I asked the question: “What behind the scenes info would you like to know about living, showing attending, or generally being at the Quarter Horse Congress?” This short video will answer many of these questions. Below are the answers to three specific questions that were asked:
“It would be great to see a day in the life of Newt at Congress! When does he get out the stall? What’s the warm up pen like? How do you burn off energy from being couped up all day – and translate that into a good performance?” Morgan S.
I think the video shows you the process of the day leading up to showing. We don’t always ride late at night, sometimes we ride during the day in the covered pen. I chose to show the two extremes in the video; the craziest 12 hours and the easiest day. The short clip at the end shows a ‘down day’ when Newt gets out to play. Sometimes we ‘trail ride’ around the grounds. Other times he plays on the lunge line. Once we leave Congress he will get pasture playtime again.
“How do you schedule your time effectively to perform, see friends perform and cheer, & see other events without being dead dog tired every day.” Bridgette F.
Hmmm, I have never considered being anything but dead-dog-tired at Congress…is that possible?!? The day I made the video we (humans) had been up for 44 hours with only 5 hours of sleep in that time period. I will spend weeks trying to catch up on sleep…but we were having fun and visiting with friends! The horses get a lot more rest then we do 🙂
“One of these days I would like to make it to Congress…I’ve been told to go watch first. Do you have to qualify to show there? How do you know if you are good enough to show there?” Dawn N.
You do not have to qualify for most of the classes. In general, I also recommend coming to watch first. It is a pretty tough show because they offer pretty good awards, etc. If you don’t get a chance to come then consider either watching live or buying a video of the class/classes that you would compete in. Then you could compare your riding/showing with what you see on the video to make your decision. Or you can just come and show. Many people have it on their ‘bucket list’ and they consider the experience worth the trip.
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The video was great! It gave good insight into what showing at an event like Congress is like. Don’t plan on sleeping, you won’t want to miss a thing!
I love seeing the video. I can live my dream though you! I couldn’t ever of had your life. It wasn’t in the plans for me. I wish it was! Thanks for sharing.
Love this…..should give everyone a taste of how hard it is to show reining sometimes:) I love every minute of it! And I agree, Newt does have a great face!!!
Thank you for that insight, I am sure it was an education for many……. I do remember how hard and tiring those big shows are on everyone! You did great, and Newt is a trooper……Hope hour energy level soon returns!! Naps are great if you can squeeze one in…..
This was a fun video! As a side note, Newt has the sweetest face. 🙂