Lots of good information here. I have an off the track TB and it took some time for him to settle down. I would suggest that you give this horse some time off. At least 3 to 4 months. No riding, no training in the saddle. What I would suggest is lots of one on one with her. Time in the stall just talking to her. leading her around to graze on some grass. This is in addition to lots of time out in a field grazing. She needs time to just be a horse. Bring her back in at night as that is where she will feel safe. You need to get inside her head but you can work with her body. The stress she has been under will take a long time to disapate.

Cavalettis...lots of very good suggestions here and I think the ground work will help a lot, but another thing that sometimes helps is to give her something that will automatically let her break into the lope without her having to think about the cues. I use cavalettis or x-rails, trotting the horse over, and let them break into the lope naturally on the way over...you need to have good balance and be able to stay in a half seat to stay off her back and out of her face, it's easier in an english saddle, but if she will break into a lope over a small x or cavaletti, it can work with a western saddle.

Mel...I just saw this post. You said this horse is just off the track...you know race horses are not taught any ground manners, a lot of them can hardly lead ... they are taught to charge out of the gate and to grab the bit and brace on it....so the more pressure you put on the reins/bit the faster they go. When I've retrained race horses for polo I started them from scratch just as if they had never been handled before. Good luck.

Urban...here's a trick we used to use on the pleasure horses when they'd be too fast in the lope... Say you're loping to the right, on the right lead - use your left rein, pull her head out of (the circle) alignment, while still pushing with your left leg, keeping her circle to the right. It changes their 'track' and they have to think more about where their feet are going, instead of just going 'fast'. Keep pulling her head to the left while pushing right, until she slows down, then let up some...if she speeds back up, pull back up on her. They figure it out pretty quick. Her 'reward' for slowing down is to get her head back into alignment with the circle. She also may need more longe-line work to get the edge off her before you start riding. If she's fairly young, and off the track, chances are she's pretty fit, and will need more time to get the excess energy out of her system before she can start 'thinking'! Good luck with her.

You are going to need a lot of patience. Just about everything I read here has a place in correcting the problem and you will likely use most of them in solving the problem. The horse wants to run because that’s what she has been taught. Most horses are lazy and if you give them an excuse they rather not run. Find an excuse for her. Take the lope totally out for now and start telling her all we are going to do is walk and trot. Do a lot of walking and sessions with nothing but walking. When you let her trot for a few yards being her back to a slow walk. Walk a long time and then take her up to the slow trot for a few yards and back to a walk. Keep this up for as long as you can stand it. If you do it long enough she will start thinking my loping days are over and all I have to do is walk and slow trot. The time will come when you can move on with retraining but I think this is where you start.

At the mane event in Red Deer AB, I watched a presentation by Tracy Westfall. She worked a patterned excersize that helped to stabilize the gait of the horse and gait changes. I don't know if she has a video of the pattern demonstrating gait changes and lead changes but it might be worth looking.

I would suggest going back to the basics on the ground to get her to settle down and rid her of that neuroticness, and suggest not riding her until she is completely calm. Lunging doesn't do this but constant work with control issues. After you remount if she still charges another option is to pull her straight back to a walk or whoa or even trot as soon as she breaks into the lope for about 3 or 4 strides. Do this constantly. Eventually, she will begin to predict this slowing as soon as you ask to her move to a lope and be easier to handle. Remember it is easier to make them go, then to make them whoa. also remember that after each barrel race, there is damage to be undone. :) good luck!

Thanks everyone for your input, I really appreciate it! =] We actually have tried (and still do) both the smaller circles technique and the Clinton Anderson one rein stops. If she ever gets hyper and just wants to go, I will flex her from side to side and it calms her down and gets her thinking. My friend tried small circles and the one-rein stop until her arms were sore, and Hollywood (the mare) still wasn't slowing down. She's not my horse so I don't really know much about her except that my friend doesn't think the woman who had her before finished basics before she threw her at the barrels, and that's why we think she does some of the things she does. I'm sure that with more time and work she'll improve!! But thanks so much everyone who replied...I'll let you know how she does!

Mel- You are getting good info here. And I agree w/what they are saying. This horse needs ground work first, to establish the pecking order and gain respect. Once the horse begins to listen, you can proceed to riding. Work constantly on stopping, not going, since we know she can run. Since she has been taught to run into the bit, the one-rein stop is the way to go (where you pull on one rein and let the horse walk circles until she COMPLETELY STOPS. Release immediately. Eventually she will stop quicker & quicker until she stops w/just a lift of one rein.) Unless you have a good understanding of this, it is hard to do. When she tries to speed up (any increase in speed), you must make her stop. You must be persistent with this, and as Clinton Anderson says, "stop her if you even THINK she is going to speed up" until she stops easily. If she walks out too soon, do it again until she will stand quietly. This way, each time you pick up one rein, she will listen, knowing she will be stopped. Eventually, you can sit down & lift a rein at any speed and she will shut down quicker w/o pulling on her head w/two reins. I have been thru this with several ex race horses. They have so much go, you have to put lots of respect in them or you will fight her for many years to come. Write me if you need more help, or better yet, go to a clinic or get your hands on a DVD by one of the popular natural horsemen. Most of them have similar training techniques and by being persistent, you can fix this before it gets out of control. Good luck, it is hard but rewarding when you have a well-behaved barrel horse that doesn't go Right Brained and reactive, but remains Left Brained and thinking. Vicky

Hey urban one question i have is does this horse know lateral flexion? if so this is key to slow down a horse that likes to 'charge' at the lope as you put it. I am no expert either, but have had a few horses do this to me and I learn most of my training techniques from Clinton Anderson. I'd check him out on RFD-TV if you can or go to www.clintonanderson.net The lateral flexion will get her soft and supple, and should she blow into a fast lope when asked to go out of the trot, just flex her to the right and/or left to shut her down. she will soon learn that if she takes off then you'll just shut her down by flexing her and that will soon be too much work. and she should go into a nice lope and only go when asked. If you start with Clintons basics this will all come together for ya. Ground work first before saddle work makes a world of difference. good luck. riatafaline