In order to have a strong and stable barrel horse, it is important for your horse to possess the necessary muscles and balance for this sport. The specific muscles to focus on will differ for each horse, as no two horses are identical, therefore there cannot be just one method to achieve this. However, there are numerous exercises that you can attempt both on the ground and in the saddle to assist your horse in developing their topline, hind end, abs, and back.
If you decide to attempt these exercises, remember that it is important to focus not only on building muscle in your horse, but also on improving their flexibility. This is because a horse that is strong but lacks flexibility can potentially hurt themselves and experience pain or injuries. Additionally, ensure that you vary the exercises to avoid monotony and prevent your horse from becoming bored.
EXERCISES TO BUILD YOUR HORSE’S MUSCLES FOR BARREL RACING
- Exercises for the hind end
To help your horse build their hind end, the first step is to work with engagement and collection, ensuring that they have impulsion in each gait to engage their hind end. For better impulsion and increased engagement of the hind end, you can try implementing three different speeds in each gait and incorporate plenty of transitions. To achieve this, simply work with your horse’s natural gait and then speed it up and slow it down to create the other two speeds. This may seem simple, but it is crucial. By varying the speed and making transitions, you encourage the horse to use their hind end to regulate their pace. Similarly, transitions are helpful as they require the horse, when well-rounded and collected, to engage their hind end when transitioning between trot and walk, or walk and trot, as well as other gaits.
- Exercises for the abs
Most exercises for your horse’s abdominal muscles are performed on the ground through stretching. You have the option to encourage your horse to lift its back by applying pressure to the girth area. Similarly, you can prompt them to lower their head between their legs or flex their neck using a carrot.
Your horse’s core can also be developed by working long and low. Engaging their abs can be accomplished by implementing neck extensions and working long and low at various gaits. To intensify the session, you can incorporate poles by riding over them with your horse’s neck extended, or by riding in a circular pattern on the ground or over poles.
- Exercises for the back
Firstly, in order to enhance your horse’s back strength, you can engage in activities such as ascending and descending hills, along with exercises on uneven terrain. These methods are quite rudimentary, yet effortlessly executable, and highly productive! Opting for trail rides and participating in obstacle courses serve as excellent means to achieve this objective.
In addition to working the abs through exercises that require long and low movements, one can also benefit from working in a collected and engaged manner, as suggested for the hind end. Transitions and backing up can also effectively engage the back muscles.
In general, the back develops naturally during various training sessions. However, it is crucial to keep it in mind and periodically consider the horse’s topline while riding, ensuring that it remains in excellent condition.
- The importance of the topline and how to improve it
These muscles are vital for the overall physical well-being of your horse. The topline essentially forms the foundation of a horse’s strength and balance. It is futile to attempt to increase the horse’s muscle mass if their topline is not in good shape, thus ensuring that the muscles on the topline are well-developed and the spine processes are not prominently visible becomes crucial.
Firstly, it is crucial to perform a thorough check of your horse’s feed to ensure that they are receiving sufficient nutrition and an adequate amount of protein. It is advisable to seek input from a nutritionist in order to verify that the selected feed is appropriate for your horse and that the quantities are accurately calculated.
Having a correctly fitting saddle is crucial, especially for a horse that lacks a good topline. Likewise, even a horse with a well-developed topline can be adversely affected by an improperly fitting saddle, as it can exert pressure on the muscles, causing tension and ultimately resulting in muscle deterioration.
A helpful strategy to improve your horse’s topline is to maximize their time spent outdoors and feed them at ground level, leading them to extend their neck while eating. This natural feeding position contributes to the effortless and natural enhancement of the horse’s topline.
Barrel Racing Drills to Improve Your Pattern
Having knowledge of the barrel racing pattern, as well as attending gymkhanas and play days with your horses, it is now important to enhance your technique and ensure optimal control of both your body position and your horse. This will enable you to enhance your performance and increase your speed.
Perfectly Positioned
According to Kelly, it is important to avoid limiting this sport to just using reins. Instead, one should focus on utilizing their core and entire body. The ability to control around the barrels is not dependent on a larger bit. The act of running barrels should not rely solely on using one’s hands, but rather on maintaining a connected body and synchronized movement with the horse.
By engaging in her barrel racing drills, you will initially proceed at a slower pace, enabling you to acquire the necessary skills for positioning both yourself and your horse during the turns. Commencing with a slower speed allows you to establish a strong foundation, which will ultimately enable you to maximize your speed in the future.
To avoid a straight approach followed by a last-minute pivot, it is crucial not to abruptly turn your horse’s nose when reaching a barrel. Doing so will cause their hip and body to swing away from the barrel, resulting in a poor turn.
By teaching your horse how to position himself in an arc, you will enable him to effectively utilize his body throughout the entire circumference of a barrel. It is essential for your horse to understand that after entering, he should adjust his speed before making the turn. He must assume the appropriate position to ensure both your safety and his own when taking the turn.
Back it Up
In order to teach your horse how to position himself around the barrel, you should start by stopping and backing him before reaching the barrel. Begin by approaching a barrel that you will circle to the left. Walk towards it, but halt 10 feet before reaching it (in the future, you can modify this distance depending on the size of your horse and his developing ability to control his speed).
To begin, when you have halted your horse, request them to move in reverse by pulling back on the reins while guiding their hindquarters to the left, towards the barrel. Picture yourself sitting in the saddle with weighted pockets, allowing your hips to sink down as you back up. Simultaneously, shift your right leg back to encourage the horse’s hindquarters to form an arc as you persist in moving backwards.
Walk it Out
First, instruct your horse to walk by moving your hands forward in front of the saddle horn. Maintain the arc you formed while moving backward by keeping your right (outside) leg behind. Ensure your shoulders remain parallel as you navigate around the barrel.
In order to assist your horse in maintaining balance while turning, it is important to keep your shoulders raised and in line. In addition, to vary the exercise, repeat the process of backing and arcing on various barrels, and incorporate riding a lap around the arena before returning to the barrel work.
Pick Up the Pace
Once you perceive your horse is responsive to your commands and cooperative in maneuvering his hip around the barrel, attempt to approach the barrels initially at a trot, then gradually increase to a lope. Initially, you can still halt and reverse your horse if needed.
Afterwards, you will discover that it is not necessary to come to a complete stop. Instead, decrease your horse’s speed while giving leg cues with the intention of moving its hips towards the barrel. The goal is to train your horse to respond to your leg cues while starting the arc when walking, then progressing to trotting, and finally transitioning to loping.
To vary your training, you can choose to work on various barrels or repeat the exercise around one barrel, a single cone, or a bush in the pasture. Encourage your horse to pay attention to your positioning rather than becoming overly fixated on the barrel and the entire pattern. Another option is to set up four barrels and select the barrel you want to circle.
By focusing on the stop and back exercise and your position, you can redirect your horse’s attention from anticipating the barrel pattern they will perform in a race, and instead get them to listen attentively.
