Successful professional barrel racer and futurity horse trainer, Michelle Alley and 2020 mare Lipstick N Stilletos (RR Mistakelly x Seis Caress x Tres Seis) have left their mark at futurities and rodeos across the nation. From setting the new Pink and Ruby Buckle standard pattern record in the Lazy E Arena to a successful rodeo season placing at rodeos like Cheyenne Frontier Days, Caldwell Night Rodeo and Ellensburg Rodeo, “Stilleto” is truly a horse that has proven successful in all areas of the barrel racing industry. Barrel Horse News caught up with Alley to learn about her “Keys to Success” when transitioning young horses to rodeos.
1. Expose them to as much as you can
“The sooner they get used to seeing new stuff, the sooner and easier they get over their fears. Have music on at your barn or arena. Have banners, flags, chairs, etc. in your arena. Expose them to cattle and roping and even sheep and pigs if you can! Get them used to electric fence or panels at home. I like to haul my 3-year-olds with me to super shows or rodeos, so they get used to the carnival, walking across concrete, crowds of people, all the commotion, vendors and retailers set up, and everything like that. You can never expose them to too much.”
2. Get them used to different kinds of ground
“I’ll do that at my house to begin with. Obviously, I want safe footing and would never put them or myself in a bad situation. But sometimes I ride after it’s rained and it’s a little muddy. Sometimes I ride when I haven’t worked my ground after a rain and the sun has baked the top and it’s a little hard. And I change when I ride them during the day on my ground. Sometimes they’ll be the first to be ridden on freshly groomed ground and other times at the end of the day when it’s dug up.”
3. Get to as many different pens as possible
“Get them to indoor and outdoor pens. Almost all the futurities are inside and smaller patterns. Those horses who have never run outside or on a standard pattern tend to have a hard time transitioning after a full year of having walls to confine them. When you’re hauling and exhibitioning them, take them to outdoor pens and pens where the barrels are both on the fence or wall as well as off the fence or wall. They need to gain confidence in handling their speed and being able to rate and turn barrels without relying on a wall or fence to get them to turn. Also getting to different pens exposes them to different types of ground conditions.”
4. Make faster exhibitions
“After a few times of hauling where they’re over looking at stuff and have gained some focus and confidence of being away from home, make your first exhibition run your ‘fast run,’ whether that’s 50% speed or 70% speed or 90% speed. And then come back to your second or third exhibition and correct any mistakes or just go through slow and reward them that they did good. They need to learn to be ready to focus and hunt that first barrel the first time they run down the alley. A lot of rodeos you can’t even get in the pen before the rodeo to practice. They must go in with confidence the first time without seeing everything and feel the ground and focus.
“You can start transitioning them to that at home even prior to exhibitioning. Warm up and then send them through fast the first time and see how they handle it. If they mess up that’s OK. Correct it afterwards and try again another day. I like to step them up about once a week or so and see where we’re at. I think this is super important in instilling accountability in them.”
5. Most importantly, have confidence in your training
“Your horse feeds off you. Your job and your horse’s job are the same at the futurities, open races and rodeos. Only the surroundings change. It’s still three barrels in an enclosed arena and the pattern is still one right and two lefts or one left and two rights. Don’t over think things. If you’re confident, your horse will be too. And remember, we will make mistakes, so have a short memory because there’s always another race or rodeo and that next one may just be your time to shine!”
Michelle Alley is a professional barrel horse trainer and breakaway roper based in Madisonville, Texas where she owns Down The Alley Performance Horses.
