From one day to the next, from one horse to the next, it’s important to remember that all riders and horses are a work in progress. Riders who keep the big picture at the forefront of their minds are committed to bettering their skills for the good of their horses. They are able to be realistic about the investment of time it takes to work and improve, and they maintain balanced expectations of their horses. It’s very important that riders are able to align their expectations with the time it takes to accomplish goals. Without devoting a significant amount of time and work to improving, it’s very hard to take your barrel racing to the next level. It’s OK to make mistakes as long as you are working to be better. None of us are perfect riders, so it’s important to learn and analyze from one horse to the next because no two are the same and each horse has something to teach us.

For any business, long-term profit potential may hinge, in some measure, on efforts to reduce costs, getting better prices for goods and services, consolidating operations, layoffs, or efforts to promote efficiency.

With decades of experience training top-notch reined cow horses, National Reined Cow Horse Hall of Fame inductee Bob Knudson, Stephenville, Texas, fundamentally believes that teaching a horse to stay balanced is key to any maneuver, be it on a cow or around a barrel.

Veteran barrel racer Kay Young helps you write your to-do list for traveling with your horse.