Our yearly show is coming up in a few weeks time and I'm silently panicking about it. My friend has introduced a ridden novice horse and rider class - walk and trot only, and the judge will not ride. She's putting it first in the schedule at around 8.30am and i really want to do it as feel it will be a real confidence boost for my horse and I but I'm nervous.
Last year was our first ever show, and our entrance to the show ground was a little eventful, I had to dig my heels in and hold on for dear life as flipo got a tad excited and he's one heck of a strong horse when he wants to be!
He did eventually settle down a bit, but this was after about three hours - he looked like a stallion in his first class and I had issues trying to keep up with him!
We can walk to the grounds as its only five minutes from our field, I think (fingers crossed) his brain won't be quite as
blown by it all this time round as we went past the same grounds later last year when there was a dressage meet and while he did call to many of the horses and get a tad prancey, he was controllable (in hand).
I feel fine coping with him on the ground, I do have a fear of too many riders about the place and we are hoping to work on this in the coming weeks by gathering some fellow liveries and riding in the show ground before the big day (the field belongs to our yard owner so I can do this easily and we go past it all the time.)
I just wondered if anyone has any tips for getting my horse calm before I get on. I really wish the class was later on in the day so I could bring him up and let him mooch about eating grass for a few hours before hand, but friend's justification is that the class is better first when not so many folk are about. At this rate I'll be in there for around 6.30am in the vain hope of him settling!
If we do chicken out, I fully intend on riding that day later on, having discussed it with another friend, my aim is just to ride in the show ground that day. If its in the actual class first thing then fab, if it's just around the grounds later on once he's settled and done a couple of the other In hand classes then fine.
Last year was our first ever show, and our entrance to the show ground was a little eventful, I had to dig my heels in and hold on for dear life as flipo got a tad excited and he's one heck of a strong horse when he wants to be!
He did eventually settle down a bit, but this was after about three hours - he looked like a stallion in his first class and I had issues trying to keep up with him!
We can walk to the grounds as its only five minutes from our field, I think (fingers crossed) his brain won't be quite as
blown by it all this time round as we went past the same grounds later last year when there was a dressage meet and while he did call to many of the horses and get a tad prancey, he was controllable (in hand).
I feel fine coping with him on the ground, I do have a fear of too many riders about the place and we are hoping to work on this in the coming weeks by gathering some fellow liveries and riding in the show ground before the big day (the field belongs to our yard owner so I can do this easily and we go past it all the time.)
I just wondered if anyone has any tips for getting my horse calm before I get on. I really wish the class was later on in the day so I could bring him up and let him mooch about eating grass for a few hours before hand, but friend's justification is that the class is better first when not so many folk are about. At this rate I'll be in there for around 6.30am in the vain hope of him settling!
If we do chicken out, I fully intend on riding that day later on, having discussed it with another friend, my aim is just to ride in the show ground that day. If its in the actual class first thing then fab, if it's just around the grounds later on once he's settled and done a couple of the other In hand classes then fine.
