What is Barrel Horse Racing and Common Problems Encountered

Originally a sports activity 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 quite a while now. This is basically a sport event that aims to display speed.

The race is pretty simple to watch. It is actually played on 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 three barrels within a cloverleaf pattern. While there may be standards as to the distance of each 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 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. For this, the rider must enter with a slight angle since its much easier for that racer if he would not come straight onto it. A complete turn must be accomplished around the first barrel before moving towards the second one.

A 2nd turn, but this time around 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 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 has its common problems too. We will help you distinguish many of the most common problems and would attempt to suggest a couple of things to find a solution about it. Please keep reading.

The first 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 primary purpose of the game should be to take it as quickly as you can. This really is probably the most tricky barrel because if you knock it away, you’re certain to be out of the game in no time and if you passed over it, you will get the opportunity to take some cash with you.

The challenge though comes with the horse that normally passes over this barrel on account of not enough rate. Because 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 may pass over it. This problem is usually resolved through conditioning your horse to do the turn perfectly.

Some horses generally have problems entering the arena. In this case, the horse is referred to as “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 a little time off the track and giving your horse a rest in the barrel routines. One ideal way of accomplishing this is to do trail riding.

Some horses tend to have no breaks whatsoever. In this case, you must not 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.