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Regular
Posts: 56
| Does anyone have any tips on turning one to the left??
My mare will turn on a dime but our problem seems to be the second barrel. When she comes out of it she blows off SUPER bad. Almost like she wants to go back to the first barrel (which was her second barrel going right)? Does anyone else have this problem?? No matter how hard I pull she just keeps on truckin it. During practice she is PERFECT. She is normally very bad about over turning the barrel, I never had this issue with her going to the right. I turned her left because she was ducking the second barrel.
Edited by mpindixie 2016-04-03 10:44 PM
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 808
 
| You say "no matter how hard I pull" so won't turn
That's probably a lot of the problem. Go to a trainer Hurst a few brush up lessons or at least an outsiders perspective and then go from there. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 634
| If she was ducking barrels before and blowing off now, get your vet to look her over and do a lameness exam to make sure nothing is wrong. She may be trying to tell you something is hurting. | |
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 It's not my fault I'm perfect
Posts: 13739
  
Location: Where the long tails flow, ND | Horses don't want to do bad, especially if you are pulling as hard as you can. I would get a lameness check done on her. Be sure to check stifles. | |
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 Expert
Posts: 1631
Location: Somewhere around here | babbsywabbsy - 2016-04-04 6:37 AM
If she was ducking barrels before and blowing off now, get your vet to look her over and do a lameness exam to make sure nothing is wrong. She may be trying to tell you something is hurting.
Agreed. My old horse started blowing off first randomly so we went to two vets and chiro but they couldn't find anything. A trainer lady next door suggested I did drills and at helped but when we switch first barrels it was like a different horse. All I'll add to starting a horse to the other direction though, is start from the very beginning and act like your training a horse that's never seen the pattern before. | |
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Regular
Posts: 56
| cecollins0811 - 2016-04-04 11:04 AM
babbsywabbsy - 2016-04-04 6:37 AM
If she was ducking barrels before and blowing off now, get your vet to look her over and do a lameness exam to make sure nothing is wrong. She may be trying to tell you something is hurting.
Agreed. My old horse started blowing off first randomly so we went to two vets and chiro but they couldn't find anything. A trainer lady next door suggested I did drills and at helped but when we switch first barrels it was like a different horse. All I'll add to starting a horse to the other direction though, is start from the very beginning and act like your training a horse that's never seen the pattern before.
Yes! We have been to vets and chiro and they inject her and NOTHING changes. I gave her 5 months off and now she is running left and blowing off second. I am taking her back to vet to see if her stifles are sore tomorrow. If I over exaggerate turning a barrel she will pick up on it and run like that lol. Thanks for the advice. She is definitely like a new horse... Didn't even have to buy one! | |
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 Expert
Posts: 1898
| mpindixie - 2016-04-05 10:39 AM
cecollins0811 - 2016-04-04 11:04 AM
babbsywabbsy - 2016-04-04 6:37 AM
If she was ducking barrels before and blowing off now, get your vet to look her over and do a lameness exam to make sure nothing is wrong. She may be trying to tell you something is hurting.
Agreed. My old horse started blowing off first randomly so we went to two vets and chiro but they couldn't find anything. A trainer lady next door suggested I did drills and at helped but when we switch first barrels it was like a different horse. All I'll add to starting a horse to the other direction though, is start from the very beginning and act like your training a horse that's never seen the pattern before.
Yes! We have been to vets and chiro and they inject her and NOTHING changes. I gave her 5 months off and now she is running left and blowing off second. I am taking her back to vet to see if her stifles are sore tomorrow. If I over exaggerate turning a barrel she will pick up on it and run like that lol. Thanks for the advice. She is definitely like a new horse... Didn't even have to buy one!
I know your question was "how do you switch directions" but there are so many questions I would have as to why the horse is doing this and why that would make me consider switching. Have you had her teeth checked? Are you getting behind in your turn? Lifting your hand? Pulling on her head in the back side? Balancing on your reins? Not staying seated in your turns? There are so many reason why this could be happening. If it is not a physical lameness issue, not a teeth issue and not a rider issue, it might be a training issue. I would consider doing lots of drills, and trail rides. Maybe try to get her on cattle and her mind off of barrels. Laying one off for an extended amount of time is sometimes not enough to fix the brain. A horse's brain is a fickle thing, it easily blown but not so easily fixed.
As for switching directions, when I consider switching directions I figure out which lead a horse naturally wants to carry and work off. When you turn her out, observe which lead she naturally picks up and maintains, which direction she turns the most to, which way she moves most naturally to. The same with riding her. Most horses have one side they work better on than the other. That is usually the side I determine as their "dominate lead" and the side I set them up on for what direction I want my 2nd and 3rd barrels to be.
Like someone else said, if you are going to start her the other direction start from the bottom up. Given that she knows the pattern, looks for the barrels and knows how to turn, it won't take as long to get her tuned in as it would a fresh horse with no pattern experience.
ETA: If I have a horse that has no physical lameness issues, I have to determine A. Is it me? Do I need to change something I am doing? or B. Does this horse need to do something else for a while to rejuvenate and come back.
ETA AGAIN; Sorry I am terrible. I have a habit of over analyzing and have been stuck on this since my first post on this thread. Any who, it popped into my tiny brain that her problem could be an equipment fit issue as well. She may do fine at home where there is no outside pressure but when you take her somewhere, the outside pressure combined with a bad fitting saddle might create enough tension to make her want to avoid you. Also, you might consider the possibility of ulcers as well.
Edited by cyount2009 2016-04-05 11:49 AM
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 Expert
Posts: 1463
Location: oklahoma | Could it be bleeding? I've seen/had some horses who would blow off a turn b/c they got "scared" b/c they were bleeding. Just throwing it out there. | |
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Regular
Posts: 56
| cyount2009 - 2016-04-05 11:23 AM
mpindixie - 2016-04-05 10:39 AM
cecollins0811 - 2016-04-04 11:04 AM
babbsywabbsy - 2016-04-04 6:37 AM
If she was ducking barrels before and blowing off now, get your vet to look her over and do a lameness exam to make sure nothing is wrong. She may be trying to tell you something is hurting.
Agreed. My old horse started blowing off first randomly so we went to two vets and chiro but they couldn't find anything. A trainer lady next door suggested I did drills and at helped but when we switch first barrels it was like a different horse. All I'll add to starting a horse to the other direction though, is start from the very beginning and act like your training a horse that's never seen the pattern before.
Yes! We have been to vets and chiro and they inject her and NOTHING changes. I gave her 5 months off and now she is running left and blowing off second. I am taking her back to vet to see if her stifles are sore tomorrow. If I over exaggerate turning a barrel she will pick up on it and run like that lol. Thanks for the advice. She is definitely like a new horse... Didn't even have to buy one!
I know your question was "how do you switch directions" but there are so many questions I would have as to why the horse is doing this and why that would make me consider switching. Have you had her teeth checked? Are you getting behind in your turn? Lifting your hand? Pulling on her head in the back side? Balancing on your reins? Not staying seated in your turns? There are so many reason why this could be happening. If it is not a physical lameness issue, not a teeth issue and not a rider issue, it might be a training issue. I would consider doing lots of drills, and trail rides. Maybe try to get her on cattle and her mind off of barrels. Laying one off for an extended amount of time is sometimes not enough to fix the brain. A horse's brain is a fickle thing, it easily blown but not so easily fixed.
As for switching directions, when I consider switching directions I figure out which lead a horse naturally wants to carry and work off. When you turn her out, observe which lead she naturally picks up and maintains, which direction she turns the most to, which way she moves most naturally to. The same with riding her. Most horses have one side they work better on than the other. That is usually the side I determine as their "dominate lead" and the side I set them up on for what direction I want my 2nd and 3rd barrels to be.
Like someone else said, if you are going to start her the other direction start from the bottom up. Given that she knows the pattern, looks for the barrels and knows how to turn, it won't take as long to get her tuned in as it would a fresh horse with no pattern experience.
ETA: If I have a horse that has no physical lameness issues, I have to determine A. Is it me? Do I need to change something I am doing? or B. Does this horse need to do something else for a while to rejuvenate and come back.
ETA AGAIN; Sorry I am terrible. I have a habit of over analyzing and have been stuck on this since my first post on this thread. Any who, it popped into my tiny brain that her problem could be an equipment fit issue as well. She may do fine at home where there is no outside pressure but when you take her somewhere, the outside pressure combined with a bad fitting saddle might create enough tension to make her want to avoid you. Also, you might consider the possibility of ulcers as well.
She has been treated for ulcers and is now on Gastroplex, she is a different horse --meaning more relaxed and focused. We treated her when she started ducking the second. I have watched my hand in many runs and when she started ducking I would anticipate it and two hand her but she still did it. She would go right beside the barrel and turn in a tight circle. This horse has had months and months of time off and does not get rode in the arena hardly any. When I bought her she was blown up, could not relax and would dart off loping circles. She had ducked many times before with previous owner but I did not know this when I bought her.... No one ever told me how they fixed her though  I have changed saddles a few different times. The one thing that has changed the most in her is how much she rates. She started rating on her front end, and yes I stop and back up during practice. I tried NOT stopping during practice and that doesn't help either. I can push her really hard into the turn and she still slams on breaks and rolls back. She is a 1D mare and can fly from a dead stop. | |
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Regular
Posts: 56
| jewels - 2016-04-05 12:56 PM
Could it be bleeding? I've seen/had some horses who would blow off a turn b/c they got "scared" b/c they were bleeding. Just throwing it out there.
Interesting! Never thought of that, I've only seen horses quit running hard bc they were bleeding but I will definitely look into Lasix for her. May try that this weekend. I had been wanting to because she is a little mare and we run in deeper stuff around here. | |
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