When to Ride Fearless

A horse trainer client shared this, and we thought it deserved its own web space.

Here’s a thought from Rodeo horse trainer Sydni Blanchard.

“I really didn’t expect this to take off like it did. I felt creative and wanted to write and share my experiences. Good and bad experiences that have molded me as a person and trainer. With that said, there was not a lot of thought put into this post… Life and training barrel horses is all about balance. Please be nice to each other! We all live and learn our own program that works for us.”

By Sydni Blanchard

Hopefully this does not come back to haunt me but I do believe people NEED to hear this. I see MANY barrel racers even PROs blasting runs at every local jackpot and Rodeo.

As a RODEO HORSE trainer I believe there is a time and a place for this.

If you blast your horse to win first every time:

*They think they have to exert everything they have to make a run. All or nothing.

– pro is your fast and could potentially win first
– con is they can lose heart quickly. The harder you make it the less fun it is. Potentially not lasting as long.

– pro your fast lol
– con is they don’t learn to let you saftey them up for questionable ground. Potentially not lasting as long

* My personal way around this is to pick and choose when it is time to blast a run example: the ground is good.

Your horse is calm and listening in the warm up and you don’t need to work on anything that day other than seeing where your horse is at.

These races and rodeos are rare around here. But even if you had good ground everywhere you go if you run your horse 90 at every barrel race you increase the potential risk of breaking its heart for the game or not being able to safety up at let’s say Houston Rodeo when you get there…

I may not win first everywhere, but my horses LOVE their job. And wise words of Kassidy Dennison • Thunderbird92 “ 2nd place all year long will get you where you want to be every time.”

Plus there is nothing more fun then the day you walk up to an event with good ground and think today is the day to see what this horse can do. Today is the day I get to #RideFearless.