sooo, sorry I havent been on here in like a month, but yeah, im really liking barrel racing. Its really fun. The hardest thing about it is getting to know people because it is such a tight-knit community of people. A lot of times a feel rejected cuz Im not as good as everyone else. Sometimes I think some horse people can be pretty stuck up. lol but yeah, if you get a chance, you should definitely try some barrel racing.

Thanks for the great comment!  I like your philosophy with partnerships!  It also sounds like you have passion for reining!  I can't wait to get into it!  I too have seen some trainers beat horses.  They must be angry people!  Horses trained by those kind of trainers look for all the opportunities to "dump and run" their riders.  Good partnerships work on both sides and I agree, no matter what kind of riding you do, partnerships are the best!

I have met some people who are "trophy hunters" who beat, overtrain, then go through many horses until they find standout horses to compete on.  That makes me sooo mad.

Anyway....any good books on reining? 

Funny thing is I just learned that my friend is going to a community college this semester then is transfering to CSU next fall; but I bet she'll like it :) Well, I am into barrel racing. Sometimes barrel racing gets bad rap because there are a lot of rough handed riders out there. I am fairly new to it, but I am tryin my best to go slow and do everything right so I am not yanking on my horse's face. When I first started I had a tendency to do that cuz my adrenaline took over. Now I have a horse who is teaching me to have soft hands. It has been a great learning experience. I have always wanted to try reining though; the skill and horsemanship skills that go into it would make anyone a better rider.