Anticipation in barrel racing can become dangerous and you want to be sure to not create this for your horse. Avoid your horse anticipating with help 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 the importance of not creating anticipation in your horse during a barrel racing pattern. When a horse starts anticipating during a barrel racing pattern a few things could happen. One of the things is it could knock over a barrel and create time penalties thus increasing your time. Another thing that could happen is the horse could become dangerous at the start and finish lines before and after it crosses the time line. It could start rearing or jumping around or doing something that may hurt itself or the rider. One of the things that you can do to avoid creating anticipation during your barrel pattern is you cannot run every single barrel pattern flat out. You could start out walking then trotting, then cantering and then going back to the trot or the walk depending on how excited your horse is. Another thing that you can do is a lot of walking in between your barrel patterns. That allows the horse a break, a chance to regain its wind and its state of mind. Something else that you can do is you can run half of the barrel pattern and then after the last barrel make your horse walk all the way back to the finish line. This will help also not create any anticipation factors during your barrel pattern.
