Sonny and Hillery Yager of Yager Performance Horses in Allen, Nebraska share three exercises — counter arcs, diamonds and serpentines — they utilize with both Futurity and Open horses.
Sonny and Hillery Yager started their careers training show horses nearly 20 years ago, mostly western pleasure, western riding and hunter under saddle horses. With countless World Show and Congress champions, they also coached amateur riders. It wasn’t until about seven years ago that they began transitioning to train barrel horses. Now, 100% of their business is focused on barrel horses.
Sonny starts the 2-year-olds and Hillery will take over when they are 3 or 4 years old. Mainly focused on futurity and derby horses, Hillery has numerous titles at major Midwest and northern events like the Gridiron Barrel Futurity, the Five States Breeders Futurity and Triangle Cross Classic Futurity.
With a background in show horses, Hillery said that gives them a good understanding of the mechanics of a horse, the foot fall, the collection and how to manipulate their bodies. It gets to be the same application to a different discipline, she added.
“I’m a big believer in that every time you ride, you’re either training your horse, or you’re untraining your horse,” Hillery explained. “So it’s what you do every day with them that counts. If you go out and work on getting a horse to rate to your seat every time you down transition, every time you stop then when you run to that barrel and you sit down, it’s very natural to them to rate to your seat. I also like to kind of ride with the mindset of slow is the fastest route. I like to ride a horse with the idea that I’m going to have it for two years, even if I know I’m only going to have him for two months. I kind of train them with that mentality. I think it builds a better horse.”
Sonny said a lot of what they do goes back to the show horses he’s trained.
“We do draw a lot back onto the English type horses and the western riding where you’re pushing them at speed, but you still got the collection,” he said. “When you get them as broke as a western pleasure horse with speed, they can really turn a barrel, especially these things are so much more athletic.”
Counter Arc Warm-Up
This exercise is a nice warm up and it really gets that horse reaching through the turn and loosens those shoulders up. I will pick them up into a trot. I like to pick them up and shape them to the turn and make that turn similar to if I was turning the barrel as I close that turn. So if I’m making the right hand turn as I close that turn, I’ll pick up on my left rein and my left leg, and I will push them into a counter arc for a few steps and I will push them off that left side.
Then I will maintain that shape, and that’s a real key part, is to maintain that nose tip to the left and that inside rib picked up. I will make them track forward into the bridle with that little bit of a “C” shape. I will track them forward for a ways and then I will start a left-hand turn. Take the shape of the barrel, keep the shoulders up, keep them reaching, keep all four feet moving through that turn. As I close that turn, then I will pick up on my right rein, my right leg, push them into a counter arc, so they move off of that pressure.
The key part is to track them forward with that shape and track that straight line shape to the right before I start another right-hand turn. So just go back and fortheach direction.
Diamond Drill
The diamond drill is really good for any age of horse. I do it with the 2-year-olds, the 3-year-olds, the 4-yearolds and even the open horses. It is really good for a horse that maybe gets a little hot on the barrels, one that doesn’t slow work. Maybe they’ve taken a lot of runs and they don’t slow work at a lope quite as well.
In that case, I work this drill two ways. I work it without the barrels and with the barrels. You’re going to lope your barrel pattern, but with that fourth barrel set like a diamond. To complete the drill you turn all four barrels all to the right or all to the left in that diamond pattern.
I like to set them up, ride them square, make straight lines and you can move them as far as your turns on the barrel, whatever you’re working on for that particular horse.
If you have a horse that maybe you want to work on staying true, staying equal distance around the barrel as they make the turn, you can work on that. If you have a horse that you need to work on a little more finish on the back side, you can go ahead and sit into the turn or pick up on the outside rein or outside leg and square them off and make them finish.
Without the barrels, you can really change how far up the middle of the pen you go or how far to the fence you go. I really like to do that. It seems like those horses that have taken some runs, they don’t get as excited but they’ll still work the turns and work their lines and you can work on making them go all the way to their spots, or finishing the back side, whatever you’re working on.
I’ve also found that useful at the barrel races in the warm-up pen. I’ll actually go to that a little bit at a trot or a lope and warm-up on it without the barrels, and the horses are familiar with it. I think it works really well.
The Serpentine Drill
The serpentine drill has no barrels. What I’ll do is pick a lead. So if I’m in my left lead, I will basically lope a straight line across the arena, as if I’m going to my second barrel only. I will usually lope all the way almost to the fence. Then I will make a turn. I won’t make that turn part of it real tight. I’ll make it a little bigger and make them stay out and stay picked up. Then I’ll loop back and forth across the arena, and basically a big flat serpentine, and make them stay honest.
If I have one that really wants to anticipate that turn, I can break down and counter arc them off of that turn and not let them take that turn as well, but really making them practice driving all the way to those fences and those walls and those banners so that they stay honest and keep running to their spots and don’t just short you at the barrels.
Thank you
Great ideas!