10/26/2026
Who’s at fault for allowing the up and coming generation of barrel racers to put the sport before the horse…?
More and more frequently I am seeing kids put aside the respect for their equine partner and quite frankly, basic horsemanship, in order to “chase the dream” and it got me thinking, who’s to blame for this lack of respect; the parents, the trainers, or our industry as a whole 🤷♀️
Personally, I think it’s a combination of all 3!!!
There’s two parts to this:
1️⃣ The kid who runs every race within 100 mile radius of home without thinking twice about the number of runs they are putting on their horse. This is the kid that probably is on a lame/sore horse as well, and then has a meltdown when the horse doesn’t perform in the arena and proceeds to “beat” the horse or “school” it into the ground… then wonders why the horse becomes resentful and doesn’t want to do their job
2️⃣ The kid who has sat on one 1 maybe 2 finished horses and won some barrel races and is now a “trainer”… mommy and daddy buy them a young horse and what do the rest of us see, a horse being pushed too young, a horse not actually broke enough to do the job it’s being asked to do and is supposed to do for a long time coming and then that horse becomes the horse described in scenario #1️⃣
So parents, if you aren’t horse people with years of performance experience behind you, get your kids with a good trainer that will instill in them good horsemanship as the main objective, because when that’s the priority… success in achieving the goals set for the barrel pen typically follow pretty fast!
Trainers, stick to your morals and with your gut! Don’t let the parents push you around and make you change your program to accommodate their wants/needs when it goes against what you stand for! The clients that respect what you do will see you for everything you are worth and will stick around and quite frankly, you’re better off letting the rest of them go.
And to our industry… let’s encourage the next generation to be the best horseman they can be and teach them that barrel racing COMES SECOND to the health and welfare of our horses!
PS… this post is based on a compilation of things I’ve witnessed and seen over this entire season, but if you feel personally victimized by it maybe you should think about why that is 🤔
