IBRA Ohio Preffered Show March 2008

Ok, so in each open class there was a few short of 200 riders. So, I am super proud of Mo because he really held his own, and really only fell a little bit short of the money in all his runs. This pattern, was a little bit bigger than the one's he's used to, so the times he got were great for him, and I couldn't be happier. The turns on the first barrel turns could have been better in the 1st three runs, and I lost my stirrup in the 1st run which made it difficult for me to sit up and get him moving out, but his last run of the weekend (of course it was the one I did NOT get on camera) was absolutely beautiful, gorgeous turns, and some nice speed. It also won us some money, and we did place in the 4D in the youth event and $500 added open. So I was proud of him. :) And the trip was great, even if it was 10 hrs to and from.

Also just as an added note:
I know Mo can go faster, but he usually starts and finishes really good, but between the barrels, he doesn't keep his speed very well and he gets rather short strided. So, if anyone has any ideas on how I might be able to help encourage him to keep speed, I'd really appreciate it. I use spurs (I squeeze rather than kick, he responds better to the squeeze), I do use a hand whip, I stay off his mouth (he runs in a tom thumb, no tie-down) and I stand up in my stirrups to keep my weight off his back... Some people have mentioned using an over-under, and that its more of a motivator since it gets both sides... but I really don't know... I also don't want anything harsh... so any suggestions...? I'm open to them. But, be polite about it... I will NOT accept any harsh or rude criticism that is not constructive.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• barrel
• racing
• black
• quarter
• horse

[gunArun]

i love circle g...the arena's hard to get used to though. took my 4th and 5th run ((last year)) to get down to my divisions times.

you did really good :)

gonna come back up for the ohio ibra finals/supershow?

[moshoneySBM]

Thanks =]

I love it too. I like how all the buildings are connected and ya don't have to worry about getting wet if its raining and cold... ^_^ lol Though I will say, I'm not a big fan of the dirt, lol--spending like 10 minutes trying to scrape it out ofjust one of his feet is just no fun, lol =D

but nah, its a long drive... and we don't really have the money to make habit of going to these shows. We really went just for the fun of going. It was kinda like our spring break vacation, lol =]

[Ilenrock]

They looked like really nice runs!

But about the not running between barrels... my horse used to do that and what helped us is making the pattern really big so that you can get him up to speed between the barrels and not have to turn immediately.

Whatever you do, Good Luck!

[barrelqueen14]

i love circle g!

[hardcorexbarrelracer]

I agree with amyw2003

High loping or breezing, as she calls it, really helped me to open up my old barrel horse. I started him on the pattern at an older age and he really didnt know how to run because he had never been asked under saddle. so a couple days a week I would take him high loping and it really opened him up speed wise between barrels.

[moshoneySBM]

mkay, thanks for the help. =D

[amyw2003]

haha. Laps would work. Anything to get him opened up

[moshoneySBM]

hmm... I have to find a place... Does it have to be a striaght way, or would a large field doing "laps" work? :) lol

[amyw2003]

Basically it's just letting the horse run for a distance at their own pace but with some hustle. Find a good dirt road or a pasture/field you know doesn't have holes in it and let him run. I usually go about a quarter of a mile with my girl.

[moshoneySBM]

thanks for the advice, I'll definately keep that in mind.

Could you explain "breezing." I've heard the term in reference to like a work out schedule for race horses... but I don't really know what it is... lol =D