Martha,
I have owned my now 8 year old gelding for nearly three years. When we bought him, he easily walked into the arena and was running 2 seconds off. A little over a year later, he continued to go in good, getting a little prancy every now and then but being very controllable. He moved up a second. I would only click and kick; I never used a whip or a spur. He got to where whenever he saw the gate coming, he would slow down before we even got past the 1st and 2nd barrels. So, when he slowed down at one of the shows, I tapped him on the butt twice with a whip. That was the ONLY time I have ever rode with a whip. It worked, we won the 2-D both in the IBRA and NBHA. No alley problems, no resistance, he was just ready.
From about September 2005 until February 2006, problems worsened. He would walk up into the alley way perfect while the tractor was running and stand there, but when it was my turn to run and no horses were in there, he would not go, easily anyway. He would rear up, spin around, or just stand in place. In February, we went to another show and his alley way/holding area was awful, worse than ever before. Rearing, jumping while rearing, and for the first time, darting.
I came home, surfed the internet high and low for advice, and ran across you're training corner. There were a lot of stories that sounded similar to ours. We found a chiropractor and took Red the following week. His neck and both of his front legs needed adjusting. I also gave him some time off. So, I started riding him again about 3 times a week or so about two weeks ago.
Red is the first real barrel horse I have ever owned, and we weren't familiar with the chiropractic needs, which we should have been and I really regret we weren't. I was actually surprised no one at the shows told me about having him adjusted. Several people around me tried to tell me to get a whip, use a cable or chain tie down, or to use a harsher bit. I never did any of those things because I knew Red wasn't being "mean" on purpose, and he would never try to hurt me on purpose.
Now, at home, he walks in and out of my arena very quietly. I try to end my rides with him walking into the gate, dismounting, loosening the girth, and giving him a treat to let him know thats a good place to be.
My questions are: Do you think it would be a good idea to take him to a show now and just walk him around the grounds and up the alley? Should I set the barrels up at home and walk or possibly trot him around them to show him it doesn't hurt anymore, or take him to a show and do a training time? I assume he probably still associates barrels with pain. How much longer do you think I should wait to run him again? What should I do if the troubles start up again? And finally, Does he need to go back to the chiro before I run him? My parents wanted me to run at a show or two, take him back to chiro somewhere between July 10-20, and run him at the Youth World. Is that a totally bad idea?
Thank you for your time and your advice, JMC
