Doing 2X's Around a Barrel in Rodeo Barrel Racing

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Holly Heidemann on behalf of Expert Village. The following exercise I'm going to show you is really simple. All you're trying to get your horse to do is relax when they turn those barrels. A lot of horses that have run barrels a lot try to charge when they run these exercises slowly. We want them to learn to relax. This is an exercise that enhances that. (video demo). I'm going to go to my regular barrel pattern like I would normally run him. I'm going to run him to the first barrel in a trot. Then I'm going to sit down and ask him to relax and just walk or trot when turning the barrel. I want to be able to drop my outside hand and just hold with my inside hand. However, if he's antsy and wants to charge I'm going to leave two hands on the reins until I feel him relax. Then I'll drop and go to one hand. I'll turn that barrel as many times as I need to until I feel he is relaxed and moving around that barrel without the anticipation of the coming exit from the barrel."