Originally a sport created by rodeos for their wives and girlfriends, barrel horse racing has now turned into a sport event where everyone can join.
Barrel horse racing has been around for many years now. This is basically a sport event that aims to display speed.
The race is pretty simple to watch. It is played on an arena with three barrels arranged in an isosceles triangle pattern where the intention of the racer is to gain the quickest speed by circling the 3 barrels within a cloverleaf pattern. While there may be standards as to the distance of each barrel, governing bodies normally 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 use 60 feet up to 100 plus feet. The setting applies to all competitors.
The action begins as soon as the racer enters the arena towards the first barrel. On this, the rider must enter with a slight angle since its much easier for the racer if he would not come straight on to it. A complete turn has to be accomplished around the first barrel before moving towards the second one.
A second 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 3rd barrel then will need to be circled around in the same direction as the second one. After a complete loop, the rider will need to accelerate to the starting line, and that is considered as the finish line.
Like many other horse racing events, horse barrel racing has its common problems too. We shall help you distinguish many of the most common problems and would attempt to advise a couple of things to discover a solution about it. Please read on.
The first barrel is generally termed to as being the “money barrel”. This may cause by far the most difficult turn since the horse has got to approach it at full speed. Remember that the main purpose of this 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 right away and if you passed over it, you will have the chance to take some money with you.
The challenge though comes with the horse that normally passes over this barrel due to lack of rate. Since the horse is charging at top speed, it’s got 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 perform 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 recognized to have rooted from running too much in the arena or during practice. Sometimes it is resolved through a little time off the track and giving your horse a rest from the barrel routines. One ideal method of doing this is to do trail riding.
Some horses are apt to have no breaks whatsoever. In such a case, you must not allow your horse to run unless control is gained upon it. Solution to this problem can begin 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.