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You Need to Balance your SPEED

It seems like the craziest notion in the world – being too fast in a barrel racing run but as an intervaltiming.com rep we see it all the time.

If you don’t look at an interval report, the odds of you knowing where you are clocking is slim.  Our human eyes can deceive us, even during slow motion replays.  We trick ourselves into thinking what looks good perception wise, is clocking well, when often it is the opposite.

The girl who runs the fastest from the timer line to the first barrel will most certainly have one of the worst first barrel turns of anyone at the race.  Likewise, the girl who turns the tightest or fastest 2nd barrel will have one of the worst splits in between 2nd & 3rd barrel.

How do we know?  We have the stats to prove it.   30,000 runs recorded on intervaltiming.com reports annually don’t lie.

One of the most common misconceptions when looking at Interval Split reports is a riders desire to compare themselves to the fastest individual splits versus completed runs.  Riders want to see who the fastest rider was from the timer line to the first barrel and compare themselves to that time, but you are setting yourself up to fail if you use that mark to figure out what you need to be clocking in the intervals.

To clock with the top horses, you need to look at their run as a whole and see how they balance their speed.  They are very rarely (less than 1% of the time) the fastest individual splits, but they have balanced their speed to have the best overall run.

Intervaltiming.com reports compare you to Top 5 Average and Top 5 Runs because it is really important to see how within the top 5, there are areas where the 5th place horse will be faster than the 1st place horse.  By averaging those top times we give you the best idea where you are balancing your speed and where your run might be unbalanced.

Here are some very cool stats from the 2015 BRN4D Finals.  This may be one race, but this holds true at every race:

These are the fastest runs of the weekend on individual horse and rider combinations.  It was a full standard pattern (60x90x105)

As you can see, the pace was blistering fast with a 16.879 being the average time of the top 5 runs.  The world record is a 16.691.

Fastest Run 1st Barrel Combined  Intervals 2nd Barrel Combined Intervals 3rd Barrel Combined Intervals Running
Time
Time in Straights Time in Turns
Kathy Grimes/FF – KG JusticeWeExpected (PESI)  Monday GO 1 Timer to 1st Barrel Around Barrel 1 Between 1st & 2nd Total Between 1st & 2nd Around Barrel 2 Between 2nd & 3rd Total Between 2nd & 3rd Around Barrel 3 Barrel 3 to Timer Total
1.929 1.685 2.582 6.196 2.582 1.646 3.316 7.544 3.316 1.659 3.889 8.864 16.706 11.716 4.990
Difference 0.369 0.059 0.292 -0.717 0.292 0.227 0.394 -2.379 0.394 1.415 -0.075 -0.121 2.680 0.980 1.701
2nd Place 1st Barrel Combined  Intervals 2nd Barrel Combined Intervals 3rd Barrel Combined Intervals Running
Time
Time in Straights Time in Turns
Lea Orsburn/Dance N Spin A Lena  SLOT GO 1 Timer to 1st Barrel Around Barrel 1 Between 1st & 2nd Total Between 1st & 2nd Around Barrel 2 Between 2nd & 3rd Total Between 2nd & 3rd Around Barrel 3 Barrel 3 to Timer Total
1.886 1.538 2.763 6.187 2.763 1.685 3.259 7.707 3.259 1.494 4.130 8.883 16.756 12.038 4.717
Difference 0.412 0.206 0.111 -0.708 0.111 0.188 0.451 -2.542 0.451 1.580 -0.316 -0.140 2.630 0.658 1.974
3rd Place 1st Barrel Combined  Intervals 2nd Barrel Combined Intervals 3rd Barrel Combined Intervals Running
Time
Time in Straights Time in Turns
Kelsie Miller/Bridle Bit Riley  OPEN GO 3 Timer to 1st Barrel Around Barrel 1 Between 1st & 2nd Total Between 1st & 2nd Around Barrel 2 Between 2nd & 3rd Total Between 2nd & 3rd Around Barrel 3 Barrel 3 to Timer Total
1.912 1.654 2.712 6.278 2.712 1.614 3.384 7.710 3.384 1.348 4.316 9.048 16.938 12.324 4.616
Difference 0.386 0.090 0.162 -0.799 0.162 0.259 0.326 -2.545 0.326 1.726 -0.502 -0.305 2.448 0.372 2.075
4th Place 1st Barrel Combined  Intervals 2nd Barrel Combined Intervals 3rd Barrel Combined Intervals Running
Time
Time in Straights Time in Turns
Kelli Barichello/Dats Last Frenchman  Monday GO 1 Timer to 1st Barrel Around Barrel 1 Between 1st & 2nd Total Between 1st & 2nd Around Barrel 2 Between 2nd & 3rd Total Between 2nd & 3rd Around Barrel 3 Barrel 3 to Timer Total
1.861 1.646 2.763 6.270 2.763 1.730 3.391 7.884 3.391 1.560 4.019 8.970 16.970 12.034 4.936
Difference 0.437 0.098 0.111 -0.791 0.111 0.143 0.319 -2.719 0.319 1.514 -0.205 -0.227 2.416 0.662 1.755
5th Place 1st Barrel Combined  Intervals 2nd Barrel Combined Intervals 3rd Barrel Combined Intervals Running
Time
Time in Straights Time in Turns
Melissa Roll/THR Watch Me Perk “Cozmo”  OPEN GO 2 Timer to 1st Barrel Around Barrel 1 Between 1st & 2nd Total Between 1st & 2nd Around Barrel 2 Between 2nd & 3rd Total Between 2nd & 3rd Around Barrel 3 Barrel 3 to Timer Total
2.014 1.626 2.692 6.332 2.692 1.516 3.523 7.731 3.523 1.649 4.004 9.176 17.024 12.233 4.791
Difference 0.284 0.118 0.182 -0.853 0.182 0.357 0.187 -2.566 0.187 1.425 -0.190 -0.433 2.362 0.463 1.900
Top 5 Average Timer to 1st Barrel Around Barrel 1 Between 1st & 2nd Total Between 1st & 2nd Around Barrel 2 Between 2nd & 3rd Total Between 2nd & 3rd Around Barrel 3 Barrel 3 to Timer Total Time  Time in Straights Time in Turns
1.920 1.630 2.702 6.253 2.702 1.638 3.375 7.715 3.375 1.542 4.072 8.988 16.879 12.069 4.810

Now we will show you why comparing yourself to the fastest individual splits is setting you up to fail.

Here are the fastest splits from the weekend runs.

Timer to 1st Barrel 1.221 Around Barrel 1 1.391 Between 1st & 2nd 2.392 Around Barrel 2 1.271 Between 2nd & 3rd 2.977 Around Barrel 3 1.286 Barrel 3 to Timer 3.814
Jodie Bailey/VF Power Stone   OPEN GO 2-17.697 Rachel Crites/Hails Miss Millie   OPEN GO 3-17.935 Angie Finley/Quiet Blues Music “Tater”   Monday GO 1-18.122 Jennifer Ballard/Custom Baquera   OPEN GO 3-18.132 Melody Payne/Shesa Tru Commander   OPEN GO 1-18.118 Gary Trottier/Naturally Ima Stetson   OPEN GO 2-17.899 Brittney Pratt/Bogies Proud Boogie   Monday GO 1-19.386

 

When we look at our top 5 horses, the Top 5 average time from the Timer to 1st barrel is a 1.920 and the fastest split was Jodie with a 1.221 interval split time.

If you don’t look at the whole picture you might think “Wow I need to be a 1.221 to be the fastest from the Timer to the 1st barrel”

What you don’t see when you look at this fragment is that the same horse had one of the worst 1st barrel turns out of over 1000 runs at this race.  When you look at her splits like a story, she might have gained 0.699 in the straight but she gave up 0.981 in the 1st barrel turn for total lost time of 0.282.

Jodie Bailey/VF Power Stone  OPEN GO 2 1st Barrel Combined  Intervals
Timer to 1st Barrel Around Barrel 1 Between 1st & 2nd Total
1.221 2.611 2.722 6.554
Top 5 Average Timer to 1st Barrel Around Barrel 1 Between 1st & 2nd Total
1.920 1.630 2.702 6.252

Here is the fastest first barrel interval.  As you can see Rachel was tighter than tight with a 1.391 second turn, the Top 5 average was a 1.630.  When you look at the whole picture though, she gave up 0.299 in the straight before the turn and 0.366 in the straight after the turn for combined lost time of 0.426

Overtight or seemingly quick barrel turns usually translate into a two-fold loss on the clock as people loose time coming into the turn AND leaving it, costing you time on the clock twice.

Rachel Crites/Hails Miss Millie  OPEN GO 3 1st Barrel Combined  Intervals
Timer to 1st Barrel Around Barrel 1 Between 1st & 2nd Total
2.219 1.391 3.068 6.678
Top 5 Average Timer to 1st Barrel Around Barrel 1 Between 1st & 2nd Total
1.920 1.630 2.702 6.252

 

It seems a crazy notion to tell a barrel racer to slow down, but there is such a thing as too much speed in the straight if you blow the turn.  Our fastest horse in between 1st & 2nd is a perfect example of this.

You can see that Angie was a rapid 2.392 between 1st and 2nd barrels and the Top 5 average was a 2.702.  This gained Angie 0.310 on the clock, however she gave that all back two-fold in the turn because the Top 5 was 1.638 and Angie was 2.223 losing her 0.310 plus another 0.275 for a grand total loss of 0.510 (half a second)

Sometimes as barrel racers we aren’t clocking so we try and go faster but in Angie’s situation if she applies this theory, her times are probably just going to get worse because she has speed to burn, she needs to slow down a little.

Angie Finley/Quiet Blues Music “Tater”  Monday GO 1 2nd Barrel Combined Intervals
Between 1st & 2nd Around Barrel 2 Total
2.392 2.223 4.615
Top 5 Average Between 1st & 2nd Around Barrel 2 Total
2.702 1.638 4.340

Here are the rest of the fastest splits compared to the Top 5 horses and you can see how proven the “too fast” formulas is:

2nd Barrel Fastest Turn:

Gained 0.367 in the turn, lost 0.812 in the straight coming into the turn and leaving resulting in 0.445 time lost

Jennifer Ballard/Custom Baquera  OPEN GO 3 2nd Barrel Combined Intervals
Between 1st & 2nd Around Barrel 2 Between 2nd & 3rd Total
2.916 1.271 3.973 8.160
Top 5 Average Between 1st & 2nd Around Barrel 2 Between 2nd & 3rd Total
2.702 1.638 3.375 7.715

 

Fastest horse in between 2nd & 3rd Barrel:

Gained 0.398 in the straight, lost 0.724 in the turn resulting in 0.326 time lost

Melody Payne/Shesa Tru Commander  OPEN GO 1 3rd Barrel Combined Intervals
Between 2nd & 3rd Around Barrel 3 Total
2.977 2.266 5.243
Top 5 Average Between 2nd & 3rd Around Barrel 3 Total
3.375 1.542 4.917

 

Fastest 3rd Barrel Turn:

Gained 0.256 in the turn, lost 0.724 in the straights resulting in 0.468 time lost

Gary Trottier/Naturally Ima Stetson  OPEN GO 2 3rd Barrel Combined Intervals
Between 2nd & 3rd Around Barrel 3 Barrel 3 to Timer Total
3.715 1.286 4.456 9.457
Top 5 Average Between 2nd & 3rd Around Barrel 3 Barrel 3 to Timer Total
3.375 1.542 4.072 8.989

 

Fastest Run home:

Gained 0.258 on the run home, lost 1.532 seconds in the turn resulting in 1.274 time lost.

Brittney Pratt/Bogies Proud Boogie  Monday GO 1 3rd Barrel
Around Barrel 3 Barrel 3 to Timer Total
3.074 3.814 6.888
Top 5 Average Around Barrel 3 Barrel 3 to Timer Total
1.542 4.072 5.614

 

This is just one race but we capture thousands of runs annually that tell the same story.  An interval report truly is the only way to know where you are and are not clocking, the human eye cannot register what the electric eye can in thousands of a second and this is why is it critical to capitalize on this leading edge technology to find balance in your horses’ unique strengths and weaknesses.