Combined Driving is Mysteriously Awesome
Sunday, June 15th, 2008
Tags: combined driving, competitions
Are Horse Shows Right For You?
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
Citizen Horse asks the question, are horse shows right for you?
Too many times I have been at a horse show and witnessed the unhappy horse shower. Sometimes it’s the obvious outbursts like “Why do I do this?” or “I hate showing” or “This is a waste of money!” that tip me off to the unhappy horse competitor. There are then the more subliminal signs of horse show unhappiness; crying, nervousness, withdrawal from the others in the barn, over quietness, scratching classes, anger, timidness, and general amplified horse-person craziness.
Starting with the hunter/jumper A show circuit, these horse shows are not cheap. Whether the horse show is near by or many states away, an A horse show is a huge financial investment. Based on pure finances alone, one has to ask, are horse shows worth it?
Depending on riding goals, financial circumstances, and a horse’s ability, whether or not to compete at horse shows can be easily determined. But to start, we must figure out how you ended up showing in the first place.
Great riding can be achieved without ever stepping foot in the show ring.
If you are riding huntseat (hunter/jumper), most likely you are at a hunter/jumper barn and have a hunter/jumper trainer. If you are considering showing, or are currently showing, I’m sure many, if not most, of the other boarders or barn clients are also showing. Admittedly, a trainer doesn’t make money off of board. A trainer makes a living solely on training, teaching, and showing. This puts pressure on clients and boarders to participate in a training and showing program. If you are at a barn that requires participating in horse shows and training (and many do), you must understand you’ve been directly pressured into showing by the trainer’s need for income - consider this when you think about your showing aspirations.
But before we talk about horse show goals, lets talk about goals as a rider. Whether you want to perfect your ability to navigate a course, get all your distances to the fences, jump bigger fences, or just be a more effective rider, you must understand that showing does not get you to these goals. Horse showing also does not allow you to prove those riding goals. Any of the above listed goals can be met at home; horse show competitions are not the only way to attain. You can achieve great riding without ever stepping foot in the show ring. But, if your goal as a rider is to do any or all of those things at a horse show, that’s a different story. If your goal as a rider is to win classes, divisions, or move up from long stirrup to the adult amateur, then a horse show is your platform.
Make sure horse show goals are YOUR goal and not your trainer’s goal. Moving up in divisions, especially in the hunter ring, is subjective. First, the horse you ride is more of an indicator of what division you ride in. The long stirrup division to the adult amateur division is only dependent on your ability to pilot your horse through a bigger course confidently, or your horse’s ability to navigate you through a bigger course without you being scared. Both of those hunter objectives can be completed at home.
In the jumper ring, goals are a little different. At home, you can perfect your course navigating, distances, the size of jumps, and rider effectiveness. But, the jumper ring at a horse show will definitely press you a little harder. You are riding against the clock, without pulling any rails, all while jumping a course you have not schooled over. The jumper ring can actually push you to become a more effective rider. Competing in jumpers gives you a lot to think about outside of just you and your horse.
Make sure horse show goals are YOUR goal and not your trainer’s goal.
But, you can still reach goals at home if you like the jumpers. Your goals just can’t be jump an ‘Open Jumper’ course clean and within the time, because, no matter what, at a show, it is more difficult. Show courses will be more challenging, the time is going to be a crucial indicator of your success with that course, and of course, your horse will be a totally different ride in the show ring than at home. At home though, you can absolutely set your goal to be, say: Jump a 4’9” course clean. This is an attainable riding goal at home.
Maybe you have been jumping 3’ for a while and both you and your horse are ready to jump a little bigger. That can absolutely be done at home. You will not prove that you can jump 3’3” any better at a horse show than you will at home.
Maybe the nervousness you get at a horse show is something you want to overcome. If that is your goal, then the show ring is the only place to work on that. You have to be honest with yourself about your ability to achieve this goal. Some people never loose that nervousness. Unless you own 3-5 horses, take all 3-5 horses to every horse show, and show all of them in several divisions, you are most likely not showing enough to completely eliminate those horse show nerves!
If you completely enjoy riding your horse, jumping your horse, and improving your riding skills, why do you go to horse shows? Many amateurs end up so frustrated at the end of a long, very long horse show day, not to mention week, or weeks! If you aren’t having fun, then don’t compete at horse shows. If you just aren’t having fun because you aren’t winning, that is a completely different story. If you are ONLY showing to win, you shouldn’t be showing. Winning-Only showers are people who purchase made, push-button horses, have little to no true skill or talent, and they have gobs of money.
It is completely unrealistic to be unhappy to lose at a horse show. You are going to lose, you will lose often. In the hunter ring, most of the time, it will make no sense whether you win or lose. But, in the jumper ring, if you lose, smile! Some of the best horse shows I have been to include my all time losing rides. I learned more in each one of those losing rides than every jumper class I have won put together. Whether it was rider error, green horse brain fart, or just a bad horse day, I learned how to ride better when I lost. Any jumper class I won, as fun as it was, I didn’t take all that much out of the show ring with me. Sure, it’s an expensive way to learn, but one of the best ways to learn!
You will not prove that you can jump 3’3” any better at a horse show than you will at home.
Showing should be fun, win or lose, and if it isn’t, you shouldn’t be showing. If your trainer pressures you to show, find a new trainer; they don’t all require showing, and not all hunter/jumper trainers snub you if you don’t show.
On the financial side, if your goal is to show and you don’t have the money to show; you work hard. You figure out a budget, you figure out how much you can afford. If your goal is the A shows, see if there is anything you can work off. If you aren’t at a barn that can give you that, find another barn. There are cheaper barns out there with good trainers. Although, if you are riding hunters and you don’t have a “known” trainer, there is a good chance you won’t pin very well. For jumpers, you’re more likely to find a trainer that don’t cost a fortune. But there are a lot of bad trainers out there, and even some of those cost a fortune. If your goal is to make it to an A show, there is a way, just figure it out.
Some may find themselves at a big, show required barn (the kind that make you sell your horse because THEY say you need a new horse). Don’t get sucked into this big show barn money game. You should ONLY sell your horse, or consider a new horse, if your abilities have out-grown your current mount or if your current mount has soundness issues that don’t fit into your riding goals. Don’t get bullied into providing commission to these trainers and barns.
As an alternative, B rated horse shows, local, or open shows can provide an ample amount of classes to participate in, and the cost is substantially less. If you are looking for bigger jumper classes, I don’t think a B show would qualify. But, if you are looking to work on your nerves, B horse shows are a cheaper alternative. B shows hold a much more laid back atmosphere, and they are CHEAP. For green horses or riders, B shows are a great economical tool.
In the world of dressage, showing is a good way to gauge you and your horse’s progress. In my experience, you walk away from a dressage show with some constructive feedback (maybe not EVERY dressage show). With that feedback, you can work on area’s you and your horse are weak and keep up the good work on the area’s you and your horse are excelling. But again, horse shows aren’t the only way to prove your dressage skills. You can accomplish dressage performance at home, you can execute tests, you can add movements, and you can always, ALWAYS improve. But besides your trainer, your ability to gauge you and your horse’s performance is difficult. Again, depending on your goals, a horse show may or may not be the answer for you.
Horse shows are expensive, stressful, full of ups and downs, and most importantly, they are often times VERY political. You must really ask yourself if it is worth it. You should never show for someone else’s goals; you should always have fun and be working towards improving your riding and you and your horse’s communication. If you are showing only for the horse “community” experience, leave your show barn and go find a laid back place. Ostensibly, there will always be horse show snobs that just don’t feel “cool” unless they can hang out in their barn’s decorated area, but don’t get sucked in on “being the non-showing outsider”.
Horse shows should be fun, win or lose, and if they aren’t, don’t show! If you can experience and reach your riding goals outside of showing, then why show?
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SEE RELATED CITIZEN HORSE ARTICLES:
- Hunters, Not a Sport
- Dressage Queens
- Sport Horse Breeding Chapter 1: The Mare
Tags: competitions, horse shows, politics
Hunters, Not a Sport
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
not the riding, the judging
If there is one part of English riding that I loath, its the Hunters. Not because there isn’t some style, grace, and purpose; I think everyone should start in the hunter ring. But, the politics involved in the pre-green through regular working hunters is a joke. I have been to many horse shows where you didn’t have to watch the rounds; as long as there wasn’t anything major that happened (refusal), you knew who would be in the top three to five by the names of riders, and sometimes, the owners.
Anymore, hunters are a political, status driven competition with barely any merit. If winning proof is subjective, judged sports cannot truly be sports? What, because judges are “approved” said judgment carries weight? NO! Its still subjective!
If winning proof is subjective, judged sports cannot truly be sports.
The hunter world is a dirty world, lots of pressure to have the right “look”, the right amount of flash in the horse, the right size, color, brand. I mean, what happened to all the thoroughbreds that zipped around a hunter course and made it look more like a HUNT course than an outside, diagonal, outside, single fence, diagonal, boreathon?
There is a definite importance to start in the hunter ring whether you are a kid or an adult. The hunter ring is where you earn your wings. But, there comes a time when you have to question the actual pertinence of such competition.
The hunter argument is that accuracy and perfection are derived from a great hunter course. But, if you really watch 30-40 hunter rounds in a row - good, great, and mediocre - they all start to look the same (I don’t care what commentary you are listening to).
Hunters should be used as a stepping stone for horse and rider. I will never consider hunters a sport, and except for green horses and green riders using the hunter ring for experience, miles, and steps, hunters are a joke.
If you want to jump….ride in the jumper ring; fear shouldn’t keep you from trying….the great thing about it….you aren’t being judged.
Tags: competitions, equestrian, equine, horse, hunters, showing, shows
