I really want a barrel horse but...

I need to get dad on board. My mom is perfectly okay with it but my dad won't let me jump with Mocha or do barrels! Any ideas on how to convice him that it's okay? He's concerned about the safety issues.. & I tried to tell him that it's dangerous to ride a horse at all. Help!
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Just tell you dad that even going to school isnt safe, driving in a car you could get killed and best of all tell him you only LIVE ONCE!!!

Tell him, life has many risks horses are one of those risks
Now if he wants facts....
-I will have extremely good balance
-I will become stronger in the thighs (believe me)
.....man never thought of this before

Can you work with a competent barrels instructor? That helped my dad when I was doing it as a teenager.

I second this!

Sorry for the slow reply, my email didn't show me it! But thanks so much for all the great ideas! I'm going to get lessons from one of the contesters in my 4 H club, her trainer seems really helpful!
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Eventually I had to just get on my horse and show Dad exactly what I could do. Then I got my instructor to inform him exactly what I was capable of, and that I was ready to do it. Mom always hauled me with her to shows from the time I was born anyway, but he never liked it so we just hadto make him back off.

There is a risk with any horse activity. Daughter and I both run barrels. You always have to be ready for the worst. But with good balance and a sound, sure-footed horse, you should be fine.
Horse and I have gone down together once. He did not change lead to make turn. Aside from that, I fell off once because I was not squared up in the saddle going into a turn.
Take the same precautions you normally do and all should be fine.

Just ask if you can give it a try let him watch you and show him it's ok and really no more risky then anything else you do in a day:)

Thank you everybody for the helpful tips! He's agreed I can take lessons! So that's a start!!