Barrel Racing, Bending,

Hey.

Chinga and I are having troube "hugging" the barrel or the peg. I am using my leg and oposite rain but we keep going wide. This is all new to Chinga and I understand it will take time to get him to do it. But we are going very wide like a meter.

Thanks.

Does your horse know shoulder control? Adding leg and rein won't do anything unless you have a horse that's soft in the face and body. What bit are your riding him in? How long has he been on barrels? What was your training process?

Shoulder control and being soft in the face are good ones. Good questions buckoff

I too would like to hear your training process to see where Chinga needs help. :)

I'll just observe and listen, maybe i'll learn some knowledge from the ladies. :)

Ditto :]

Just a comment until you reply, but your horse should not necissarily hug the barrel. When doing the pattern at a walk, you want to be at the same place as you would at a run. If you hug at a walk, you often knock at a gallop. The inside rein should generally be used with the inside leg to help lift the shoulder around the barrel.

One word:
Basics.

To fix this issue, I, personally would:
Draw a circle around the barrel. The ideal place you want your horse's feet to be while running the course. Be sure to allow room between the barrel and feet so he can have balance without running into the barrel. Work this circle at a walk, trot, and canter. Be sure to treat these practices just as you would if you were running. For instance, make sure you have to correct lift of the shoulder and that your horse knows where his feet are. Once he is "hugging the barrel" like you want him to, start doing the pattern like this, drawing circles around all three barrels. First walk, then trot, then canter. If at any point he starts to stray from your circles, circle around that barrel until he is on your line again.

Now, whenever you run him, make sure he stays on your line. Check his shoulder and his leads. If at any time he strays, canter around it a few times, making sure he's on your circle. He should learn by habit that that is where he puts his feet, if you allow him to learn it.

Just do other things, too. Make it interesting. I hated running my horse in endless cloverleafs. You can practice on trees while your out on the trail... anything.

Have fun!
Hope this helped.

amy

Thanks Amy that's alot of help:) I'll try it with Chinga sometime soon. I'm riding him in a normal snaffle bit and refuse to use anything else on him unless adviced by my horse riding instructor (sorry if that sounded mean he has a soft mouth)
Spastic Dove: I'll try and use inside leg and rain that should help as I've been only using inside rain, out side leg.

Your training process?