Charmayne James says it all... “Don’t Get Mad at the Horse – Get Educated!”

BHN Article: The question was, “Have you ever seen a horse that was started too fast on the barrels before all the fundamentals were in place?”


CJ: A horse asked to work at speed before he is broke right will be frustrated and won’t usually hold up under the pressure. The horse hits barrels, blows off the turns or develops many other bad habits that are hard to cure, and it’s all because he was pushed too fast – too soon. Funny things is – it’s exactly the same with people!

                 Theresa’s Comment: Just last month I had a student’s mother ask me – why I’m making such a big deal about her daughter keeping her seat – while she is learning to run barrels & poles. She said, “Everyone is out of the saddle that’s running barrels & poles.” When a student learns to sit and ride correctly – what they are really learning – is – the “feel” of a horse. And, as the lessons progress and the speed progresses – the student will adapt appropriately! Horses really need “guidance” in their runs and that only comes from a great rider with amazing – balanced riding, skill and feel…


CJ: Any time you have a chance to ride with a good reiner or cutter that can teach you basic horsemanship skills – like how to sit for a stop, get in a “go” position, feel the horse’s hind end in a turn and position the horse’s body correctly for a turn – I encourage that.


CJ: Perfect Circles – People without the experience to guide their horse correctly tend to lope in an oblong circle when asked to lope a perfect, round circle.

               Theresa’s Comment: It is so so crucial as far as foundational basics to be able to – even WALK a perfect circle. Asking a student to walk a perfect circle tells me everything about their knowledge base. It is the perfect circle that is the foundation of barrels and poles and it is working those circles that create the perfect body positioning and feel for horse and rider – regarding the end result! The bottom line is IF you laid out a circle of LIME (like white chalk) and learned to walk your horse on that circle of LIME – you will start to feel stepping in and stepping out at the smallest most minute level – which is the KEY to prefect circles – which is the KEY to perfect runs. I know – not that many people are interested in doing it correctly – I see it all the time – most just want to have fun.


Analogy: Not knowing the fundamentals in the saddle and trying to run barrels & poles is the equivalent of

•  Putting a 16 year old behind the wheel of a car and expecting them to parallel park – they can’t evaluate the front end from the back end of that vehicle

•  Putting a 16 year old behind the wheel of a car and expect them to make split second decisions going 70 mph – and it is tragedy if they UNDER correct or OVER correct

Ride Right,

Theresa
References: March Issue / Barrel Horse News / Page 8 "Hard Habits to Break"
Charmayne James: http://www.charmaynejames.com/ / 11 Time World Champion Barrel Racer