High School Rodeo, Please Help!

I have been having problems with my barrel prospect lately.(It's my fault) He does the barrel pattern beautifully at a walk, ok at the trot, and absolutly horribly at the canter. My old horse was a finished barrel horse, so I could just sit there and let her do her stuff at shows, and I never worked her around barrels at home. So, I have no idea how to train a barrel horse. I am going back to school in august, and to get into the college I want, I have to compete and do well in high school rodeo barrel racing. (So I can get on their equestrian team) So, I have two and a half months to get my gelding running barrels well. I fell totally stupid, having no idea how to help my sweet horse. I think that this might be a hopeless goal, and I would be majorly outclassed at the rodeos. How can I get my gelding to run barrels well?

Find a trainer :) And best of luck to you!

I have a trainer, I just haven't been taking lessons lately. Lol, bad me Would a weekly lesson be enough, or should I go twice a week?

That won't cut it at all. If you want your horse to learn something, you'll have to try at it every single day. Once a week, even twice a week won't help at all.

And just to pile on that point ... you don't have to see your trainer every day. Every time you work with your horse, you're the trainer and regular reinforcement is always a good thing.

(This is true for any equine discipline, not just barrels. Duh. )

I will be able to work with him for several hours everyday. :) I will take him twice a week to my trainer and take a lesson on him so that she can help me fix what I'm doing wrong. He's great in new places, but my best barrel time with him at our last show was 34.992 seconds XP

It's good that you are in the right spot to learn...I can't tell you exactly how long things will take with your horse, but I would go twice a week to the trainer and work on barrels only then the rest of the time spend rides working on what the trainer showed you. Just be prepared, a lot of times things go incredibly slow and you may or may not be ready. I wish you success.

Thank you !

You need to get with your trainer and talk about your long term goals.. You both can figure out a plan together and then your trainer can tell you what you should work on at home with your horse. There are also a ton of drills that you can start doing with your horse, even at a canter..It will teach him to work those skills needed for running the pattern at a canter without souring him on the pattern. It's just going to take time, so don't expect things to come along quickly. The slower you take things the better your horse will be, don't push him too hard before he's ready. Just concentrate on where you want to go with it and let your trainer guide you through it.

I just took him to my trainer and took a lesson on him. No barrels, just flat work. She told me to lunge him at the canter more to help him figure out how to balance himself in a circle without me on his back. I've been doing what she told me, and he's doing a lot better. She also told me to just walk/trot the pattern ATM. :)