|
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 702
 
Location: MN | How do you all get one to do them?? I go to the barrel races and everyone is warming up doing these nice, relaxed circles. Is it just daily repetition or is there some secret potion to this?? |
|
| |
|
  Ms. Marine
Posts: 4627
 
Location: Texas | The more relaxed I am mentally and physically, the more relaxed my horses are.
Edited by BarrelRacing4Christ 2017-07-11 9:17 PM
|
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 617
| Can really depend on the horse. Some horses like to lope slow naturally, others are like fire breathing dragons. Currently my 4 yr old is like speedy gonzales! We have been working on nice, slow circles. It can take a lot of work if they don't just lope slow naturally. Make loping slow circles easier than loping around quickly. |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 489
| At a show I think that the rider's frame of mind means a lot. If you are chill, it helps them be chill.
At home, I teach mine speed control by loping circles on the side of a hill. They have to keep their body gathered up and not be strung out. I start out with trotting lots of circles and direction changes on the hillside to help them get the idea about body and speed control. Pretty soon they are looking for a place to slow down/stop and loping easy circles on the flat is almost a reward. |
|
| |
|
 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| Can you lope circles at home? If you can't lope circles at home, your horse needs to be more broke. If you need help with that, I've been enjoying the Buck Brannaman DVDs a lot, it never hurts to keep learning.
If you can lope circles at home but not at a race, then you need to focus on staying calm, keeping your horse calm and happy, and do everything the same as you do at home. Some horses know the difference and just need to be left alone and walked longer for a good warm up. A world champion lunged her horse to warm up and just stayed off of him until it was go time. Just sort of depends on the horse |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 534
Location: Ohio girl moved to PA | It all depends on horse and rider. Dont compare yourself to what others are doing because you never know what stage they are at in their riding/training and same for the horse. My horse is a very forward mover so while others are slow loping we are trotting and passing most bye. When we lope, i have to really give him big circles and make sure there arent a lot of people around, and work on slowing him down but its never been what i would call a "slow relaxed" lope. He also always has to be first in line so when he constantly sees others in front of him he wants to get ahead. I just try to work him away from the arena as much as possible while at a show. He feeds off of me tremendously and i still get anxious so he knows when its go time! |
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1100
Location: Southeastern Idaho | I used to ride young colts with my dad as a teenager. I would put on the final rides before horses went back to their owners. As I would ride a 2 or 3 year old my dad would tell me to "get the weight out of your feet". He meant to sit down...put your weight in the seat of your saddle and not push those stirrups down. I was always surprised how fast those colts calmed down and came back into my hands. Relax your elbows...keep them near your sides. This has worked for me time and again as I ride my young horses that have a higher throttle. Focus on sinking into that seat and keep the weight out of your stirrups.
Edited by luvropin 2017-07-12 1:37 PM
|
|
| |
|
 Too Skinny
Posts: 8009
Location: LA Lower Alabama | I think circles can be over used so don't stress about them too much. The real trick is heading the direction with the speed YOU have asked for not when or where or how fast THEY want to go. |
|
| |
|
 Total Germophobe
Posts: 6437
Location: Montana | BarrelRacing4Christ - 2017-07-11 8:16 PM The more relaxed I am mentally and physically, the more relaxed my horses are.
This, for the most part. With the 3 y/o I just sold, the more relaxed I was riding her, the more relaxed her circles were. Now my main mare, who is 16, she has what I call lazy loping circles. She is short so she feels fast, but sometimes I really have to gas peddle her to get her to keep loping. |
|
| |
|
| Get in deep dirt and lope very small circles until they relax then move out to a bigger circle slowly. If they speed up move them back in small again. |
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 602
| Lope in a large circle. If the horse it too fast for ya. Lope a small circle once inside of the large one you were traveling in. Then go back out to the large one, let your hose make the mistake first then go back to the small circle. It could take awhile and a few events before your horse starts to relax. |
|
| |
|
 Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | and dont overdo ... those circles can play havoc on hocks and the youngsters arent balanced enough to go slow loping circles so be patient.. |
|
| |
|
 Born not Made
Posts: 2932
Location: North Dakota | I don't lope Red in circles before we run. He doesn't need that. I mostly walk him for his warm-up.
.....so not everyone is loping circles in their warmup.....
But with that said, practice. Red will also win/place in horsemanship, reining, and pattern riding classes at the local horse shows I go to. To get that nice relaxed loping circle, you usually have to do a lot of them. (Think reiners.) The smaller circles will be harder on their body if you do a lot of them but you don't need to do small circles.
|
|
| |
|
 Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11493
Location: 31 lengths farms | My little mare can now lope relaxed circles...only took @5 years of seasoning though. I figure we arent' there at a barrel race to lope soft circles, LOL!!! I just find the corner that she is softest or quietest in and start by trotting circles first, then to the lope. She is one that runs best if most of your warm up is at the trot with enough loping to stretch the muscles and then just walk. |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 702
Location: MN | Thanks for all the great advice! Been working on those circles. She's doing ok in large circles but the smaller ones she feels uncoordinated and seems to really get more on her frontend. Feels about the same going around the barrels. I'm just starting to lope her on the barrels. Will the coordination come? Its been about 6 years since I started one on the barrels :) |
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 713
Location: ND | A drill I like to do is start with a huge circle, when they are relaxed and moving correctly move in 5 feet and go until relaxed, move in another 5 feet until loping around the barrel nice and relaxed. If at any point they can't get relaxed, move back out 5 feet until they get it. It's kind like a spiral once they get it down. But it really helps them understand the feeling of being correct without forcing it or stressing them out. |
|
| |
Folks on-line