There is a lot to be said about these photos and I'm sure I won't cover all of what could be, but bear with me! I didn't want to use pictures of anyone else (so to my own embarrassment) I dug up some pictures of one of my first times gaming to share a critique with you all!
In the above picture I am coming out of a turn. My reins are too long, and I have a light contact with my horses mouth. Depending on the horse this may not be such a bad thing, but this horse in particular would've been fine without the contact. If my reins had not been so long it would've been easier to have my hands in proper position, and then I would have been better prepared to move them forward and out of my horse's way. Always remember: In gaming every fraction of a second count! If you make little mistakes like these making up time or missing steps is too much wasted time! Luckily if you have a good horse you will likely get away with the little mistake, but you definitely wouldn't want to do this on a green gaming horse!
As you can see in this picture (take immediately after the above) I have shifted from what was an 'OK' position to a terrible one! Reaching for my saddle horn I have taken my attention away from keeping my butt planted! Using the saddle horn correctly is OK and often times necessary at higher speeds, but you should always use it to stay down on your horse (not how I am demonstrating above). You can push against your saddle horn to stay more deeply seated (a technique often used by cutters). Meanwhile I have taken my attention away from my hands that weren't in the best position in the first place and I am now slowing my horse down too much, not preparing for the upcoming turn, and probably irritating my horse who just wants to run and do her job. I should be: looking ahead, seated deeply, using two hands to guide my horse forward into the next turn, and rating her with one hand to prepare her.
Ouch! it hurts to pick on yourself ;) MOVING ON!
Here I am coming into my first barrel. It's too bad you can't see my hands in this picture, because it would be nice to know what they look like here. I can tell you I have too much weight on my inside stirrup, causing my horse to compensate to balance herself around the turn. My shoulder is picked up but my outside heel should be down and I should have more visible weight in it. My horse is rating nicely and other then being a little too wide it is looking like a decent turn.
OH NO! I have just realized because I came in too wide my horse is going to hit the barrel on her way out if I don't do something about it! Too bad I reacted in all of the WRONG ways! First off: LOOK AT THOSE REINS! Wayyyyy too long! If I had shorter reins this whole problem could've been remedied a lot easier! Now I do not have time at the speed I was going to save this with the level of experience I had at the time. My next mistake is I am tipping my horses nose away from the barrel causing her shoulder to drive straight towards it! If I had picked up my inside rein (or both evenly) and drove her off of it with my inside leg I could've got her around it better.
Oops! By the time I get those long reins sorted out I'm already knocking it over. We didn't see that coming did we ;)
. . . . .
Hundreds of dollars in barrel racing lessons a few clinics and over one year later!
Well I've still got that great rate going on for me! Now in this picture I am ALMOST crossing my hand over my horses neck (which is bad) but we will see in the next shots that I don't (which is good) BUT I should not have picked it up that far anyways. I'm looking into my pocket, rating my horse, and pushing him with my body where I want him while SITTING. (weight is shifting to the outside stirrup, maybe a little too much I'm loosing my inside ;) )
Can we say woohoo! Good job me! I am looking around my turn and guiding my horse forward with my inside hand. I am not jerking his face off or holding him back, and I am using my outside hand to push myself down into my saddle to sit the turn. My horse has his ears back listening to me and things are looking good! (I have lost my inside stirrup, emphasizing the weight on the outside a tad too much but at-least I'm not hindering my horse)
Can I get a YAHOO! I finish the turn and my horse launches himself out of it using his hind end (good thing). I am looking at my next barrel (but I should be reaching up for my outside rein by now especially because we are on a big pattern) I am also SITTING good and am not going to pop up out of my saddle and hinder my horse.
Well friends like I said there is so much more to this sport then what is on the surface, but at least we had a good laugh at the antics of a newbie gamer ;)
I am proud to say that since those beginning pictures I have improved IMMENSELY and am looking forward to continue learning on my journey to that 1D paycheck!
The take-away from this is there is always more to learn, and seek out the most knowledgeable help you can afford when learning something new!
Thanks for reading!
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