Lateral Moves for Barrel Racing

Barrel racing has three types of lateral moves; turning on the haunches, a turn on the forehand and a side pass. Practice these lateral moves with tips from a horseback riding instructor in this video on barrel racing.

Hi, I'm Teri Carter of Saddlebrook Stables in Castle Hayne, North Carolina, and I'm going to talk to you today about lateral moves for barrel racing. It is very important that with any discipline you make sure your horse knows your lateral moves, but it is especially important in barrel racing because barrel racing involves a high rate of speed and lots of tight turns. Your three lateral moves that you want to make sure that your horse knows are a turn on the haunches, a turn on the forehand, and a side pass. A turn on the haunches involves the horse rotating his front end around his rear end without moving the rear legs. A turn on the forehand involves the horse moving his rear end around his front end without moving the front legs. The side pass resembles the exact same movement that your horse's legs make when it's cantering or loping. It is important that you practice these movements every time you ride your horse, and you want to make sure that your horse is moving equally on both sides. You can also run these movements together. You can do a side pass into a turn on the haunches for an example, or you could do a turn on the forehand into a back. This is about your lateral movements for barrel racing.