Whipping while Rating?

Alright, this is what I see the mare doing....

She isn't using her hind end at all when turning, she isn't following her nose at all (like SH said), and she is REALLY getting on he front end. So I would work on getting her shoulders where you can move them whenever you want. I like counter arcs, side passing, and a lot of moving the shoulders.

She is very bendy which means she isn't moving her shoulder which is making her butt swing. You need to get that shoulder freed up and moving. I have a running mare that occasionally wants to noodle up on me completely and pop her shoulder out while staying engaged every other place. I pack a little whip to tap her shoulder when I feel her on the backside wanting to drift that shoulder out.

You should really work on stopping and backing (getting her to really use her hind end properly and not front end), do some rollbacks and turn her into the fence making her have to move that shoulder over and plant her hind end.

With my mare I like to mess with her head a lot and keep her on her toes, so I will randomly stop ask her to back, or randomly ask her to plant and spin a few circles and keep that shoulder moving and butt planted. When coming to a barrel during slow work I will ask her to stop, and counter arc her then push that him in towards the barrel lift her shoulder and ask her to go around it like that (I really make her over exaggerate it and have gotten weird looks lol).

Here she sorta noodles on me on the backside of 2nd and 3rd but not as bad as she sometimes tries. I love this mare because when she is really paying attention and not lolly gagging around she has a Martha style and can just melt around the barrel and have a beautiful engaged smooth pattern and turns.


Make sense? Been a long day so not sure if my rambling is understandable lol.

Ok I see what you mean with her. My problem with her is she patterns really easily, we used to do roll backs but now she antipcates them all the time. I still them every now and then. I do a lot of walk/trotting the barrel, stop back up and roll back to her second and so on.
Is there any other way I could really get her using her hind end more? We're done for the year so I'm giving her the whole winter away from the pattern so anything not necessarily involving the barrels would be awesome.
We're even going to start ranch sorting so she can kinda get away from barrels and have something new.
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First, completely agree with what Bailey said..Very good advice..

Second, are you just working on the cloverleaf pattern itself or are you doing other barrel drills also?

I don't like that she's wringing her tail so much, that's usually a sign of either getting sour and pissy on the pattern or she could be hurting somewhere. I'd check that out, if she's in pain somewhere she's less likely to use that hind end, especially if you're already doing many things to get her to engage her hind end and work off of it. When was your last vet check and has she every been chrio'd? Those both could be smart ideas..Especially since your season is now out and you can give her that time off.. Again, I'm just throwing my two cents out there..That's just been my experience and can be VERY common in barrel horses.

^ Agree with the chiro.

Selena and Ruger both become intolerable when they haven't been chiro'd.

Equine Massage is a consideration also! ;)

My suggestion would be lay off the actual pattern for a while. Make sure she doesn't need adjusted or her teeth done and go from there.

If you both are still learning together it would be a rather wise idea to not make runs like that. I would really get that mare engaging her hind end a ton more and hauling her and doing some exhibitions but that's about it.

People need to understand that the basis to training a barrel horse is slow work all the time on the pattern... don't always have your horse on the pattern and absolutely don't add speed until you have that horse down with the basics... otherwise you are going to have behavioral issues that are going to be a pain in the butt to break them of.

Good luck!

What about when the basics are down....and your horse falls apart at a run? Do you keep going back to slow work?

Oh yea, I agree with Bailey. As usual.

On a noodley horse....IME....your hands are the last option. Look what your horse does when you pull....noodles and her but swings out. I would get this horse REALLY responsive to leg cues off the pattern the really instill them on the pattern. She needs to stay between your legs. Less hands more legs.

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Absolutely. If the horse is falling apart during a run then they are in no way ready to add that speed... therefore you should go back to slow work. Some horses take a short time and learn really quickly and others can take a long time (1-2 years I have seen) before they can truly have speed added. A horse that is pushed to hard too fast is going to fall apart and will be more of a headache than anything.

COMPLETELY agree about the hands, with Polly I ask for rate then set my hand on her neck and lift slightly. If I do any more she noodles on me, the less contact for her the better. Which is why I do a lot of stopping and asking her to come around with my leg, and a lot of random weaving with leg.

See that's when being a horseman comes into play. If a horse does BEAUTIFUL slow work but falls apart....what good is going back to that everytime? You don't compete at a lope. Haul haul haul. Make runs at your house ...tweak something then end in a good note. If the problem comes with speed only....tune at speed. Like I said, that's where being a horseman comes into play and knowing what the horse you're on needs. Everybody says slow work slow work but that's not ALWAYS the cure.

In this horses case I'd tweak some things...aply it to the pattern...slow work...RUN...ok not perfect reinforce some slow work RUN.

Horses can lose their confidence too. Work them through at speed. It's ok....this is a timed event.

Of course everything I just said applies to a horse with a solid foundation. I personally don't like my horses over broke. That's why I work on what applies to barrels....go and work them.

This is a fast paced sport I need their minds to keep up. If a horse gets flustered or intimidated well slow down. But in a few days well run again.....and haul until that horse is ok at speed.

My point is...not every little thing is grounds to start completely over. IMO this horse needs a lameness check....some good leg cue schooling...then on the pattern and GO.
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