What is Barrel Horse Racing and Common Problems Encountered
Originally a sport created 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 quite a while now. This is basically a game event that aims to showcase speed.
The race is quite straightforward to watch. It is played upon an arena with three barrels arranged in an isosceles triangle pattern where the goal of the racer is to gain the fastest speed by circling the three barrels in a cloverleaf pattern. While there may be standards regarding the distance of each and every barrel, governing bodies as a rule have various preferences regarding how far each barrel should be set from one another tab racing.
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. For this, the rider must enter with a slight angle since its much easier for that racer if he would not come straight on to it. A whole turn must be accomplished on 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 have to accelerate 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 shall enable you to distinguish some of the most common problems and would try to advise a couple of things to find a solution on it. Please read on.
The first barrel is usually termed to as the “money barrel”. This makes the most difficult turn since the horse has to approach it at full speed. Keep in mind that the primary purpose of this game should be to take it as quickly as you possibly can. This is also probably the most tricky barrel because if you knock it away, you are sure to be out of the game right away and if you passed over it, you will get the opportunity 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 has the tendency for being too aggressive. Thus, they will often either knock the first barrel off or they may pass over it. This problem can be resolved through conditioning your horse to do the turn perfectly.
Some horses often 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 from the barrel routines. One ideal way of doing this is to do trail riding free horse.
Some horses are apt to have no breaks at all. In this case, you must not allow your horse to run unless control is gained on it. Solution to this problem can start 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.