Throughout the last five years that I have owned Zippo, I have done nothing but drill the rules and ways of western pleasure into his head. He has lived by those rules, gotten good at what he does, and kicked butt more often than not in these style competitions. Starting last summer though, I have flipped his lifestyle around, and told him to forget all those rules he’s been living by. I’ve based everything I’ve taught him around the rules of western pleasure and huntseat shows, and now I am turning him into a barrel racer. This is quite a lifestyle change for him, because now, instead of telling him to remain calm, cool, and collected, I am telling him to go as fast as he can, and to disregard everything I’ve told him before. In western pleasure shows, one of the key things to winning is to teach your horse to go as slow as possible, even in the faster gates. The slower and more collected they go, the better. Looks, carriage, posture, and having an easy going flow while riding are all very important. Of course, each one of those could be talked about for hours before one would even begin to understand the work put in to achieve these things. In barrel racing shows though, all that matters is how fast you can complete a simple pattern. There are no judges judging your ability to ride, just a timer deciding who wins and who loses. Even better, there is loud music and a rough group of people instead of the quiet, keep-to-yourself kind of people that are at hunt seat and western pleasure shows. Already, we are both enjoying barrel shows more because they are less stressful, less high strung, and more fun and laid back.
All of this being said, it is obvious that a change this big will take time to complete, but you can bet on it that Zippo is already bringing his A game to the barrel shows that we have completed since deciding to switch seats. Though winning is fun, I have learned to love the time taken for training just as much. Nothing feels better than when a horse starts to understand what is being taught to him, so this new adventure will consist of quite a bit of learning, experiences, and trial and errors. I am lucky to have such an all around, do-what-you-ask type of steed.
