Optimistic.
New member
My horse has been to a handful of shows before, only 2 since I've owned him. The last was in 2008, and that did NOT go well at all. Let's just say his "rear button" got jammed, and that's all he could do all day. He broke 2 trailers, sliced his face open and almost broke my friend's arm. It was not a good day... lol. 
So we've spent 2 years training and he's come a very long ways, and hopefully this show will go well. (It's on June 5th) It's at a show grounds that he's been to before, so I'm hoping the familiar surroundings will help calm him down quicker.
I'm not worried about placing or even entering classes - if he's freaking out I'll just work on getting him calm and ride him around the grounds. We plan to be there an hour early for warm ups, and the first class is halter, so he'll be in the arena plenty before the show. There's not really much around the arena to spook at, but I'm sure he'll find something.
Anyways, any suggestions, advice, whatever, would be helpful!
And in case you're wondering, he's a 14 year old QH Appendix and we're only showing in Halter, Western Pleasure and Western Horsemanship. That means I don't have to change my outfit, and I don't have to change his tack. Just put on his saddle after Halter. This hopefully will prevent me from getting stressed out about time!
So we've spent 2 years training and he's come a very long ways, and hopefully this show will go well. (It's on June 5th) It's at a show grounds that he's been to before, so I'm hoping the familiar surroundings will help calm him down quicker.
I'm not worried about placing or even entering classes - if he's freaking out I'll just work on getting him calm and ride him around the grounds. We plan to be there an hour early for warm ups, and the first class is halter, so he'll be in the arena plenty before the show. There's not really much around the arena to spook at, but I'm sure he'll find something.
Anyways, any suggestions, advice, whatever, would be helpful!
And in case you're wondering, he's a 14 year old QH Appendix and we're only showing in Halter, Western Pleasure and Western Horsemanship. That means I don't have to change my outfit, and I don't have to change his tack. Just put on his saddle after Halter. This hopefully will prevent me from getting stressed out about time!