Persuasive Essay About Barrel Racing

Most people have told me barrel racing isn’t a sport, but hunter jumping is. I believe they are wrong about barrel racing. Barrel racing is one of the hardest, most expensive, and most dangerous sports out there.

The main part of barrel racing is the responsibility. I have met lots of people who do not realize just how big of a responsibility having a barrel horse is. There are many things about taking care of a barrel horse that people don’t take into consideration. The main thing is making sure your horse is healthy. It is necessary to worm your horse on a regular basis, as well as getting coggins on all of your horses. Having coggins is proving your horse does not have Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA). Coggins are often needed at shows and

Just like any other sport, it takes teamwork, dedication, and trust to barrel race. Also, it takes practice and you have to understand each other. If I were to compare it to football I could explain just how much of a sport barrel racing really is. Football players lift weight, I lift heavy water buckets, sixty pounds of feed and fifty pounds of tack. They work with a team of at least eleven, I work with a twelve-hundred pound animal, whom is most of the time too hot headed to understand English, but I still have to communicate with her. They have four-fifteen minute quarters to play. I have under thirty seconds to show what I’ve got. Also, when they fall it’s only a couple of inches. If I were to fall, it would be at least five feet going at least thirty miles an hour. They only play for one season, while barrel racing lasts all year. Even in the freezing cold and blazing hot sun. If anyone thinks barrel racing is less dangerous, they obviously haven’t had a horse roll on top of them or fell face-first going thirty miles an hour into a metal barrel. Barrel racing is actually one of the most dangerous sports out there if you don’t know what you’re doing. Even if you’re an expert barrel racer, your horse still has a mind of its own and can kill you in a matter of

I have also been told by hunter jumpers, “Barrel racing isn’t a sport because you don’t have to know anything. You don’t have to change strides or hold on for your life like we do when going over a six foot jump.” I have quit a few comments about this thought. First, barrel takes lots of skill, if you don’t have that skill, you will get hurt. While barrel racing, we do have to change strides, otherwise you would go around the barrel too fast and would either get injured because your horse slipped, or you would turn too wide, causing you to lose. Second, if we didn’t “hold on for our lives,” we would go flying out of the saddle. When you get to a barrel, you have to sit, turn, and keep your eye on the next barrel. Another reason barrel racing isn’t easy is because, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you will get hurt. If you don’t get hurt, your horse will and in my opinion, I’d rather get hurt than see my horse in