emricmacy - 2017-12-03 12:41 PM

Thanks all! He's a good boy, and has been a good teacher! He absolutely loves to run barrels, so it makes it even more fun!
One of my problems is I don't know where to position myself. I'm confused. Going to the first barrel, two handed, am I supposed to lean forward, sit straight, lean back? Then going into the barrels, all three, what is my positioning supposed to be? Again, lean forward, sit straight or lean back? My trainer says he throws me out of the saddle a lot, and that I need to "get with him", but again, I'm trying to get the hang of it.

madredepeanut - 2017-12-03 2:50 PM


A lot of your positioning going to the first barrel depends on your horse. I have had horses I've had to push, push, push towards the first barrel because they're so quick to rate, and others where all I have to do is sit up, point them to it and enjoy the ride. If you find you're being thrown around your saddle a lot, you might need to look at how the saddle is fitting you and possibly change. One thing I've always enjoyed doing when riding new horses is just setting a barrel up in the middle of the arena with cones, making a big circle with all of it (the barrel and cones all make up the perimeter of the circle), and trot my horse around the big circle, then wrap the barrel, and then occasionally wrap the cones and just mix it up, make it fun, so you can get in sync with your horse's running and turning style. Then bring him into a lope around the circle, and wrap the barrel. The more time you work on letting your body relax into your horse's running and turning style, the easier it will be. When turning a barrel or even making a tight circle, I always try to clench my abdominal muscles (like if someone were going to punch me in the stomach and I wanted to prove how tough my abs are- that type of clench!) and really sit deep in my pockets, pushing my feet forward. My mentor had me do an exercise where she put a penny under my butt and I had to practice turning the barrels, and if I lost the penny from leaning forward too much, then I lost the game. It really taught me to drive with my hips and keep my butt seated.

I hope this helps, and I hope you are able to understand what I am saying by reading it

emricmacy - 2017-12-03 1:19 PM


Thank you for helping! We did check the saddle, and it fits him and I well. The second video, was the fastest we've ran together. I didn't kick at all, she just wanted me to give him some rein. I hold him back since I'm still learning so we've only loped the pattern so far. I feel like he's the type of horse that if I wasn't riding him he would do the pattern by himself. I feel like he hunts the barrel. I'm still trying to figure out how much I need to "work". I'm not sure if I need to guide him more or stay out of his way more. Trainer says he likes to cheat me in the turns, that he gets too close to the barrel. And she said he likes to throw his butt out. She said because he's 15 we are not going to be able to change everything, but he's really fun for me. I will definitely try the exercise you mentioned. My trainer is going to FL for the winter so that's a bummer for us.