How do you prevent a barrel horse from anticipating the pattern?

Anticipation is one of the most common and damaging problems in barrel racing, and it develops when a horse has been drilled on the barrel pattern so frequently that it begins to make decisions about the pattern independently of the rider's cues. A horse that anticipates will often run to the first barrel without waiting for direction, drift toward the pattern before the timer line, or become anxious and hot in the warm-up area when it recognizes the show environment. Anticipation makes the horse difficult to rate, reduces the rider's control over the approach to each barrel, and often leads to knocked barrels or wide turns that cost time. Preventing anticipation requires varying the horse's work so that running the barrel pattern is not the dominant activity in its training program. Flatwork, trail riding, and other exercises that have nothing to do with the barrel pattern should make up a significant portion of the horse's weekly work. When barrel pattern work is done, it should frequently be interrupted — stopping at different points in the pattern, circling away from a barrel, or walking through portions of the pattern — so the horse learns to wait for direction rather than assuming what comes next. Running the pattern in reverse or approaching barrels from unusual angles in slow schooling work also disrupts the automatic pattern response. At competitions, keeping the horse away from the arena until it is time to compete and avoiding unnecessary warm-up passes near the pattern reduces the environmental associations that trigger anticipation.