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| What is everyone's way of approaching your turns ? Do you like a straighter approach .. Or like go get their nose & shape them before the turn ? I have two horses that tend to start their turns too soon . One is young 5 yrs .. She anticipates her turns , leading to dumping on her front end & not getting up into the turn before she turns . I'm working on her slow & she's getting better about it . My other horse is hard bc she's 8 yrs old & had a horrible habit of starting her turns too soon , but she drops her front end & swings her butt .. Especially on the first barrel , & the 3 rd she won't finish at speed bc she won't use her hind end . I am trying to slow this mare down & correct this bc she will use her hind end at a lope , but the minute you run she goes back to her old habits .. I bought her at 6 yrs old with these habits & no foundation to fall back on . She has all the foundation pieces now but it's hard to kick the old habits & she gets hot easily on top of it . I just can't decide if she needs a straighter longer approach or getting that shoulder up with the inside rein & leg . Would love to have opinions ! |
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| Here are several suggestions......get Martha Josey's new book with drills in. Follow the instructions. Get Martha's video, RUNNING TO WIN, get Heather Smith's book of barrel Racing drills(I don't have a clue who Heather Smith is). The book is good. If you do the drills and just sit up there and enjoy the ride, they will not do you much good. You have to be in control of your horse. Hope that helps. |
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Location: Probably On the Road to the Next Barrel Race! | keeeping shoulder up is paramount to what you are trying to do. |
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| I do have heather smiths book . I can go any drill in the book correctly .. But on the pattern they change .. They've both been started incorrectly with no foundation , so that's 95% of my problem.. The 5 yr old is very fixable though . I just had to quit running her & just exh to keep her correct & listening . Need to do the same with the 8 yr old but she's a much harder fix .. |
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 Tried and True
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Location: Where I am happiest | www.barrelhorsenews.com/102-training-40510/4313-the-big-three.html |
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| Fancy Lass - 2015-11-12 7:02 AM
I do have heather smiths book . I can go any drill in the book correctly .. But on the pattern they change .. They've both been started incorrectly with no foundation , so that's 95% of my problem.. The 5 yr old is very fixable though . I just had to quit running her & just exh to keep her correct & listening . Need to do the same with the 8 yr old but she's a much harder fix ..
If no foundation, I suggest that you just start over and put a foundation on them. Just quit the pattern and start with the basics. You will have a much better horse. |
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Location: IL | Fancy Lass - 2015-11-12 7:02 AM I do have heather smiths book . I can go any drill in the book correctly .. But on the pattern they change .. They've both been started incorrectly with no foundation , so that's 95% of my problem.. The 5 yr old is very fixable though . I just had to quit running her & just exh to keep her correct & listening . Need to do the same with the 8 yr old but she's a much harder fix ..
Now that you have a foundation, then I would go back and slow lope the pattern with both. It's really hard to fix but it will slowly happen. If the 8 year old is anxious on the pattern and just wants to speed up, just do lots of trotting and loping the barrels. I would start out at a trot then lope and break her back down into a trot, so she listens to your requests for speed control. Then try to lope the barrels the correct way. Hope this helps. |
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Location: South Dakota | streakysox - 2015-11-12 8:06 AM Fancy Lass - 2015-11-12 7:02 AM I do have heather smiths book . I can go any drill in the book correctly .. But on the pattern they change .. They've both been started incorrectly with no foundation , so that's 95% of my problem.. The 5 yr old is very fixable though . I just had to quit running her & just exh to keep her correct & listening . Need to do the same with the 8 yr old but she's a much harder fix .. If no foundation, I suggest that you just start over and put a foundation on them. Just quit the pattern and start with the basics. You will have a much better horse.
Agree..quit the pattern for now...or just walk it...and get that foundation solid....Go slow...take your time...enjoy the journey! |
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Location: OK | I private messaged you, and it's a long story! lol. Hope it helps you. message me back if you have any questions. |
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| Thanks guys ! I think I'm on the right track with them .. It will just take time to undo the bad habits . |
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| merdth6 - 2015-11-12 8:57 AM
Fancy Lass - 2015-11-12 7:02 AM I do have heather smiths book . I can go any drill in the book correctly .. But on the pattern they change .. They've both been started incorrectly with no foundation , so that's 95% of my problem.. The 5 yr old is very fixable though . I just had to quit running her & just exh to keep her correct & listening . Need to do the same with the 8 yr old but she's a much harder fix ..
Now that you have a foundation, then I would go back and slow lope the pattern with both. It's really hard to fix but it will slowly happen. If the 8 year old is anxious on the pattern and just wants to speed up, just do lots of trotting and loping the barrels. I would start out at a trot then lope and break her back down into a trot, so she listens to your requests for speed control. Then try to lope the barrels the correct way. Hope this helps.
The 8 yr old does get anxious on the pattern but only at barrel races . She's perfect at home & will lope the pattern correctly until you put her under pressure then she falls apart. Once I exh her two or so times & show her she's not running .. Then she will lope a correct pattern. So obviously not running her will help ! You have some good ideas. This mare is a 1 d horse doing it incorrectly .. That's why I'm so determined to fix her .. To know what she could do if she'd do it right ! And she's be way more consistent .. She is inconsistent with her turns at this point since she won't use her body correctly. I hope I can get her lined out |
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| do you think the 8yos hind end might have some pain or discomfort somewhere?
My mare was getting down on her front end to turn and trying to 4wd it. She had some slight discomfort in her hocks and stifles and honestly didnt know how to collect and LIFT her front end. I had her injected and she went to an ex dressage trainer for a month and tada! lol. Whole new horse. The trainer didn't do hardly any barrel work on her, just lift and movement ect. When the mare came home I could sit and squeeze at the extended lope and she would collect right up and dramatically lift her front end. When I breezed her through the first time she went right back to her front end and the trainer said I was going into the barrels and leaning forward and putting my hand on her neck to keep her front hitting instead of driving her forward into the turn and sitting allowing her to sit and turn. The combo of the horse being worked on, learning to use hersel and me correcting myself we went from 3d-2d to 2d-1d in 30 days. |
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| RoaniePonie11 - 2015-11-13 10:27 AM
do you think the 8yos hind end might have some pain or discomfort somewhere?
My mare was getting down on her front end to turn and trying to 4wd it. She had some slight discomfort in her hocks and stifles and honestly didnt know how to collect and LIFT her front end. I had her injected and she went to an ex dressage trainer for a month and tada! lol. Whole new horse. The trainer didn't do hardly any barrel work on her, just lift and movement ect. When the mare came home I could sit and squeeze at the extended lope and she would collect right up and dramatically lift her front end. When I breezed her through the first time she went right back to her front end and the trainer said I was going into the barrels and leaning forward and putting my hand on her neck to keep her front hitting instead of driving her forward into the turn and sitting allowing her to sit and turn. The combo of the horse being worked on, learning to use hersel and me correcting myself we went from 3d-2d to 2d-1d in 30 days.
She's been checked over, 100% sound . She literally just doesn't know how to lift her front end like your mare. She is getting better though .. She didn't even back up at 6 yrs old when I bought her .. She would lock up & not back.. She got away with this so many years sometime she'll still lock up just to see if she can get out anything she doesn't want to try to do . She does back pretty fluidly now . She couldn't do a roll back when I bought her either, she'd just drop her front end & swing her butt the minute you even thought about asking for a roll back . Would roll over her hocks, spin on her haunches .. Anything with the hind end she wasn't going to do . However , I do have her doing all of these things now though .. She's a different horse from even I first got her.. But we still have our battles . I have had her with a dressage trainer for 10 days this past summer & it did wonders in just 10 days . So I think I will send her back to her she a month or two..keeps her quiet & learning to use her body correctly . But then I have to carry it over to the pattern & hope she can kick this terrible habit .. Good point on the leaning though ! I know I do this sometimes & that will have to stop if I ever want to get her off that front end ! |
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| If your broke like me (lol) you could pay for a few lessons with a dressage trainer for you and your horse and have them teach you how to teach her, if that makes sense....lol |
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Extreme Veteran
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| RoaniePonie11 - 2015-11-13 1:04 PM
If your broke like me (lol) you could pay for a few lessons with a dressage trainer for you and your horse and have them teach you how to teach her, if that makes sense....lol
Lol yep ! I work at a barn with a trainer & we just trade out favors ! So doesn't cost me much ! |
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