l own a 6 year old TWH. He is a sweet horse doing groundwork and when grooming him but he is aw-full in the saddle!!! Most people want help because there horse is too fast and will not stop. well my horse is SO slow and will not go. (he will go but l have it whip and whip him as hard as l can and all my energy in kicking)an once l get him finally running he will not turn LEFT!!!!! l Just got his teeth done last week and it did not help!!! l smack him in the opposite side of the headso he has to turn thenhe gets really mad. once l get his speed built up l was looking int barrel racing with him!!!! And ive read he CAN do it!!! but one more problem! he does not neck rein! how do l get him to help please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEAS HELP ME WITHEVERYTHING ( IT GETS YOU 10 POINTS IF l PICK YOURS)!!!!!!!!!!!♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥THANX

get another horse. Its not a show horse it sounds like.

If he is slow maybe try western pleasure since generaly u want a nice slow jog & a lope. Use spurs & maybe a crop, my gelding is the same way very slow & lazy.

edit: try to teach him how to neck rein l tuaght my mare how to & of corse she isnt perfect but its just enough for showing.

Edit 2: oh its either a lack of training or he is just testing you. how long have u had him? My gelding l thought didnt know how to neck rein & for the life of me l couldnt get him to do it. Finaly once l showed him who was boss then l found out he was just tesing me & being stubborn.

l have a horse but l had a similar problem just give him rest that should work if it does not take the horse to a vet. ; ) hope l helped

If u were in grade four, & l asked u to do Math 30 subjects (like u would if u were in grade twelve) what would u do? You would be confused. You would probably try to quit. You'd get grumpy if l forced you. You'd make alot of mistakes. And I'd probably end up being mad at you. And what if l was the teacher, but l did not know how to do Math 30 subjects, either! It would be totally impossible.
l suspect this is ur problem. Your horse does not know what u want. You do not know how to train him. He obviously does not understand the basics such as how to move forward without huge pressure (even lazy well-broke horses can learn to speed up with mild leg pressure) He does not understand that when u apply pressure with the left rein he is supposed to turn that way. Hitting his head might scare him into turning left, but it is not teaching him to respond to a direct pull of the rein. Of course he does not neck rein. Neck reining is an advanced skill, similiar to Math 30. He is not even doing math 10 yet.
l suspect u have a gentle, kind & lovely horse. But l suspect that he has either not been well trained yet (he is only 6 years old yet, how much do 6 year old kids know? And a horse is not as smart as a kid) or else he has been ridden by young people so much that he is confused and/or spoiled.
Barrel racing is fun, but ur horse must know the basics before doing it. l would suggest finding a great teacher or trainer to come to ur place & help u & ur horse work together. A 4-H leader, a professional trainer, an experienced teenage horseman, or a Pony Club leader would be super. l think you'd be amazed how much ur horse learns, & how much u do too. If u were my student I'd show u how to teach ur horse to give his head totally each direction from the stand-still. I'd show u all these really simply things that might seem boring at first, but they'd make sense to ur horse, & he'd start to really improve. Then u could slowly work towards the harder stuff. Both u & ur horse would be happy.
Find someone who will help like that.

Sounds like he has some back issues. Call the vet and have them evaluate him.

l do not know if this will work for ur horse but it worked for mine. i'm going to talk about neck raining. its hard to wright about it instead of show u but i'm going to tell u the best l can. What l did was turn ur horse like any non neck trained horse. So ur horse would be starting a Circle (hopefully) but as ur horse is turning tighten the rain that u would use on his neck for neck raining. so both sides of his rains r tight. he might me a little panicky. if u Keep doing that it will be less stressful for ur horse. eventually ur horse will get that when that side of the rain is tight to go that way. & then after that u just need miles on ur horse. Oh & not going very fast He is just being lazy, he is a young horse so slow should not be what he wants to do. all l can help u there is just u got to spur & smack & hold on tight when he has a Sissy girlie fit. When ur horse finally gets going Still keep kicking & smacking it as hard as ur can. l do not know how well u ride but if u keep smacking & kicking him he might stay in that canter or trot or what ever ur trying to do. If ur one of those ppl who stop smacking or kicking when ur horse does what ur telling him to do ur horse thinks that it can stop when ever it wants to. & for the barrels just walk around them as close as ur horse will let u get to them. & sooner or later he will learn that they will not jump out & kill him. so when he gets closer & closer to them & u think he fells conferable & u feel conferable on him u can go a little faster. u can tell if he is conferable if he looks bord. has done it so many times that he is concentrating on other stuff.

you SMACK him in the opposite side of the head..?


yeah that wo not help


send him to a trainer before he ends up at the auctions and then in mexico...gawd, this makes me so mad!!!!

Its a good sign that ur horse just is NOT a barrel racer---you need to change ur focus--ie maybe pleasure or trail classes.or sell him & buy a different horse to barrel race.

You need to work on neck reining & turns before u even consider the speed factor anyways---you need to work on components such as pivots, collection, side-passing & flexion..these will help his turning greatly.

You r messing him up my smacking his face to make him turn--that is really, quite honestly, stupid & u r just going to make the horse head-shy & make him carry his head high because he is afraid he will get hit--he will also become nervous & flighty if u keep kicking, whipping & smacking him around.you need to find out why he is being slow--it may be that u r not warming him up enough, he has no impulsion, he is sore (not just his mouth, but his back, legs etc), he is say ''f**k u lady, u always hit me, l can do what l want''.so u need to say ''yeh, ur right, l am sorry cause l am being, bluntly, an idiot about ''training'' you.this seems like a HUGE ''***RIDER ERROR****'' u need to figure out how to ride & train before u totally screw over ur horses training ---barrels isnt just about speed--its also about control & lightness of cues---if u keep beating his sides, he will get hard-sides & u then will resort to spurs to inflict pain on him--kicking him hard just knocks the wind out of him & u try running full out while someone punches u in the stomach --you just cant do it.if u keep hitting his head, u will never get him near the ring because he will associate it with pain & being scared.

You need to let him enjoy his work--work on ur riding & his neck reining, impulsion & so on without barrels in mind--

GET A TRAINER--you clearly have no idea what you're doing if ur smacking & beating ur horse aimlessly.a trainer can help u & ur horse work harmoniously TOGETHER!!..

Good Luck--stop hitting ur animal--he doesnt understand that

Your horse needs training. He probably does not like going left at a faster pace because he is unbalanced from lack of training. You MUST have u horse going nicely through basic movements before u start trying to do barrels. You should NEVER smack ur horse in the head because he will not turn. You keep smacking him in the head & he will quickly become head shy. Get a trainer to help u teach this horse. Until then, start working with him on transitions: walk-trot-walk-trot-walk-whoa & keep doing those until he does them well. Your horse will not do well at a faster pace until he has a good trot. Start lunging him if u have not already. Canter him on the lunge but not under saddle. You can canter him under saddle once u get walk & trot going well (nicely paced & with good transitions.)

If you are whipping, whacking, and kicking him, what on earth makes you think he is going to do anything for you? l only hope this is a troll question, and that no one is this clueless. The answer to your question is no.. l can not help you with this, because l would not know where to begin.

You've just got to show him who is boss. Slap him with the reins, and not a little ''love tap a real big slap! If you want to keep this horse, he is got to turn left. Isnt that a little basic in horsie-land? Hahaha. And for the barrels, do it at a walk, trot, canter, and gallop till he is got it.

MAYBE HE DOES NOT WANT TO RUN BARRELS.