THREE TURNS

Fix the most common problem on each barrel with these exercises.

- BY BRONWYN IRWIN

Barrel racing is a sport that always has room for improvement!

If you barrel race a lot, at some point, you are going to run into issues on the pattern. Here are three common problems that can occur and how to solve them.

FIRST BARREL

Turning the first barrel correctly and quickly tends to set the tone for the rest of the pattern. One common problem is a horse will run past the first barrel and make a wide turn, which adds to the time.

If you have a horse that tends to do this, try starting the pattern by making a square. If you run to the right barrel first, start by riding a square on the right side of the arena where you would normally circle to start a run (Figure 1).

To make a proper square, start out by walking the square to the right (the same direction as the first barrel turn). You want the horse to be really digging in with his inside hind foot on the corners. If you feel like he is swinging his hip outside of the square at the corner, stop and do a 90-degree turn on the haunches to the right. This will help the horse to plant his inside hind foot as the pivot point. Repeat this feeling as you are riding around the square.