Thanks for allowing me to assist you, I am the horse's servant and will do my best to help you with your horse. Performance horses are trained to respond to cues and conditions, which means they have been conditioned in a certain way. The good news is that they can be reconditioned to respond differently. If you haven't been involved in the training or retraining of a horse, you may wish to enlist the aid of a professional that is qualified to restructure how this horse responds to you. A starting place may be to simply tack him up and then do nothing but hand walk and then tie him up for 15-20 minutes then return him to his corral. This will help him understand that equipment does not mean full speed ahead. This works provided he has adequate exercise during the day. Provide him with turn out and horse company to keep him emotionally balanced. His feed should be adequate for an older horse without giving him the high octane racing fuel he does not need any longer. De-conditioning his response to being mounted with a high energy response will require time and patience. For years he was asked to be full speed, and he has nob reason to expect anything different from you. Making sure his environment, diet, health care and equipment are in line with his well being are good starting points. Consistently fair and decisive leadership will gain his trust and confidence and aid in his retraining. Associating your routine with calmness and fair handling will keep his mind on straight and get him on board with the new program. One thing he will need is a routine and a plan. Explore trainers philosophies and find one that agrees with you and supports a fair remodeling of his behaviors. Remember that you can't pull a horse down to calmness, and big bits make these barrel horses kick it into high gear. Good luck with your project horse! Be safe and enjoy whe ride. SusieL, MS41023.0648591782