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 Total Germophobe
Posts: 6437
   
Location: Montana | Not trying to start a riot, I'm just curious. My mom thinks it is because the majority of people are right handed. But a lefty barrel horse doesn't mean that it is a bad horse, it just means it is right handed versus left handed (or vice versa), right? I mean, there are plenty of good lefty barrel horses, even running at NFR levels. Opinions on this? |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| I think it is just a sterotype that does not make sense. I know some people don't like going to the left but that has nothing to do with the horse. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Horses are like us in a way, theres leftys and rightys in horses like there is in us humans. But more rightys, I bet there is more leftys in horses then we see but just trained to be a righty I bet some would run better if they were running to the left. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 747
| I'm extremely right handed in my every day life, but I'm much more comfortable riding and running to the left. I really do prefer running left, but my current horse is more comfortable running to the right first. So, I made a sacrifice for him! |
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 Expert
Posts: 1718
Location: Southeast Louisiana | I don't think it's so much the norm nowadays, but once upon a time (in this area, at least) if you saw one going left, people speculated that they had a problem running to the right. Like they were blown up or shouldering real bad or something like that. That was just the talk I heard outside the arena whenever someone ran a lefty. So, I agree it was a stereotype that was not necessarily true.
I think most trainers now start in both directions and, whichever way they turn best, they let the horse make two turns in that direction. More horses are started left, if that's the way they're most comfortable.
I ride one that likes to go left, and I gotta admit, after years of going right first it did feel weird to go left. It's funny, but when I started running to the left, I had a real fear that I was going to turn the third barrel the wrong way! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1096
| I have 2 lefties.....both are very nice. I think it's because people are so used to doing things a certain way it's hard for them to even think about doing it different. I had my daughter ride one yesterday at a run and she did great but beforehand she even said.."hope I can remember which way to go" |
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Location: East of the Pecos | It's in most rider's muscle memory to go right. Those who have a habit of going either way form a more comfortable feeling with it. |
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 Proud to be Deplorable
Posts: 1929
| I would have agree with your Mother. Most people are right handed there for run right. Almost all horses will turn better one direction better than the other. Where IMO most people make a mistake is they assume since my horse turns better to the left I should run left. To me that is backwards. Why, because if I teach the horse a right hand departure and how to turn the first can to the right correctly it is much easier to teach the other two. Because that's the way they want to go on their own. Just my thoughts. |
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Total Germophobe
Posts: 6437
Location: Montana | Thanks for all the interesting inputs! I don't have a preference, at first I did, but we don't judge people (anymore) for being right handed versus left handed, and vice versa, so why should be judge horses. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 489
| I agree that it was "traditional" to take a horse to the right, and it used to be that a left horse was switched from right because of a problem. Anymore, there is less of a stereotype against a lefty. I believe in letting the horse work in the direction they are the most athletic. I'm comfortable riding either direction. I don't understand why people say they can't ride a lefty. First - no one was born knowing how to ride a barrel horse to the right. We learned. Why couldn't someone learn to ride to the left? Secondly - most people are right handed. riding to the right means 1 barrel with their "good" hand and 2 barrels with their way less dexterous hand. I personally can ride a better barrel race to the left because of better timing and feel on the 2nd and 3rd barrel. To each their own.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 682
Location: Northwest | Burn n' Turn - 2015-05-30 12:21 PM
I'm extremely right handed in my every day life, but I'm much more comfortable riding and running to the left. I really do prefer running left, but my current horse is more comfortable running to the right first. So, I made a sacrifice for him!
This is me too! |
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 Blaines and Beauty
Posts: 1431
| I start all my horses running right and left and see which way they perform the best. I have seen the majority of people having a hard time finding the spot to go to on the third barrel, I'm assuming BC its the one barrel where you go around it the opposite way. It just takes getting used to but some people just don't like it. I get cutting horses, train, and resell them and people used to not even want to look at a lefty BC they assumed the horse had issues. Now I get more and more people who don't mind either way so it seems like the bad reputation lefties get are not as bad as they used to be. I don't really understand the logic behind people saying they are right handed, so they go right first BC they are more comfortable in right hand turns. if you run to the left first, you have two right hand turns instead of one. I think its mainly a comfort thing and most people generally like to go to the right barrel first (I'm one of them) out of habit more than anything. |
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 Having Smokin Bandits
Posts: 4572
Location: Woodstown, NJ | I know that some horses and riders just like going left, just like people, and both my daughters are left-handed so I have nothing against lefties. I think they're great! However if I was looking at one to buy, I would wonder if the owner had to start going left because there was a problem and I'd be paranoid. |
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  Keeper of the King Snake
Posts: 7617
Location: Dubach, LA | Sometimes the dirt works against leftys. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 550
| I think it is less of a stigma than it used to be.
I have 2 leftys. The main reason I see that people would not like them is that most horses run right first, so it is hard to get it into your head to run left. My mare turned much better to the right, so after a few months we started going mostly right. When I first started running left, it was hard to remember to go left first, and which way to turn on the third. I had to remind myself in the alleyway to go left on her, and right on my gelding at the time.
If you are right handed, it seems like it would be easier to have 2 turns on your dominate hand, which would actually be the pattern considered "left".
The ground does work against you sometimes, if we're low in the drag she has to run through the ruts & she's a shorty.
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 754
Location: Arkansas | Because to me it's like driving on the wrong side of the road! LOL. I've had a few that ran left, but I much prefer right. I also always wonder in the back of my mind if the horse wasn't screwed up going right then switched, although I know in today's world that's not often the case. I almost always start my own, so it's irrelevant for me anyway.
Another thought to the "if you are right handed, you should want to run left" arguement. I'm right-handed; however, I've roped all of my life. This makes me much more comfortable with the reins in my LEFT hand, because I'm usually swinging a rope with my right.
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 Queen Boobie mascot
Posts: 706
Location: Mayerthorpe Alberta | CanCan - 2015-05-31 10:26 PM Sometimes the dirt works against leftys.
the majority of my horses go left even though i am right handed. I have no idea why i seem to end up with left handed horses. At times the ground is in favor of the left horses depending on the set up of the alley way and of the actual ground conditions |
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 Expert
Posts: 1612
Location: Cocoa, Florida | My mare is a lefty, she can run to the right but she just seems to be quicker to the left, I've had the chiropractor check her many many times and I think it's just like us, some are l ft handed some are right handed. She prefers to run to the left, I just have to remember to run my other horses to the right. I've accidentally ran her to the right before and she did her job just fine! |
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2931
Location: North Dakota | mtcanchazer - 2015-05-30 1:46 PM Not trying to start a riot, I'm just curious. My mom thinks it is because the majority of people are right handed. But a lefty barrel horse doesn't mean that it is a bad horse, it just means it is right handed versus left handed (or vice versa), right? I mean, there are plenty of good lefty barrel horses, even running at NFR levels. Opinions on this?
Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought most horses were left handed? Therefore, they turn better to the left. Therefore, you'd want two left turns in your pattern because they do better with that. So I guess that's why I think there are more horses who go to the right barrel first.
And on the other hand, more people are just plain used to that.
I always try to figure out which way the horse does better. Red absolutely is left-handed. He does everything better to the left. So I want 2 left turns in his pattern. He's totally broke enough that I could do run the pattern opposite and he'd probably do fine, although he'd wonder what the heck I'm doing, haha.
At this point, Shotgun turns better to the right so I have been taking him to the left barrel first.
Just depends which way the horse goes better, in my mind. It's up to me (the rider) to adapt to what the horse needs.
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 Buttered Noodles Snacker
Posts: 4377
Location: NC | For me, it would just be hard for me to get use to, having never gone left.
I have a friend that always wonders what the horse did to get switched to the left. Like some horses just turn better to the right so people go left so they have two right turns.... But I have also known people to switch to the left because of bad habits the horse picked up going right, and that is usually a cheap fix that doesn't last....
Edited by HorsesNHarleys 2015-06-01 1:18 PM
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