Make Every Stride Count!

When it comes to equine speed events, a tenth of a second can make the difference between earning a paycheck and going home empty handed. To be successful, riders must carefully train—not just their horses but also themselves.

Every detail can affect performance in events such as barrel racing and pole bending. Winning hinges on the mental, physical, and emotional fitness of both horse and rider.

Make Every Stride Count! will guide you to achieving fitness in all three areas. It prepares you for every possible situation, recommends exercises to practice with your horse, and shares techniques for managing the pressure of competition. In martial arts, power, speed, and accuracy are all crucial to success, and the same is true for equine speed competition.

This insightful handbook features many patterns and exercises that will help you develop strong communication with your horse, optimize paths, and obtain the best possible times in speed competitions and rodeos. It also provides extensive outlines of competition-day activities and strategies for analyzing your performance and discovering areas in need of improvement.

Whatever your riding level, the ideas and suggestions in Make Every Stride Count! can help you and your horse compete smarter—and faster.

Ralph J. Moses Jr. has sixteen years of experience in competitive equestrian speed events. Ever since participating in his first event, he has studied the techniques and skills of successful competitors and has observed that the winning riders are usually those who make the fewest mistakes. To develop his own skills and abilities, he has studied tae kwon do and has taken acting and other personal-development classes.

Moses qualified for National Barrel Horse Association world championships seven times and competed in six. Due to a back injury, he no longer competes at the national level, but his passion for barrel racing and pole bending remains.