Thoughts on showing...

A good friend of mine is in a bit of a slump as of late. He has been showing in cowhorse classes for a couple of years. He has done pretty well sometimes and , according to him, not so well at other times.

This last weekend he was at the first show of the season. Entered a bunch of classes, schooled in some of them and tried to compete in others. The result? A very frustrated friend, ready to pack it in and call it quits on showing, period!

So, the results wasn´t nearly as good as he anticipated and he now kicks himself and every foolish dream he´s ever nurtured.

I really don´t know how to respond to this, but I think something of a reallity check is in order.

Horses are living, breathing animals. They sense just about everything. Pick up on the smallest of changes in their surroundings. You might think everything is normal. You´re feeling good, pretty calm, relaxed, some butterflies ofcourse as your class is about to start, but nothing major. Everything up to this point has been ok as far as you can tell. Horse has been warmed up, he felt great, pretty much like home you think. No reason why he shouldn´t perform, right?

Well, maybe not. Here´s an educated guess, after hangin´ around this pretty special spieces for more than 35 years.

In the horses view, pretty much nothing resembles home! Some horses, like people, handle it differently.

He´s been hauled to a new location, nothing strange in itself, been hauled before. PLENTY of new horses and people around, seen that before too. New stall, geeez, who´s that in the stall next door? Fed maybe later than on weekday´s when master´s off to work, might happen at home too on sunday´s. What? not let out in my paddock after breakfast! Just maybe led around the grounds for 30 minutes, or ridden for awhile. Uhuh, somethings up! Ok, we´re going for a ride, cool! Warmups, pretty much the way we do it at home. Flex alittle, bend alittle, move shoulders, here we go, rundown, yippie!!! Now watch this left spinn, guy! What? correction I thought I did good? Just like home, can´t go as I please, gotta slow down and do it his way or he´ll reach down one rein and correct me, bummer...Unsaddle, rubb down, done are we? Box stall wait, wait, wait. The darn musik´s too loud! Turn it down!!

Master comes again. Master has the cowboyhat on, usually just wares the ballcap?..Oh well, we´ll see what he want´s...Saddling, some more warmups. Hey, this isn´t the bit we used earlier! Oh, well I know wich one it is, I kinda like this one too. Enters Arena...Wow, were did all the people come from? Masters feeling funny up there, rigid sorta...a bit stiff like...Getting old there are we, master? walking for a spell. Ok, here we go cirkling left, doing good no correction, just a little faster, is that ok? Checking? what happened to reaching down the rein and correcting? What´s with him? allright, this part I know, leadchange coming up, leadchange coming up, and...wait....wait leadchange! What, Checking again, no change? Ok have it your way then, killjoy! Oh, you wanted a slow, small cirkle. Could have told me ya´know! Leadchange, finally...fast, fast, slow, slow...man, I know this routine. Change ok, wasn´t it? Rundown, rundown, rundown!!! Checking, checking, checking? how do you expect me to slide when you keep checking me the whole rundown? Man, you got two hands mister... use `em!! Spin, finally something we agree on...one, two, thr...stop? Hey, I was just getting in the flow here! Ok, here I am. End of the arena. Nose pointed down there. Watch me burn some rubber! This is gonna be good! And we´re off!!!! no? what´s with the sissy speed? I´ve seen three legged foals walk faster than this! Check, check, check! Enough already! I´ve got it, back off! You let me run for two strides and expect me to stop?! Come on! Allrigh, spin again. This time I´ll wait for your lead. One..........two.......stop. Was that what you had in mind? Didn´t exactly bringing tears to my eyes now did it? Ok, another rundown, slow and easy, just like you li.....stop! Here? In the middle of the arena? Are you sure? ok. Backup ok, check the rearview mirrors...beeep, beeep, beep and halt, perfect!

Sorry if I got carried away there in my accounts of what might be going through a horses mind during a show. But again: Horses are living, breathing animals. They sense just about everything. Pick up on the smallest changes. The most comon problem associated with showing is that You rarely, if ever, ride your horse at a show the way you do at home. Mostly because the rules don´t let you. When your horse needs correction at home, you simply correct him. Most people I know school their mounts at home, or during warmups, riding two-handed. Even in the bridle! With all the new impressions at a show, I´d say most horses that need help staying focused on the task at hand don´t get the same support as you give them back home. You simply don´t use the same language as you do at home, hence most horses don´t respond the way they do at home.

So, back to the original problem. Keeping my friends spirit up!

Remind yorself why you´re there. Are you doing it just to place well in every class you enter? Are you there to show of your skills as a rider and trainer?

I suggest you have the mindset to use every showing as a checkup on what you and your horse need to work on. The way I see it, you should focus on the small stuff. Things you can more or less control. I would suggest you compete against yourself and yourself only. Did we nail the leadchanges better than last time? Did he read the cow better, turn better? Focus on the little things just the way you do at home. At home you break every reining manouver down in small parts and work on them, right? well, when you analyze your reining pattern for instance, you gotta evaluate it in it´s little parts aswell. But most importantly, you gotta realize you´re not giving your horse the same guidance and help at a show that you do at home. That´s often why the results do differ...