|
|
 Very Important Person
Posts: 5680
   
Location: South MS | Have a 5yr old, already going on barrels, that just wants to turn into the barrel. I've tried counter arcing, roll backs away from the barrel instead of turning, etc. All seem to make her even more intent on turning into the barrel. She's not sore....no health issues. Her nose reaches the barrel and she wants to turn. Tires around the barrels? Ideas? Exercises?
|
|
| |
|
The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| My guess is you are thinking about the turn and your horse is felling a change in body position.
I have one who does this, she comes in guns blazing to first, i panic in my head, roll my hips to start preparing for the turn and she turns before the barrel and heads to second.
This is always my first run back on her after winter.
Mine I have to keep forward momentum at all times.
With colts who are dropping their shoulder, or leaning in, I will keep them square and push them out of the turn, past the barrel, about a stride. The first few times I do this it isn't pretty and it is a lot of riding. After they understand they begin to wait for me.
I have had to sacrifice a few runs during competition to correct the problem as we all know timed onlies always go better then competition, different pressure/stress. |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 396
| I thought the same as above. Really practice loosening your legs to ride and relaxing coming to the barrel and going around it. THINK space and around. THINK exactly how you want it. It's amazing how much your horse mimics and reads your thoughts :). I have lived this through experience. I used to be the drill queen. There's a point where it is so simple how your horse reads you.
Edited by oranges 2015-10-06 8:59 AM
|
|
| |
|
 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | Have you tried loping largish circles around the barrel? Like spiral in and out. I've had young horses that needed to learn that they could could move away from the barrel and survive. I also have used Connie Comb's squares and parallel stops to fix one that wanted to get their shoulder in too quick and were cutting themselves off. It got her staying squared up on the approach and moved her rate point further back. If she stepped in, I stopped and backed her up a few steps, then put her in the correct position and let her stand and relax there. It didn't take much correction and worked wonders. We picked up 3 tenths after one session. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 2121
Location: The Great Northwest | Good for you to recognize that your mare isn't getting to the points. It needs to be corrected and you are starting now by recognizing she isn't right and you may not be totally focuse. Dena Kirkpatrick and Charmayne talk about ridding to those points and to keep the barrel behind your leg. Nip it now before it becomes a habit. |
|
| |
|
 Loves to compete
Posts: 5760
Location: Oakdale, CA | I would suggest loping large squares around the barrels one of my favorite excercises.......they may be getting bored with turning the barrels too. Keep them loving barrels forsure........... |
|
| |
|
 The Bling Princess
Posts: 3411
Location: North Dakota | When mine gets too "turney" its usually because he's stopped moving forward in the turn. To fix it I like to move him off the turn in a lateral movement and drive him forward. I might circle it a couple of times to reinforce what I want and as soon as he gets his foot work correct I move on. |
|
| |
|
 Mature beyond Years
Posts: 10780
Location: North of the 49th Parallel | I have one like that. So one day, after hitting barrel after barrel after barrel, I put a Beetle hack on and hit her 3 or so times running to first with my over and under.... It was a pretty ugly run because I was so determined to ride and kick about 3 strides past every barrel to emphasize my point. I turned her out after that because of some allergy/bleeding issues so time will tell if that worked. But really, squares are the only thing that has really worked for me as far as tuning on the pattern (which I don't do a whole lot of). |
|
| |
|
 No Tune in a Bucket
Posts: 2935
Location: Texas | I have seen people slow work their horse by going all the way to fence, stopping until they settle and then continue on. |
|
| |
|
  Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4553
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | When you can walk a perfect square for a week then a perfect square at a trot for a week then move up to a lope making a perfect square with out the barrel you will find all your flaws on your approach to the barrel.... good luck. This will get you and your horse "off" the barrel. |
|
| |
|
 Sorry I don't have any advice
Posts: 1975
Location: Sunnyland Florida |
Retrain - begin at a walk like the horse doesn't have a pattern. Practice Perfect and Exactly where you want them to go at a run. Keep them Straight until past the barrel - don't tip the nose since it's been a cue to slow down & rate in the past. Move your body at a walk like you are making a run. Depending on your horse's size, etc. keep the appropriate pocket all the way around the turn.
Graduate to a trot only when the horse performs PERFECT at a walk. Then, trot until perfect and not telling you when to turn. Then lope, same thing. Sneak speed on them until you're going. Believe me, it will be worth it. Take your time and do it right, then you won't have to do it again. There are no quick fixes or drills to correct this.
Good luck!
|
|
| |
|
 Member
Posts: 46
| If this were my horse I'd spend time off the pattern to work on our communication. Are you able to pick her up and move over at all gaits? I agree with others about your body position and it influencing her to move into the barrel. Ride with your eyes on the imaginary line around the barrel, not looking directly at the barrel. If getting too close is a problem, move your pocket placement out more and that should help where you are looking. Replace your barrel with cones, tires, or flour lines and practice that way for a while. I have a drill that I do, I'll see if I can find a pic of it to help. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 1525
| I have had a few horses that just wanted to turn...it wasn't a style problem...it wasn't that they were shouldering per say...I just wanted them to keep their 4wd around the barrel instead of anchoring up at them. And it wasn't really anything they were doing "wrong" and I didn't want to throw a bunch of drills at them or whatever because it only seemed to make them focus more on the barrels when really I just wanted the focus on moving their feet. The only thing that worked for me with these horses was to not work the barrels on them at all...I just rode them...out...somewhere besides an arena and I would breeze them once a week. It made a difference in the horses mentally that would "focus too much" on turning. They seemed to free up, move their feet and maintain their style without the monotony of drills...some horses just don't do well with them. I have one that could probably stand to learn something from them but he just wants to turn the barrels...that's it...and he will flat out get mad and it isn't worth the fight really and he clocks up in the 1D and 2D with the toughs, so whatever, ...and I have another that will lope every drill perfectly as if its his favorite thing to do in the whole world...and then go run the pattern the exact same way he always has lol....sometimes they just have a style...and its inconvenient and even a little unorthodox...but there is no cookie-cutter secret. The only thing I have found for one that needs to get "off" a barrel that isn't really doing anything particularly wrong to "get into" the barrel is to "free their mind" up a bit. I don't know if any of that makes sense haha. I say give the horse a week off. Then go do something else with them...and then go enter them and see how it works. Dont get any exhibitions or anything like that, some people have to fight that urge when they know they havent worked a barrel all week. Just give your horse a good look at the first barrel in the alley and ride as quiet and correct as you can...and dont override thinking that you are going to need to "get them past" just sit in the middle, forward, and see if "freeing up her mind" helped. Everyone wants to slow work one to death...and most of the time thats great...but try "no working one" and see how that works...sometimes more than not, a little bit of a vacation works wonders.
Edited by MOTIVATED 2015-10-07 4:11 PM
|
|
| |
|
Very Important Person
Posts: 5680
Location: South MS | Thanks guys! Lots of food for thought!! She's way too smart for her own good....... |
|
| |
Folks on-line