What is Barrel Horse Racing and Common Problems Encountered
Originally a sport developed by rodeos for their wives and girlfriends, barrel horse racing has turned into a sport event where everyone can join.
Barrel horse racing has been in existence for many years now. This is basically a sport event that aims to showcase speed.
The race is pretty simple to watch. It is played upon an arena with three barrels arranged in an isosceles triangle pattern where the goal of the racer is always to gain the fastest speed by circling the 3 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 regarding how far each barrel needs to be set from one another.
The general 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. For 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 complete turn must be accomplished around the first barrel before moving to the second one.
A second turn, but this time 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 third barrel then will need to be circled around in the same direction as the second one. Following a complete loop, the rider will have to accelerate to the starting line, and that is regarded as the finish line.
Like many other horse racing events, horse barrel racing does have its common problems too. We shall enable you to 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 first barrel is usually termed to as being the “money barrel”. This makes the most difficult turn since the horse has got to approach it at full speed. Remember that the primary purpose of the game should be to take it as fast as you possibly can. This really is probably the most tricky barrel because if you knock it off, you’re certain to be out from the game in no time and if you passed over it, you will get the chance to take a little money with you.
The problem though comes with the horse that normally passes over this barrel on account of lack of rate. Because 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 could pass over it. This issue is usually resolved through conditioning your horse to perform the turn perfectly.
Some horses often have problems entering the arena. In cases like this, the horse is called “barrel sour” or “ring sour”. This is recognized 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 method of doing this is to do trail riding.
Some horses are apt to have no breaks at all. In this case, you mustn’t allow 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 when you are confident enough of its speed as well as its ability to halt.
