How to succeed at a show

People spend literally thousands of dollars to prepare themselves to enter their first horse show and that is only the beginning. What continues to astonish me however is how unprepared people are in ways that don’t cost them anything. It is fine if you want to make sure you have a show tack box and new britches, shiny boots and a hair net with no holes….great, I endorse all of those things. What most people don’t realize though is that all of that stuff doesn’t matter if you don’t perform in the ring.

Performing well can be influenced by several important factors:

1. Be realistic about your skill level vs. the level you enter the competition (this is hard for some riders and some trainers to grasp)
2. If you are nervous, enter in a lower level, a good measure for this is to ask yourself for example: “if I only going training level how will I feel”, if you immediately feel a sense of relief – GO TRAINING LEVEL – showing is about fun and you should aim to build confidence – you have nothing to prove
3. Don’t pile on 10 lessons the week of your show – be cool – continue your program and trust in the process
4. Don’t ride hard the week before the show instead give your horse the day off before you leave for the show, he is going to need his energy – if you don’t think you as a team will be ready without that ride, please see point number 1
5. Make sure that you have the weekend free and haven’t packed your evenings with other obligations, you should be focused on the show only
6. If possible bring a helper with you, even a non-horse person – so often something is forgotten like a number, or who the next rider in the ring is – a helper is invaluable, especially when you are inexperienced at showing
7. Know the rules at the show
8. Know which ring you are in and when, write it down and pin it in the tack room
9. Know your tests and map them out on graph paper before the show
10. Make sure you know 100% that the show provides a reader, if not make sure you have an experienced reader lined up, let them know how loud they need to speak
11. Get someone to video your test so you can watch it immediately afterward – you are your own harshest critic so take advantage of this – it will definitely improve your score in the next test
12. Know where all of your things are that you need for your test so you are not scrambling around to get ready for your warm-up
13. For your first class, aim to be on your horse 1 hour in advance. If your horse isn’t the type to need that much warm-up you should still get on and wander down to watch other riders go. The more time you have, the more relaxed you will become – this extra time also allows for the unexpected.