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Member
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Location: Blairsville,Ga | Okay, so my barrel horse likes to swing his butt around when going around a barrel. any tips or exercises I can do to stop him from doing that? |
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Impressive!!
Posts: 1954
  
Location: Idaho | saralexingtonharris1 - 2014-04-05 3:46 PM Okay, so my barrel horse likes to swing his butt around when going around a barrel. any tips or exercises I can do to stop him from doing that?
First off eliminate any soreness...
Sounds like your horse has no idea how to control/carry his body and you do not know how to get control it either. He is planting his front end and swinging his hip around, instead of planting his hip and pull with his front end. This all comes down to CONTROL of your horses body. We could all give you advice and exercises to FIX this simple issue, however, if you do not know how to control all 5 body parts, it won't make sense. SO my suggestion is to find a good trainer in your area and go ride with them. Good luck!
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Member
Posts: 17
Location: Blairsville,Ga | okay. thanks! |
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  More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
 
Location: Riding Crackhead. | I agree with checking for soreness but once you rule that out then you need to teach him to plant his leg on the backside of the barrel. Check into the Connie Combs squares methods. She's amazing at teaching that to horses. |
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Expert
Posts: 4766
Location: Bandera, TX | "fly" gave you great advice.
I have a horse that can't lope a circle in either direction due to his core muscles not having to do so in four years. He has been rode into semi shape to get ready for a season to season him. I really have to hold his hip when I run him. I hope to have him working stronger and not needing my micro management within two months. He ran in the 2-D at a small race so he has it but won't shine till he's been fully prepped with muscle memory and a strong core to draw from on a run. |
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My mind still works
Posts: 8912
| Squares are a great tool and also learning how to "scissor" a horse works wonders |
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Veteran
Posts: 260
Location: Gonzales texas | Here is a link to the Connie Combs squares drill. http://www.conniecombs.com/DrilloftheMonth[1].pdf You can also do a version of this drill without barrels it works great. Set your eye on a marker like a post or tree. Ride straight towards it then make a square 90 degree turn and walk towards something else. Train your eyes to look straight ahead and your horse to walk straight as far as you want. no weebling! Also look for free training videos on YouTube for the body control others have mentioned. You need your horse planting and turning off the inside hind foot. Start at a walk! Best wishes!!! |
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 Expert
Posts: 1218
Location: South MS | As long as soreness it not an issue - I would go back to basics
Back your horse ALOT to make them get on their rear end - try not to work barrels for a week or 2 and work on backing and rolling back on the fence - make sure when you are doing your rollbacks you are mimicking turning a barrel - whoa, hold your horn, squeeze legs and drop your hand and pull to your hip
Once he is doing that well - then I would do driving circles - its basically a corkscrew exercise where you lope circles and get smaller with each lap - instead of dropping to a trot you drive them up into the small circle - tap with over/under to keep their rear end driving and up under them - get really tight (almost like a reining spin) before you lope them out hard 4-5 strides - then start relax and do the other side
Edited by Lmichaels 2014-04-06 9:15 AM
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