I am running a 4 year old (will be 5 next month) and she is working beatifully for me. In the past 3-4 months we have really started adding speed and she is consistently hitting in the 1d locally. I am beyond thrilled with how she is working. The problem I am having is it seems like pretty often she will stumble at a barrel. Not every time and usually the worst at the first barrel going into it (she's a righty) and at different pens so different types of ground. Other than that she has no footing/balance issues. She always catches herself and recovers but it kills us on time. It pretty much cost us a win yesterday (we were 5th in the drag) so it's starting to get a bit discouraging. I have never ran one this young so I'm not sure if it's just her being young and getting used to her feet or if there is anything I can do to help. She is barefoot with nice healthy feet so I have had no reason to put shoes on her but would shoes possibly help? I don't feel like it is a traction or slipping issue, it is just like she can't get her feet up enough to stay under herself. I'm open to any suggestions I'm tired of it costing us wins but I know she's young and still figuring things out. I just don't want it to end up costing her (or me) any confidence or anything in the future.

Get her tested for EPM to rule that out. That can cause stumbling around barrels but easily fixed with treatment.

Just throwing this out with out seeing a video, but maybe her toes could be to long? Maybe she needs to be drove into the barrel more to get more of her hinny up under her so she will use it more, or could she be getting all strung out coming/ leaving the barrel,  or could you be throwing her off balance.

Just putting different thoughts into this for you, Hope you get it all figured out

Agreed.  It's not always an underlying health issue.. maybe she's just not sure of her foot placement yet, especially of she's not tripping or falling out when not running barrels. I'd do some sort of foot placement drills, making sure she's using her body correctly. Not getting too heavy on the front end going into the barrel. Good luck! 

Thank y'all. I wasn't thinking a health issue of any sort. I was just trying to think of things that could be causing it. She doesn't trip or stumble at all during exercise or slow work and not on the 2nd or 3rd barrel. It is pretty much just the first going into it. I went back and watched videos in slow motion and i think it is from her dropping her inside shoulder too much so she just can't get that leg under her. Now just have to get her to stop dropping it. 

I would be taking her to a vet to rule out problems, if this were my horse. Yes, some horses can go through that stumbling phase when they are growing up. But if this is the only time she stumbles, that would have be more concerned.

Perhaps I am more paranoid about stumbling because I had to retire my best horse last year because he ended up having crooked vertebrae in his neck (since birth) that were compressing his spinal cord in his neck, and resulting in his stumbling. While this was definately more of a rare case, I'll never think about stumbling the same again. And he was running 1D times and also qualified us for the AQHA world show in ranch riding. What an athlete; what try.

My horse was also a righty. Also great feet. Also never had trouble with ground (deep, hard, etc)

Can you post a picture of one of her runs?

Can you post pictures of her feet? Of course, bad trim jobs can create tripping issues too.

I suggest taking your horse to a qualified equine vet for hoof xrays. If the xrays are fine, I would be looking for a new farrier. One who is recommended by a equine vet. Wishing your horse the best

Could just be a young horse still trying to figure out what to do with their feet, and like has been said before... could be an issue with the length of the toe on the hoof.  I personally would ensure that the horse has a balanced and correct hoof before looking elsewhere.