Barrel Racin' Practice... Looking for critiques~!

I finally remembered to drag my video camera out with me when I took Magic out to the arenas. My friend shot the video for me (sometimes while sitting on her horse... hence the shakiness sometimes.) and I strung together the best videos out of the batch, then stuck in music.

Any of you barrel racers out there... I'm looking for critiques! I know, we weren't going very fast. I've only run barrels a handful of times so far, so I'm taking things slow for a bit.

You need to not flop around so much, try to be a little stiff but not too much. ANd you are shaking your hands a lot, put them closer to the saddle horn, and keep them still.

I'm not abarrel racer, but I hope you don't mind me critiquing!

First off, you deserve a big round off applause for taking it slow. So many people just try to race through it as fast as they can without learning the basics first. I also LVE that you aren't flapping your reins around between barrels. I don't know why people think yanking=faster

Remember to look up! You would be suprised how much your horse willl follow the direction off your head.

Sorry to disagree morganshoww11, but DON"T stiffen up. It looks to me like you already are too stiff. Because of this, you are bouncing up and down (the reason your hands are moving) Try to breathe deeply and exhale, In... out... in... out... nice and slow with the rthym. By relaxing you will move WITH the horse and stay more balanced.

I'd suggest working without stirrups. This will strengthen your legs and help you learn to stay centered. Right now you are a bit off balanced in the turns, throwing your horse onto his inside shoulder and making it hard for him to get in a well balanced turn.

In conclusion, just keep taking it slow, relax, and try to stay centered. And keep having fun!

You look pretty good.
When yor comeing to the first barrel, try to stay center until a few strides before the barrel. I attempt to make a drawing here lol

It's important to remember when you are going around the barrels look to the next one, not the current one.

I notice your heels are not down a lot of the time, I suggest shortening the stirrups one hole, it might also help your seat. You are holding the horn in a few of the clips and you are quite stiff, I suggest that you avoid holding the horn, if you are holding the horn for balance you will subconciously brace yourself aginst it and your entire body will become stiff and you will bounce around in the saddle (not fun for you or the horse). It is very important that you relax your lower back (which is your shock absorber) and pelvis(your most important area of balance and pivot), those are your most vital parts for keeping yourself steady on horseback. I suggest that while you are riding at a walk, close your eyes and feel the motion, work on letting your pelvis pivot and sway with her motion while keeping your back supple and straight and your shoulders back.

When you turn the barrels use your inside leg to push, and keep your outside leg slightly further back with a firm contact on the body to support the turn, this will help your horse bend her spine and balance her turns. (practice this once you know you have your heels down, if your heels are not down you will be prodding her sides with them instead of supporting her with your calves.)

I see that sometimes you are asking for the turn by opening your rein, that's very common in gaming, I notice that you don't drop your hand when asking which won't stop the aid from working , but you should try opening your hand out in a downwards motion so that it is positioned near your knee for the turn and then return to the normal postition. Dropping your hand will encourage your horse to keep her head lower and help her stay bent and balanced.

Good luck and have fun!

Give your self more pocket when going into the turn, you are to close to the barrel, if you give yourself more room going into the turn then you can come out tight. Good job though, and im so glad that you are taking it slow, most don't.

Eyes up. Work on strengthing your seat. Your approach to the barrels are not strong and you need to be in the correct spacing and approach...right now especially on the first time you came to the first barrel you are very wiggly and just kind of doing the pattern without teaching your horse where her feet need to be. Don't let her drop her shoulder around the barrel.

The biggest thing is you need to work on your seat and your approach. Otherwise else everyone probably mentioned it all.

Well put =]

Wow, I didn't expect so many comments! I've been glancing back, but I haven't gotten a chance to respond until now, so here I go...

To those commenting that I'm too stiff (and morganshow11 saying I 'flop around') I have realized I was pretty stiff... part of it is me still adjusting to some of Magic's gaits... I haven't been riding her all that long, and only a handful of times in the arena. 2-Pak, who was the one I mostly before I got Magic, practically floats through all his gaits, and Ruby has a trot so jaunty it's impossible to ride through it smoothly... Magic is somewhere between, and I'm still sort of adjusting... But I rode her the other day (just a short trail ride to check cattle) and I'm getting better. I keep wanting to sit straight up like I'm in a Western Pleasure show, though.

1dog2cats17rodents: On staying centered... also something I'm working on. It's a problem I've had for awhile, since I busted my hip, and I keep trying to compensate for how lopsided my hips are. Until I reviewed the video, I didn't realize how off-balanced I was. ^^;

Ponyz: That actually helped alot... it makes sense. I guess I never thought of approaching the barrel differently...

Masatisan: I'll keep that in mind. And I think it was shortly after we stopped filming, while we cooled down, I did shorten the stirrups a bit just for expirimental purposes. As for reining around the turn... I had a question. So I basically pull the inside rein down to near my knee, to tip in her nose... how about the outside rein?

Reining girl: So make it wider going in, and closer on the way out, if I understood that right?



Also, I had a few general questions.
For reins.... right now I'm using split reins (which probably contributed to my wiggly hands), but I'm planning on getting some new roping reins. I have a pair now, made of braided leather, but they're too short. Is there a particular length that roping reins should be, or is it just prefernce? And is there a particular material that is better than another? All I've ever used before for reins is my braided leather split reins, and I love them, but they're too long and hard to keep track of going around barrels.

Also, has anyone ever heard of a show requiring the horse to run to the right barrel first? A friend of mine who is in the same horse club mentioned that she thought most of our shows require that, but I can't get a hold of the woman running the shows until the end of the week. Thing is, when I first started practicing with Magic, I found out right away that she prefers the left barrel... she just seems to run better that way. For now, I'm not real concerned with winning first prize or anything, and I mostly show because it gives me an idea of how well she's doing versus other horses, so is it alright to just let her run to the left for now, or should I start getting her used to the right barrel right away?

Thanks for all the help, everyone~

I have never been to a barrel race that designated which barrel you need to run first. Do what works well for your horse.
I have a normal pair of roping reins. For barrels, I put a knot in either side to make them a shorter gaming length. I like rather short reins for barrels on the horse I am on now.
Make sure to secure your seat before you worry about running and good luck