Q: My horse and I are trying barrels, but he seems to be a little afraid of them. I’ve been slowly bringing him up to them and letting him sniff them, as well as walking the pattern. I tried loping, but he slows down right when we go around the barrels. Can you offer any advice?
Trot the pattern, circling each barrel two or three times each for a few days. When you feel that your horse is getting the hang of it, then just trot the pattern normally, circling each barrel only once. He should be able to trot nicely through the pattern before you move to a lope. Be sure to keep the barrel behind your leg as you circle the barrels. A common mistake is that the rider tries to make the horse put his nose on the barrel or look at it with both eyes, which causes the horse to try to turn too early. Turning too early is very uncomfortable for a horse, so he will break stride, shoulder the barrel, or pull off on the back side of the turn.
Liked this article? Here are others on barrel racing:
Barrel Racing Troubleshooter
Seven Habits of Highly Effective Barrel Racers
Dena Kirkpatrick holds multiple world championship titles in barrel racing and has authored numerous articles on barrel racing techniques.
This article originally appeared in the November 2014 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!
Great advise, another good article.