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Getting
started in in-hand showing - Part 2
If
you missed part 1 it can be found in the last
newsletter.
Don't
let your horse graze before you go into the class; otherwise
once you're going along, the green spit will ruin the
image. Usually, you all go in, one behind the other,
walking clockwise, with you on her nearside, so that
the judge sees the horse completely and as little of
you as possible. Your right hand is up near the bit,
holding both reins, with the slack in your left hand,
doubled back up to a suitable distance from your right
hand. Your cane should be in your left hand, so that
you can pass the spare rein into the right hand and
give her a tap behind you with the cane in your left
hand, on her belly, if she turns into a snail.
Sometimes
the steward makes you go in the ring in number order,
but usually it's a melee. If you can go in in any order,
don't go in first, as it will give you a chance to watch
what people ahead of you do, and then if the steward
tells them something different from what I type now,
you will realise and adapt yourself accordingly. Don't
go in behind something much smaller than your horse
as otherwise you'll have to be very cunning to avoid
going up its bum and looking rude. Also, if there is
a horse there that really looks like it is likely to
win or be placed, don’t go in next to them. Try to avoid
the horse that is bucking and rearing and generally
misbehaving (hopefully that is not you and your horse!).
Walk
with your horse, staying at her shoulder, so that she
is striding out looking confident, without you looking
as though you're dragging her along. Try and time your
strides to her, i.e. her off-fore forwards, your right
foot forwards, her near fore forwards, your left foot
forwards. It's not going to be the end of the world
if you get it wrong, but it helps give a much more balanced
way to the way the two of you move, especially in trot
as wrong-footing can make a horse look lame.
If
the horse in front walks much faster, don't let it bother
you, unless yours is being a lazy moo, in which case,
a prod with the cane should suffice, but not too hard
or she'll leap forwards. If the one in front is slow,
or you've unluckily got put behind a horse much smaller
than yours, then bide your time and then when you get
to a corner of the ring, try and go into it deeper,
so that effectively you have to cover a greater distance
than the horse in front, which will put you marginally
further behind them. If they are truly hopeless, then
pick your moment and overtake. Don't wait until you
are passing in front of the judge, as that is deemed
to be very rude to the other competitor. Overtake on
their offside, as this allows their horse to see you
first without their line of sight being masked by the
handler. If you can discreetly say that you are coming
past, then do, saying something like "Excuse me,
but I am going to have to overtake you - she's a bit
excited" or some such mundanity. Go past sensibly
, keeping your horse straight; you should only deviate
if the other horse starts to swing its quarters towards
you; if there is any sign of threat from the other horse,
back off and take a wider berth if you must go past.
At
some point, the judge usually asks the steward to halt
you all on the ringside, and then the first person trots
round to the back of the single-file, and the judge
watches specifically that animal. Once the first horse
has trotted away, everyone shuffles up to where the
previous horse was and waits their turn. Standing like
this, keep your horse straight to the arena side, looking
awake, no grazing, "standing up for the judge",
i.e. with the two offside legs (i.e. the ones nearest
the judge) furthest apart and the nearside legs closer
together. The easiest way to achieve this is to stop
and then ask for a step back, pushing on whichever shoulder
achieves the desired effect; once she's in position,
you can either stand at her nearside shoulder or at
her head facing her - it depends quite how close you
are to the horse in front. Even though the judge is
purportedly looking at the horse trotting up, his eyes
flick all over the place, and you have to look switched
on and ready to be judged there and then.
When
it's your go to do your trot round, you'll know, and
anyway, the steward will signal you to come on; walk
away from the others for a few strides, getting your
feet matched to hers, and then ask her to trot on, sending
her forwards from her shoulder, rather than being at
her head. If you can, stay matched with her feet, and
stay at her shoulder, as then her legs will mask yours,
rather than it being like you have a six legged horse.
Once you've got her in a nice rhythmic trot, if you
have room and a straight side, try and get her to really
pump on a bit, to show her pace off and the fact that
she knows how to use her backside. Keep her as straight
as possible, but don't push her so fast that you're
hanging onto her head to keep her from carting you;
it looks horrid when the horse has its nose jammed in
the handler's chest! Give yourself room to go back to
the slower trot and then into walk and halt without
disappearing up the previous horse's bottom.
Once
everyone has done their trot round, you'll all start
walking round again, and this is when you need to watch
the steward carefully, as it will be he who calls you
in; the judge will decide who to bring in, and tell
the steward, who will point at you, call you, raise
a hat, wave, whatever, so you need to keep glancing
at him to take your cue. It's important at this time
to keep your distance from the horse in front, as, although
I've not done it yet, it would be terribly embarrassing to think
you were being called in and it was actually the person
in front or behind. When called in, walk to (usually)
the nearside of the previous horse to be called in.
From the judge's viewpoint, he would normally put number
one to his far left, and then work from there gradually
right. Some people do go the other way, so watch and
see who goes in before you (presuming you aren't first)
and work out which side you need to be of them. Once
you're called in, when you go into your place, stop
and stand your horse up square this time, and, depending
on where the judge is, stand at her shoulder or at her
head. Don't obscure the judge's view of her at any time.
Keep her alert and attentive, either buy muttering or
making interesting noises, or rustling something in
your pocket. Lots of people pick and feed snippets of
grass, but I've found this ends up in icky green froth
so tend not to do it.
by
Catherine Gray
Next time - the judges come closer.
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