Barrel racing advice, horse by horse.
TLC Barrels turns questions from a Facebook coaching group into focused lessons on barrel racing, horsemanship, and competition prep. Tina Spangler keeps the advice grounded in real rides, clinic observations, video critiques, and the different feel each horse brings to the pattern.
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TLC Barrels is a working coach's weekly notebook for barrel racers. Tina Spangler builds each episode from the questions, videos, clinic rides, and training problems coming through her online coaching group. The format is plainspoken and practical. It usually begins with updates from the coaching community, then moves into a training theme shaped by what riders are struggling with right now. The topics are concrete: first-barrel approach, strong horses, loose rein versus contact, dry work drills, warmup routines, alleyway focus, and physical foundation. Speed matters, but timing and feel matter more. A recurring point is that not every successful run looks the same, because a free runner and a different kind of horse may need very different rides to produce a clean barrel pattern. The show also resists quick comparison. Riders are encouraged to look at their own horse, their own goals, and the one small improvement available in the next ride. That gives the coaching a patient rhythm. Tina talks about video critiques, challenges, personal bests, clinic follow-ups, and the way riders absorb information differently at beginner and advanced stages. She is comfortable saying when a horse-rider pair may not have enough foundation yet. The show also makes room for the mental side of performance, including confidence, emotions, focus, intuition, and faith. The interview with Terri J. brings animal communication, mediumship, and gut feeling into the same orbit as training and horsemanship. That blend gives TLC Barrels its personality: part arena lesson, part Q&A desk, part community check-in. It is best for riders who want specific drills and honest coaching rather than broad inspiration. The pace is conversational, with member updates, competition prep, and everyday barn life. At its core, the show treats barrel racing as a long process of listening, adjusting, and building consistency one ride at a time.
Made for: For barrel racers, clinic riders, and online coaching members who want practical guidance on training, competition runs, and horse-specific problem solving. It especially suits riders who value steady foundation work over shortcuts.
What sets it apart: The show is shaped by real member questions, video critiques, clinics, and challenges, so the advice stays close to everyday riding problems. It also blends performance coaching with faith, mindset, and occasional animal communication topics.
TLC Barrels talks about topics on horsemanship, barrel racing, polebending, and horse training with Tina Spangler.My whole life horses and barrel racing has been my passion.From 8 years old winning trophies and ribbons on my 1st welsh pony to my 1st NBHA 2D buckle won as an adult in Colorado in 1994 to my last buckle won 1D Senior NBHA Florida in 2019.After 27 years of professional training and competing, I pivoted to fulltime online coaching, private lessons, group lessons and all day clinics. Thank you for being apart of Team TLC. ❤️Blessed to love what I do. Tlcbarrels.com 🙏
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A practical coaching Q&A about foundations, information overload, and choosing one useful improvement at a time.
Tina Spangler's weekly Q&A balances coaching-group housekeeping with a broader look at how riders actually improve. She points listeners toward the late-February challenges, including ribcage control squares and the four-pole drill, then shifts into March's "no excuses" mindset.
A practical rein-choice episode with competition drills, Equi-Stat context, and a reflective finish.
Loose rein versus contact lands as a practical riding choice here, with the episode treating each option as something that affects a competition run rather than as a fixed rule.
A practical Q&A on lead changes, barrel positioning, and balanced barrel-horse scheduling.
Q&A 282 works through the small choices that can make or break a barrel horse's turn: hip and shoulder placement, how the rider lopes around the barrels, and when the lead change should happen.
A Q&A podcast episode discussing the role of parents in youth horse competition, with acknowledgments and a story about a recent interview.
Tina Spangler welcomes new members, shares a story about a clinic at Sheriff's Youth Ranch, and introduces common problems with TLC solutions.
Tina Spangler interviews Terri Jay, an animal communicator and medium with over 30 years of experience, discussing her journey and how she discovered her ability to communicate telepathically with animals.
Tina Spangler hosts a Q&A for her online coaching group, answering member questions on barrel racing techniques.
Tina Spangler hosts episode 264 of her Q&A podcast, focusing on drills to improve barrel racing performance and the debate between loose rein and contact riding.
Tina Stangler discusses why daily goals matter in barrel racing and addresses questions about different horse styles for the first barrel.
Tina Spangler introduces her weekly Q&A podcast, discusses recent clinics, and sets up the topic of relaxed focus warm up and alleyway approach for barrel racing.
Tina Spangler introduces her weekly Q&A podcast and coaching group for barrel racers, highlighting video critiques and community support.
Tina Spangler discusses tuning and competing on strong horses, shares a story about a nearby wildfire, and answers listener questions.
Tina Spangler discusses the importance of building a solid mental and physical foundation for barrel horses to prevent performance issues in competition.
Tina Spangler of TLC Barrels in Keystone Heights, Florida, presents Q&A 289 Level 4 of 5 Seasoning while identifying the recording as episode 284 for Spotify and 34 on YouTube.
Tina Spangler of TLC Barrels answers nine listener questions in Episode 288, including how to get a lead change between first and second barrel and what to do when a horse loses its rate.
Episode 286 of the TLC Barrels Q&A answers whether barrel horses can be trained slow for too long, with the host warning that bad habits take about three times longer to fix than to teach correctly.
Tina Spangler interviews Terri Jay, an animal communicator with over 30 years of experience, about her work and how she discovered her telepathic abilities.
This episode covers drills to improve competition runs and the benefits of riding with a loose rein versus contact.