OMG scary falls

[zeldalithgow]

especially the last one and no hats or body protectors
uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pMaiyjsovU8

[valerie n scout]

my g*d, but got to feel for the horses too gettin their mouths pulled about like that, must be painful any idea if the last rider was ok X

[taffydales]

That last fall was horrific!!!!!!!!!!!

[lucydales]

OMG! Why would someone put that on YouTube??

[Rowndan]

that last fall!!! how would you servive that??

[Debbie]

You can survive that and worse....problem is, do you want to wake up in your body afterwards? Its also the reason I'm obsessed about keeping my heels down. Western stirrups don't give way if your foot shoots forward through the stirrup, that's it.

Barrel racing...not something I ever care to do. A lot of riders don't take the time they need to properly train their horses. They just hop on and go, go go! Then they wonder why their horse goes from bad to worse.

I thought it odd a lot of them didn't have tiedowns on their horses. The girl on the white horse could have prevented being knocked out with one.

And lastly, this is why I dislike the old time westerns and the term 'cowboying' Its not good riding...definitely not good on the horse.

[AliandDolly]

thats awfull. I hope the last rider was ok

alixx

[harveydales]

OMG! I know nothing about barrel racing but that looks madness for horse and rider.

[Debbie]

Here's some that are better run barrel patterns. youtube.com/watch?v=R_NO_Td22Ms&feature=related

You notice the girls have to bring the horses in backwards or sideways, because they're all het up getting ready to race. The turns are much much better on these. And you can see how fast the quarter horses are. In some places the video's slowed down so you can see what's happening.

And for a bit of fun, there's always pole bending youtube.com/watch?v=AzJzPpACXIY

I've only done the pole bending once, and it was on a horse in a hackamore that adored it!! LOL, it was an automatic ride, with flying changes at every weave. It was fantastic fun, but not something that I truly know how to do. All I had to do was point him towards the poles, and he did the rest

[harveydales]

That looks a lot better. All the riders were in balance with their horses and although it must put a lot of stress on the horses joints over time, they know and enjoy their job.

[zeldalithgow]

That's much better and the horse have tiedowns - it is very fast eek, I think trot would be much better lol ;D

[harveydales]

Or walk.........

[Debbie]

LOL....you're not kidding! At the fastest all I wanted to do for the pattern was a slow canter. I had to learn on a TB of all things an English saddle. Technically we were in a hunting class, but the temps were at 0*F, and with the ground frozen solid there was no way to jump.

Soooo, they decided to teach us how to barrel race ~ with hunters Actually the horses enjoyed the cross training immensely. There are 'sweetspots' in the pattern that you are aiming for. You're aiming to slow down and sit deep to help guide the horse round the turn, once round the turn you blast away to the next barrel and again there is a place you're aiming for. If you miss the spot, the horse can drift way wide of the barrel adding seconds to the time, or worse, you can come in too close, bang your shins into the barrel and knock them over. If you knock over a barrel you're pretty much out of the running because they add time, I think its a four or five second penalty.

The final run down I think the organizations could do a bit better and plan those arenas a bit better for it. A lot of the accidents happen at the very end because the horse is asked to blaze down the arena to a finish line. That's all fine and good, but there's a very small area past that point to go from a breakneck speed to a stop! That's like asking a racehorse to blaze across the finish line, but stop within a few feet. Its way too hard on the horses and the riders.

As for wear and tear, like any timed event it IS too much for the horse and rider. We heard over the radio an advertisement for the university hospital in Columbia. They have all sorts of cutting edge technology in treatments, but even we were stunned when a little 14 year old girl was talking about having her knees operated on. She's barrel racing at World level, and the stress on her knees wore them out and she had the surgery done so she could keep on competing. Now to me, that's just not right. I know barrel racing's her passion, but to completely trash her body out by age 14 ~ that's overtraining.

For me the pole bending was a LOT of fun because the horse I was on knew what he was doing and loved doing it! I just stayed out of his way and stayed balanced. I've never experienced anything quite like it before or since. Its like imagining riding one of those agility dogs as they weave through their poles.... ;D FUN!!!

[maggie]

I'd like to ask Debbie and other people who ride Western a question I have asked before about safety.

A lot of the modern 'horsemanship' trainers, such as Pat Parelli, are American and ride Western. In promotional videos, demonstrations etc, everyone - even very obvious beginners - are wearing soft hats, not a skull cap or body protector among them. I have asked why this is so and been told that 'you don't fall off riding Western'. This clip shows that this is simply untrue, as does my own experience. I have ridden Western and worked in a riding school where Western lessons were offered. In addition, a handler can be just at much at risk of injury dealing with horses on the ground - lunging or long-reining for example. I've certainly had a horse dive across the circle when lunging and lash out at me as he passed.

I'm not trying to say Western riders are wrong - far from it! I would be grateful for an explanation though.

[Debbie]

and been told that 'you don't fall off riding Western'.

...sorry, I started laughing out loud over this one! Ah no, you can and people do fall off riding western. I think its silly to say outright that you don't fall riding western. But it is much much harder to come off/out of a western saddle than an english saddle.

When I was teaching at the Girl Scouts, the girls were helmeted, but not one of the girls ever fell from her horse. We taught over 30 girls a week, for 8 weeks, and I lost count of how many came through to do a ten minute or so trail ride. Again not one fall, and believe me, some of them were very balance challenged.

I will point out the original link Zelda showed, a lot of those girls weren't using tiedowns (basic safety equipment for barrel racing). And yes in a high speed sport with very little space to manoever from a full out run to a dead stop, there's going to be problems, and people can fall and get hurt.

As for groundwork you're right again ~ anything can and does happen around a horse or pony. Even the bombproof plods can sometimes cause horrible accidents. I think its up to the individuals involved as to whether or not they want to wear protective gloves, or protective helmets, or body protectors. I think it really is up to the individual to decide what's right for them, and what risks they are willing to take.

Also from the western point of view, there are no current helmets being manufactured that's a true western helmet. The western hats with their broad brims are more than just a fashion statement. Those broad brims were designed for sun protection, and to keep your head cool when the temps soar to 90* and 100* heat.

I've seen what Troxel passes for a 'western' helmet and all it is is an english helmet that's been dragged through leather scraps. I'm pretty sure if a manufacturer stepped up to the plate and created a safety helmet that incorporated the broad brim and design of a western hat, that many western riders would be willing to wear them.