confidence at a show aaaaaaaaahhhhh!

[Johanna&Yorkie:)]

Yey! me and Yorkie(my ex-racer, now 5 years old) have been to two shows now! All In-hand classes though, as i don't think me and him are ready,,, or is it just me and my confidence?
The first show,
my dad took him in to most of the classes,( this seemed to help my confidence because i made a deal that if york was good with my dad, i would take him in to at least one class) Which i did and we got three firsts.This Booted my confidence greatly!!! But i was still a bag of nerves during the classes

He was amazing in the ring but god was he getting stressed when we were around all of the trailers!

The second show,
Seen as he was so well behaved in the ring last time, i decided I would take him into all of the classes. Also, this time we parked well out of the way of the other trailers and I swear i had taken a different horse! He was superb, probably because of all the grass he was eating,but it was a certain improvement. At this show he was once again a star and we got a first ( he spooked at a barking dog in this class,it knocked my confidence, and i only entered another class because of my friends encouragement!) Entering the next class from LOTS of encouragement we got a third.


At the end of the day i picked up the confidence to put his saddle on, and ride around the trailer with my dad holding him, he was fine with this and i got off and we went home.

BUT WHAT CAN I DO TO GET UP MY CONFIDENCE TO GET INTO A RIDDEN CLASS? He's only just turned five, and i just cant help but worry that everything is going to go badly wrong! How can i prepare him for it? Or is he fine and its just me panicking?! aaaaaaaaahhhh
help please!

[sned]

Do you happily ride him at home in the school or out on hacks? If so could you organize to ride him when the yard is really busy get loads of people with horses to stand around the school you could even throw in some kids full of fizzy juice and some hyper dogs playing fetch with squeaky toys Lol Seriously tho could you organize a show at your yard? I can't say you are just being a big jessy get on with it because it's maybe the fact that you know your horse will be distracted and so you need get him used to all the hustle and bustle that goes on at a show? Or would you feel better watching someone els riding him at a show just like you did with your dad in the in hand classes then have the opportunity to have a go if you feel up to it? Could it just be that you and the horse are fine but you get flustered in front of an audience?
Big Well done tho for having a go in the in hand classes
Pics pleeeeeze!!

[annabelle h]

Just keep going to shows and maybe doing a little bit more riding each time. Your horse is young too so it's important you are both feeling confident to take your next step. Enter some in hand classes and jsut ride around the lorry park, showground etc having a nice time and getting used to the sights and sounds. Before long you will be having to hold yourself back from entering a ridden class instead of just riding round the lorry park etc - that's the time to got for it!

[drache]

picked up a schedule today for a local show and it has a" wobbly riders class ", any age and you can have a lead rein or assistance .!!!! How brilliant is that at getting peoples confidence up . Hope more shows do this sort of thing !!

[georgina23]

What a brilliant idea. Would definitely have a go at that!!!