Barrel racing is one of the most popular rodeo events for amateur riders and young riders. As you may know, horses in the United States are fully trained for barrel racing, because this is the country where people can normally see this kind of horse discipline. For people who have never seen barrel racing before, it may look a little bit confusing when you see it for the first time but it is actually very entertaining and fun to watch.
You just have to ride a horse in a cloverleaf pattern around three barrels that are set in the middle of a ring in a triangular formation. The barrel pattern is quite simple; three barrels are set up in a triangular pattern and each riders’ mission is to turn each barrel in a cloverleaf pattern as fast as they can. The main part of getting to know the barrel pattern is remembering it is a series of straight lines and quick, tight turns.
Exercising coming out of each turn in position to head straight to the next barrel is going to shave time off your run. It is very important to choose the right barrel horse because the horse breed you choose can have a significant impact on how well the preparation goes. Typically, a barrel horse is a racehorse with the athleticism, coordination, and quickness. They have to be very fast, but in the main time, they have to be able to handle all that speed mentally.
Besides that, they need to have the ambition to be a winner. There are a lot of other horse breeds that have the capacity and the speed but they just don’t have what it takes for the job. Another important aspect in barrel racing horses is to have correct body structure, good bone, and good feet for the size of the horse and his body type so he can have endurance.
Practice and training are the keys to winning a barrel race. The horse breed you choose to race should have all the characteristics that we mentioned above. These are the Top-five horse breeds, who are considered to be the best barrel racing breeds in the world: Thoroughbred, Paint Horse, Quarter Horse, Appaloosa, and Grade Horse. As you can see not every horse can be trained for this equine sport.
But this fact hasn’t stopped Draft Horses to practice barrel racing, leaving all the horse enthusiasts speechless! Draft horses usually are used for other things, such as pulling logs, plowing or other farm works but we never would have thought that these giant horses could actually do barrel racing. The video was captured at the 2013 Georgia National Fair in Perry.
If you are a fan of draft horses you definitely need to attend the annual draft horse show because it is one of the few shows with this breed in the USA. Barrel racing horses are very fast, that’s why for most of the viewers they look scary a little bit scary, but when you see a draft horse barrel racing you will change your mind. They seem so peaceful and look like they are enjoying every moment of it.
Even though they are very large, they manage to practice this discipline successfully. The video showing the gorgeous draft horse immediately got the attention of barrel racer enthusiasts from all over the world. Although it was uploaded on YouTube in 2013 it is still very commented and shared on several horse forums. Make sure to watch it and if you think it was worth sharing, please do so! It would really mean a lot to us.