What exactly is Barrel Horse Racing and Typical Problems Encountered
Originally a sports activity created by rodeos for their wives and girlfriends, barrel horse racing has become a sport event where everyone can join.
Barrel horse racing has been around for many years now. This is basically a sport event that aims to display speed.
The race is quite straightforward to watch. It is played upon an arena with three barrels arranged in an isosceles triangle pattern where the intention of the racer is always to gain the fastest speed by circling the 3 barrels within a cloverleaf pattern. While there could be standards as to the distance of each and every barrel, governing bodies as a rule have various preferences on how far each barrel needs to be set from one another.
The general distance is 90 feet from each barrel. However, some may use 60 feet up to 100 plus feet. The setting applies to all competitors.
The action begins as soon as the racer enters the arena for the first barrel. For this, the rider must enter with a slight angle since its much simpler for the racer if he would not come straight on to it. A whole turn must be accomplished on the first barrel before moving towards the second one.
A second turn, but this time around an opposite one, will need to be made around the second barrel. And again, the rider will have to race towards the third barrel. The third barrel then will need to be circled around in the same direction as the second one. After a complete loop, the rider will have to accelerate back to the starting line, which is also regarded as the finish line.
Like many other horse racing events, horse barrel racing has its common problems too. We shall help you distinguish some of the most common problems and would try to suggest a few things to find a solution on it. Please keep reading.
The 1st barrel is usually termed to as being the “money barrel”. This may cause by far the most difficult turn since the horse has to approach it at full speed. Remember that the primary aim of this game should be to take it as quickly as you possibly can. This really is probably the most tricky barrel because if you knock it off, you’re certain to be out from the game right away and if you passed over it, you will have the opportunity to take some money with you.
The challenge though comes with the horse that normally passes over this barrel due to lack of rate. Because the horse is charging at top speed, it has the tendency for being too aggressive. Thus, they may either knock the first barrel off or they could pass over it. This issue can be resolved through conditioning your horse to do the turn perfectly.
Some horses generally have problems entering the arena. In cases like this, the horse is referred to as “barrel sour” or “ring sour”. This is known to have rooted from running a lot in the arena or during practice. This can be resolved through a little time off the track and giving your horse a rest from the barrel routines. One ideal method of doing this is usually to do trail riding.
Some horses are apt to have no breaks whatsoever. In such a case, you must not allow your horse to run unless control is gained on it. Fix for your problem can start with running at slower gaits until progress is achieved. Run your horse on barrels only when you are confident enough of its speed as well as its ability to halt.