I have two problems... the first

I have a 5 year old gelding that works great at home. On the clock at home he has is running a half second off of a friends 1-d horse. He is excellent, however whenever we get to a show, he goes in and acts afraid of the barrels and acts senseless. Everyone tells me that he just needs hauling, however he has been hauled since he was 3. He should be over the jitteries by now. Anyone help?

I also just bought an 8 year old gelding. His previous owner wasnt the best rider and she was placing him in the bottom of the 1d, top of the 2d. I am having touble with his first barrel. Its like he's hopping around it. He just doesnt flow the way he should. Any pointers?

Your 5 year old sounds scared of the hoopla in the arena on race day.  Hauling him and standing him in a stall won't do you a bit'o good.  You ideally would take him in the arena and tie him inside the rail in a corner outside the timer.  This will let him be in the arena during all the screaming and stuff while not being under pressure.  You might accomplish this while ponying him in a holding area inside a really large arena, like the one in Tulsa for example.  You might also try some herbal calming solutions for a few runs until he "chills out" and settles in for the work at hand.  Always check your rule book before purchasing any "calming agents."   (You may have always hauled him but now you've changed the rules!  Mom, you expect me to work?)

Your 8 year old needs retraining on the first barrel.  Break him down to a walk and start him like a virgin.  Once he noses in and softens around your leg and respects your cueing with consistancy, then and only then can you trot.  Trot and use the same cues, commands and body language you will at high speeds.  If problems arise break back down to the walk, etc.  Once he's going well slowly canter the first barrel, going wide and leaving yourself a nice pocket.  Keep him supple and bending around your right leg with his nose inside.  If he tenses up, gets hard sided, shoulders in or noses out return to a slower speed and build his foundation stronger.  He may have been run into the first barrel and only knew how to compansate for this speed by rocking back on his hocks and leaping around the barrel(this horse suffers from stiffness and lack of proper training.)  As your speed comes up your pocket around the barrels will shrink(you know this)but he should retain the softness and nose in to the barrel for a smooth soft turn "into the barrel" instead of looking like a horse with bad brakes and a lack of power steering.  Heck while your breaking him down you might as well retrain the other barrels too, right?

Now everyone knows I'm a big Josey fan...I studied barrel racing/training for years but was too scared to run.  I took up jumping instead!  Somehow in my mind it was/is safer...I must have been dropped(repeatedly)on my head as a baby.

Huntseat, I like Martha and R.E. 's methods too. But lets try another approach first before completely retraining a horse in the middle of the show season. Fair enough? 

This is not your old horse, and depending on who trained him he might not work the first barrel the way YOU do. If your trying to set him hard and getting in his head he may not be able to turn the barrel the way HE was trained, as he may be a run and turn type a guy. Or you could be going the other way, letting him run his butt off to the first barrel and not rating him the way he is used too and feels confused. Try asking your friend who trained the horse and give them a call, tell them how great their old horse is doing and you were just trying to find out how he was trained. I did this with our old horse Codys Red Rage, called D. Hutchcraft and asked a few question he was happy to answer and we went from second division in poles to 6th place at Congress and he's still running in the money at 21 yrs old.