After our Run in Conroe, I was determine to fix some issues. It appears that Gabe no longer needs his exhibitions and so, we found another barrel race in Henderson, TX. This was an NBHA and there were some really nice horses being run there. Gabe had never been to that arena and we were determine to try out the "no exhibitions" at a new place! Well, he actually gained some speed in Henderson!! For our warm up, I stretched his legs, trotted for a total of 4 minutes and loped for the same amount of time. We did walk up the alleyway, but were unable to see the pattern.
I asked Gabe to enter the alleyway from a different side than our usual. Normally, we enter from the right side of the alley way, but, at this race, we entered from the left side. He seemed a little confused because he knew we were going in for a run, but was thinking that we had not done our exhibitions....
Well, he came through the alley and went to the first barrel!! He made a nice turn too!!! Then, we cruised over to the second barrel. Notice that we did not go past the second which caused us to get a little "hung up" on the backside of the barrel. When we left the second, I should have utilized the whip, however, I did not. I waited until he was too far off of the third to attempt to move him over. This does not work!!! Instead, it threw me off balance affecting him as well. This is why we came off the barrel wide. Anyhow, I have learned that I need to push past the second, line him up better for the third and utilize the whip in the alley and coming off thesecond, not going into the third! I have also learned that Gabe has the ability to hunt for the first barrel and we no longer need barrel exhibitions! Now, for poles...I dont know!!
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