Showing youngster in hand

[speedy]

This is my baby - taken last year as at the moment he is wearing a layer of mud!! He is rising 3yo and I thought it would be a good idea to take him showing in hand this year before backing him. What classes can he go in? I konw he can go in the coloured classes but they tend to not be split into ages and I think he might show me up the first few times by acting babyish!! Can he go in Sports Horse Breeding classes? He is out of a TB mare and by Dexter's Puzzle. What about hunter youngstock?

And what do I wear?!!







Thanks guys x

[emily99]

How big is he? You could give sports horse classes a go. Look out for the P(UK) competition horse classes, which might be better for him.

Alot of coloured classes are spilt into age now. Especially at the bigger cuddy shows.

Whereabouts are you and how far are you prepared to travel? The county show entries are just starting to close you ideally you'd need to start thinking now.

[speedy]

Thanks Emily. I don't think he's going to be county standard I was thinking of just little local shows to start with and see how we get on, and then maybe Burwarton Show which is quite a big one locally (entries close in June) for August. But their coloured class isn't split for age only size. He stands about 15.3hh now, but has gone croup high again!! Damn. I wanted him to stop at 15.3hh

[Jenna]

You could also show him in a general youngstock class - they tend to be any size/breed aged up to 4. It's what I did with Kira last year, because she didn't really fit into anything else!

[cubic]

He's super, I'm sure you'll do really well at local level, and wouldn't look out of place if you did something a little bigger (like CHAPS or BSPA which are often split into ages). I'd look for sports horse and riding horse classes, rather than hunters if you have the choice.

You ideally should wear a tweed jacket, with shirt and tie and dark trousers and shoes you can run in (walking boots/jod boots etc). It's your choice what hat you want to wear - beaglers are popular, as are bushman's type hats, but a riding hat is perfectly ok (and probably sensible with a young horse). He should be plaited and trimmed, preferably with an inhand bridle and coupling.

[speedy]

Thanks Jenna and Cubic. He is registered with BSPA but I'm not, so I thought I'd see how we got on before renewing.

I got him a cheap in-hand bridle from ebay so just need a coupling now. I will definitely have to wear my hard hat to start with as he likes to show me his front feet if he's feeling naughty - we're working hard on that but I wouldn't trust him 100% first time out.

I just need to find him some baby classes now. I'd hoped to get him out last year but both our local ones were cancelled (flooding then F&M!).

[horsey123]

yes i gotta agree with cubic

[ajb]

Ooooh lovely! Go for it! Coloured classes are very often split with under 3year olds in their own class so he would be ideal for that. If not just have a go - it really is just a good idea just to get him out for a few "parties". By all means wear your hat but would echo exactly what Cubic says. When I had my coloured youngster I decided to go the whole hog and put him in to our local county show - I was bricking it as he could be really hot and also didnt have a clue how high the standard would be but we were 2nd in-hand! We were even in the overall coloured class championship! So have a go!

[speedy]

Thanks guys - I'd be a total nervous wreck at a county show!! I think I'll see how we go at the little local ones first But I'm glad you like him