What exactly is Barrel Horse Racing and Common Problems Experienced
Originally a sport developed by rodeos for their wives and girlfriends, barrel horse racing has turned into a sport event where everybody can join.
Barrel horse racing has been around for many years now. It is basically a sport event that aims to display speed.
The race is pretty straightforward to watch. It is actually played on an arena with three barrels arranged in an isosceles triangle pattern on which the intention of the racer is always to gain the fastest speed by circling the 3 barrels in a cloverleaf pattern. While there could be standards as to the distance of each and every barrel, governing bodies normally 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 action begins once the racer enters the arena towards the first barrel. On this, the rider must enter with a slight angle since its much simpler for that racer if he would not come straight on to it. A whole turn has to be accomplished on the first barrel before moving to the second one.
A 2nd turn, but this time an opposite one, will need to be made on the second barrel. And again, the rider will need to race for the third barrel. The third barrel then will need to be circled around in the same direction as the second one. After a complete loop, the rider will have to accelerate back to the starting line, which is also considered as the finish line.
Like many other horse racing events, horse barrel racing has its common problems too. We will help you distinguish many of the most common problems and would try to advise a couple of things to discover a solution about it. Please read on.
The 1st barrel is usually termed to as the “money barrel”. This makes the most difficult turn because the horse has to approach it at full speed. Remember that the main purpose of the game should be to take it as fast as you can. This really is probably the most tricky barrel because if you knock it away, you are sure to be out from the game in no time and if you passed over it, you will have the opportunity to take a little money with you.
The challenge 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 to become too aggressive. Thus, they will often either knock the first barrel off or they could pass over it. This issue can be resolved through conditioning your horse to do the turn perfectly.
Some horses generally have problems entering the arena. In this case, the horse is called “barrel sour” or “ring sour”. This is known to have rooted from running too much in the arena or during practice. This can be resolved through taking some 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 whatsoever. In such a case, you mustn’t let your horse to run unless control is gained upon it. Fix for your problem can start with running at slower gaits until progress is achieved. Run your horse on barrels only once you happen to be confident enough of its speed as well as its capability to halt.
