turtleaut - 2016-08-30 11:38 AM

I don't have alot of advice for you as I am somewhat in the same boat, but I want to say that Herbie has restored my faith!  This is my third year to compete on my gelding (with minimum runs last year due to hubby's health) and we are still so inconsistent.  He is very push style and I have struggled to keep the barrels up.  Confidence takes along time to build and I feel like I am sloooowwllly gaining a little more each run and pushing him a little further.  Practice Practice practice - I try to go to at least one clinic a year or more if I can.   I am not a naturally confident person and that carries over into my riding.  This is silly but I have a Pinterest board of motivating quotes that I try and look at before I run. 

Also another word of advice, you may want to have a vet check her.  On a whim at a big race I took my guy to see a top vet and he found some issues that were definitely causing some of our issues.   

Herbie - 2016-08-30 8:09 AM

I think you're being a little bit too hard on yourself.  It sounds like to me you're just dealing with a little bit of a learning curve.....it happens to all of us with a new horse, even those we train ourselves.  Try not to get down on yourself and hang in there.  Sounds like you've got a really nice horse and that you're willing to invest the time with her.  I applaud you for sending her back to the who had her before, now go back after a week or two and let that person help you as well.  That is what it took for me with the horse I was speaking about before.  I told her to fix him, then fix ME, as I knew I was causing the majority of the issues with bad timing or small things I was doing that were counter productive......like grabbing the outside rein when I felt like he was crowding me.  For my horse, he didn't enjoy the daily grind and riding, and we fought daily.  She told me to leave him alone and let him do his job, so I ponied him or lunged him or even chased him around on my other horse.  I learned from her that this horse was a business man.....and after that I never rode him unless it was time to make a run.  It's just what worked for us as a team.  It's the little things like that sometimes that affect the outcome.  Another thing with this particular horse was that I had gotten him very fit....riding every day.  He worked better a little on the heavy side, and if he was too fit, he wasn't happy.  Seems silly but it was true.  Another thing for him that made a big difference was back boots.  I had put boots on him all the way around, white boots, and boy did he look sharp.  The lady I bought him from advised to take the back boots off, he doesn't like them and they aggravate him.  She was right.  Sometimes it's the smallest things that make the biggest difference in learning the likes and dislikes of these horses that give us their all.

It took me several years to completely get with him, but it happened, and we were a great team before it was said and done.  Like you, I won alot on him that first year, then he fell at a rodeo and broke my leg.  Had to have surgery and didn't walk for about 6 months, so we had to start all over.  Set backs are to be expected and sometimes unavoidable, as mine was.  Hang in there and know that neither you or she will be perfect every time.  You two have to get to know each other inside and out.  Think of it like dating, and then a marriage.  You don't truly know someone after even a year of dating.  It's not until several years into the relationship, even when spending an enormous amount of time together, that you learn what makes them tick and what aggravates them......as you're still in the "honeymoon phase".  Even after several years you're still learning things about each other that make things easier for the both of you.  With a good horse, or a good man, it's worth the extra effort, patience, and work to get to that point where you're comfortable and a great team.  :)   Don't give up on something that is worth fighting for.  Great things take time, but the juice is worth the squeeze.

horzaddict2016 - 2016-08-30 12:30 PM In all honesty, in the past few months, we have discovered she was a bleeder and I had her hocks and stifles injected. I think there was more pain than she was ever letting on. she is firing way harder now but we seem very chaotic in our runs. New issues and mistakes. Maybe we had to look at this like starting over if she feels differently now than she ever did before??

scwebster - 2016-08-30 10:26 AM

Herbie just gave me hope..and a new perspective 

horzaddict2016 - 2016-08-30 1:30 PM In all honesty, in the past few months, we have discovered she was a bleeder and I had her hocks and stifles injected. I think there was more pain than she was ever letting on. she is firing way harder now but we seem very chaotic in our runs. New issues and mistakes. Maybe we had to look at this like starting over if she feels differently now than she ever did before??

jake16 - 2016-08-31 9:44 AM


how are you treating the bleeding issue?Are you sure shes healing between episodes? 

Chandler's Mom - 2016-08-30 11:27 PM She's good like that

Herbie - 2016-08-31 3:33 PM


You're sweet, Chandlers Mom, thank you for the kind words.  The members here have been my support system more than once when I needed, so i'm happy to help when I can as well.  Hang in there ladies, Rome wasn't built in a day and when our time is limited with other things like jobs, families, other priorities, injuries, etc can and do make things take longer I believe, but again, it's worth it to me to invest the time and the energy on one I know that has the talent and desire no matter if it takes 6 months or 6 years.  :) 

The same lady who has the "90 run rule" has a mare that she raised and trained.  She ran her at a few futurities, but shes been hauled selectively since her 4 YO year.  The mare is now 9 and over the summer was running about 8 tenths off right up until this summer through the rodeo run out west.  After she came home from the summer run, my friend and I discussed some minor changes in her approach to the first barrel.  This same mare who has run 8 tenths off what seems like forever and seemed to be stuck there has stepped it up and ran in the top of the 1D out of 800 head in OKC at the Shootout two weeks ago, three tenths off what won it, and is now maintaining there.  We knew she had it to give, just didn't know if she was willing to step it up anymore.....maybe she was too honest?  Yes, there is such a thing as too honest in some cases.  Haha  So this lady has been hauling this horse competitively since her 4 YO year.  She raised her, trained her, knows her inside and out.....has run her at rodeos, jackpots, big barrel races, etc.  The tweek one very minor thing and school her one time and she takes that  big step we've been hoping she would.  That's FIVE years on a horse she raised, trained, and has campaigned from the beginning.  Was it worth it, you better believe it!!!!  It's repitition, runs, experience, and tweeking even the smallest of things a little at a time, then let it settle before you change something else.  I personally have been guilty of changing things to quickly before letting myself and my horse adjust to the change.  I have to remind myself frequently to "let it marinate".  HAHA 

With your young hores, and even open horses, remember that every time you increase speed, it changes both yours and your horses timing, and there is a learning curve there....same thing with a bit change.  Sometimes things may fall apart a little bit before it comes together....that's ok.  Let it marinate before you make another change or increase speed.  I've never seen a perfect run, a perfect jockey, or a perfect horse, so let's cut ourselves some slack, take the pressure off, and go have fun.  I find that is when it usually all comes together is when I remove the pressure and just go make a run.