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Dang it - we hit a barrel.

940 views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  BarrelRacer23 
#1 ·
And it was 100% my fault. I can't blame my horse ... he was working his tail off for me.

On the bright side, we shaved off about 2 seconds from last week's runs. Goes to show what a little practice can do, now that my arena finally dried up last week (which was ruined today by the snow ... yes SNOW.) Supposed to get more snow on Wednesday so my arena isn't going to be dry anytime soon. Hopefully I can haul and practice somewhere this weekend.

I still need to remember 3 things and actually do all of them them when we get to a run.
1) Two hands all the way to the pocket and do not drop that outside rein until my leg is almost at the barrel.
2) Lift inside hand UP toward the sky ... not back to my hip.
3) Kick, kick, kick with that outside leg so he comes around.

I'd never hauled to this arena before and I guess I am not a fan of it. It is REALLY narrow between barrel 1 and 2. You have very little time to move over. And there's really not any room to circle before a run because the hot walker is in the way. And you can't watch anyone else go because there is no where to stand inside. And it was FREEZING outside with a horrible north wind. Grr, oh well. It was a place to come and run. And for me to continue to see what we have to work on.

Run #1
--I realize he took off on the wrong lead. He's gotten to the point where I know he will switch at the barrel. Plus I didn't have enough room to pull him up and try again without tripping the timer.
--He turned the first barrel really nicely (I don't mind that he went a little past) but I need to use two hands longer with him, or I'm going to run into trouble of him anticipating.
--He crossfired in the back of the turn. I think I need to do a better job of rounding him for the turn. I've been focusing so much on getting him past the barrel and then around it, I need to also help him before.
--I also need to keep him in that first barrel one stride longer. I can work on some drills at home. He may also be crossfiring in back because he knows he needs to change leads ... but just doing it too soon.
--On the second barrel, I'm lucky we didn't tip it. I need to drive him deeper!!! Also, need to stay in the turn one stride longer.
--3rd barrel I absolutely need to finish.

We did much, much better than last week, but I still see the things we need to work on:
1) Stay in the turn a stride longer to FINISH the turn.
2) Bend before the turn.

Our tipped barrel on our second run was 100% my fault. I see myself dropping my outside rein too soon. Red did exactly what my body asked him to do = turn. :evil:

Ah, live and learn.





I also find it ironic that I felt like we were actually moving a little faster than we have in the past. Then I watched the video and OMG we are going so slow, haha. To me, Red's little strides feel like he is flying when I was so used to my 16+ hand gelding that felt slow but clocked fast. Good to know Red has plenty of speed left to give.

Anyway, critique if you wish!!
 
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#2 ·
Lots of improvement! One thing you mentioned was you need to finish the third, your correct. But your not finishing the second which sets you up bad for the third. You need to go straight at the third before getting into your pocket for the third barrel. Just my two cents. He looks much better in his turns, how far off from 1st did he run?
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#3 ·
Lots of improvement! One thing you mentioned was you need to finish the third, your correct. But your not finishing the second which sets you up bad for the third. You need to go straight at the third before getting into your pocket for the third barrel. Just my two cents. He looks much better in his turns, how far off from 1st did he run?
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Agree with you completely. All 3 turns (including the 1st barrel) we need to finish better.

Last week we were about 5 seconds off from the winner.

Yesterday, we were a little over 2.5 seconds from the winner. (kinda of excited that we almost made the 4D!!!)

I know we are wasting most of our time in the turn, but that's where we improved from last week too. I'm very happy with his progress in one week. Now I get to wait for the snow to melt again .... and wait for my arena to dry again. :wink:
 
#4 ·
Shaving off almost 3 seconds is pretty exciting 😉. Yes fixing your turns will cut off more time. Turns are where my horse has an advantage, he has short legs but he can turn on top of himself.
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