So the question is, do you deal with a hot anxious horse? And if so, here are some of the tips and tricks that I’ve done! Heres to handling horses that get really bad anxiety at a barrel race and especially before they actually go to their run.
With my experience of having this horse that had really bad anxiety, he was just a nervous wreck. Like he was kind of sad, he just could not handle his emotions! He was unmanageable and how we went about it, it eventually got a lot better. But it definitely is something that’s going to take you a lot of time.
So the one big important thing that I think is all, like, it’s usually missed, but it’s something that we should do as riders. If we’re dealing with a hot horse, especially before a run, let’s not nitpick anything! Let’s make their job as easy as possible and as stress-free as possible.
At a barrel race, we want things to go perfect and right, but at the same time, our job there is to barrel race and not train. So if your horse is hot even way before your run and they’re anxious and they’re just not loping pretty, or whatever. We have to evaluate, we’re not here to get perfect circles. Obviously it would be nice, but if you’re dealing with that hot horse, it just might not happen.
So what I would recommend is get your warmup done as best as your ability. Once your horse is warmed up, not a ton, not to burn them out. We always say “you’re not going to run a marathon before a marathon.” Just use the warm-up so they’re ready to go compete and not hurt themselves. Once your warm-up is done, quite literally just get off. Get off, hand walk them, let them relax, and let them chill out.
What we did with this horse before our race was catch him off guard.
Before the next five horses, if we’re in that drag, we would still be off his back standing. We would just stand there and he’d sometimes be sleeping and not even realizing what is about to happen to him. And then when our name was pretty much called, we’d get on and then try and get to the chute. That just eliminated all the problems. There’s no fighting because you didn’t have time to do the fighting and there was no time for him to get anxious because before he knew it, he was going down the alley to do his run. He didn’t have time to think about it and get hyped about that area of the chute.
You’re eliminating the problem before it even starts.
It will take time. Obviously the second we got on and headed in that direction, he might want to fight a little bit. But if I have forward motion, I’m winning and I’m going. If you have forward motion it might not be the perfect forward motion you want or he’s not shaped right and you’re not getting him “picture perfect.”
The mission here with the hot horse is just to get them in on all four feet, which as I said, it could be a struggle! I think it’s kind of manmade and if we just focus on getting our forward motion when it’s our time to go. So like I said, it might take a bit of time, but definitely just think of eliminating all the things that they can get nervous about.
Do it for your horse.
I was thinking we want the warmup mostly for ourselves. Before I run I’m thinking about what I’m going to have to do. But at this point, we have to just think about our horse and do it for the horse. If we don’t get the best warmup we want as riders, we still have to think about the horse. He doesn’t need all that warm-up. He doesn’t need all that time on his back right now. He needs to relax. And how we relax is just by standing still and/or being hand walked.
Let me know what you think about that. That’s our experience and it turned out pretty good. He was a really nice ex Rainer. Just had anxiety issues. He was for my mom and she handled him really well and eventually he was fine. He got nervous and tense as most horses do but we had the forward motion and we did not make a big deal out of anything. So it ended up working out pretty well.
So let me know what your thoughts are on that and thank you for reading/watching.
I just got back from my first big race this weekend.It was the panty raid, never been before!
The one thing about competitions and competing; you’re competing against other people but you’re also really competing against yourself. Something I struggle with is just getting really caught up in that and having expectations of how you want to do and perform. Sometimes it just does not work that way and I had one of those weekends where I felt pretty defeated just with my expectations of myself. The hours of work you put into something and then for not to have the outcome that you’re hoping for or expecting is a tough pill to swallow.
So I just wanted to kind of fill in that gap of competitions and expectations.
So going down there, you know, you’re all excited! I remember there’s a meme of dumb and dumber: before the rodeo, after the rodeo, how sad they are. And honestly that was the prime example of this weekend. It was a seven hour drive so it was a long time to reflect on what had happened. We got home around midnight, so I literally just woke up and I thought I’d do a video just cause I’m still heavy in that mindset of trying to be optimistic of what happened. Just looking on the bright side and trying to move forward from this weekend, because it definitely was not ideal!
What I realized: It takes time
It’s really hard not to compete against other people especially the aspect of barrel racing or any sport and just in general, with where people are at in their life. And that’s really hard, especially at least for myself. I’ve been saying to my mom how I’d love to have a coach, like an actual professional that will tell me what I’m doing wrong and just give me good advice and actually watching me perform.
When you go to the States and you see people that are way younger than you or whatever; and they’re literally kicking your ass, it can be pretty tough. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out and you have to move on and try again and try again and try again.
So when you have something bad, remember…
Everyone’s on a different stage in their life. They have different backstories, they’ve been different places, they’ve learnt different things than you have. So the only thing you can do is try and learn from them. Be mindful that your story isn’t over, it’s still pretty new and t’s just different for everybody.
Everyone has different circumstances and my circumstances are going to be way different than someone else. Someone that’s doing really well right now, they have a big backstory and a lot of things that they to overcome to get to where they are now. On the other hand, you can’t say that people had things handed to them, but in some cases maybe they grew up with a barrel racing family so they just learned how to do it from someone else.
So I’m trying to be optimistic.
I have lots of time to go back to the drawing board and ask for some help where I can and just take this as a learning curve. Sometimes it hurts, but it’s probably needed. When you go through shit like that, its so true; hard times and struggles really teach you things. And if you didn’t have those shitty times, then you wouldn’t be learning. something to just keep in mind and be aware of for next time you saddle up and go out to do race. you get let down by how you perform or circumstances that happened that didn’t allow you to do as well as you know you can. What did you learn from it?
So, just day by day get your shit figured out
Always learn, everyone’s on a different path in life or they’ve gone through different things to get them where they are. Sometimes it takes longer for other people. Some people might have to work harder to get a certain result so push forward!
Key Points From When My Brother Came In the Video:
It takes time.
Don’t be hard on yourself.
You can’t win them all.
Embracing garbage: when you don’t do good or just going through bad stuff. You’re always growing and you’re learning from good and bad.
I didn’t do good, but there’s definitely things I can take from it that are positive.
We all have been there, things did not go to plan that last run and we’re kind of upset! We want to correct our horse right then and there so they never want to blow that barrel or slice into that turn again.
What happens, is human error and a horses inability to connect to our frustrations and our frantic cues as an attempt to undo the past. We are scolding them for running into an arena like they were asked to. They might have not been on the same page as you but they really try hard to do what we tell them or what we think we’re telling them.
As big as these domesticated animals are, horses are submissive to almost a fault. As imperfect riders, what they let us get away with, should make them admirable to all of us. The horses’ have an ability to try and try again for us, allowing us to learn the lessons of horseback riding by being the subject of our mistakes.
They don’t understand hand jerking after their run as a way to know they should have turned the first barrel better. They don’t know lifting your inside rein well across their neck means you want them to move over. It’s funny, they will do the exact opposite from your “goal” of lifting them off a turn. In your head it makes sense, but horses will respond to us the only way they know. Which in turn makes it our job to understand them and apply the proper cues accordingly.
In barrel racing, it’s about the communication between you and an animal. The animal is submissive and you are the controller. This should be treated as a blessing and a responsibility to be in your position of power over something so big and strong. A living animal with its own mind and personality that is trying to do what you’re communicating at the best of your ability! Appreciate that for a moment.
Yes, sometimes our horse’s aren’t where we think they are, and because of that, we will have to regroup and try again next time. No amount of sea-sawing their mouth will change that downed barrel just as no amount of confusing harsh tuning will develop a willing, happy horse. It’s hard to not let our own expectations flood over into the warm-up pen after we just ran. That’s not where you’ll accomplish anything worthwhile other than maybe letting off some steam.
We all have been there and maybe were too hard on our horse due to letdown attempts to winning the barrel race. In those moments, take a step back to evaluate yourself and how you performed in the arena. Were you the rider your horse needed? Maybe you can’t answer that for yourself, but that’s where it’s your duty to find out and learn to become a better rider for your horse. We have to remember the power is in our hands and not our horses.
As a horse gal, the sight of tack makes my heart light up, I just want it all! Everything is so pretty and shiny these days, I just can’t stop looking and probably drooling at all the beautiful tack just begging me to take off its shelves.
Then there’s my responsible side that comes in and says “ya hello, you don’t need 4 saddles” and “that breast collar is SO beautiful, but you only wear one at a time anyway, so how many do you want just laying around? Ugh fine, darn sensible side trying to make me stay reasonable with my horse related purchases!
We all know we’ve been guilty of giving in to some of these temptations though. As you purchase the 30th bit off Facebook or add another colourful set to the pile of dirty leg wraps. Oh, we all have been there. Am.I.Right?!
I personally have found tack shopping to be the absolute best and worst thing in my life. I love looking at all the new saddles, new brands and experimenting to figure out exactly what I like and what I don’t like. I’ve been let down too many times with saddles once I’ve bought them. Probably my sensible, responsible side was not loud enough and I made some impulse purchases that I later regretted. Let me tell you, buying a “new” saddle and selling it shortly after is not a smart financial move and I speak purely from experience.
Now, I am happy to say I am a 100% used saddle owner! My reasons are if I don’t like it, you likely won’t have that much invested and I might not lose a lot… Might. But on the contrary, you don’t have to tell me twice that you only get what you pay for. Just put up the money now and get something of quality. You can apply that to a lot of things and I think saddles are definitely one of them. Of course, you pick and choose when and where to cut corners and just go with the cheaper option if it makes sense.
So due to my experience of going through a bunch of saddles and try to figure out what I like, I’m gonna share it with you.
We all know everyone has a preference and I respect whatever you like. This is just what I like and if you don’t agree with me you, well, you’re wrong.. ah, just kidding.
The Timeline
So I started with a circle Y, just some old junk that used that I bought for I think $400 or maybe $700? Either way, nice and cheap and that saddle treated me well for about five years. Then, NBHA Open Worlds happened. The glorious saddle booths everywhere taunting me with there new, show price saddles, it was hard to resist. Lucky for me, I fell in top of the 2D sweepstakes and won a small lump sum of US money, cha-ching. I had full intention of being responsible and saving it. Which probably would have turned into spending it all solely on food and throughout time, would have nothing to show for it.
My mom, the influencer that she is, told me I should probably put that money towards a new saddle! We were in the best place for it! They have tons of saddle options and you’re able to ride them around, fit your horse and figure out what you like. Well, this was just the beginning of my weird saddle trying addiction.
I came across a double J (shout out to Double J, sponsor me please) It was a Lynn McKenzie with the wide tree. It had some fancy shoulder relief and spine relief which was perfect. I was thinking about my horse lot because she literally is built like a tabletop and it’s really hard to find a saddle that is Percheron wide. Me on the other hand, the saddle was debatably half an inch too big but I didn’t know any better and I bought that thing right up. I had it for two years and just recently traded it in.. For a newer, smaller Lynn, look at me go.
I realized as I’m saying this, this story could go on for a while.
I also went through another circle Y with the flex tree and this whole ordeal was my bad. I ordered this bad boy brand new and was told: “oh the flex tree will fit your mare because it’s a flex tree and blah blah blah.” I bought it with confidence, tried it out and slowly my optimism of the saddle started going down the drain. I wasn’t convinced it fit any of my horses, especially not my narrow four-year-old that looks like a two-year-old. So I promptly tried to sell it. Ouch, what a loss. The lesson was learned, don’t buy new unless you really really know it will work for you.
I sold that Circle y while on my USA endeavours. As a Canadian, I was pumped to at least get some American dollars but I was now out of a saddle. I’ve tried many different saddles while working for these trainers and there was one that stuck with me, was a Jeff Smith. Not the obnoxious high cantle and high swell one(just my opinion), it was a Tami Semas and I really was liking it! So when I got the circle y out of my life I proceeded to find a “deal” online for a used Tami. I found one and now I am down to two lovely saddles that I rather enjoy and am content with.. for now of course.
Saddle pads, bits, blankets, the list goes on.. and so does the stories. But don’t worry, if you need to feel justified for making any purchase, I stand behind it all!
Me and this feisty mare go way back.. back to 2011 when I picked her up on the other side of the boarder as a yearling. She was my first “barrel horse” prospect and I was so excited!
I was in love with this horse they once called barbie. She really looked like the perfect barbie horse. As a young girl who played with barbies and especially the horse ones, I was living my childhood dreams! Although, I changed her name to Lucy, the feeling of my little barbie horse never changed.
I played around with her until she was 2, throwing a saddle on, lounging, all the ground work to prepare her to get started under saddle. Her second winter I sent her to local trainer names Chris Blane for 30 days. I knew she would be a handful so I had no problem paying to get the fire tamed down so I could take it from there. After that, it was all on me. Her second and third year consist of slow work in preparation of her futurity debut.
We honestly had a great futurity year in Ontario, finishing top 5 in the 1D futurity. Of course there are always ups and downs in this sport and getting her figured out has been a series of never ending growing pains. What do you do with a mare that gives you serious attitude but you don’t want to start a fight?! I was just trying to learn as I go and develop a patient, open mind, which has really paid off in the end. I have the most connection with her and she proves to me what a real horse who loves her job will do, give 110%.
The satisfaction of taking a 2 year old with 30 days and turning it around to becoming a great barrel horse got me hooked on this game. I knew this was something great when we were at one of Ontario’s biggest shows and I had my little, 14.1 hand palomino mare entered. We walked away the TLC Summer Classic 1D Futurity Average Champs! It was so great and I was so in love with that feeling of it all coming together; the work was so worth it!
She is so gritty, so strong and she means business! I thank her for being the intense mare she is, it has made me into the rider I am today. She started it all.
This is what I fell in love with. I bought her with nothing but some pictures and a description. I had to have her.
This 2019 year, we started getting serious with poles. This video gives me goosebumps whenever I watch it. We ran a 20.6 during our Canada Day barrel race. It gets me excited to see how much better we can do!
