Firewell
Well-Known Member
Yesterday Jae and I went to our first rated (affiliated show). It was a B rated show so not as big or as important as the A rated shows closer to LA but still big enough .
It was held at the Earl Warren Showground in Santa Barbara, a big showground used to hold national competitions.
Firstly I was the only person to haul in. Everyone else booked a stable and stayed there for the weekend. I was also the only person without a groom and a trainer (except the trainers themselves)!
Showing as they call here it here in America is totally different to competing in the UK and goodness am I learning that big time!
Firstly people compete less often but they go all out. The entry fees are extortionate and a trainer will take a trailer load of clients to a weekend show and they will all stay. A client will pay upwards of thousands of dollars for a weekend. It cost me $175 to do just two classes.
I have learnt that it is common for the trainer to ride the clients horse first and they will take the horse in the schooling rounds. Some shows have a first day just for professionals to compete the clients horses.
The second and third days the clients will compete the horses who have been schooled the day before to offset the clients weaknesses.
Showing here is big money :/.
They also decorate the stalls to make the clients happy. They lay grass outside the stalls, put up banners and flower pots and set up grooms quarters with curtains and welcome mats the works! It looks beautiful and I wondered around the stabling area with my mouth open!
This did all make me feel very nervous and embarrassed with my horse the only one tied up to a trailer and me getting changed inside!
I had no help except my husband who was holding our 1yr old boy and he is totally non horsie. I felt quite alone tacking up.
There is also an etiquette in the warm up of which I am not familiar with but it involves trainers taking turns to help their clients. As I was on my own I snuck in when everyone was walking the course and jumped the fences that were up. Jae felt great and I was pleased. The problem with this method was that I didnt get to walk the course! I had no one to hold Jae anyway so I learnt it from the side of the arena.
Everybody was really friendly and it was fun chatting to people while we waited for our turn to jump.
The class run under table 2B which means the first round is judged against an optimum time, if you are clear within this time you do a jump off straight after. The optimum time was set to encourage power and purpose according to the judge! You didnt have to rush but you did have to ride an upbeat, forward round taking a couple of tighter turns to make it without time faults.
The competition was tough. Everyones horses seemed to go like the bat out of hell and never touch a pole so I knew I had to motor on if I was going to have a chance of being in the ribbons.
I was feeling sick with nerves before I went in, I felt like I could hardly breathe! I have learnt that I am ALWAYS nervous, its nothing to do with the height of the fences, its me wanting to do well and I always feel like it. So irritating!
I went in determined to be within the time. The round started off brilliantly, then jumped number 3 a black and white oxer and my mind went blank. Where was number 4! Oh cr@p! I slowed down wracking my brains and then I saw it, I had to double back over an upright asking Jae to jump it from a ridiculous angle which he did fabulously. I really had to push then as I had wasted so much time and the rest of the course was a blur. I waited with baited breath and we were in the time by half a second! Phew!
The second round I took some tight turns. I havent ridden a proper jump off for years and Jae loved it, he ate up the course revelling in it and we finished with our hearts racing and big smiles on our faces.
Our time was 36 which I thought was a good time untill I saw the other people go. My god these US jumper shows are competitive! They took turns I didnt think were possible and the winner finished clear in 32 seconds, we were pushed down to 5th but I was over the moon to be placed. It was a real achievement I felt. That was the 85cm.
The next class was the 3ft or 90cm.
I was planning on going for it in this class, I had to if I wanted to get a ribbon. I overheard a lady saying that the horse before me was an ex 1m30 horse which made sense as to why people were doing so well.
We went for it in the 2nd class, I focused on turns rather than speed and made sure I kept the pace up around the turns. Jae was brilliant, all I could think of was wow he is good at this! He got a bit overexcited and bucked between the first two fences on the jump off course which cost us a couple of seconds. I cant complain though as he was on fire and with me every step of the way, turning on a dime, searching for each fence and lifting his feet up as high as he could, he didnt touch a pole!
Even with the seconds lost we completed clear on 33 seconds over a meaty 90cm. I was hugging him and patting him like mad!
Unfortunately other people upped their game as well but we did very well to get 4th place. Everyone who knows me will know that speed when jumping isnt normally my strong point so this was a great achievement for me.
We are improving every day I am thrilled. There was also quite an audience by this point. It's very California to get out and about at the weekend and as the show was advertised on a big glowing screen off the highway 101 there were a fair few people in the stands applauding as each rider finished! Very cool ha ha. I also heard the comment 'I think I'll stick to Bridge' as I rode out .
I am pleased that we are doing well under our own steam with little help. It is very rewarding .
Jae is chilling out today in his fly rug for a well deserved day off. On another note my family are arriving from the UK next week. I cant wait to show them the area .
If anybody wants to keep up with regular updates from Jae and I outside the competition reports please check out my blog www.hoofprintsinthesand.com
Homemade cupcakes for those who got to the end! Thanks for reading!
It was held at the Earl Warren Showground in Santa Barbara, a big showground used to hold national competitions.
Firstly I was the only person to haul in. Everyone else booked a stable and stayed there for the weekend. I was also the only person without a groom and a trainer (except the trainers themselves)!
Showing as they call here it here in America is totally different to competing in the UK and goodness am I learning that big time!
Firstly people compete less often but they go all out. The entry fees are extortionate and a trainer will take a trailer load of clients to a weekend show and they will all stay. A client will pay upwards of thousands of dollars for a weekend. It cost me $175 to do just two classes.
I have learnt that it is common for the trainer to ride the clients horse first and they will take the horse in the schooling rounds. Some shows have a first day just for professionals to compete the clients horses.
The second and third days the clients will compete the horses who have been schooled the day before to offset the clients weaknesses.
Showing here is big money :/.
They also decorate the stalls to make the clients happy. They lay grass outside the stalls, put up banners and flower pots and set up grooms quarters with curtains and welcome mats the works! It looks beautiful and I wondered around the stabling area with my mouth open!
This did all make me feel very nervous and embarrassed with my horse the only one tied up to a trailer and me getting changed inside!
I had no help except my husband who was holding our 1yr old boy and he is totally non horsie. I felt quite alone tacking up.
There is also an etiquette in the warm up of which I am not familiar with but it involves trainers taking turns to help their clients. As I was on my own I snuck in when everyone was walking the course and jumped the fences that were up. Jae felt great and I was pleased. The problem with this method was that I didnt get to walk the course! I had no one to hold Jae anyway so I learnt it from the side of the arena.
Everybody was really friendly and it was fun chatting to people while we waited for our turn to jump.
The class run under table 2B which means the first round is judged against an optimum time, if you are clear within this time you do a jump off straight after. The optimum time was set to encourage power and purpose according to the judge! You didnt have to rush but you did have to ride an upbeat, forward round taking a couple of tighter turns to make it without time faults.
The competition was tough. Everyones horses seemed to go like the bat out of hell and never touch a pole so I knew I had to motor on if I was going to have a chance of being in the ribbons.
I was feeling sick with nerves before I went in, I felt like I could hardly breathe! I have learnt that I am ALWAYS nervous, its nothing to do with the height of the fences, its me wanting to do well and I always feel like it. So irritating!
I went in determined to be within the time. The round started off brilliantly, then jumped number 3 a black and white oxer and my mind went blank. Where was number 4! Oh cr@p! I slowed down wracking my brains and then I saw it, I had to double back over an upright asking Jae to jump it from a ridiculous angle which he did fabulously. I really had to push then as I had wasted so much time and the rest of the course was a blur. I waited with baited breath and we were in the time by half a second! Phew!
The second round I took some tight turns. I havent ridden a proper jump off for years and Jae loved it, he ate up the course revelling in it and we finished with our hearts racing and big smiles on our faces.
Our time was 36 which I thought was a good time untill I saw the other people go. My god these US jumper shows are competitive! They took turns I didnt think were possible and the winner finished clear in 32 seconds, we were pushed down to 5th but I was over the moon to be placed. It was a real achievement I felt. That was the 85cm.
The next class was the 3ft or 90cm.
I was planning on going for it in this class, I had to if I wanted to get a ribbon. I overheard a lady saying that the horse before me was an ex 1m30 horse which made sense as to why people were doing so well.
We went for it in the 2nd class, I focused on turns rather than speed and made sure I kept the pace up around the turns. Jae was brilliant, all I could think of was wow he is good at this! He got a bit overexcited and bucked between the first two fences on the jump off course which cost us a couple of seconds. I cant complain though as he was on fire and with me every step of the way, turning on a dime, searching for each fence and lifting his feet up as high as he could, he didnt touch a pole!
Even with the seconds lost we completed clear on 33 seconds over a meaty 90cm. I was hugging him and patting him like mad!
Unfortunately other people upped their game as well but we did very well to get 4th place. Everyone who knows me will know that speed when jumping isnt normally my strong point so this was a great achievement for me.
We are improving every day I am thrilled. There was also quite an audience by this point. It's very California to get out and about at the weekend and as the show was advertised on a big glowing screen off the highway 101 there were a fair few people in the stands applauding as each rider finished! Very cool ha ha. I also heard the comment 'I think I'll stick to Bridge' as I rode out .
I am pleased that we are doing well under our own steam with little help. It is very rewarding .
Jae is chilling out today in his fly rug for a well deserved day off. On another note my family are arriving from the UK next week. I cant wait to show them the area .
If anybody wants to keep up with regular updates from Jae and I outside the competition reports please check out my blog www.hoofprintsinthesand.com
Homemade cupcakes for those who got to the end! Thanks for reading!