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Member
Posts: 15
 Location: Texas | I began entering my 5 year mare in September and have about 12 runs on her. She is doing great and placing consistantly in the 3D-4D each time. My question is how many runs, months, etc before you know if a horse is going to make a 1D-2D horse? I know this depends on many things but in general if a horse has just started to be entered and is doing good with no issues what is the average amount of time before a person can make a good assumption regariding the horses future? |
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 Expert
Posts: 5293
     
| You probably already have a feel of how smooth of a run she is running and if the horse feels like they are giving their all. If you are making consistent runs, no big mistakes or obvious places to improve and the horse feels like they are pretty much running as fast as they can, then thats probably what you have for a horse. If they are 3-4D and making mistakes or your not asking them for "Their all" then you might move up. |
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| When the rider has adjusted to the horses way of going and is doing everything they can to assist the horse run and maneuver thru the pattern. It has taken many riders several years to realize their "style" of riding did not fit the horse and the horse would work better with less help.
The rider has a sense of well being when they are clicking with their horse and that horse is as good as he is going to get .... A LOT OF FAILURES IS THE GRANDFATHER OF BEING SUCCESSFUL....
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 Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
       Location: Kansas | I agree with Flitastic - you need to consider how smooth the runs are and how much you are pushing. This is Clifford's second competition run ever - he was 2.6 seconds off my good rodeo horse - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh-Ja-CTXAk his 5th run ever - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R8u3HlQn3k his 15th run (this won the 5D at the Bonus Race Finals and you can see it is full of mistakes) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nnGcBr-tzg one of his first 1D runs, run #36 overall - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI5EP4C5Ir4 His 1st 1D run was run #24 of his career. I did not exhibition him a lot before entering him because there was a small series an hour from home and I figured my two finished horses would win enough to pay for entering him and then if he happened to pull a check it was just a bonus. He won money on 2 of the 3 runs and won a bonus race qualifier. :)
I had a feeling from the beginning that he could be a 1D horse if we got things figured out, and it looks like I was right. In May, he clocked a 1D time at our state NBHA show and I pulled over the 3rd barrel. Two weeks later, he won a jackpot in Iowa. In mid-July, we hit a barrel to be 3rd at an amatuer rodeo and clocked several 1D times (some clean runs, some not). Last night, I finally figured out how to get by the barrels on him and we were 2nd in the 1D just cruising until after the 2nd barrel. My rodeo horse better watch out! |
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Member
Posts: 15
 Location: Texas | Thanks RodeoWithJoker, that makes me hopeful. I know she has more to give and we have not reached our full potential so I will keep at it and hope with time we will get faster. I love this mare and trust her so worth the time. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 615
  Location: Wyoming | It took a full year of hauling and running in the 3D before the lightbulb came on for mine. The first time she really showed me what she was made of she was 3D her first run then won the barrel race her second run. She has since been retired due to an injury but won over $25,000 just at barrel races in 3 years, set a couple arena records, and won barrel races by 3-4 tenths. Some take longer than others to peak. Then I also have a half sister to her that was a solid 1D horse after 4 months of hauling. Right now I'm riding a gelding that is running 3D with 3 months on barrels and really wants to work. It just depends on the horse. |
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Expert
Posts: 1561
   
| A lot of pro riders and top trainers can tell right away, maybe after loping the pattern a time or two. Thats how the futurity people stay at the top of their game.
Are you a 1-D rider? I seen a good solid middle/lower of the 2-D horse start making smoking fast 1-D money runs last year with a different "pro" rider on him. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 602
 
| I started running my gelding this year and Im in the same position you are. We are consistantly placing in 3-4D. I went to the Finals this year and I ran 18.3 the first day and then 17.7 the second day. The only thing I changed between those 2 days were my spurs. He needed some encouragement with picking up speed.I knew after those 2 runs that we will probably start running 2D times this spring. I think it depends on the horse and the rider. Some horses take to racing with ease and others need some time to mature. |
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