I’m not the most adventurous rider out there but I’m trying to be more adventuresome lately. There’s really nothing like working in unison with your horse to accomplish something. Add a little speed and competition and it’s even more fun.

Barrel Racing. I’m sure I’ve never gone as fast as a true barrel racer, but I love this game. The goal is simple, get around the barrel(s) and back home as fast as you can. My horse used to be a winning barrel racer back in his early days and still loves this. He amazes me with how close he insists on getting to those barrels. My challenge is to move him far enough away from the barrel that we can keep up some speed. If I leave it up to him, we’ll drop to a walk but skim right around that barrel. Of course the instant he can straighten out I barely have to ask for a lope and we’re off. We tend to do 2 patterns, one is a single barrel, head for it, get around it and get home. I think the other one is more fun, it’s called the cloverleaf. It’s just three barrels in a triangle, and you start below the base of the triangle, centered between the two barrels. You head into the middle of the 2 barrels, then turn towards one of them, circle it from the inside of the triangle, go to the other one at the base of the triangle and circle it from the inside, then head for the far barrel at the peak of the triangle, circle it and head for home. You really need controlled speed and direction at the base of the triangle, typically you don’t have a ton of space, so I find this version more challenging but also more fun.

Team Penning. Your horse has to be able to deal with cows of course. I’ve heard some horses just want nothing to do with them but others once they get the idea that they’re supposed to make those cows MOVE, boy do they get into it. There’s a couple of different variations I guess but the one I’ve tried is you and your partner on horseback start at one end of the ring and there are (for example) 10 cows at the other, all with numbers on them. When your turn starts, the caller yells out a “random” number and you have to go down to the herd, pick out the cow with that number and get him to the other end of the ring. Your partner lets that one through but keeps the others in place, then you need to go after the next number cow (if you had cow 6 first, then you go after 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Usually you take turns with your riding partner, one person moves the correct cow, the other keeps the wrong ones in place. The goal is to get all of them down to the other end but in the correct order, if one sneaks through when it’s not his turn, your turn is over. Young horses can get easily confused because they don’t know about the numbers, but you need to communicate to them which cow you’re going after. Of course all the cows want to stay together so as you move more of them it becomes harder to keep the others from making a break for it. You and your horse need to be able to turn on a dime to stay with a cow and move right into the herd to get your cow out. Then run that cow down to the other end as fast as you can. It’s a blast as long as you communicate well not only with your horse but with your riding partner as well!!