It seems like he may be getting sour -from doing the same thing over and over. So, as you said - I'd suggest taking him off the barrels and giving him a break from that fast paced work.

Take him out on the trails, walk/trot around the arena allowing your horse to slow down and do something completely different for a change.

There is also the option of - teeth, saddle, feet, back, etc.

 

That's my thought. Still going to get his back checked. Normally he seems happy to get out there.

 

Sitting here on the couch thinking back to this weekend, he was shaking his head a bit too. It was quite hot. Sweat in his ears??? We use have used a hack on him for 2 years, and his teeth were floated in March, so I rule that out too. Was at the farrier 4 days ago. Not limping or favoring a leg/foot.

 

Sitting here on the couch thinking back to this weekend, he was shaking his head a bit too. It was quite hot. Sweat in his ears??? We use have used a hack on him for 2 years, and his teeth were floated in March, so I rule that out too. Was at the farrier 4 days ago. Not limping or favoring a leg/foot.

A horses teeth can change in a matter of a bite of hay or a bang on the fence.

The can chasers around here have dental and chiro checked if the horse goes from good to bad as fast as yours did.

 

You have a training problem. You need to do 2 - 10 times as much slow work and fast work. Horses 'burn out' badly on too much fast work.

You also need to pull your horse up and leave the arena a different way on practice sessions. You DO NOT need to teach a horse or practice running out of the gate.

Let me play this scenario for you. It may or may not apply in your case, but it shows the disconnect between what people think a horse is learning and what the horse is actually learning. Sometimes there is a world of difference between the two.

Many barrel horses are reluctant to go in the arena. Could it be because they go in the arena, are whipped and spurred around each barrel, have the reins jerks and pulled on at each barrel and then are whipped and spurred all of the way out of the gate.

When they get out of the gate, the reins are dropped, the whipping and spurring stop and the horse is petted on for doing a good job.

Now, lets look at it through the horse's eyes. Rather than teach him to run hard, check and turn, he is whipped and spurred all of the way. Now, he is again whipped with an 'over and under' or spurred all the way out of the gate. As soon as he gets out of the arena, all the whipping, spurring an jerking stops and he is rewarded for leaving the arena. Why on earth would he rather be in the arena than outside where he is petted and ridden on a loose rein. Of course, he dreads the arena.

If you watch the top barrel futurity riders, you will see trained horses that do not get whipped, spurred and jerked around. They are TRAINED. Many run in nothing more than a snaffle.

When barrel horses get pushed too hard, run too many fast runs, get too many hard runs out of the gate, etc, many get really sick of it and want to stay outside where they get pulled up and petted.

I have helped many riders with arena sour horses. Most (but not all) have come back pretty nicely. There are several things that you can do that help rehabilitate a blown up horse. The most important thing is to do a LOT of slow work in the arena. If you go in and trot a couple of patterns, stop the horse and rest at the 3rd barrel (if that is possible), go to the far corner of the arena, get off, loosen the girth and tie the horse up there for an hour.

Give the horse 'relief' in the arena and not just after it runs out of the gate. Horses figure out pretty quickly where they would rather be. It is up to the rider / trainer to make their lives more pleasant in that arena than outside.

Hope this helps. If this is not what you are doing wrong in this particular case, please do not take offense at it. I just know this is one of the problems with many of the horses and riders. Pain, of course, can be a reason why horses do not want to go in and run, but you seem to have addressed that already.

 

You can change the bit and the pad and have 10 different chiros look at his back but untill you change the way you ride him he will only get worse. The above advice is very sound and reflects my experience as well.

 

I appreciate the advice. I do not use spurs. At home, we rarely work the pattern and when we do, it's never more than an easy lope. I never ask him to run harder than he wants to. No bit in his mouth. Always use a hack. He goes in and out of the arena at home just fine.

 

Your horse is definitely arena sour. With his being barrel raced by both you and your daughter and has up to 3 go-arounds per day he is just burned-out with it all. He needs to be taken out for slow, easy trail rides. A complete change of lifestyle is going to help him immensely for a while. Not riding him at all in any arena will help him mentally. What I'm suggesting is just a remedial let-down until he has a chance to recoup from the load of fast arena work.

 

That's what we were planning.

 

Is he on any joint supplements?
Perhaps he's starting to have a few aches and pains?
Especially if you are/were campaigning him every weekend.

 

Yes he is on joint supplement.

My gut tells me he is not in any pain or discomfort. It tells me he wants/needs a break. Right now, I do not plan to ride this week. just going to reinforce some ground work, possibly with the saddle on for some. Next week just go out and do some trails.

When we do go to the next show, I will probably do a few warm-ups and just walk into the arena, make a circle then get off and lead him out. Just to show him it's not always work.
I know not to expect overnight results.

 

I would take Cherie's advice a step further and trailer him to another arena and do the slow work. That way he won't think that everytime he gets hauled, he's gotta run!

 

Thought that too.

 

Let us know how he progresses!!

 

Yes, do keep us updated on how he is coming along. From the sound of it your horse is fortunate to have you taking care of him.

 

A friend stopped by today and looked at Rocky. She said the same thing I thought. He does not appear to be out in his neck or back. He was a little bit out just in front of his hips. He has a little tender spot just behind the withers. He also has several fly bites on his back right where the the back of the saddle sits. I poked at many of them and he flinched at 2 or 3 of them.
So I guess this leads to a post in health forum, but is there an easy way to treat the bite bumps?

 

So here is an update.
He got 5 days of nothing but being a horse. Then we saddled him up with a new pad and did ground work for about 15 or 20 minutes inside. Then he was led around the arena. Before leaving the arena, the saddle was loosened then went back to the barn. We did that for 2 days. For 2 or 3 of the next 6 days, trail riding ending with stopping at the arena gate and loosening the girth after standing still for 5 seconds or so, then led him back to the barn.
Today we had the chance to take the horses for a little trip. Trailered for an hour to a fairground. Got him out of the trailer and led him (no saddle) to the arena and just walked around for 5 minutes. then I saddled him up loosely and did the same. I finally cinched him up and got on. It helped that his barn buddy was with him. We walked around the arena and make-up pen for about 10 minutes then went and rode around the fairgrounds. We finished up by walking back to the arena gate to loosen every thing up before loading for home.
He bowed up a little when he was first saddled up today, but calmed down rather quickly.