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  Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
   
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | What type of horses / level does everyone use for giving barrel racing lessons to someone that's just starting? Say a rider can sit a canter alright on a rail or has done a little pleasure type stuff but hasn't done any hard, fast work at all and still has a little trouble maintaining themselves at abrupt transitions.
Do you use the typical lesson type horses that don't have a motor at all, are dull sided-- think typical English schooling horse-- that you can guide around a barrel but that isn't going to really run at all.
Or do you use an old seasoned horse that can have a bit of a motor?
I can pro's and con's to both types. The school horse you don't get the real feel of ultimately running but they're safe enough to get a foundation on.
The old seasoned horse doesn't need work on the pattern and gets hot, sour and easier to get hurt on if they start to run a little but they might give a rider a little more feel for running.
Thoughts?
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 725
 
| I would use the old barrel horse, I have tried giving lessons on a non-barrel horse and its a lot harder to teach. The horse doesn't really know whats happening and the rider isn't confident enough to make the horse have nice turns. The old barrel horse would be alot easier in my opinion, IF it can smoothly slow lope around the barrels without flyin. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 678
Location: Canada | I start with a horse that isn't finished on barrels but is well broke, responsive and has been started on the pattern. I set pattern small and do everything at a walk, then a trot, then a canter (not necessarily all in the same day). My finished horses will go slow but can and will power through a turn if asked so I usually put them on something up and coming.
Once they get the hang of the turns, the hands, seat, leg position, and are comfortable at walk trot canter I'll put them on something more advanced that is more automatic.
I think the worst thing that a person can do is over mount a student. If you put someone on a finished horse that loves to run and is quick if the student isn't ready you can set them back pretty far. If they start slow and build up the speed comes naturally as they're ready.
You are the best judge of them. If they like the speed and can react then put them on something a little faster. If they aren't quite there yet you certainly won't hurt them by starting slow, you can always move them up to something faster the next lesson. |
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | what... people don't just make runs on green horses that have less of a clue what they are doing than the rider and hope they can figure it out before someone gets dumped? 
I would use the english lesson horse that you can do anything with until the rider says, "i'm ready to step it up."
I personally rode lesson horses for years and then bought something that wasn't broke and did the pattern over and over again until we got the hang of it....  |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 555
Location: In the rockies. | Fairweather - 2015-01-08 3:28 AM What type of horses / level does everyone use for giving barrel racing lessons to someone that's just starting? Say a rider can sit a canter alright on a rail or has done a little pleasure type stuff but hasn't done any hard, fast work at all and still has a little trouble maintaining themselves at abrupt transitions.
Do you use the typical lesson type horses that don't have a motor at all, are dull sided-- think typical English schooling horse-- that you can guide around a barrel but that isn't going to really run at all.
Or do you use an old seasoned horse that can have a bit of a motor?
I can pro's and con's to both types. The school horse you don't get the real feel of ultimately running but they're safe enough to get a foundation on.
The old seasoned horse doesn't need work on the pattern and gets hot, sour and easier to get hurt on if they start to run a little but they might give a rider a little more feel for running.
Thoughts?
Yes, I would use the typical lesson horse until the riders confidence is high. Every rider is different and it could take a month or year. When there confidence is at a high have them ride the barrels bareback starting at a walk and moving to a canter to help solidify the confidence and again this could take some time. Kids love learning this way. Key word of course is confidence. I wouldn’t ask my old seasoned horse to put up with a beginner barrel racer. The seasoned horse would be a goal for them in the future.
JMO
I own a riding program with over 50 kids.
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 Expert
Posts: 1482
Location: on my horse | Personally what I use is my (well now my mom's) little ex reiner turned barrel horse. He's basically kid level if you need him to be. He's got a very correct pattern but enjoys just cruising around at a SLOW lope, and if his kid is struggling up there he rates down. He's just lazy enough to be great for that, but not SO lazy that he's dead sided, stiff, heavy in the bridle, and just goes around without any juice or personality.
If you could find something like that or a kid broke patterned horse that would be the best IMO. The next best thing would be just a broke older horse that hasn't seen the pattern ever, for a beginner you can teach fundamentals of rating at barrels, proper position etc and the horse will ideally be broke enough that he goes right along with his rider. That way he's still fun to ride, still has some juice and catches on to the game eventually, but he's not so dead sided that the rider doesn't develop any feel for what they are trying to do. |
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Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | Good input and echoed what I've been thinking. I know folks want to run right away but my biggest focus is building a rider that has a good foundation first that can think. I've got 2 non barrel horses that I've been using. One is more finished than the other but there's learning advantages to both I feel. |
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