New Barrel Horse Supposively EXTREMELY promising but cant figure him out

[brrlrace4life]

I bought an 8 yr old QH about 1 1/2 month ago. He is VERY VERY tall (about 17.3 hh) and he is VERY wide. He is VERY VERY fast but i cant get him anywhere below 17 seconds. He placed in the Barrelracing Nationals So i KNOW he has it in him. I've tried everything...He isnt consistent with turns...He CAN cut though he does it alot just once or twice he'll knock a barrel down every so often..but He HAS the speed i just need help getting him out of it. Its like hes in a relax mood and no matter how hard i try he wont push himself. Is there a method i should use? My trainer says to sit deep in the saddle the WHOLE time running him and every time that i want him to run in the arena so he knows "ok its go time" and to soften my hands..she says that she can see when he messes up hes too worried about pleasing me so he gets distracted. I also think it could be the bit, I've been using a VERY strong very little twisted wire with dogbone and metal chain curb strap and hes..or was..a very easy automatic horse at first i got 2nd the first day i rode him with a 16.8 and ive seen him run 15s. HELP ME!

[Bob Gould]

If I were you, I would try to analyze exactly what I had changed since
purchasing him.  You said you won 2nd on the horse the first time you rode
him and in that case, you need to go back to the person that was riding or
tuning him before you got him.  You obviously did well on him riding off of
that person's tune on the horse and you need to figure out what you are
doing differently that is causing the horse to not run or stay sharp.  If
you have changed bits, then you need to go back and ride the horse with the
headgear that the previous rider used; you need to ask questions about how
that rider kept the horse tuned and ready to run, what he was fed and what
his daily routine was.  If your hands are rough and uneducated, then learn
to soften them and "ask" for a response instead of "telling" your horse what
you want him to do.
Martha Wright