Hot Dang Am I nervous.....

I leave for my colts first show tomorrow... a CPHA breed show....

His mane would not band and stay down, and looked like crap, so we have decided to do a running braid on him. He is washed (literally scrubbed), Clipped, and blanketed, dang ready to go! I am so nervous... I have like 6 classes with him, including SMS....

lol Had to say something, can't get it off my mind, and the more I think about it, the more nervous I get. Also, my mare has not foaled yet, and is close.... and this is the mare we will be putting down later this year, so her foal being healthy and alive is extremely important to me!

Not to mention my brother who does not care about anything in regards to horses, and cannot possibly see me having a career in the horse world (he doesnt know how big it actually is), is coming to watch me show!

God I hope I dont place dead last....

6 classes? What all are you doing? How old is your colt?

You will be fine I promise! I did my first AQHA show earlier this year, and when I got there and unloaded Vegas, I realized that I was flipping over nothing! Just do your thing like you would at home!

Remember to take pics!!!

Oh and dont forget to breathe!

I do believe somewhere around six classes....?

My colt is 8 months old, so its all halter and SMS, Open Yearling Gelding, Pinto Yearling Gelding, Open Geldings, Pinto Geldings, Tobiano (because they register all tovero's as tobiano's.... ) class, and open and pinto sms, well I guess thats 7 classes? I think those are the ones I am in....?

I'm just so worried because it will be his first show ever, first time off the farm etc etc etc, and my first breed show. There was never points at stake and reputation..... Atleast he has a stall to settle into, and will be there the night before the show. I know put under pressure, I will hold my head with pride, heart in my throat, and walk proudly around the ring with my little coltie, and I am just hoping he will do the same.

When I get back, get ready for pictures out the ying yang, and possibly a video if I can get it on the net.

I hope you have a good time and do well... just remember with a little guy like that you are expecting an awful lot of him with that many classes for a first try esp for a baby.. if he is starting to get tired might be best to pull out instead of pushing and making it a bad experience... keep everything light and happy for the first outing so everyone has a great experience and you both want to do it again! Again good luck!

Hopefully you'll see this BEFORE you go! First off, take a danged chill pill. Your entire life is not riding on just this one show, much less with an unexperienced horse. Remember, whatever you're feeling, goes straight down the lead to the horse; if you're nervous, they'll be nervous.

With this show, if it's his/her first time out, you need to take everything lightly - and I'm serious here! Think of this as a schooling show, not a big major win/lose my life thing over. And first things first, tell your brother or whoever not to mess with you until after you show - period! If he doesn't like it, then he can leave.

Here's some tips... you get in that stall with your horse when you're prepping him, you breathe, inhale/exhale, inhale/exhale, and while doing this, after spraying Pepi or whatever on him, you rub all of him with your hands, hand-over-hand, breathe, inhale/exhale... get focused... know your job, know the pattern. This will calm yourself and your horse. When you put that gosh-darned show halter and lead on, think of it as getting nasty - before going into battle. Shoulders back, chin up, eyes narrowed, you get your war face on! You go in, you do a quick look of the other horses, where you think you need to put your horse, you figure that out, and you focus totally on your horse! Don't talk to anybody, don't look around, STAY FOCUSED! If you feel you or your horse getting "light", then do the hand over hand deal again... focus, think of your job, see the pattern, see your horse setting up properly, and don't get frustrated. Do the best you can. Let your horse relax when you can, keep an eye on the judge, and if you're like me, write your danged number down on your hand, so you'll remember who you are!

You show your horse the best it can be shown, keep focused, don't look around, don't look at other horses, you focus on what you're doing. Be gentle as this is his/her first time. You have to give them YOUR calmness and confidence! Breathe, inhale/exhale, inhale/exhale... 'cept don't pass out! HA!

Once they've judged the class, no matter how your horse has done, you back him/her up a couple of steps, give them a good pat and thank the judges, if you can on your way out... keep your WAR face on, but smile to the judges - no matter how you place! Because you're going to see them again! Don't have your horse's head up too high, it'll hollow the back... remember that!

Now, war face on, breathe, inhale/exhale... you'll do fine. When you come out, you can relax... then get ready for the next class.

GOOD LUCK!!!!

Alright, got home from the show (traveled in the trailer with my colt because it was his first real trailer ride). I have to say, I am very proud of my colt. He only neighed when another horse neighed first, (but a lot of horses were screaming, and he didnt neigh too much), he was a little fidgety in the end, but we did a fair bit of classes, and had to wait a bit too long for his taste.... We had some cancelled classes, but were also in the champion round. That had the mares, studs and geldings.... so we didnt place. but there were some nice horses there!

7Cedars... My best friend said I "kept my war face on the entire time" hahahahahahha

But we were up against a APHA stallions offspring, who is competition to our stud.... and my colt got first place! then in open all age geldings, we got 6th out of 13 horses. he was also the youngest horse there..... But in my SMS, I got a first and a third... I am so proud.. He handled well, and although a little wooly still, looked awesome.

here's some pics.











I think he did very well for his first show, but this one I dont think he did as well as he would have if his hips were bigger.... he has hocks that are very close together, so unless I get him perfect, he looks cowhocked. But he was behaving better than many of the way older horses were in and outside of the ring.

From an outside person, they told my mom that the judges kept looking back at him... so we had their attention, I guess maybe we will place better next time?

It is always nice to win.. But, if my horse does well meaning behaved and we got through the class with out incidents that is a win to me.. And, many of my friends feel the same way.. They say we did not place well but my horse was really good. There is much more to showing your horse then being first.. Making friends, learning something new is what it really is all about..

Yeah! Congrats! Sounds like you had tons of fun! He is so cute too!

I would still be proud! Congrats!

Sometimes I think that not placing with a very well behaved horse is better than winning with an unruly and out of control horse.

Again, Congrats!

Well honestly, I was prepared to come home with nothing other than my well behaved colt, and a good experience for us both. It was his first show, and the way he acted, I was even more shocked.... he was awesome. yes we did win some ribbons, but I am proud to say he stood there like a gentleman, and made me proud!

Well done, woot, woot, woot!!!!! Well done! When you get off your high there, holler at me, and I'll give you some critiques that I see in the pics, just to polish up a bit... no biggy, no effort, just a couple of things I see...

I'm thinking you said if you don't set him up right, he may look a little cow-hocked... Here's a tip for ya... first off, you get somebody to walk him off in a straight line, stand right behind him and watch... see how he tracks, and then get them to trot him away from you, and both walk and trot to you... see how he tracks. If he's doing it a bit cow-hocked, you TROT REAL FAST! Get your farrier to start working on those back legs... babies and yearlings are notorious for this, and that's usually when I have my farrier coming every two weeks.

As far as setting up, this is a trick I learned when I showed my first paint mare... she was truly cow-hocked though...when you go to set them up, you run your hand down their back, to their tail, like you're fixing their tail and how they're set up in the back, and literally run your hand down the inside of their leg, and at the hock, literally pull it towards you... you'll need to practice this at home... but that way, he'll be straight in the rear.

Congrats, good job! See, I told you it wasn't going to be life altering... HA!

YA HOO.. A good horse is better then any horse as far as I am concerned.. Sounds like you got the bonus to boot..

Wooo Hoooo Congrats!

Congratulations! Sounds like a successful show and a good experience for both you and the colt.