Sour Barrel Horses By Billie McNamara

Your horse refuses to go in the gate at a barrel race, he rears, bucks, backs up anything but go forward. You have to have someone lead him to get him in the arena, and once in he knocks over barrels and goes wide, adding unneeded seconds to your time.

The problem is your horse is becoming sour on the barrels. He is not liking his job and he wants you to know it.

First thing you want to rule out is that your horse is having any discomforts anywhere. Check your tack, make sure it is all fitting correctly. Have your horses teeth checked, especially if they were just done. You would be surprised how many times it is just something small that is bothering your horse but makes him act like there are hungry mountain lions hiding in the barrels. If that is not that case, the solution is time.

Once you have made sure there is nothing physically wrong, you need to re-evaluate the situation. This often leads to there are holes in your foundation and you need to go back to slow work. You need to find where those holes are. Take your horse off of the barrels completely. Get him away from the thing that has caused his bad behavior.

Ride around the ring, without any barrels in it. Lope some circles, do some figure eights, anything not involving barrels. Set up some poles or cones. If you are able to, haul him to a different arena and just ride him around, or you are able to, turn him loose and let him play. If it is available to you, practice going in and out of the gate. Go in turn around and come right back out. Your horse has to learn that every time he goes in doesn’t mean he has to race.

If your horse just acts like this when you go to a show, then it may be the way you are riding. When you get nervous, you tend to ride differently, and your horse can feel it. Learn to relax, ride like you do at home. It can be nerve racking when you are about to run, but take a deep breath, think positive thoughts, and your horse will feel your comfort and security. He is constantly looking to you for approval and safety. Something else that causes a horse to be anxious is a rider pushing her horse all the way from the back of the alley. You do not need to start back this far. Come up at least enough so you and your horse can see your first barrel and rate point. This is usually what causes horses to overrun barrels, but it can make him anxious, and he may be thinking that whenever he comes in the ring, he has to hunt for the barrels because you don’t allow him a chance to check where they are. Don’t turn your horse around and just let him go. Start facing the arena, he will have plenty of time to get to top speed.

If he is acting like this at home, then there is something else wrong. There is something underlying, and you need to reassess you and your horse. Something that causes this behavior is over exposure to the barrels. Most seasoned horses do not need to see the barrels in between shows. If you are running your horse at home on barrels four or more days a week, you are burning him out. Yes it is his job, but it shouldn’t be something he has to do every day. Doing the barrels at home should only be done if your horse needs tuning, and it should never be done at a full run.

Something horses owners should do, no matter what style or event they ride, is go on a good trail ride. It mentally helps both you and your horse. If you ride 5 days a week, ride your horse outside of the ring at least 3 of those days. You can just got for a trot down the driveway if that’s all that is available. Or even after you have done your ring work, head out on a short cool down trail ride.

To reassess your foundation, try doing some of these exercises and rating your horse 1-10. One being Very Poor/Needing Much Improvement and ten being Excellently Preformed. A horse that can perform these exercises reasonably well will have a foundation that can be called on at any time in the future, if some kind of a problem develops, like being gate sour.

Spirals

A good exercise to use on a high-strung horse that needs to calm down. You can do this at a trot or a lope in either direction.

Pick up a nice big circle, at least half the size of the arena, and put him into a lope in the correct lead. Do not start spiraling in till your horse is relaxed and on the correct lead. Make smaller and smaller circles. Then, when you get to where your horse has to slow down, wait till he relaxes and gives you his nose. Then release him and walk back to your starting point and repeat in the opposite direction, making sure to pick up your correct lead.

Assess Your Horse:
1. You don’t have to fight him to keep the circle
2. He stays on the correct lead
3. He keeps his gait you selected for him steady

Fence Arc

Start by moving to a fence, have your horses nose tilted to the inside of the arena, and keep his body parallel to the fence. Walk first to adjust your horse to this movement, then move into a trot. After you horse is familiar with it you can proceed to a lope. When you get to the end of the fence, let his nose back and slow down to a walk. Turn around and go back down the fence with the opposite side tilted. This exercise will help him to be light when you ask for his nose.

Assess Your Horse:
1. He offers his nose to you, and doesn’t try to pull it back
2. He remains calm throughout the exercise
3. His body become lighter after being preformed

Figure Eights

Start in the middle of the arena. Move your horse out straight ahead, and turn to the right. Ride your horse balanced and even. Move in a circle till you reach your start point, and then ride straight ahead and circle to the left this time. You can do this till your horse feels balanced.

Assess Your Horse:
1. He picks up and keeps the correct lead
2. He changes leads on the change of direction without hesitation
3. He can do this at a Lope and a Trot evenly and without fighting for more rein

Rating

The most important thing. Most problems, specially with the first barrel, come from horses that rate poorly. You should be able to rate your horse at any speed in any exercise. Meaning if you have your horse into a lengthened trot, you should be able to get him down to a collected trot. Practice this by getting your horse into that long trot, and when he feels steady, sit down in your saddle, and collect him, but keep his forward motion. A rate is not a stop. It is an adjustment of stride. A horse needs to collect himself in order to get around the barrel.


Assess Your Horse:
1. He will collect himself when asked no matter the speed
2. He waits for your signal to come down, but staying at the pace till you ask him
3. You are able to do this inside and out of the arena

Serpentines

Start at the end of the ring in a corner. Move your horse out straight to the opposite fence on the short side of the ring. As you near the fence, bend your horse slightly, so he keeps forward movement, and do a half circle so you are now heading back the other direction. Do this the whole length of the arena. This can be ridden in a good trot or a lope.

Assess Your Horse:
1. He turns when you ask him, not just because he has reached the fence of the arena
2. When done at a lope, he switches his leads efficiently
3. He keeps the pace you set for him the entire pattern, neither slowing or speeding up

These exercises are something you can do anytime you ride your horse. Any activity that helps your horse to bend, collect and stretch out, or use his hind end is beneficial to your barrel training. You want your barrel horse to be supple and glide around the barrels. In order to do this he needs to be in good shape.

When you do introduce your horse back to barrels, take your barrels out in a pasture or open area if you have the space. Just walk or trot around them, no running. The next time you go to a show, do not go with the thought of running to beat the clock. Don’t even push your horse to run. Go thinking your horse is going to walk right in the gate, and you are going to have a clean run. Breathe, relax, positive thoughts. Get back to the fun of barrel racing.