Anyone have ANY advice or tricks to not go to the horn halfway to the first barrel?? It's become a bad habit and I absolutely cannot do this with my new horse. I'm sure I developed this habit after my last horse who I just couldn't trust at all and ended up riding extremely timid. I'm about to put some ear phones in with a recording repeating "two hands" the whole time. My muscle memory or maybe it's lack of muscle memory idk, but I don't even realize I'm doing it. It's almost like I tense up and freeze not seeing exactly where we are to the 1st barrel (I know, that's basically another issue on It's own). Ugh. I'm just so frustrated with myself! 

I do this too! Like you, I'm coming off one that didn't rate and would go to fence on first. The gelding I ride now could decide to buck a little at any time. To make it worse, I practice by myself all the time. 

I chant "hold hold HOLD!" to myself the whole time in the holding pen and when I take off in the alley. It worked until Demon started going in on two legs instead of four. I understand completely what you're saying about not SEEING or knowing where I am because the crazy start is rattling me. I dropped to the horn ONE STRIDE past the alley at world. I was cussing myself the rest of the way to the first but couldn't reach back up whether from no time or whatever. At a lot of shows I will have my people yelling the hold-hold chant at me and it works well. The two-legged entry is hopefully on it's way to going away and maybe I can go back to better riding, but wild starts never bothered me before so still not understanding.