When I don’t have the money to go to recognized or rated shows (that would be the majority of my life), I have happily loaded up to go to any schooling show I could make it to. Discipline was not an issue. We would do western pleasure, hunter pleasure, any and all equitation… We played at Barrels and Poles, and Keyhole… My favorite thing ever was the Hangman Race with the Old Man!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=865105096115
(I don’t know if this video will show up or not, so you might have to let me know)
Attending all of these unsanctioned events taught me many things, but the big take-away is:
- Keep riding and training at home.
- Travel whenever you can, for any reason.
- By just showing up and doing it, you keep getting better and better!
I didn’t go to the schooling shows to win (although, sometimes we did just that!). I went to play with my horse. He always played along! I won’t be going to the recognized shows to win, either. I’ll be going to play with my horse. Now, don’t get me wrong! We really want some qualifying scores! But showing up to ride a qualifying score will not get us there.
So, we’re diving right in and heading to some USEF/USDF sanctioned shows this year, after all! We’re not going to win, but we are going to play. It will cost more, but we have to get the miles somewhere, so we might as well start now. After a while, we’ll have our scores. A while after that, sanctioned shows will be just like any other show. We’ll just start showing up and kicking butt!
Attending all of these unsanctioned events taught me many things, but the big take-away is:
- Keep riding and training at home.
- Travel whenever you can, for any reason.
- By just showing up and doing it, you keep getting better and better!
I didn’t go to the schooling shows to win (although, sometimes we did just that!). I went to play with my horse. He always played along! I won’t be going to the recognized shows to win, either. I’ll be going to play with my horse. Now, don’t get me wrong! We really want some qualifying scores! But showing up to ride a qualifying score will not get us there.
So, we’re diving right in and heading to some USEF/USDF sanctioned shows this year, after all! We’re not going to win, but we are going to play. It will cost more, but we have to get the miles somewhere, so we might as well start now. After a while, we’ll have our scores. A while after that, sanctioned shows will be just like any other show. We’ll just start showing up and kicking butt!
I looooooooooove schooling shows. Wish we had more of them here!
ReplyDeleteBest of luck, you def have a good approach to shows, after all if we're not having fun on horseback...why do it?
ReplyDeleteEnjoy it!