Aggressive Aids’ Effects on Barrel Racing Horses Studied

New research shows that whipping and kicking barrel horses doesn’t seem to improve race time.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Going for under 15 seconds on that cloverleaf pattern? You might be better off leaving the whip at the gate. New research shows that whipping and kicking barrel horses doesn’t seem to improve race time, but it does appear to increase unwanted behavior in the horse.

"At some amateur levels, barrel racing riders are encouraged to aggressively use both the whip and the leg to increase the velocity of the horse," said Karen Waite, MS, equine extension specialist and researcher at Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing, Mich. "But there appears to be no relationship between the use of the whip, leg, or reins and the final run time of cloverleaf barrel race patterns."

On the contrary, horses that are whipped in the arena have a tendency to resist going into the arena, she said during a presentation at the 2012 conference of the International Society for Equitation Science. And the more horses are kicked, the more they have a tendency to rear up.

Waite and her research team, including Camie Heleski, PhD, behavior and equitation scientist at MSU, studied 64 youth riders and their horses during cloverleaf barrel race patterns. All the horses were ridden in the same arena in the same conditions. The researchers videotaped the rides and then closely evaluated rider and horse behavior from the time they approached the gate to the time they dismounted

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Passionate about horses and science from the time she was riding her first Shetland Pony in Texas, Christa Lesté-Lasserre writes about scientific research that contributes to a better understanding of all equids. After undergrad studies in science, journalism, and literature, she received a master’s degree in creative writing. Now based in France, she aims to present the most fascinating aspect of equine science: the story it creates. Follow Lesté-Lasserre on Twitter @christalestelas.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

How much time do you usually spend grooming your horse?
440 votes · 440 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!