FEEL is Fast! Go Beyond the Basics to Get Results
So often as barrel racers we’re searching for something new… something we haven’t heard before, something we don’t already know.
I found out that the same way in which some people can “talk and talk and talk and not SAY ANYTHING,” that people (me in particular) can “listen and listen and listen and not HEAR ANYTHING.”
Truth be told, it was AFTER I had achieved a fair amount of success, and been a longtime practicing student of horsemanship and had even taken numerous young horses from unridden to reining horse-broke, that I feel my journey just began.
Dissolving the blocks that took my barrel racing to a whole new level meant taking an even closer look at the basics – MY BASICS and MY HORSE’S BASICS. It was greater awareness, subtle changes, and consciously retraining myself in the little things that lead to the most radical shifts.
From first ride to first slide – good horsemanship has no end.
Honestly, although I’ve always been obsessed with learning, there was a time a few years ago when I pretty much thought I had the whole package, but my eyes were finally opened to all that I had overlooked.
It’s so critical to realize that that with horsemanship, there is no end, no bottom, and no limit to how much more we can achieve when we release our idea that “we already have it all.” There is no such thing as “good enough.”
When we’re looking for “something new,” or “something we haven’t already heard,” what we often really need, is to peel back the layers on that which we already know – to go deeper and our challenges with new eyes. Even if we’ve achieved some success or have been riding all our life, it’s likely that we’ve only just scratched the surface of our (and our horse’s) potential!
BarrelRacingTips.com is about going under the surface, but what I share will only serve you IF you possess an open mind and an already existing willingness to do so.
Success is hidden in the details, it’s achieved through doing the simple things with EXCELLENCE – something not near enough barrel racers do. It’s an area we can ALL benefit from exploring more deeply.
The video below is the first in a three-part series to collectively answer many barrel racing questions that have been submitted.
This week’s message covers the subject of riding with “FEEL” and shows examples of the amazing difference it can make, and how you can get on track to riding with more feel yourself, AND experiencing the positive results that are sure to follow!
To introduce this week’s Q&A video, I’ll leave you with a quote from Buck Brannaman…
“It goes beyond the mechanical to a feel. You start by having the horse operate through a feel & you start to realize these things you’ve been told a hundred times of doing less and seeing how little it takes to get the horse to do something. That operating from a feel is a whole different thing than mechanically thrashing around.”
As always, your feedback and questions are welcome and encouraged in the comments below!
For Parts II and III in this series, follow the links below:
hi how would you teach a horse to “hunt” the first barrel??? After the first, he’s fine. He needs to be rode cautiously to the first….then it seems to click what we’re here for! He gets a lot of slow work but it hasn’t changed him so we need to change our training. Thank you!
Hi Elaine, teaching a horse to “hunt” the barrel is a lot of fun, but there is more to it than I have room to post here. Watch for it in my upcoming book! 🙂