Originally a sports activity developed by rodeos for their wives and girlfriends, barrel horse racing has become a sport event where everyone can join.
Barrel horse racing has been in existence for many years now. It is basically a sport event that aims to showcase speed.
The race is quite straightforward to watch. It is actually 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 may be standards as to the distance of each barrel, governing bodies normally have various preferences on how far each barrel needs to 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 as soon as the racer enters the arena for the first barrel. On this, the rider must enter at a slight angle since its much simpler 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 to 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. After a complete loop, the rider will need to accelerate back 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 will enable you to distinguish many of the most common problems and would try to suggest a couple of things to find a solution about it. Please keep reading.
The 1st barrel is usually termed to as the “money barrel”. This makes by far the most difficult turn since the horse has to approach it at full speed. Remember that the primary aim of the game is to take it as fast as you possibly can. This really is 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 opportunity to take some cash with you.
The challenge though comes with the horse that normally passes over this barrel due to lack of rate. Because the horse is charging at top speed, it’s got the tendency for being too aggressive. Thus, they will often either knock the 1st barrel off or they could pass over it. This issue is usually resolved through conditioning your horse to do the turn perfectly.
Some horses often have problems entering the arena. In cases like this, 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. This can be resolved through a little time off the track and giving your horse a break in the barrel routines. One ideal way of doing this is usually to do trail riding.
Some horses tend to have no breaks at all. In such a case, you mustn’t allow your horse to run unless control is gained on it. Fix for your problem can start with running at slower gaits until progress is achieved. Run your horse on barrels only once you are confident enough of its speed and its ability to halt.
