What is Barrel Horse Racing and Typical Problems Encountered
Originally a sport created by rodeos for their wives and girlfriends, barrel horse racing has now become a sport event where everyone can join.
Barrel horse racing has been in existence for many years now. It is basically a sport event that aims to showcase speed.
The race is pretty straightforward to watch. It is played upon an arena with three barrels arranged in an isosceles triangle pattern where the intention of the racer is always to gain the quickest speed by circling the three barrels within a cloverleaf pattern. While there may be standards as to the distance of each and every barrel, governing bodies as a rule have various preferences on how far each barrel should be set from one another.
The typical distance is 90 feet from each barrel. However, some may also use 60 feet up to 100 plus feet. The setting is applicable to all competitors.
The game begins once the racer enters the arena for the first barrel. On this, the rider must enter at a slight angle since its much simpler for the racer if he would not come straight on to it. A complete turn must be accomplished on the first barrel before moving towards the second one.
A 2nd turn, but this time around an opposite one, will need to be made around the second barrel. And again, the rider will have to race towards the third barrel. The 3rd barrel then will need to be circled around in the same direction as the second one. Following a complete loop, the rider will need to accelerate to the starting line, and that is considered as the finish line.
Like a number of other horse racing events, horse barrel racing does have its common problems too. We will enable you to distinguish some of the most common problems and would try to suggest a few things to discover a solution on it. Please read on.
The first barrel is usually termed to as being the “money barrel”. This makes by far the most difficult turn since the horse has to approach it at full speed. Remember that the main aim of this game is to take it as fast as you can. This is also probably the most tricky barrel because if you knock it off, you are sure to be out from the game right away and if you passed over it, you will get the opportunity to take some cash with you.
The problem though comes with the horse that normally passes over this barrel on account of lack of rate. Since the horse is charging at top speed, it has the tendency for being too aggressive. Thus, they may either knock the first barrel off or they may pass over it. This problem is usually resolved through conditioning your horse to perform the turn perfectly.
Some horses generally have problems entering the arena. In cases like this, the horse is referred to as “barrel sour” or “ring sour”. This is recognized to have rooted from running a lot in the arena or during practice. This can be resolved through a little time off the track and giving your horse a break in the barrel routines. One ideal way of accomplishing this is to do trail riding.
Some horses are apt to have no breaks at all. In this case, you mustn’t let your horse to run unless control is gained upon it. Fix for your problem can begin with running at slower gaits until progress is achieved. Run your horse on barrels only when you happen to be confident enough of its speed and its ability to halt.