my horses second and third barrel could not be better he will not rate at the first barrel does anyone have any advice?

With out seeing your horse run it is really hard to say. Somethings to look for though would be soreness issues. If there are no soreness issues then most of the time in my experiences the rider is not setting down in the saddle and asking for the horse to rate. If your horse is rating the other two barrels then I would think he knows how to rate. Video yourself and see if you are setting down and asking for him to rate on the first.

I am by no means a professional trainer, but I have a 4yr old that I was having problems with on the first too. What has worked for me is slowing him down going to the first. Make sure he's in the correct lead too. Once we are around the first barrel I push him. I do that at shows and at home practicing. After I did that awhile, now I can usually push him to the first and he rates, although we still have to do the slow approach sometimes too, just as a refresher. The other thing I do is when I trot through I always stop & back him up on the first. Hope this helps & Good Luck!!!

thank you so much for the advice.... i have been taking him completly into the arena and the running to the barrel instead of letting him run in to the arena and that has worked pretty well