Hi!
I'm writing about my 13 year old daughter's quarter horse gelding. He is 11, and we bought him a year and a half ago, knowing he was a trained barrel horse with one main problem: reluctance to go in the gate. So far, my daughter has mainly had him back away from the gate, with one occasion where he fired out and offered to buck.
He has improved somewhat with the help of our trainer, and my daughter's growing confidence. There was a change, though, this last weekend at a very big race. He actually was better at the gate, but once my daughter and the horse got into the alleyway, he kept backing up and didnt want to start the run. He has never done that before.
He showed the same behavior in the practice arena; he got through the gate better, but after warming up, he didn't want to get near the barrels and kept backing away. We love this horse; he is sweet and friendly, he is fast, he is an easy keeper, he trailers great--he is wonderful in every way except this.
We are also concerned about the safety factor for my daughter, the horse, and the riders who may be around her when he does this. My daughter is considering selling him because she is tired of dealing with this. Do you have any suggestions please??? Concerned Parent
I would have to have this horse checked out by a very qualified performance horse vet - one that sees lots of running and performance horses on a daily basis - to see if there is something causing this horse pain or soreness that would make him dread going into the pen to exert himself at a high speed. He is trying to tell you that there is something bothering him - whether it be physical soreness, improperly fit equipment, bad shoeing, etc - it's up to you to find out what he is trying to talk to you (the caretaker and rider) about.
I would exhaust all the possibilities before throwing my hands up and once you have eliminated the pain and soreness that I suspect he is experiencing, he may get much better about going in the arena. If you are still having problems later on, contact us again and we can help you further over the phone - weekday mornings before 8 am.
Martha Wright
