What is Barrel Horse Racing and Typical Problems Experienced
Originally a sports activity developed by rodeos for their wives and girlfriends, barrel horse racing has turned into a sport event where everybody 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 simple to watch. It is played on an arena with three barrels arranged in an isosceles triangle pattern where the goal of the racer is always to gain the quickest speed by circling the 3 barrels within a cloverleaf pattern. While there may be standards as to the distance of each 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 game begins once the racer enters the arena towards the first barrel. On this, the rider must enter at a slight angle since its much simpler for the racer if he would not come straight onto it. A whole turn has to be accomplished around the first barrel before moving towards the second one.
A second turn, but this time around an opposite one, will need to be made on the second barrel. And again, the rider will have to race towards the third barrel. The 3rd barrel then will need to be circled around in the same direction as the second one. Following a complete loop, the rider will have to accelerate back to the starting line, and that is considered as the finish line. horse racing grade one stakes
Like a number of other horse racing events, horse barrel racing has its common problems too. We will enable you to distinguish some of the most common problems and would attempt to advise a couple of things to find a solution on it. Please read on.
The 1st barrel is usually termed to as being the “money barrel”. This makes by far the most difficult turn because the horse has to approach it at full speed. Keep in mind that the main aim of this game should be to take it as fast as you can. This is also probably the most tricky barrel because if you knock it away, you are sure to be out of 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 on account of lack of rate. Since the horse is charging at top speed, it’s got the tendency to become too aggressive. Thus, they may either knock the 1st barrel off or they could pass over it. This issue is usually resolved through conditioning your horse to perform the turn perfectly.
Some horses generally have problems entering the arena. In this case, the horse is called “barrel sour” or “ring sour”. This is known to have rooted from running a lot in the arena or during practice. Sometimes it is resolved through taking some time off the track and giving your horse a rest in the barrel routines. One ideal method of doing this is to do trail riding.
Some horses are apt to have no breaks at all. In such a case, you must not allow your horse to run unless control is gained upon it. Solution to this problem can start with running at slower gaits until progress is achieved. Run your horse on barrels only once you happen to be confident enough of its speed and its ability to halt.