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 Veteran
Posts: 226
 
Location: Middle Tennessee | Can anyone give me a few exercises/ tips to get my horse past the first barrel? He is a free runner on the rest of the pattern but is SUPER push style to that first. He will sit down and turn right when he gets to it and he is pretty tall so this causes him to stall, hit it, come out wide, or even pop up because he is so bunched up behind it. I've tried a few things, but would like to hear what ya'll have in mind. |
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 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| I would add a bigger pocket, which means you'll have to banana a little bit coming into it. Basically, keep straight on with 3rd barrel until the timer line.
Edit to add: This would have in coming into the barrel with his nose pointed more at the fence. I have to do this with my huge gelding, otherwise he stalls and we run it over.
Watch a few Lance Graves videos, he does this on lots of horses.
Edited by Nateracer 2014-04-08 11:21 AM
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 Veteran
Posts: 232
Location: Wisconsin | so is he just shutting down too early for ya? I would probably take him back down to a walk or trot and really work on getting him to bend around the barrel, keeping him soft, working off your leg, and keeping his butt underneath him. Then, lope him up to the first, nice and round, and set him right when your leg is right at the barrel, keeping a nice pocket. This should get him to set later, and have a nicer barrel, instead of dropping early and hitting that barrel.
If that all made sense :) |
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 Expert
Posts: 2604
 
Location: Texas | I have a SUPER RATEY horse that if I so much as look or even think about the 1st barrel he will start slowing down. Forget about even touching the reins because he will start slowing down with this too. No amount of whipping or kicking does anything. Works great in slow work, goes past to a nice deep pocket every time. But totally different when you run him. I have been to almost every big name trainer/clinician/NFR contestant with no help. What has finally worked for me.... run him like I am trying to run him to the third barrel. I don't look or even think about the 1st barrel until we are about ready to turn it. I totally focus on that 3rd barrel and staying forward and smooching to him all the way. I totally trust that he is going to find the 1st and turn it and he does EVERY TIME. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1857
| bring him out wide around your first barrel and open him up, make no more than three rounds, and then bring him in and turn it correctly. Do this a couple times on the pattern, and see if it frees him up. Some will take them all the way to the fence, roll back the opposite direction or counter arc away but that seems to work better for me when I have a horse dropping his shoulder rather than just anticipating the turn a little soon. |
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| I would work a lot of slow stuff at home. He obviously is anticipating it a whole bunch, so i would do a couple of things to try out. First i would do what a previous poster said and not send him in so straight to the first when you are running him. I would start him on the far side of the alley and really make him arc going into the first and keep his nose the whole time. I have to do this with my gelding. He doesn't give himself a pocket at all if I just let him run to it, and we get hung up around the barrel. He isn't much of a butt-scooter so he never hits it, but same concept. Also in your slow work, I would make his rate point farther into the turn. Generally, I would say ask him to rate where your tracks meet, but for horses that are more anticipatory, I like to make them rate another "stride" per-say into the barrel. Another exercise I would do is also in your slow work. When you slow lppe him through, give him a nice big pocket going into the first with his nose kept towards the inside. As you approach the barrel he is probably gonna try his hardest to turn but just keep him moving past it and go to the fence. Stop him once you get to the fence and make him roll back the opposite direction (so to the left). Go back to the alley and lope back to the first, this time letting him lope a nice large circle around it. This teaches them to really drive on their back end instead of getting all crawley on the front end and wanting to pop out of the backside.
Hope this helps! I currently run all styles of horses and have had to work through their issues. Lol. Sometimes when you run you just have to HUSTLE them to the first until you cannot take it anymore and trust them that they will slow down in the right spot for the turn. AKA you shouldn't check them, just sit down and ask to turn. |
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Expert
Posts: 3514
| Trot him to the first circle the first and when you get back to the pocket area circle to the left. You are doing a figure eight. Repeat this a couple of times then finish the pattern. This teaches the horse to wait for you to wye him to turn hope this helps. |
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Veteran
Posts: 226
Location: Middle Tennessee | FlyingJT - 2014-04-08 11:35 AM bring him out wide around your first barrel and open him up, make no more than three rounds, and then bring him in and turn it correctly. Do this a couple times on the pattern, and see if it frees him up. Some will take them all the way to the fence, roll back the opposite direction or counter arc away but that seems to work better for me when I have a horse dropping his shoulder rather than just anticipating the turn a little soon.
I think I understand what you are saying but could you elaborate a little more? I thin this would help him but I'm a bit confused lol. |
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Expert
Posts: 1857
| RodeoGirlJodi - 2014-04-08 1:00 PM
FlyingJT - 2014-04-08 11:35 AM bring him out wide around your first barrel and open him up, make no more than three rounds, and then bring him in and turn it correctly. Do this a couple times on the pattern, and see if it frees him up. Some will take them all the way to the fence, roll back the opposite direction or counter arc away but that seems to work better for me when I have a horse dropping his shoulder rather than just anticipating the turn a little soon.
I think I understand what you are saying but could you elaborate a little more? I thin this would help him but I'm a bit confused lol.
haha, I'm better at showing than I am speaking.... Lope him up to your first barrel and about the area he starts down shifting, swing him out(about 8-10ft - maybe wider depends on the horse) and hustle him around, I really try to get them to run as fast as they can considering the size of the circle and not losing control. Use your inside foot to hold him off and make 2-3 circles around the barrel - same distance away all the way around. then on your 3-4 time around when you get to the back side of the barrel allow him to move the circle in smaller and turn the barrel and go on to the second. The next time you work the barrels I would do the same thing. You don't want to overdue the exercise and create a hole new issue but enough that he's moving all the way into the turn and not shutting down on you. It's helped me really free some up that would turn beautifully but wouldn't keep the speed up all the way in, and we'd lose momentum to carry us around. Like you said, they'd stall, hit the barrel on the backside, or have to make an extra stride to get out and cost us time. |
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Veteran
Posts: 226
Location: Middle Tennessee | Thanks! That makes sense now! |
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