straight lines

3 360′s

A great training drill to get your your horse snappy, soft and responsive on the backside of the barrel.  Keeps them free moving into the turn, but locked on the turn helping to leave with power.

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Keep That Lead

Young horses or really sensitive horses may think you mean “swap leads” when you pick up with that inside rein. Repeating this and riding them to stay in the correct lead will help them to hold that lead and now be swapping back and forth.

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Straight Lines

Some horses are really just more comfortable in circles so this will really help straighten out your lines between the barrels (resulting in faster times). It will help you with picking points and driving to them.

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The Clock

This is a great drill for working on your straight lines and round circles as well as the transitions to and from each.

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The Diamond

This is a drill you can do while the “clover leaf barrel pattern” is still set up in your arena. It teaches your horse patience and to wait on your cues. Good for correcting, training and maintaining!

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Serpentine

This Serpentine exercise simulates the transition from a turn to a straight line you will need in the actual barrel race.

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Square Barrels

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line! Keeping straight will help the horse stay up underneath itself and stay correct in the turn. This is an exercise to help your horse learn to run straight into the turn and use himself correctly in the turn and leave the turn straight.

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Funnel Barrels

This drill is great for getting a horse to pay attention to his turns and good for the riders reaction time too. It will really help you get on the same page and work as a team. Good for horses that forget to turn or rate their barrels.  A good training drill as well.  It [...]

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Fencing

Use the exercise to free up your horse indoors or on small patterns.   Some horses want to turn off the fence (instead of at the barrel) so you can do this drill to have them listen to you.

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Straight Lines

Being able to maintain a consistent speed and stay in a straight line is critical to fast times in barrel racing.  The straighter your lines between the barrels, the faster your times will be. Easier said than done on some horses! Your horse should be able to walk, trot, lope and gallop a straight line.  [...]

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