What is Barrel Horse Racing and Common Problems Encountered

Originally a sport created by rodeos for their wives and girlfriends, barrel horse racing has become a sport event where everybody 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 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 may be standards as to the distance of each barrel, governing bodies as a rule have various preferences regarding how far each barrel should be set from one another.

The typical 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 game begins once the racer enters the arena for 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 to 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 to the starting line, which is also considered as the finish line.

Like a number of 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 try to suggest a couple of things to discover a solution on it. Please keep reading.

The first barrel is generally termed to as the “money barrel”. This makes the most difficult turn because the horse has got to approach it at full speed. Keep in mind that the primary aim of this game should be to take it as quickly as you can. This really is 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 get the opportunity to take a little cash with you.

The problem 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 to become too aggressive. Thus, they may either knock the first barrel off or they could pass over it. This problem can be resolved through conditioning your horse to perform the turn perfectly.

Some horses generally 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 a lot in the arena or during practice. This can be resolved through taking some time off the track and giving your horse a rest from the barrel routines. One ideal method of accomplishing this is to do trail riding.

Some horses tend to have no breaks at all. In this case, you mustn’t allow your horse to run unless control is gained upon it. Fix for your problem can begin 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 capability to halt.