Showing young horses

HoofRocks

Hi

Hoping you all can give me some advice on above topic. I have two young horses - rising two year olds who i would love to show in the upcoming agricultural shows. One of them was bought in so he is use to being loaded and in different enviornments but the other is home bred and has never been brought away from home except with his mammy when revisiting stallion.

I new to showing horses so hoping you can give me some advice on how to prepare them for it, what they need to be doing, do they need to be shod, sugestions of circuits to set up for them even what the handler needs to wear at a show. would i be better to bring one rather than two as the homebred one gets quiet exciteable and is very attached to the other fellow.

any advice you can give would be really appreciated,

thanks

fits

One thing you need to make sure of is that they lead well and trot up well in hand. A lot of people take youngsters to shows without actually competing to start with, just to get them used to the sights and sounds. It would give you a chance to observe the classes you wish to enter too.

Showing is quite traditional in tack and turnout and you need to pay attention to these details. A lot of classes would have different conventions re plaited/unplaited what type of bridle to wear, what you should wear yourself.

It seems simple but the whole thing is a minefield!

Esroh

The basics of a class are
Walk in Hand.
Stand stil in the line
Walk away(from other horses) from line to infront of Judge.
Stand up Square and Still.
Walk away turn and Trot back immediately.
Go back and stand in line.

Manners are important. If your Horse is acting up in a class the Judge does have a right to ask you to leave.
So preparation is walk, walk and walk some more;).This will get them firmed up without putting strain on joints. And plenty of practice of standing square and short trots in hand

Turn out is important. Main Plaited and Tail either well pulled or Plaited.(native ponies should not be plaited in their breed classes. Also in the old days Thoroughbred horses never had their tails plaited or pulled but thats changed now). Good condition without being fat is how you want them to look

A well fitted bridle with a snaffle is ok for a 2yld. You would be amazed what a bridle can hide. A coupling ring and lead(a decent length) is best. Front shoes are enough.

HoofRocks

thanks everyone i'm mind boggled already!

its a sport horse i hav, would he not need to be moulded to wear a bridle?

anything further on what the handler needs to wear? i was thinking just a tweed jacket, jods, boots and a white shirt with stock.

Esroh

HoofRocks wrote: »

thanks everyone i'm mind boggled already!

its a sport horse i hav, would he not need to be moulded to wear a bridle?

anything further on what the handler needs to wear? i was thinking just a tweed jacket, jods, boots and a white shirt with stock.

Forget the jods thats for ponies. Trousers that go with the tweed.
Foot wear is what ever you are comfortable in. A class of 10 horses will be 30min + and if its wet you need to be able to keep your feet. Even in RDS you will see a guy in a Suit and Bowler wearing a decent pair of walking boots

Stock is ok but not necessary, Tie will do

Where ae you based

Re the Bit. To start with just put the bridle on over a Headcolar at home and lead from the HC. 20 mins + a day while exercising will get them well used to it. By using a coupling link when you start to lead in bridle only, you will not be leading directly from the bit and will not damage the mouth.
You can use a nice soft rubber bit

HoofRocks

sounds good, i may get practicing

thanks for all the info