My horse

I found out my horse's fastest time in Pole's is a 21.3 and after that no one was able to run him that fast again. I've only been competitive riding for five weeks now. My teacher told me I bring the heart out of him, and that honestly he doesn't like anyone, but me. I've always been proud of our fastest time 24.5. The fact that she told me I have the potential to bring that 21 out of him again, makes me want to push more out of him. I can't wait till this friday!

Great job! The more you ride, the more you'll learn and the better that you guys will become! I definitely see room for improvement for you as a team, so I bet you could even beat the 21 and get into the 19's and 20's as long as you keep building that great relationship with your boy! Just have fun and keep riding clean and your times will get lower and lower, I guarantee it!

Thanks I'm really trying to build our bond and pushing harder. My first pole run I ran first and it was my first time we ran a 26.3, So we've improved from these five rodeo's I've gone to. Slowly getting faster!
26.3,25.5,No Time,24.7,24.5

Well we've already gave you advice on your barrel racing, and a lot of that can be incorporated into pole bending.

Again, hand off the horn!! In pole bending, really the only time (for most horses) where you should ever hold onto the horn is around the end poles.

Watch as you come up to the first end pole turn. Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce..... And lose all your momentum. Instead, push him deeper in the turn, and don't pull "back" so much with your reins. Pull a teeny bit more to the inside. If you push him deeper in the turn, you'll have more room to keep your speed, which should smooth things out.

Same on the other end poles, push a little deeper for more speed, move your rein hand a bit more inside (rather than straight back), and keep a forward body position.

As I said in your barrel post, body position is SO important. You are sitting on your seatbones the whole run. Get up and out of the saddle and encouraging him!!

This young lady has an AMAZING pole run. Watch how smooth her end poles are and where her hands are. Watch how foward she is leaning with her body while they are weaving. Just look at how active she is with her horse during the run. She does ride with her hands higher than most people do, but clearly it works for her and her horse.



This run is not quite as fast as the other, but still a solid run overall.


Another nice run. Again, watch what their hands are doing in the turns, and during weaving. And watch what their body is doing.