Training horses while at horse shows, preserving your horse in the show ring

Here are two championship freestyle runs. The first is in October 2011 Quarter Horse Congress and the second is in February 2012 at the Dixie Nationals. Watch for the differences in the intensity, then read below to see the other differences listed.

Isn’t he CUTE! That is the comment Vaquero most frequently receives.

My comment would be, “Wow, can that horse SPIN!” And the answer is ‘NO’, I cannot stay on those spins bareback!!! I thought I was going to come off in this video WITH the saddle.

Horses won’t last long in the show pen if you always ask them for everything they have. If the show pen is the place they get worked the hardest…it won’t be long before they won’t want to go there. So you should notice some differences in the second ride. First, notice I picked a longer song so I could slow things down a bit. Next notice that I loped around quite a bit before I did anything. Yes, it is a little less exciting-but it means a lot to my horse. Again notice that I stood longer between the spins and after the last one before loping off. At the end of the ride did you notice the last thing? Yep, I got off. In the arena. And lead him out. Did it take more time? Yes. Did he appreciate it? Yes.

What are you doing to preserve your horse in the show pen?

7 Comments

  1. […] did a post back in March http://stacywestfallhorseblog.com/2012/03/03/training-horses-while-at-horse-shows-preserving-your-ho… that is on this subject but wasn’t exactly explained the same way. The idea of this post, […]

  2. cindy on March 10, 2012 at 8:20 pm

    Stacy, what you can do brings tears to my eyes. Truly beautiful. What a gift you have.

  3. Amanda Accordino on March 4, 2012 at 1:49 pm

    I’m glad you posted about this… it takes more work and effort to get inside your horse’s head but in the end it really makes them happier and your relationship better. I have the advantage of being able to ride where I show almost whenever I’d like. This way, I can practice in the same arena I’ll be showing in but I’m not ALWAYS showing, so I can practice just chillin out and doing things my horse likes in the arena as well. The difference shows between the people who want to just get it done quickly and the people who take the time and do things for their horse!

  4. Angelique Aia Hill on March 3, 2012 at 5:03 pm

    this is somethig really great to think about!

  5. linda on March 3, 2012 at 2:42 pm

    PRESSURE……..she doesn’t do pressure very well….I’m getting it, Stacy, Thank you thank you thank you.

  6. linda on March 3, 2012 at 2:34 pm

    You may have given me the explanation for why my mare began acting”‘I m not going to do this anymore and you cannot MAKE me!”‘ in three out of the four trail challenge events we entered last year.
    The one she succeeded in completing and won 3rd place was away from home and we had camped the night before.
    One of the three refusal where she decided ‘I’m going to act crazy and pull new tricks that you do not know how to ride out” was at our barn arena. She completed the first three obstacles great then at the ‘backup through an alley of hay that is 1 bales high she really started her right brain antics. We had to back out of the arena to maintain my seat in the saddle with her!! She backed out of arena nicely but would not go near the hay obstacle…..mind you she had been through it on line and got 5th place! So it seems to be in the saddle this happens doesn’t it? Maybe stuff from her past? She is 20 this year and real spunky still!!!
    Thank you for the videos.

  7. susie on March 3, 2012 at 8:25 am

    Seeing you and the horses you ride is like seeing GOD work. jesuslovescowboys.com

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