Essential Drills for Barrel Racers

It’s not a secret that I don’t, as a rule, drill my horses. I simply ride them. That’s not to say I don’t do things to help them get better. I certainly do, but I don’t approach a day with a mindset of -“here’s my agenda, we’re doing these drills today!” – because undoubtedly the horse will make a new plan for your day! However, I will teach you how to do drills so that you can better serve your horse!

The drills you’ll find on this page are as follows and may or may not be in order in the video playlist.

Drills

Figure 8s 

1. Around two cones, equal circles. 
2. Between two cones, equal circles
3. Around the barrel, switching at the entrance/exit point of the turn. 
4. Around the barrel, making a daisy shape, around 6 cones. 

Rollbacks – NOT ON THE FENCE

Backing

1. Ladders
2. Circles.
3. Figure 8s. 

One handed circles around cones or barrels 

1. Walk
2. Trot
3. Lope 
4. Keeping equal distance 

Reaching the feet 

Soft feel 

1. At the standstill
2. From the stop to the back
3. The back to a walk 
4. Upward transitions 
5. Downward transitions  

Moving the hips: 

1. Rein and Leg (this is how you build your one-rein stop).
2. Soft Feel with Leg.
3. Leg with no rein.
4. Rein with no leg.

4 barrel drill:

1. All the same direction 
2. Cross over in the middle and go both ways.