newbie SJ'er

[greeneyes13]

Never been in a compet before-thinking of entering a small one at teh school (75/85 cms)

Any tips for a first timer?

How long show i warm up for and should i try and co-incide finishing the warm up with trotting straight into the ring so we arnt standing around or should i let my horse settle??:)

[helenc]

It will depend a little on your horse & you will only really find out what is right for you as you do it!

With Sylvester I make sure he has a long warm up to make sure he's really listening to me, he always takes at least 20 minutes to settle even at home so I make sure he has plenty of time - we will have a jump when there are about 10 people before me, then do a little more flat work & then I will pop a couple of jumps when there are about 3 people to go, then we have a quiet walk around. I probably only jump the practice fence about 7 or 8 times in total, sometimes less than that as he tends to get a bit over enthusiastic if we do it any more.

Other horses I've had settle in 10 to 15 mins & then they can go straight in the ring, some horses go off the boil if you work them in too much or they can get het up with all of the goings on!

My advice for your first time is to get there early & have a good walk, trot & canter on each rein & see how your horse is going & then decide whether you want to work him to settle him or walk him to keep him calm - it really will be trial & error for your first few times but i bet you'll really enjoy yourself.

Good luck & don't forget to let us know how you get on.

[flintybaby]

Very good advice has been given from HelenC. My horse, Flint, differs from show to show. I warm him up as normal trotting and cantering on both reins and if he bucks I canter him some more. Then I only tend to do about 4 jumps in total before going in the ring. Im very lucky that Flint will jump cold in that he can be stood around for ages and then go in the ring and jump well. But again it differs from horse to horse. Good luck.

[greeneyes13]

Thanks guys!

Booked it. its on sunday. Taking a big chestnut who has a lovely habit of slamming on the breaks last minute. Im starting with a small class though which gives me more scope to ride him on :rolleyes:

will try bring photographer!