I love watching barrel racing but have never done it myself as I would fall right off, I think. :lol: But that said, I just hear some of my friends talking about how they rubber band their feet when running. Is this common?
I’m assuming the purpose is to help keep the stirrups but they will still break if they fall. How come eventers or such do not use them?
Your thoughts, please!
It’s pretty common to see rubber bands in my area, especially with the younger kids and newbies who all ride pretty much like this-
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ewecyXRmqxA/URRcJ8G1PtI/AAAAAAAABQs/eWkNINz6lb8/s1600/BarrelRacing.jpg
http://www.sheridanmedia.com/files/image/Sherrylynn_Johnson.jpg
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/206/6/8/chestnut_barrel_racing_by_blissandhorses-d41lrba.jpg
http://images.gactv.com/packages/2011/nfr-section/images/barrel-racing-large.jpg
I doubt very many eventers are riding with seats and legs like that, and if they do loose a stirrup it’s likely due to a bobble with a fence involved, and the extra millisecond or two of drag before the band breaks is potentially more problematic.
Because they can’t ride well enough to keep their feet in the stirrups on their own.
I barrel race. I do not use rubber bands. I never lose my stirrups.
Really? So the girls that will be running down the alleyway at the Thomas & Mack for the National Finals rodeo “can’t ride well enough”? If you watch the NFR, you’ll see that many of those girls are using rubber bands, but not for the reason you claim.
Rubber bands are cheap insurance against losing a stirrup. You might not lose a stirrup very often but you sure don’t want it to happen when you are running for a check for $18,000.
Or when you NEED to win a rodeo to get to the circuit finals.
That is your personal preferance if you don’t want to wear rubber bands. I wore them all the time on my old horse, but I prefer to go without on my new horse. It doesn’t make you less of a rider for using rubber bands.
Now I will say that there ARE some folks out there who use them as a band-aid because they can’t keep their own stirrups. That is not a proper reason to use them.
[QUOTE=gaitedincali;7751545]
It’s pretty common to see rubber bands in my area, especially with the younger kids and newbies who all ride pretty much like this-
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ewecyXRmqxA/URRcJ8G1PtI/AAAAAAAABQs/eWkNINz6lb8/s1600/BarrelRacing.jpg
http://www.sheridanmedia.com/files/image/Sherrylynn_Johnson.jpg
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/206/6/8/chestnut_barrel_racing_by_blissandhorses-d41lrba.jpg
http://images.gactv.com/packages/2011/nfr-section/images/barrel-racing-large.jpg
I doubt very many eventers are riding with seats and legs like that, and if they do loose a stirrup it’s likely due to a bobble with a fence involved, and the extra millisecond or two of drag before the band breaks is potentially more problematic.[/QUOTE]
Interesting when you think that eventers don’t use bits like this either:
http://www.barrelracingsuperstore.com/711a-correction-bit/
http://www.barrelracingsuperstore.com/714-sharon-camarillo-polo-bit/
I see a lot of barrel racers, even on televised competition, who look like they can’t ride their way out of a paper sack. Why don’t more of them sit low and quiet in the saddle and ask for speed? Seems to me they’d get better times from the lowered drag coefficient alone, never mind a horse being allowed to do his do job without all the flapping.
beau159 - ok, I’ll edit…around here, people use them because they can’t ride well enough to keep their feet in the stirrups! LOL!
I see a lot of barrel racers, even on televised competition, who look like they can’t ride their way out of a paper sack. Why don’t more of them sit low and quiet in the saddle and ask for speed? Seems to me they’d get better times from the lowered drag coefficient alone, never mind a horse being allowed to do his do job without all the flapping.
^Exactly. If they were riding without slamming around up there, they’d have weight down through their leg and into their stirrup, giving a quiet leg and foot that held weight in the stirrup.
Proper length of the stirrups goes a long way towards not losing your stirrups as well.
I am sure there are some very skilled barrel racers out there. In fact I am positive that there are.
BUT - unfortunately, I think the nature of the sport also attracts a lot of “yahoos”. I know a number of ladies who are not horse(wo)men - they started barrel racing as something to do at the rodeos they attend with their boy friends…
And their riding is atrocious. Too much of THIS (oh and I see miss flying squirell womping on her horse’s sides with huge spurs needs rubber bands to keep the stirrups in place as she does the can can).
http://www.writingofriding.com/in-the-media/more-cringe-worthy-barrel-racing-abuse/
There is bad riding in all sports - just some have minim requirements, or “compulsory” (think dressage in eventing) skills that limit the dangerous riding.
[QUOTE=tinah;7754816]
I see a lot of barrel racers, even on televised competition, who look like they can’t ride their way out of a paper sack. Why don’t more of them sit low and quiet in the saddle and ask for speed? Seems to me they’d get better times from the lowered drag coefficient alone, never mind a horse being allowed to do his do job without all the flapping.[/QUOTE]
because it does not work like that. I thought that way too, until my girls started listening to the pro trainers in the area. They cut 1-2 WHOLE seconds off their runs. You have to stay out of the way, and yes, flapping is bad, but you sit to slow down, and you get “up off him” for speed. These horses turn hard. They make it look smooth, but it is not. You get yanked. You look awful, but you are having to really ride and pay attention to 40 things at once.
I never let mine use the bands, until this season. Jamie’s feet don’t slide out anymore, and she can keep proper foot position, rather than having to jam her foot in to the heel (HORROR!!!), and not loose the stirrup. You actually have to get out there and run a pattern at speed on a horse that knows what it is supposed to do to really get a feel for it, and the reasons why they do things that make equitation minded riders cringe in horror.
[QUOTE=Appsolute;7754927]
I am sure there are some very skilled barrel racers out there. In fact I am positive that there are.
BUT - unfortunately, I think the nature of the sport also attracts a lot of “yahoos”. I know a number of ladies who are not horse(wo)men - they started barrel racing as something to do at the rodeos they attend with their boy friends…
And their riding is atrocious. Too much of THIS (oh and I see miss flying squirell womping on her horse’s sides with huge spurs needs rubber bands to keep the stirrups in place as she does the can can).
http://www.writingofriding.com/in-the-media/more-cringe-worthy-barrel-racing-abuse/
There is bad riding in all sports - just some have minim requirements, or “compulsory” (think dressage in eventing) skills that limit the dangerous riding.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, there is definitely some of this too…I know a couple girls here locally that Daddy buys them horses that are way too much horse for them, and they can’t ride. It is scary and infuriating.
I have ran barrels, at speed, at rodeo’s, on hard turning horses. Yes you can keep your stirrups, no you don’t have to rubber band them, yes you can ride quiet and get speed out of a horse, no you don’t have to flop around on them.
It is all personal preference and style. I don’t want to feel tied onto my horse in case of an accident. I have seen a horse go down at a rodeo and a girl get drug because her bands didn’t break. It can be dangerous.
JMHO…Personal style and preference…
Because in English disiplines it is against the rules unless you are a carded para rider with that on your aids list.
I choose to use jointed irons + bands instead of non jointed and a caged toe, its for safety, my muscles dont work as well so combined with the jointed iron, so I dont slide home or out.
[QUOTE=tinah;7754816]
I see a lot of barrel racers, even on televised competition, who look like they can’t ride their way out of a paper sack. Why don’t more of them sit low and quiet in the saddle and ask for speed? Seems to me they’d get better times from the lowered drag coefficient alone, never mind a horse being allowed to do his do job without all the flapping.[/QUOTE]
Seems more and more riders in all disciplines think doing the funky chicken on horseback makes for a better performance - barrel racers looking like they are trying to take flight, dressage competitors with flapping legs, arms and a bobble head, pleasure riders flapping elbows frantically at a canter/lope. It seems that no one understands the virtues of sit straight (doesn’t mean you arch your back and stick your butt way out, sit down (again the butt over the cantle) and sit still.
I don’t understand the looking like you are gonna take flight and flapping either. None of my girls do that. As far as the constant use of the bat, it makes me FURIOUS. It does not do anything for the horse or your run. It distracts Skye and slows her down. This is the horse that when Jamie is turning, I holler DIG and that pony hunkers down hard!!
I agree that there are some truly bad riders out there running barrels. I would just hope that people have the chance to see good pretty runs too. Don’t expect pictures, because I am the WORST photographer that ever walked.
There are bad riders in every sport. Barrel racing just seems to have a bad reputation because it appears to be “easy”.
I like to use Lisa Lockhart as an example, and her horse Louie.
http://youtu.be/PTaOOUoaF5g
They usually have a very smooth run that just looks effortless, which is where people get the idea that barrel racing is easy.
But it’s not. 
I have heard so many interviews that Lisa has done where she’s expressed/explained that Louie is NOT easy to ride. If she makes a mistake as a rider, it will cost them.
So you get these people hopping on their horse at home, and expect to blow around 3 cans.
Or they go out and buy a barrel horse who is WAY too much horse for them to handle.
Don’t even get me started on Magic Seats… (they have their place, but they are usually used for the wrong reasons)
Rubber bands aside (because they are personal preferance like any other piece of equipment) a good barrel racer will not excessively whip, spur, kick, flap, or do anything of the sort. It just gets in the way of your horse from doing their job.
I agree with Beau. Barrel racing is, unfortunately, a seemingly very easy sport. It is NOT.
In addition, barrel horses are all individuals. One style of riding will NOT suit them all. Some need to be pushed (push style). And no, that does not mean push style riders should flap their arms or whip and spur like there’s no tomorrow. Other horses need no urging (free runners). Then, there are many different turning styles, some unique to one horse! It is all preference. To be successful, you and your horse’s styles need to match up perfectly or at least very, very well. It isn’t exactly smart to force an ideal on a horse as it could stress and burn him out. The best horses in the business are absolute freaks of nature with their own style and if you can’t ride with it, you’re effed.
I would not attribute losing a stirrup occasionally to being a bad rider. Yes, of course there are people who are just poor riders. Not denying that, never have and never will.
If you visit sites like Barrel Horse World, you’ll notice lots of questions (GOOD questions) about how to better yourself as a rider and how to “get with” or meld with your horse. There are a lot of good minds there who question and do not excuse poor riding.
[QUOTE=tinah;7754816]
I see a lot of barrel racers, even on televised competition, who look like they can’t ride their way out of a paper sack. Why don’t more of them sit low and quiet in the saddle and ask for speed? Seems to me they’d get better times from the lowered drag coefficient alone, never mind a horse being allowed to do his do job without all the flapping.[/QUOTE]
There was actually a study done on this, which showed that all of the kicking and flailing does not improve times. Whether that’s because better riders don’t ride like that as much, I don’t know. http://www.thehorse.com/articles/31330/aggressive-aids-effects-on-barrel-racing-horses-studied
I wish I had the option of taking a couple lessons with a good barrel trainer in my area. it looks like it might be fun, and I’ve got a horse purpose bred for , but the peoples know around here "don’t believe in lessons"and the local rodeos reflect it. When we went to Shawnee two hours away, and watched a couple hours of warm ups the quality of riding and horses was much better.
Thanks for that Lisa Lockhart clip, Beau159. Pretty run, and as she’s 5th in the world, that proves you don’t have to rip, flap and fly to get the job done.
Look how nice Lisa Lockhart looks in the saddle compared to a lot of others. I watched another clip of her also, on a different horse, and even with her legs going to encourage the horse home, her seat looked rock solid.
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