Where I was raised we didn't have a lot of alleys and circling before turning to run to get the horse moving, line up to the first, get it together then take off, was what I've always done. Where I'm at now they have alleyways, and I have a finished horse, she knows her job but I feel like when I haul down the alley I feel like I don't have the time to put it all together. in my head And then I feel like my timing is off, and the last few times I ran down the alley we knocked the second as opposed to circling then run it stays up. I also feel like when I come barreling down the alley, my mare runs differently..almost like she is not collected enough and it makes for a more bumper ride for me because even though she's a 3D horse, she just runs so strong.  I know that it will take some time but I feel like I keep making the same mistakes and I feel I am comfortable doing a circle because that's what I have always done. 

Does anyone have any tricks, thoughts, ideas that could work on transitioning? You guys helped me a lot with picking up speed and saving time, so I just thought I would throw this out here. 

Bump. Good Topic! 

Have you tried walking up the alley stopping for a brief second then circling back toward the end of alley, then turning and let the horse go? Helps pick up correct leads and helps the horse get its head in the game. Although this is not an option at all show since some require you to keep forward motion once you hit the shoot.

You will see some that will set the horse up in the alley to pick up the correct lead by stopping for a moment (if that's possible) and moving the hip to the direction of their first barrel to help them pick up the correct lead. This then gives the rider a moment to gather up and get ready.

I personally have never trained my horses to start with a circle to the first barrel except when first starting. Once they figure out what lead to pick up automatically I begin sending them straight when doing slow work that way when they transition to an alley way it's not so challenging. FYI - this is not a criticism of those that do - you do you!

No I have not tried this, but my mare gets very hot in the alley.. but controllable that I can get her to do a circle once we are in the arena and before the timers. I was more just wondering if there was a good way to use the alley to run in.. or just do it and see what happens (which is not my favorite option!)

If you're at an arena with an alley way, stay on

the right side of the alley and make a curve into the alley way. Walk, trot , lope, run. Jack rabbit starts are hard on horse's minds. They get anxious I. The alleyway and want to bolt instead of have a smooth take off.  The gradual progression can take place in a matter of feet and will allow you to line up with your first barrel pocket and take off smoothly. 

At home, work on getting your horse really comfortable picking up a lope in straight lines. It's still really important to keep their nose tipped and their body picked up. A lot of horses really like having a circle to help them get their leads. Once that horse gets really comfortable stepping off in the correct lead on a straight path, that'll make alleyways much easier to tackle. Starting at a trot helps when you are working barrels at home. You have to get her used to a new routine and trotting straight through the alleyway to the 1st. It will help you and her get used to the new approach. Then bump it up to an easy lope once and so on once she gets comfortable at each speed. 

Good luck! 

Watch how old grandma Mary Burger out foxed the super stars of barrel racing and won CALGARY STAMPEDE .. 

She moved down the alley and moseyed over in front of the bucking chutes and picked her spot of dirt to make the turn to first.. that just happened to be closer to the 1st barrel ....  This gave her time to view the entire arena and get mentally setup and horse to zone in on the first barrel at the correct angle to make the first turn easier.

AND THE SUPER STARS never figured out what she was doing !! .. Instead they all came down the alley whipping and running faster than ever to the 1st barrel. 

The start to first is the easiest gather to speed in the entire pattern .. after 1st, 2nd and 3rd barrels they are coming off a hard turn and asked for a hard two step gather to speed.. these are much tuffer on the horse than the soft alley approach and asking for speed.  This is also where a horse that has a natural flying lead change is worth a million dollars when they make the correct lead change when rating the barrel.  They stay in 4 wheel drive during the entire turns. 

IMO the biggest mistake a barrelracer can make is running too fast down the alley ... especially coming from outside into a covered/enclosed arena ... whether you are running from dark to light or sunshine to dark... both you and horse are running blind and horses eyes are slower to focus and if rider guides them around 1st the horse may hit the 2nd barrel before they get their sight back ..  

ENJOY TRICKY GRANMA >>  ...   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKvykYLmyR4 

I grew up circling and now I circle before I head down the ally. I will keep it at a trot and keep him in my hands. Then slowly add speed heading down the alley. It took a couple months but he grew to like it better. The longer it took to circle in the arena the longer he had to get nervous and he was able to think about me in the alley. Also keep your eye on the 3rd barrel coming down the alley or you fade over and mess up your approach to the first which is probably why your second is off. Look at the 3rd till your in the arena and your approach to the 1st will have more room.

Our local arena has a really long center alley so we get to practice alley work any time we want.  Practice controlling your speed and the angle of your horses body so they stay soft and let you handle them in the alley just like you were loping a circle instead of just bolting out of the alley.  There are lots of times I'll go down and practice alley work and departures and never even lope a pattern.

Thank you for saying this! Maybe circling isn't horrible or setting my horse up isn't horrible.  I tried to go down the alley last weekend and what you said makes sense. We went into an indoor from daylight and we normally clock solid 3D and we didn't even make it into the 4D our time was so slow, we took down the 2nd and she wasn't firing like normal. I'm going to have her looked at by the chiro just in case (I think she may have a couple ribs out anyway) but that was definitely not her norm.