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Elite Veteran
Posts: 634
  
| I have had her xrayed, ultrasounded, and lameness exam so I do not believe it is a physical issue. If there is something I could have missed though, please share! Ulcers have crossed my mind, and I am going to get her checked out for those this week.
She slow works perfectly (walk, trot, lope, you name it). She has nice runs at home and sometimes at barrel races. Other times, she blows off wide BAD. I have tried many different bits (hacks, lifters, combos, you name it), but am running her in a Sherry Cervi 3 piece Long Shank right now. When I work her in a martingale she does great because she can't get away from me but is it ok to run her in it? I'd hate for her to fall and get all tangled up in it or something. I am at a loss for what to do with her. When she hooks up a run she is really nice, but other days I have zero control. Any drills, practice, equipment, anything. Does she just need slowed back down to get her confidence back up? She will lope a perfect pattern all day, when I just let her run, she blows off. Please help.
Edited by babbsywabbsy 2016-03-07 10:43 AM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 333
| I had lots of things checked on my horse a couple years ago..couldn't find anything..(until a saddle fitter mentioned something). My horse had sore withers. A place probably not commoningly checked. My horse was blowing off the 3rd barrel.
Good luck. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 634
| Oh wow. Thank you, I will get this checked out! |
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Veteran
Posts: 196
Location: Pittsburg, Texas | If a horse blows off there is a reason. Usually pain of some kind and you just haven't found it. Good luck |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| Kissing spine, stifles, lung bleeding, teeth to name a few. I'd for sure be making a run then getting a BAL done to check if her lungs are blowing up. Scope for ulcers.
Then a lameness locator to see if electronically anything pops up.
Make sure you review your riding, tack, and how you're setting up your pattern. A really good clinic can do wonders to sort out stuff like this. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 634
| I am going to a Judy Myllymaki clinic in a couple of weeks, I'm so excited! I hope it helps.
She's been x-rayed and ultrasounded all over (leg joints, spine, etc.) and we didn't find anything. Will check lungs and scope for ulcers. It's just so frustrating because she will make a smoking run one weekend, blow up the next, when she does blow off like that I will take her into the warmup arena and she will suck the paint off of all three barrels. I would think that if she's hurting somewhere she would do it every time.
Edited by babbsywabbsy 2016-03-07 2:13 PM
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 639
Location: God's country...aka TEXAS | I would go ahead and just do an ulcer treatment. You can't scope for hind gut ulcers anyway. Any barrel horse is going to have ulcers at some point to some degree....I do at least 1 ulcer treatment a year on mine whether they need it or not. I"m not saying this is your issue- but its one more thing you could rule out pretty easily! |
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 Expert
Posts: 2013
Location: Piedmont, OK | how old? Young horses just need a little extra time to figure it out away from home. But pain is generally associated with them not finishing their turns. Teeth is a big one, needing adjusted, hocks or stifles..... My experience with ulcers or bleeding is you have more problems than just blowing off, like not wanting to enter the gate or refusing the gate/alley. |
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Expert
Posts: 4766
Location: Bandera, TX | classicpotatochip - 2016-03-07 1:30 PM Kissing spine, stifles, lung bleeding, teeth to name a few. I'd for sure be making a run then getting a BAL done to check if her lungs are blowing up. Scope for ulcers. Then a lameness locator to see if electronically anything pops up. Make sure you review your riding, tack, and how you're setting up your pattern. A really good clinic can do wonders to sort out stuff like this.
BAL is where I would start for a horse that is blowing off the barrel esp the last barrel. If the horse is getting rank in the alley very hard to hold I think ulcers or bleeding. If the horse is hitting the wall and unable to give you his all then think bleed. BAL will tell you the tale.
You can give 60-120mL of magnesium/calcium supplement and if that helps suspect that you could be having gastric ulcers. Give 60 before saddle time and then another 60ml when you boot up and head to the arena.
If your horse is working wonderful in the practice pen at half speed I lean toward the bleed. A horse that's working like a pill in the practice pen has often times scoped positive for ulcers.
CPC, gave you some other very valid reasons. |
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Expert
Posts: 3514
| I second treating for ulcers. I would use something that treats both fore and hind gut. Oxygen ulcer treats both. Then you can follow up with the oxymax. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 634
| She's 8. Before I got her in December, she was patterned and running but not being hauled much, as in every couple of months over a period of 2-3 years.. At first I just chalked it up to her just needing hauled and seasoned. She's not alley sour at all, she walks right in. She works great at home, works great in the warmup arena, and then we go to run and everything goes out the window. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 591
| Do you have a video at all? If it's not a medical issue, then when a horse blows off a turn it's usually some kind of rider error. Most commonly starting the turn too soon. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 410
| I'm having the same problem at my second. I have really concentrated on fixing my approach but sometimes my mare will even finish the turn the instead of going straight to third will throw her head up and go off to the right. I'm not hanging on her head either I'm at a loss |
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 Expert
Posts: 1767
Location: California | RoadToVegas - 2016-03-07 5:50 PM I'm having the same problem at my second. I have really concentrated on fixing my approach but sometimes my mare will even finish the turn the instead of going straight to third will throw her head up and go off to the right. I'm not hanging on her head either I'm at a loss
If your approach is good, another reason a horse will blow of is they get "stuck" behind the barrel and basically have no where to go. This stems from a bad foundation, not knowing where to place their feet and not being able to move forward through a turn. People think their horse is fine because they can lope "fine", when in reality they are dumping on their front end and losing forward motion around the turn. At a lope, no matter what the horse's running style, they should be able to keep the same speed and forward motion around the barrel without stopping. If they don't have a good foundation or don't know where to put their feet when speed is added they get bound up and blow off sideways. You see this frequently at barrel futurities with the young horses being asked to go fast but still learning where their feet go. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 634
| If your approach is good, another reason a horse will blow of is they get "stuck" behind the barrel and basically have no where to go. This stems from a bad foundation, not knowing where to place their feet and not being able to move forward through a turn. People think their horse is fine because they can lope "fine", when in reality they are dumping on their front end and losing forward motion around the turn. At a lope, no matter what the horse's running style, they should be able to keep the same speed and forward motion around the barrel without stopping. If they don't have a good foundation or don't know where to put their feet when speed is added they get bound up and blow off sideways. You see this frequently at barrel futurities with the young horses being asked to go fast but still learning where their feet go.
This is exactly what it feels like. She goes into the barrel great and then it just falls apart. Any drills to practice to correct this?
Edited by babbsywabbsy 2016-03-08 6:37 AM
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 Expert
Posts: 1631
Location: Somewhere around here | One drill you could do is setting up 3 or 4 barrels in a straight line and work from a walk, trot, lope, (then more of an extended lope) and go to all of them in one direction. Once she starts getting good at that (might take a while) or she's anticipating, you can switch it up to every other barrel.
Side note, what is your guiding/pulling style around the barrels? Is your hand by her poll, her neck, saddle horn, hip, knee? You might just need to switch where your hand position is. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2128
| babbsywabbsy - 2016-03-07 10:05 AM I have had her xrayed, ultrasounded, and lameness exam so I do not believe it is a physical issue. If there is something I could have missed though, please share! Ulcers have crossed my mind, and I am going to get her checked out for those this week. She slow works perfectly (walk, trot, lope, you name it). She has nice runs at home and sometimes at barrel races. Other times, she blows off wide BAD. I have tried many different bits (hacks, lifters, combos, you name it), but am running her in a Sherry Cervi 3 piece Long Shank right now. When I work her in a martingale she does great because she can't get away from me but is it ok to run her in it? I'd hate for her to fall and get all tangled up in it or something. I am at a loss for what to do with her. When she hooks up a run she is really nice, but other days I have zero control. Any drills, practice, equipment, anything. Does she just need slowed back down to get her confidence back up? She will lope a perfect pattern all day, when I just let her run, she blows off. Please help.
Following this thread. Having similar issues. I was worried mine may be hurting, but he does not always do it. |
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