Blown up barrel horse (appendix bred)

Question
"Riva" is an 8yr old AQHA appendix bred mare(Easy Jet, Jet Deck, Go Man Go, and Northern Dancer.  We know very little about this mares history other than she had been out to pasture for 2 years after a promising start and then the lady did not want to ride anymore (supposedly).  I rode her for a few weeks and she was awesome in a practice pen, won the first couple of jackpots and then all of a sudden refuses to turn.  After the first barrel she will balk out of the second and then spin left and right and back up furiously and at times has had to be hand led out of the arena, she acts like she is just scared to death. Since we have had her she has never had spurs or whips used on her.  We have had her checked and she is physically sound.  We have returned to a reconditioning phase in hopes it may help.  Can you give any insight into what may be going on inside this mare's head.  Overall she is sweet and mild mannered, although it takes about 30 minutes of bouncing and jittering around EVERYTIME you get on her before you can even get her to walk in a calm manner. Thanking you in advance for your help.

Kathy

Answer
Hi Kathy,
I am really glad that you are not using whips & spurs on her, and that you had your mare checked for physicall stuff.
I also think yes, you are right, it's back to basics for a while.  Who is "we"? -- You and a trainer? Or?

The reason I got went to a Buck Brannaman clinic in the first place, in 1988 (yes I am getting old !!) is because of my own part TB mare (Gleeful Ruler).  She was like your mare:  very good in certain ways, but unmanageable in other ways.  My mare, like yours, was started, then turned out , forgotten, for 2 years.    
And she sure was not an "anyone can ride" horse:
**ah, the memories: was that the rodeo, or me warming up for a hunter class ?!**
I *rode* to a show once -- I had a student riding my schoolhorse to the show with me!! We rode for 3 hours just to get there, over hills -- you'd think my mare would be *tired*....hehehe.... she just about bucked me off in English Pleasure LOL

I can ride her bridleless now, in the same arena where that show was --  with a student calling instructions to me.
The key was:  it was myself who needed to learn about timing.  About releasing and rewarding. Rewarding often, as in every 10 seconds .  About what constitutes "good" desirable behavior in a horse, and about how to discourage behavior I did not want.   And most of all, about how to help my mare feel safe with me.
How to prove myself worthy of her trust. (wording is important here:  I had to learn how to prove myself to be a trustworthy, gentle but firm "leader" to my mare.)

And therein lies the problem with me answering your question: I feel it's not specific enough., I feel that what would help you and your mare is to learn about the whole system of natural horsemanship.... from haltering, to catching ,to leading, to mounting, to stopping, to turning....
Buck's systsem BTW is not in total contradiction with what you want to do: it lets you do what you want to do (racing), BETTER.
So, I strongly advise you to go to:
http://www.brannaman.com/index.htm
Get his 3Tape series, Colt Starting + Horsemanship.
Audit a clinic, if you can. (shedule on the website.)

Another one of my clients has a mare , a AQHA daughter of Bugs Alive in 75, famous racing qh.   She is **hot** and has been mishandled.... so she is not easy to ride, << understatement>> .  I did barrels on her.
I also worked with a  other "hot" horses since, and here's some of what I think:  I think we breed them smart, sensitive, intelligent, athletic, and fast.  We breed super-cowhorses (they have to be smart&fast!!)  super race-horses (TB's, AQHA "running quarter" lines etc.....
then...
**  we keep in a 12x12 box, 23 hours a day.
**  we confine them to slow trot in English Pleasure and such.
**  we are...ahem... some of us don't have the best seat , nor the experience, to ride a fast horse.... so we constrain them even further, so we can feel safe when we ride.  Plus, few of us have the luxury of living in the country -- some boarding situations simply don't have any place where a horse&rider can ride "all the way out" at full speed, safely.
**  further more, we confuse a sensitive animal by letting grooms, and stable hands touch the horses...remember, they remember ONE single bad experience.  It doesn't take much to frighten a horse.

then we wonder when the horses "freak out."  Or have stable vices.  

It's like in some schools:  intelligent, active, *bored* kids are at risk for misbehavior, ADD, and such...
Plus, kids, like horses, act out when they have been abused in the past.  Even when they forgot about the abuse.  

So I think you are right, she is scared to death.
>>> After the first barrel she will balk out of the second and then spin left and right and back up furiously and at times has had to be hand led out of the arena, she acts lik  she is just scared to death >>>

If I were to work with the mare, I would:
--  start her like a colt, again.  Round pen .  Reinforce trust, that she can move forwards and be rewarded for moving forwards. Teach her to face me.  Teach her that : I am trustworthy. I always **ask**  -- wait -- immediately release pressure when she TRIES to do something right... and do not punish, simply ask again.
-- work her on halter and lead. Rope halter from Double Diamond and 12 ft lead.  Ask for "give".   Teach her, from the ground, to disengage hindquarters.  Teach her to keep shoulder upright. Teach her shoulder in.  Make sure that she pays attention to me.
(the above would take me 2 or 3 -- 1.5 hours sessions, or less, depending on her.)
But work on the lead rope is always part of my warm-up.
-- practice the one-rein stop under saddle. (this guarantees that I can always -- ALWAYS --  safely slow down & stop the horse)  Plus, it also become a calming-down routine for her.
-- practice disengaging hind quarters (control hind end) and disengaging front (control front end, shift weight back.)
-- practice shoulder ins and bending: behind the jaw, at the middle of neck, at the base of neck, at the shoulders.  
Always do correct turns with upright shoulders.
Practice at walk, trot... practice barrel pattern at walk, trot -- with stops and pauses.
Practice circling around **every** bush in the pasture.  Circle around **everything** out on trail.   Large, medium, and small circles, as aprropiate.

(John Lyons asks students to bend horses head behind the jaw, 300 times to the left -- in 20 min or so during a clininc!!.
John Lyons esttimated that he may do ?? 15,0000 ??? one-rein-stops in a week ????  (Anyways, I do LOTS of them on hot TB's).  I am careful to not turn to abruptly for the legs..  
Important:   I never blindly repeat anything.  The  numbers work because the horse gets endless little rewards all the time!!!! While striving for perfection, I vary exercises a lot -- and frankly, it is way less boring to do my bending practice out on the trail than in the arena.  But I do it in as good a form as I can, out there.  As if I was in a dressage test. (Or western pattern -- no difference, really...)
My goal:  move the horses feet with precision and control.   

Meanwhile, always -- while grooming, leading, etcl-- handle the mare with precision.  And rewards. And setting boundaries (no walking over the handler.).

This routine --  disengaging hind feet, disengagin front, collect, shoulder in... becomes part of my warm-up.   But I had to learn the precise TIMING of my asking, and rewarding.

So yes, you can work with your mare.  I don't know how long it might take.  Yes, you might have to learn new ways of interracting with the horses.  That is difficult:  it was difficult for me, because I thought I already knew a lot .  Ha!!! Little did I know !!!  Horses can be so humbling of our egos!!!!!!
But if you stick with it, you will be really glad you did. It will help you with all other horses you will own.  

PS: by breeding and health, it does sound as if your mare is worth putting this work into her...yes, I am a "bleeding heart" for all horses, but it's nice to know that if you put in all this work, you can win on your mare...

good luck, Rena