First round with Jackie Slow Barrel Racing Practice

Training Barrels in North Florida and bringing some Horses back into training to get ready for the season. Today I rode Jackie for the first time around barrels again. Right now there is a big discussion about the sport in general and I wanted to share my opinion and would like to know yours in the comments as well. Barrel racing is a sport, which requires a lot of trust and creates a trustful relationship as well. Horses wouldn’t run as fast as they do into death if they wouldn’t trust their owner. Unfortunately just like in every other discipline there are good and bad riders. Barrel racing especially has been ruined by bad riders and social media. Everybody thinks barrel racing is a super easy discipline, but it’s not. That is the reason why so many quit and why you can find so many bad videos. People really take barrel racing for granted. Barrel racing horses are hotter and faster but hot and crazy isn’t the same thing. When you watch human athletes right before a race, do they just stand still and smoke a cigarette? No! So why would you expect a barrel race to walk in dressage in the allay? You want them to be square ideally and some horses will be calm. There are just so many different types of horses, just like there are different types of jumpers and eventers too. Some people are nervous, some are not. Barrel horses naturally produce the most adrenaline since most of them are thoroughbreds or running quarters. You need to be able to control your horse and I totally agree with that, they shouldn’t be dangerous to ride but you can’t expect all horses to be the same. You can turn barrel horses into reining or even English horses. With that that being said, feel free to share your opinions.