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| What are some benefits of teaching your barrel horse to run poles? |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
  
| Teaches them to become more fluid with lead changes.
Teaches them to move off your leg.
Teaches them to let you do the driving.
Just to name a few. |
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 It's not my fault I'm perfect
Posts: 13739
Location: Where the long tails flow, ND | Reactiveness
Gives them something else to think about
Keeps them guessing and listening to you
Forward motion
I love poles, but they sure can be scary once your horses start 'getting' them. Then I usually scream during the entire run lol
Edited by SmokinGirlie 2018-01-24 11:19 AM
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 Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | Lead changes, keeps shoulders up, work off hindquarters (end pole turns), and I think it's mentally refreshing for them. My two off the track geldings like poles and it's good for them. Cliff has slowed his feet down to a pace his brain can match now that I make him run poles every so often, and I think Streak needs to be a youth horse, so he needs to get better at poles. |
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12708
| I saw that my new trainer had a set up against his arena wall. So this fall after most shows were done I asked if he would give Peon a try on them. Peon changes leads easier and better than any other horse I've had so I had a feeling he'd be good. Trainer sez yep - he loves them. I thought Peon could use a break from barrels over the winter since he's been in on/off barrel training for over 2 years now. He also needed something to help him get with his new trainer just a bit, and for the new trainer to trust him just a bit better. I bet the two of them come back to barrels as true partners in 2018. We're also going to enter him in poles this year as opportunity allows. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 324
| All the training benefits listed above, but also Marketability!!
If a horse runs poles it's much more marketable as a potential junior/high school rodeo horse. |
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| Yep, I don’t get much opportunity to run them as an adult, but if a horse has the mentality to be a good youth horse I’ll start them on poles and enter them when I can.
My little horse absolutely eats them up, it seriously shocked me how fast he picked up on the concept. I think it’s super refreshing for their brain too. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 534
Location: Ohio girl moved to PA | I taught my horse poles actually just a year ago and he took to them like wildfire, we gained a ton of trust and confidence in each other. He learned to use his body better and was listening to me so much more. He became sooo good at them, i joke that lost my barrel horse to poles. which is okay because i love them too lol. Definitley made us a stronger team! |
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Veteran
Posts: 113
Location: Wyoming | I think of it as a multi-sport athlete. They are a better rounded athlete. Move and use their bodies in different ways. It keeps their minds on something and not bored when training for something new. |
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Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | OhMax - 2018-01-25 6:42 AM Yep, I don’t get much opportunity to run them as an adult, but if a horse has the mentality to be a good youth horse I’ll start them on poles and enter them when I can. My little horse absolutely eats them up, it seriously shocked me how fast he picked up on the concept. I think it’s super refreshing for their brain too.
I have been entering Cliff in poles at our local NBHAs because it's so good for him mentally, and whenever there's added money in poles, you can bet on seeing Chance make a run. He's a 21 second pole horse with me handicapping him, yet we only run if first will pay over $100 because I'm not burning those runs to win $20 on him. He's far too important to my rodeo career to use his runs just for fun.
My big horse Streak got thrown into poles last fall when a friend's horse came up lame right before their junior rodeo finals and she had to borrow him at the very last minute. I think she got to practice him a couple times before having to run, and he did all right for being so green on them. Plus being 16 hands and 1300 pounds doesn't help in a tiny indoor arena! They hit the end pole with his nose one day because Streak thought he was out of room before the bucking chutes! LOL. He's going back to poles starting this weekend in case she needs to borrow him again this summer. I'd like for him to be more competitive as I think he'd really like to be a youth horse.
Now my little Fred horse (ran at Indianola last summer) is WICKED at poles. So wicked that I can't keep up. He ran a 23.3 with me seriously holding him back in December. I'm entering him every so often just for the challenge of keeping up! |
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  Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4557
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | I love poles it's very challenging for horse and rider.I had a flashy dun paint that could fly through them.her best time was a 20.23 but that was with us stumbling and her nose in dirt and getting back up on her feet. |
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Member
Posts: 14
| Your horse will learn to quicken their feet, change leads, wait on your cue to turn, learn more lateral flexion, move off leg and seat, and overall just have more in his/her toolbox. I teach everything to run poles at my house, even my 16.1 hand gelding  |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | I use them as a change of scenery while still allowing me to tune on the same body movements that are used on the barrel pattern, without boring them on the barrels. No we don't weave a whole bunch on the barrels but there's a lot of overlap between the two. |
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 No Tune in a Bucket
Posts: 2935
Location: Texas | When I was a kid, I had a little 14.2 app that was a pole running fool. Consistant low 20s. Man, I loved that horse. When my kids HS rodeoed, a girl had a huge 16 hand monster that smoked the poles every run. He was like poetry in motion to watch. When my grandgirl was in HS, we bought her a 17 year old mare that was a little gate crazy but could run a wicked set of poles. She won several year end saddles. I would have loved to have seen some video of that mare in her younger days.
With all of that, I have always loved poles. Every horse I have ever had has al least been patterned on poles just for their agility and mental stability. I think it could possibily extend your horses running career when you are thru competing at a high level and find a career as a multi event horse for someone else. |
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Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| I think poles help you as a rider too. They really help with your timing. The pretty paint in my a avatar is 2013 APHA Res World Champion in poles--Seeyouinmydreams |
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Curve Ball
Posts: 2258
Location: Pelham, TN | We teach all our horses the pole bending pattern. Plus now there is the National Pole Bending Association which is 4D with a big World Finals! Saw many 19's run there last year. The winning average time was 19.8!
Edited by slowpoke 2018-01-26 5:29 AM
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Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| slowpoke - 2018-01-26 5:26 AM
We teach all our horses the pole bending pattern. Plus now there is the National Pole Bending Association which is 4D with a big World Finals! Saw many 19's run there last year. The winning average time was 19.8!
Unless you have seen Edwin Cameron runs pole you have missed out. He consistently runs mid 19's. AMAZING. I was a little surprised at the AQHA world show in SR Poles the fastest time was a 20 something. Still fantastic but surprising. |
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