It's natural to assume that timed events with your horse are all about speed because, after all, the fastest time wins. But to make those winning runs with your horse consistently, you have to understand just how important it is to slow down! That's right. The key to success is to go slow. Slow your hands, slow your training, and make use of slow rehearsals to balance the fast pace of competition.
Most people don't understand this when they begin to compete in barrel racing or gymkhana events. They just think about the time.
Here's a common scenario. A rider gets comfortable running and turning her horse, and she enjoys that exhilarating feeling, so she decides to try timed events. The competition seems like it will be easy. The rider walks and trots the horse through the pattern until her horse seems to know it by heart, and then progresses to loping and running through barrels or poles. Finally, the rider goes to a jackpot or a playday, where her horse runs a pattern that is only 3 or 4 seconds off the winning time.
Well, for heavens sake, a few instants off on a 17-second pattern-this event is simple!
The rider goes home and, in anticipation of next weekend's run, begins pushing the horse to be a little quicker each day. At the next jackpot, the time is a second closer. Back home, a little more practice, a little more fast work. The next week at the jackpot, the time is a few tenths of a second closer to the winner's. Quick calculation-all we have to do is keep improving, and in a month, we're going to be winning!
But the next week, the horse runs way past the first turn. And in coming weeks, the times stay about the same. Even though the horse is going faster, the times aren't better. And now, the horse is getting harder to work at home. Instead of loping quietly to warm up, he wants to speed up. What's more, he's gotten heavier on the bit, and he's starting to hit barrels. At the last jackpot, he even whirled away when the rider started riding him into the arena gate. What's going on?
There is usually a combination of conditions or errors that cause these problems. Somehow, somewhere, one or more of the "10 Tools for Timed Events" was overlooked.
The 10 Tools
1. You need to understand the mechanics of the event well enough so you can avoid teaching wrong techniques or habits to the horse. Knowing the ideal pattern, knowing when to sit down for a transition, knowing where to look, and how to negotiate different arena types are all essential for success.
2. Adhere to a training and maintenance program and communicate clearly to the horse. To succeed, you need to lead your horse through a training regimen that he can understand with stepping-stone skill levels that he can achieve. We define success as helping each horse reach his maximum potential. In other words, if a horse is consistently performing at his own optimum level without bad habits or repeated mistakes, he is a success in timed events. His skill and athleticism will determine whether he will be a big winner. If you do your job right, he'll have the best chance.
3. Install the basics completely, so that controls like "whoa," collection and steering will work as well when you're going fast as they do when you're going slow. Those are the aids that help teach the pattern. Plus, if a horse is soft and willing in the bridle; has the ability to walk, trot, lope and accelerate on cue; if he responds to "whoa"; and he knows how to move laterally from rein and leg aids; then you will have all the tools you need to correct any problem he might develop in running timed events.
4. Rehearse the pattern long enough at each speed so the horse becomes confident before going to a faster speed, and use the horse's "comfort zone speed" as a guide. Horses learn by repetition. It's vital to go through the pattern at each increasing speed level until the horse knows it exactly. When it's time to run, you can't possibly guide every step, but if you've instilled those steps as part of his mental and muscle memory, he'll hunt those barrels or poles and expect to be going around them in the way he always has. We refer to the top speed at which a horse can make a perfect pattern as his "comfort zone" speed. We'll let him go at that speed for a period of time so that speed becomes easy for him, then smooch him up to the next level. If he's mistake-free at the next speed, we'll keep him there, until he gains confidence at that level. If he's not mistake-free at the new level, we go back a notch and build his confidence again, getting perfect patterns consistently for a while before we ask him to try it faster again.
