Do you ask yourself the following questions when working with your horse:
What is it I want my horse to do?
When you head to the barn, you should have a plan. Know exactly what it is you are going to do with your horse. If you don’t know what you want, your horse definitely won’t know either. Too many times you are thinking one thing and telling your horse something different. If someone is giving you instructions and you don’t understand what they are telling you, you will stop and ask them to explain it until you understand. These are the same principles that you and your horse should work under except that, if your horse does not understand, he can’t stop and ask questions. What your horse will do is, react in a way that is different than the response that you expected or wanted. Know your horse. If you are not sure if he understands what you want, I will bet that he doesn’t.
Where does the communication between you and your horse stop?
It should never stop. What happens is that you lose control of the situation because you and your horse are not communicating. By slowing things down, it is easier to get your point across to your horse. No one ever learned anything at high rate of speed and neither can your horse. If you can’t do it at a walk, how can you expect your horse to be able to do it at a gallop.
Where did the problems really start?
In almost every case the problem started well before it showed up in the form of a mistake on your horses part. Not approaching your second barrel in a position to make a good turn usually started by not finishing your first barrel in the right position. The same goes for the third barrel and so on. This holds true in most situations. There is no substitution for training the basics. If you are trying to train and run a barrel horse that does not have his basics well embedded in his training, your problems will show up. Trust me.
When to stop?
The very best time to stop is when you have accomplished what you set out to do. But, have small goals, especially at first. This can either mean the very first time that you try it or after 15 minutes. If a horse does what you are asking of him the first time, step off, loosen the cinch and walk out of the arena. This will reward your horse for doing it right. A horse learns from the release. Or in other words, he learns that if he does something you want you will quit. Meaning, from the beginning, if you kick and he goes, you quit kicking. If you pull on a rein and he turns, you will quit pulling. If he never knows when he did it right you will never accomplish anything.
Try to be very clear in your communication with your horse. Think about it. I know that I lay awake nights trying to solve training blocks that a horse may have. I have found that if you will slow things down and let a horse learn at his own pace and not by the calendar you will train a pleasant and willing horse.
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Lyndee Stairs is a professional barrel horse trailer offering: training, clincs lessons and horses for sale. See her website www.LyndeeStairs.com