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Further Tasks Prior To The
Show Season Commencing If you have been working quietly on your horse's preparation over the last ten or twelve weeks, he should be carrying a nice amount of weight and be in full Spring coat by early October. Even if you clipped your horse, he does need to be trimmed every week or so and certainly prior to a show. I clip all socks and white markings on the head; I edge the coronets and back of the pastern, fetlock and lower leg; I clip the jawline and muzzle, inside the ears (and edge them), bridle path and wither. I pull the mane to a short, thin, even level. I also like the tail pulled. I like to pull the top of the tail by hand, then trim a clean line underneath with the clippers. If the tail looks sun bleached you could put some colour in it but make sure you do this a few days before the show. I like my horses to wear a false tail when shown but make sure you practice with it at least a few times at home if your horse hasn't worn one before. A good plait job is important to finish the look of a well presented horse. If your plaiting skills are not up to standard, find someone to help. One thing I have found over the years is that the difference between a learner plaiter and a quite capable plaiter is approximately half a dozen determined practices at home, and someone to make you aware of the finer points.
If your horse has been given regular, relaxed suppling work he should be showing good muscle tone and should be ready to step out to a show soon. I usually work saddle horses about five times per week. One session could be just riding out rather than schooling and perhaps another could be just 20 minutes of solid lunge work. With the three or four schooling sessions, each would be a duration of approximately 45 minutes and would commence and finish with long, low stretching work. It's interesting that Chaff Chat is re-printing Elanor Russell's book of exercises. They are excellent and I have used many of them for my own horses' training programs for many years. I'm not a great advocate of drilling horses with show workouts. If a horse has good working and medium paces, smooth transitions, obedience to the rider's leg and seat and a soft, light and submissive frame I don't think that any show workout that is asked of you will create any difficulty. Ringcraft is often a case of practice at a few smaller shows and observation. If you place in a class, always try to learn something by observing the winner or Champion of your section. If you are prepared to be objective and constructively analyse your own performance, you should learn something every time you go to a show. You will be amazed how quickly you can improve. Of course, the prime reason one horse or rider wins and another loses can, I have found, be a complete mystery to some observers. You only have to listen to conversations at the edge of any show ring to hear an array of excuses that are often, in reality, of no consequence to the outcome of a class A very important part of successful
showing is FOCUSING ON PRIOROTIES. Example 1- There's the rider who will be still fiddling with cosmetic details of a horse's appearance five minutes before a saddle class when the horse hasn't even been warmed up- then they are bewildered as to why the horse misbehaved in his class and didn't place. Example 2- There are the cases of what I would call "economic imbalance"- the horse worth about $1500 with a new saddle on it's back worth $3000, the rider with the most fashionable and expensive riding wear mounted on a horse that looks like he needs a good feed. I always think that if you
look at how the points in a major Royal Show Turnout event are
allocated, it's a reasonably accurate guide as to your priorities
for most show events. In these classes almost 50% of the marks
are allocated to the horse (manners, paces, conformation), 25%
is allocated to riding ability and only 10% is allocated to saddlery,
10% costume, 10% general appearance. Good luck for the show season! |
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