Gaming Advice

[Stephanie]

ok, so my mare has the speed thing and she knws when to turn, but its not clean enough or sharp enough, u know? a good gaming horse will pivot on their haunches around an obstacle, such as a barrel or a pole, but my mare will only do it 1 out of 10 tries. any advice on how to accomplish this? i have districts coming up (yeah, i made it!) and i need to practice, so i dont completly embarrass myself in front of people, and especially other riders. =[

[Kayla]

This is probably a bit late to help you with districts but oh well. I would suggest building up her muscle alot, it sounds like she has a hard time carrying herself. Do alot of trot-canter, walk-canter, canter-walk transitions as well as alot of circles where you lengthen and shorten your stride in the trot and then in the canter or start with a 20m circle and work down to 15m and then 10m and back out without breaking the rhythm. Once she can carry herself properly within these exercises then it should be easier for her in competition through different patterns or whatever.

[Marisa k]

I think a lot of people on here, aswell as you don't know the true mechanics of a real barrel horse.

I suggest you take lessons with a trainer, because a NICE pattern should come BEFORE speed.
it doesn't sound like you completely know what your doing