to try running him with tampons/earplugs as a "bandaid" for now, but I am still hesitant to try that as I am not one to take short cuts when it comes to training. Hope this helps!

tampons are not short cuts  he just might have senative ears  my pony horse was the best i mean he was solid  but at bay meadows  he could not handle the inside with nosie  tampons in ears he was a rock star  . a lot of rodeo   people use them

PLEASE don't use ace on your horse. My mare was almost ruined by the futurity trainers who had her. They aced her without my knowledge. When I brought her home she acted the same way as your mare. Great at home but blew up at j.p. She had bad ulcers & had live bots in her. They never wormed her. I hope they rott in hell for what they did to her. She's coming along but I am sending her to REAL PROS who will ride her for a couple of months while I recover from my surgery. I know they will haul her & get her confidence up, etc. There are products to use but talk to your vet about them. Ace should never be used for running barrels. Anyone who does that shouldn't have a horse. Yeah I know I'm gonna get ragged on for that comment but guess what, I don't care :) Best to your daughter and your mare. 

Thanks.  I won't ace her.  Not an option we use.  

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Great ideas.  Thanks!

I have a friend who trains futurity horses. She had one several years ago that was perfect at home but just didn't make those runs that really clock away from home. She thought about what she was differently at home and away. She always worked with splitvreins at home and used barrel reins away from home. She switched to split reins away from home and the horse was perfect. Personally, I would kill myself riding with splitvreins but that was all she changed. It could be running the horse a little faster than at home,any stupid thing. I had a horse that shook his head like crazy for awhile. Lowered the nose and in his tie down and he was a different horse. 

Can you give me some specific reasons for NOT using some ace on a horse to run barrels? Thanks !

Guanabenz is a high blood pressure medication...keep them "calm" without being sleepy.

Ace has it's place but not in the arena. Why would you want to use it ? It's a cheap excuse for people not to train their horses in the right way. My mare was almost ruined for me buy trainers who aced her instead of letting her see the sights, correcting any not nice behavior. I have bred alot of horses & brought alot of young ones to a barrel race along with the one I was running. I rode that young one around the grounds, I sat on them & watched exh, , I showed them the sights, I reasured them when they weren't sure of crossing over from grass to a dirt road. I encouraged then with praise when they did good. Thats real training & I learned it as a kid. None of my young horses ever had ace. Hope that answers your question. 

We all have strong opinions, and reasons for them.  I have used Ace on some youngsters so I don't get killed.  A lot of race trainers use it to show colts there's nothing terrible out on the track, and then they wean them off of it as they gain confidence.  Some trainers blow up horses - they're bad trainers, but Ace isn't at fault there.

Calming drugs was once explained to me as, a horse needs to have a good experience. if giving the drugs helps make it a good experience there is no shame in using them. 

So why are so many people anti- calming meds? 

Does the horse fall apart in exhibitions or just when entered?