Your biggest mistakes during showing

[Jess P]

I was looking at some of my show pictures and I realized a few things I do wrong.

Firstly, I have my mare's front legs stretched too far forward. She is trained to do this because of me.

I also don't get as much neck as I should.

So what are your mistakes?

 

[Leeana]

I always forget to smile, i just feel so fake ..deffently need to get infront of a mirror and work on it, i almost have to pretend like i'm lauphing in order to get it down. Its just you get in there your thinking 100 things about the horse, i'm not thinking about smiling or anything like that ..just the horse. Thats is deffently my biggest fault.

I need to work on that for showmanship next year for sure!

 

[Miniv]

Fussing too much with my horse..........and not constantly knowing where the judges are!

MA

 

[EquineLover]

With me,I almost never smile,Im not thinking about smiling when Im showing and Id rather not put on a fake smile like alot of people do,but I guess I'll have to work on it anyway,sometimes I can smile if I think about something really funny,or that makes me really happy.I also tend to have my arms to far out and up from my body,and I have a really hard time remembering patterns.

: Thats some stuff I need to work on.

:

 

[Jill]

My biggest mistake in the ring happened to also be the first and only time my parents came to a horse show (they're coming to another one though next month).

I was showing Derby and it was a local show. He was one of a few minis there as it was mostly QH's and Paints and he was the ONLY stallion there. Yes, he was tha man.

They had is line up in the halter class nose to tail, and everyone (lots of spectators, including my parents and husband) watching from the far rail. It seemed to take a long time for the class and Derby's way short and I'm a little tall. I made sure he was standing square and got him to stretch his neck and do pretty ears. You know, the important things. I really thought he was looking good.

He got last place and I was surprised. The judge told me before I left the ring "that's a nice horse, but he was just a little too excited." As soon as I got out the gate, my former trainer enlightened me. Derby had been exercising his weenie (party down below) throughout the entire class.

Now anytime I mention Derby to my parents, I know what they are thinking.

Destiny may even aspire to follow in Derby's footsteps. When I got to meet him in Lexington, KY about a month ago, he was very interested and inspired but this very pretty, large dog. He was a pretty red, black and white dog and I thought it might have reminded him of some of Erica's pretty bay pinto girls? He may be happy to learn I have a collie in VA waiting for him to admire.

ALSO, just makes me think anyone who says horses are stupid might be interested to learn what an active fantasy life they do seem to have.

 

[wildoak]

The hardest thing to do in a halter class is to quit messing with your horse and start showing it. I still have to remind myself to let well enough alone sometimes, and pay attention to the judge who is waiting to see my horse. It looks so much nicer and more professional to set your horse up, stand back and show.

Another problem I see a lot of is handlers standing too close to their horses - horse won't show as well, and the judge can't see him/her if you are in their face.

I've watched and coached my daughter through showmanship classes for years, but I've just started seriously showing it myself.....and I'm having a heck of a time keeping the half and quarter system straight beteween shows LOL!

Jan

 

[BallynoeBaby]

At my very first show with my mini we were walking away from the judge and back to her again but i didn't know at the time and i turned baby away from the judge and putmyself between them. When i got back up her assistant told me my mistake. How embarassing, me thinking i was great.

:

 

[nootka]

I think overall my biggest mistake is crowding my horse and not getting their attention properly.

It takes a lot of self-control not to get nervous and overdo it/overwork the horse.

Also, it seems it's "just my luck" that the horse rests a foot or steps completely out JUST as the judge shows up, though I've learned to relax a lot more about it.

Liz

 

[justjinx]

I have to remind myself to BREATHE and RELAX when i am showing. it makes a HUGE difference with my stallion. if i am relaxed he shows much better and i get ears. if i am tense, he shows, but not nearly as well! jennifer :saludando:

 

[dannigirl]

Mostly, just don't fuss too much. If the horse doesn't set up for me in short order, I try to remember (when I am not too addle-headed) to just set him the best he will do and show off the head and neck. Fussing just seemed to make things worse. Also, I try not to seriously correct my horse just before a class. I did that a time or two with a little mare. She stood perfectly still, but would not bait and laid her ears back and had a peeved look during the whole class. One judge even remarked that she didn't look happy. :no: Not pretty LOL

 

[keeperofthehorses]

Learned this one the hard way...

: At the playday last month, I had my two mares tied just outside the ring (on hard ground). In the ring, while I was getting Sassy to stretch, she reallllly stretched and had a nice, long pee. While the judges were looking at her, she was all hunch-backed, ears back, just lovely. And she has white tail & legs, and there was no time to clean her up. So I've learned that a few minutes before my class, to give my ponies a chance to relieve themselves on some soft, sandy or bedded ground (they'll hold it on hard ground where it splashes) and leave myself time to clean them up if needed.

I've also learned that I can't hear the judges in the ring unless they are right in my face, so it's important for me to watch a judge for a few classes to see what they are doing and really keep an eye on them in case they say something to me.

Oh, and don't use too much quicksilver the morning of the show, or you might get lavender legs & tails.

:

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

We've made almost every mistake listed so far as we're still very very new to showing. It would be hard to say which is our biggest mistake!

The rocking horse stance - my daughter kept trying to match up legs, and we thought her filly was going to fall on her stomach - patient filly though.

One mare on the way to a day show (2 classes at 8 am then we were done), had projectile diarrhea in the trailer as soon as we arrived. The facility wouldn't let us use their wash rack to wash her legs (or the other horse she had squirted! Try cleaning up two horses with bottled water and baby wipes!

Jill - Derby and our Mirmax must be twins. He did that at a pinto show recently. I was outside holding other horses, and Kathi (wcr) was showing him, but I couldn't see what he was doing, just saw him jump sideways 4 feet at one point. He apparently was having a good time, and wouldn't pull it up, so she grabbed him! After that a look and up it went!

I think we're guilty of not preparing/working our horses enough at home - I admire those horses that will stand like statues for 5-10 minutes in the ring - kudos to those that work their horses to such a level. Ours get ansy and want to look around, see whose behind them, etc.

 

[blusuzi]

I haven't been in a mini show (yet) but I do show 'big' horses in English jumper classes and equitation and I definitly have a big problem smiling. What helps me is to first see to the horse and then just 'let go' and think

positive thoughts "I'm gonna do MY best, if the judge decides to place me dead last I'm still gonna have a blast, this is my horse and I think he/she is the best, I LOVE HIM (her). ect... This might just be me but if that's what I'm thinking I can't help smiling. It's amazing how much better my horse will perform, too.

Just what I've learned : )

 

[dali1111]

Fussing too much with my horse...

quit messing with your horse and start showing it

Well I have the opposite problem. I've been told I don't fuss enough so I don't draw the judges attention. Or something like that. Yes we sometimes need to help them a little but I don't think we should be placeing each and every leg and hoof. That's not the horses true conformation. I do agree that most people fuss way to much with thier horse. At one show this year there was a person who's horse would be all straight and nice and then they would try to fix something(i don't know what... the horse seemed to be perfectly sqare) and the horse would fidget and move around. This continued on to every horse this person showed. They ended up looking like they were doing the chicken dance.

 

[sfmini]

I fed Commodity a peppermint treat before a driving class. He has a very wet mouth and had pink foamy drool coming out of his mouth at the end of the class. Made it look like he was bleeding. :no: