The Novice Horseman Blog

The 2010 Palomino Show is over.  From the back gate, the number of horses appeared to have been up.  The youth show and the open show had more exhibitors in the riding classes than last year.  The halter classes were down though in the weanling and yearling classes.  With the rough economy, that was expected.

There were horses from all over the U.S. and even a few from Canada.  There were all of the horses that have been showing for years, but there was also quite a few  first time horses and exhibitors.  I found, from the class sheets, there was a lack of horses from Oklahoma.  This surprised me since this show is held in Tulsa, Okla.  In past years, there has almost always been at least 1 horse from Okla in most of the classes.

The Oklahoma heat did not make this a comfortable show for horse, exhibitor, trainer, groom or volunteer.  The heat index on most days was 109 or higher.  Even though we sit just outside one of the big opened overhead doors, we did not benefit from the AC spilling from the building.  There just wasn’t enough wind to create the draw needed to bring the AC out.

The humidity was another factor.  If you stayed outside, you were drenched in sweat.  If you stayed inside, you were too cold.  If you wore glasses and went from inside to out, your glasses fogged up so bad it took several minutes for them to clear.

The weather made a few people a little crabby at times.  The heat took it’s toll on the horses too.  They got tired sooner and some acted up a bit more than usual.  For the most part, everyone had a good attitude.

The one factor that was way off was the number of volunteers to help this year.   While the youth show did have a good number of volunteers, the open show barely had any volunteers.  One of the main volunteers became sick after the youth show and could not return for the open show.  This left 1 scheduled volunteer  and the tack judge at the back gate and 1 volunteer to hand out awards.  The ground manager helped fill in.  This is the smallest amount of volunteers ever for this show.  We all stepped up to the challenge and the show did not have to wait on the back gate for any of the classes.

If you have a chance to go to one of the big shows, please do.  Enjoy the different classes.  Appreciate the skill of the exhibitors and the training on the horses.  Browse through the different vendors that are at the shows.  But most importantly . . . . . if you can spare just one day, help a show run smoothly by volunteering.

I watched a few hunter hack classes at a recent national show.  Hunter hack is an English class that consists of 2 fences to be jumped individually by each entrant, then rail work by the entire class.  It is always the same . . . some horses shy away from the first jump or just flat refuse to jump it.  The shows always have flowers, brightly colored rails, trees at the side of the standards or any combination of these.  Some of the horses have either not seen these before or if they have only at the shows.

The fix is easy.  Go to a dollar store & buy some artificial flowers.  You can drill holes in the ground rail and put flowers in each hole.  Or you can push the flower stems into the dirt just behind the ground rail but in front of the bottom rail.  Your horse may still shy away from the flowers for a short time at home, but he will get used to them.  Then when at the show, flowers are not such a big deal to him anymore.

Also, paint a few of your rails any color other than white.  This doesn’t have to be an expensive task.  You can use some left over house, wall or barn paint.  Maybe your neighbor has some paint that they would like to get rid of.  You can paint the rail all one color or put stripes on it.  Use your imagination.

The end effect is to get your horse use to something that you would see at the show.  This fix is good for the hunter or jumper classes also.  Don’t wait until the next show & wonder why he keeps shying away from the jump.

Attitude Is Everything . . Choose A Good One

This plaque was hanging at the entrance to the holding pen for a horse show.  Every exhibitor walked or rode past it every time they entered for their next class.  Most acknowledged the importance of the message. 

To me, this means I should have a winning attitude.  Knowing I have done my best to prepare both me and my horse, I come out a winner even if I don’t place in class.  I treat my horse with the respect that he deserves.  I take responsiblity for the mistakes that are made.  I don’t blame my horse for every missed cue.  I try to ride with a gentle hand, a quiet leg and a soft seat.  I’ve found that this gets better results even if my horse is having a bad day.  I try to be polite, courteous and pleasant to all around me.  Good manners should not be lost in the horse world.  I arrive a little early.  I offer my help if needed.  Finally, I have fun!

 Attitude Is Everything . . Choose A Good One

What does this mean to you?  I encourage you to leave a comment.