I was 13 when I entered my first horse show. The judge advised me that the yellow macramé browband I’d crafted for my gelding’s bridle was not customary horse show attire. In 25 years as a professional riding coach and horse trainer, I’ve worked with 100s of horses and coached even more riders. What I’ve learned from horses and their people! What I’ve learned about myself in the fishbowl of the show ring! Horse shows have enriched the lives of so many – and been the catalyst for the train wreck of others.

The rest of this article I wrote for Canadian Horse Journals is available on their site https://www.horsejournals.com/riding-training/rider-development/psychology/when-things-go-wrong-show-ring

But he never does that at home!” When my horse responds to a cue “most of the time”, he hasn’t quite learned it. A busy horse show atmosphere is sensory overload for a green horse. By August, judges have sadly DQ’d a scorecard full of horses not “quite” ready for the ring. Summer school stinks

When things go wrong in the horse show ring, how to turn show ring mistakes into learning opportunities for horse and rider

I’ve known and loved lots of horse families in my years of coaching. Riding students and their “pit crews”- those bound up in the bundle of life with them. Horse shows can pull families together…and sadly, others apart.
As coaches, let’s do our part to support our families – they’re the building blocks of our communities in a messy world.

Horse show judges are reminded to consider the intent of the horse show rule – to keep the purpose of the class and the standard of what’s “correct” to guide our judging
decisions.
In other words, to ask “What’s the point?”