Barrelhorse Selection and Training
Those that barrel race have one goal and that’s to win first. It’s not as easy as it is said . It requires a lot of work and critical decisions both in choosing the prospect-training and competing. And where thousandths of a sec can be the difference between winning first or second…. Every decision can be the difference between winning and losing.
Since horses are animals and not machines it can be a challenging task to pick the perfect prospect. But there are some guidelines that can be followed to help with the daunting decision.. Everyone has their criteria rather it be Pedigree, conformation color past performers and those things help but I feel that sometimes we get stuck on one certain trait and a lot of good horses are overlooked or you choose one based on pedigree and it doesn’t live up to the pedigree. Or you choose because of good looks and everyone likes to ride a good-looking horse and since we only saw the good looks we might miss the fact that they don’t have the disposition to make a good barrel horse. We need to keep our emotions out of the process of choosing and look at the horse as a whole strong points and flaws as well most horses have flaws you just have to ask yourself if it’s a flaw you can live with. Sometimes the strengths or flaws won’t show up until you’re on the road and really competing. And then you might discover that your horse has the heart and grit that the great horses posses That winning determination. Or you might get one that just doesn’t like running barrels. And sometimes it’s in the best interest of the horse and rider to part ways find a job they can do and that they like. No matter if they have the perfect pedigree, conformation, even disposition if they hate running barrels don’t waste your time on them and make them miserable.
So when looking for that potential winner I like to watch them in a round pen and see how they use their body, what kind of mind do they have are they paying attention to me or are they just running around blind. I like a prospect to
Get their hind leg up under them and make quick catty turns, I like when they are loping and long trotting to really reach and be long strided. When looking at pedigree I prefer one with a little bit of cow breeding with a major percentage of good running blood. Height I prefer a horse around 15 hands however I have had ones that were16.0 or taller that were very athletic and have seen little pony sized out run the big horses. Again it depends on the individual. The one conformation fault that will stop me from purchasing a prospect would be one that toes out and again there are exceptions but the experience that I have had and have seen others is that those horses just don’t hold up and are unable to perform the moves and lack the athletic ability to be a barrel horse a lot of times they will cross their front legs and it’s impossible to run while crossing the front legs.
So now you have purchased your perfect prospect .½ of the job is complete. Expecting that the horse is already broke Now you have the job of training on the barrels. If you want your job to be made as easy as possible not only for you but for your horse. It’s important that your prospect have all the fundamentals necessary to perform the maneuvers that are required of him to run the barrel pattern. I like them to know how to lope perfect circles, Side pass both directions, counter arc,know how to lengthen and shorten stride with change in riders body position., soft in the face ribs be able to move shoulders and hindquarters sensitive to leg pressure. And even though it’s a speed event I like them to be able to stop.

So now you’re ready to start on the barrel pattern after riding your horse you usually have a feel if they are going to
Be a pusher or a goer—usually therider with type A personalities do better with the pusher because energy transfers to the horse and helps the horse be more aggressive and your calm laid back rider does better with a free running high strung horse they have the calmness that transfers to the nervous on the muscle horse. Allowing the horse to become more focused & calm Riding is a partnership with the rider and the horse and if they can develop that oneness as a team they become a consistent partnership where confidence is developed and makes them a tough team to beat and that quality can make up for the lack of pedigree, conformation etc because they are working together and not against one another. They have a bond of trust that is hard to break. And that bond & oneness is what we as barrel racers strive to achieve. It’s what makes winners.
Now we have figured out the personality of our horse at least for the time being. We are ready to start on the pattern. The first week or so I might walk around the barrels about 10 to 15 times a day 3to 5 days a week.
The second week I will trot them and depending on the horse that I am riding I might stop about 10 feet away from the barrel and back them up then just sit there for a bit and then walk around the barrel and then trot to the second I very very seldom stop at the second usually they are running into the fence and will naturally rate the second barrel if I have a very free running horse that I feel will run past the barrel I might stop at the barrel with the horses shoulder even with the barrel and take a few steps back it just depends on the horse. After walking around the 2nd I make sure to complete the turn so that my horse is headed straight to the position of the 3rd barrel and will trot to about 10 feet before the third and will stop and back up I will sit and wait a bit before proceeding to turn on the approach I will walk around the third barrel making sure that my horse is in proper position and I will not start to turn until my leg is past the barrel a lot of barrelracers make the mistake of turning too soon your horse has to get past the barrel to turn he cannot turn with his head. It’s crucial that positioning be correct if you go in too close it and turn too soon it will cause you to blow out of your barrel if you leave too big of a pocket sometimes it will cause v or square turns so position is critical also at this stage I complete the turn and head towards the fence going between the fence and the lst barrel and not stopping as I repeat the pattern. Depending on the horse some will be very flexible and be very round in the turn some horses are more of a rollback stiff turning horse. I prefer my horse to run around the barrels and keep that forward motion. But I have found that if you let the horse run according to their style you will always be faster. After a week or two at the trot stage then I move up to a lope and again lope to my rate spot then break down to a trot around the barrel then lope to the next I really like to have my horses trying to turn with very little help from me at this point I am there to guide them but they know they are suppose to turn and where their body should be. I let the horse tell me when they are ready to go at a faster pace it is ok for them to make mistakes I try not to pick on them and let them make some mistakes but if they are having a very difficult time with a faster speed sometimes I will go back down a notch and give them a chance to get confidence at that speed before advancing.
After I am able to lope them around the barrels with good position and they are paying attention then its time to start hauling them to different arenas and see if your training holds away from home. Don’t be discouraged if they do better at home then when you haul them. It. can take some time for them to get use to different set ups ground conditions and atmosphere but that is why we are taking them to different places. I will usually exhibition about 2 to 3 times on a colt that we are just starting to haul the first one I might just trot around the barrels the second maybe a lope if he was able to trot with little mistake then after the lope if the colt handled it well and had a good pattern I may ask for a higher speed lope. I may do this for a couple of months and if my colt is progressing along well and not having any major difficulties with the pattern I will start to put more pressure on the colt to perform faster and with less exhibitions . I will start to enter the race when my horse is picking up speed and basically doing the pattern with
Very little help from me I am just a guide. I don’t think you should have to pull and jerk to get them to turn the barrel they should want to do it by themselves you should be able to trust them to turn the barrel. A lot of times positioning is also a factor on how well your 1st barrel is you need to get in the arena and see where you need to position your approach to the 1st barrel you want to give your horse the best possible approach if you make it easy for them they will like their job and want to do it correctly. A lot of barrelraces are won on how the first barrel is turned therefor I like to make it a habit to make the first barrel flawless if possible. .It is the money barrel!

Conditioning—Barrel horses are athletes and need to be conditioned as such. I like to have my horse in top condition before entering the barrel race I think a minimum of 6 weeks of conditioning is required not only to give your horse the physical ability to perform at the top of his ability but to also prevent injuries.
My conditioning program consists of muscle building and conditioning, lung conditioning, & stamina I think all are important to a fit horse. I like to ride 5 to 6 days a week for the first 6 weeks and then after 4 to 5 days a week I may only make a run once a week at home after my horse is finished and running successfully sometimes I won’t even make runs at home if I do it might be to correct a mistake or problem . Remember our horses are not machines and they only have so many runs in them and we don’t want to waste a money earning run practicing at home. !!