Originally a sports activity created by rodeos for their wives and girlfriends, barrel horse racing has now turned into a sport event where everybody can join.
Barrel horse racing has been around for many years now. It is basically a game event that aims to display speed.
The race is pretty straightforward to watch. It is played upon an arena with three barrels arranged in an isosceles triangle pattern where the intention of the racer is always to gain the fastest speed by circling the 3 barrels within a cloverleaf pattern. While there could 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 also use 60 feet up to 100 plus feet. The setting applies to all competitors.
The action begins once the racer enters the arena for the first barrel. For this, the rider must enter at a slight angle since its much simpler for that racer if he would not come straight onto it. A whole turn has to be accomplished on the first barrel before moving towards the second one.
A 2nd turn, but this time around 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 need to accelerate back 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 will enable you to distinguish many of the most common problems and would attempt to advise a few things to discover a solution about it. Please read on.
The 1st barrel is generally termed to as the “money barrel”. This may cause by far the most difficult turn because the horse has got to approach it at full speed. Remember that the main aim of this game is to take it as quickly as you can. This is also probably the most tricky barrel because if you knock it away, 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 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 1st barrel off or they may pass over it. This problem can be resolved through conditioning your horse to do 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 known to have rooted from running a lot in the arena or during practice. Sometimes it is resolved through taking some time off the track and giving your horse a break from the barrel routines. One ideal way of doing this is usually to do trail riding.
Some horses are apt to have no breaks at all. In such a case, you mustn’t allow your horse to run unless control is gained on 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 and its capability to halt.
