Arena Help?

[Ellie May]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice. I've got a 3 yr. old filly. That I'm teaching barrels to. She is pretty quick in the field and loves to run, but once i hit the arena she plants her feet. You can barely get her to walk. Once I get her moving at a walk or trot she goes but tends to slow back down and plant her feet occasionally. She knows the pattern well enough to go faster but she doesn't want to. I was wondering if I'm doing something wrong or if anyone has any advice. She will run and turn all day in a pasture. I was wondering if maybe it's the dirt or panels or?? I've even tried spurs. Any advice would be greatly apreciated.
Thanks!

 

[oscar p]

Sounds like it may be the panels. Let her stay the night in the round pen, or spend the day in it.

 

[skyline]

I agree. Let her spend some time in there. Does she balk near the panels, out in the middle of the arena, or any spot in particular?

 

[chippie]

She is telling you that she does not like her job.

Three years old is too young to start on barrels. There is more to making a successful barrel horse than just running the pattern. The horse needs to learn basic horsemanship skills such as moving off of your leg, bending, the ability to walk, jog and lope in a true circle and do flying lead changes when asked - and to do them well. Teach her how to side pass, do roll backs, and work on picking up the correct leads. Don't do all of your work in the arena. You can practice skills out in the pasture. Pick out a bush to practice turns and circles. Mix it up and make it interesting for her.

Horses love to run, but if you run them all of the time, it stops being fun and they will quit. So you need to do other things besides working on the barrels. If you want a horse that is happy with it's job and will last, don't rush her. Give her a couple of years to get broke. The skills I mentioned are necessary to be able to set the horse up and into the pocket. There is much more to being successful at barrel racing than practicing the pattern over and over again.

A good book that can help is Cherry Hill's 101 Arena exercises.

http://www.horsekeeping.com/horse_book_ ... rcises.htm

Good luck.

 

[clampitt]

Your putting too much pressure on her right now.That is one of the reasons they moved the age for furturity horses in barrel race to 5yr old.Too many horses were making it as 3an4yr old and coming appart later and not going on.
We dont even get ours broke good untill they are 3.They are not mature eneough to handle the pressure both physically or mentally.
You probably have been working her every day several times and thats too much.Once a week is eneough and maby no more than three times around the barrels.Walk,walk and then maby trot them.Then go outside and just ride the horse.Take your time.
One other thing I see way to much of is riders hanging on ones head and pulling way to much when they work them.People want to take hold of a horse when they start in the pen and that will stop them.
Horses go basically where we tell them to go and do what we tell them.But they do get confused when we send them too many signals at one time and dont consistantly give them the same ones.
Keep it simple.Horses are not complicated basically we make them that way.

 

[Ellie May]

Hi,
Thanks guys & gals! I'll try ya'lls help. I thought about putting her in the pen for a day but haven't tried it yet. I will also try to slow her down a bit because the last thing I wanna do is ruin her. She's a smart, agile lil filly. She Changes leads, side passes, skid stops but most of all likes to run. I think she has a tendancy to get bored doing barrels though, so I will slow her down a bit.
Thanks again!

 

[WarriorPatriot]

She sounds a lot like my 3 yr. mare. Extremely smart, wicked fast, everything you could want from her. Except when you ask her to work in the arena. Feet planted most times. She has no motivation. Out on the trail and field, she's a pro, will be a dressage artist when asked certain moves, pick up a walk, trot, and lope with a kiss, a "whoa", whatever, she will tackle anything, do whatever asked. Back at home. Different story. Acts like she hasn't learned a single thing. Good luck walking her along the barrels.


Like everyone said, keep it interesting. Do you have a round pen? That can be valuable for breaking the young ones, though not necessary. Thankfully, we are getting our new round pen set up soon which means more time to work on basics with my mare and a little more wait time for her to be more "mentally prepared" for arena work.