suggestions for classes at family horse show

Darkly_Dreaming_Dex

Darkly_Dreaming_Dex

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 August 2007
Messages
2,917
Location
Oxon
Visit site
Hi, Still havent managed to wheedle out of organising this show and need your help- PLEASE :)

I have a main ring of normal SJ from 2'3 to 3' open so thats ok.

(1)The 2nd jumping ring needs 6 classes from 12" upto 2'3". I already have a Peter Pan and a pairs so what about the other 4????

(2)A ring of ridden showing. My "problem" is that this is aimed at the much loved family pony NOT the pothunters so which classes will attract the first and alienate the last :confused: I thought tack&turnout is popular and also a "novice" class for never having won a 1st - 3rd rosette in showing where they dont have to canter as a group- only in the individual show- so need another 4 suggestions...family pony 13hh-15.2hh- acquired blemishes not to count?

(3) Inhand to also attract family/happy hackers...i thought Best Condition, Driving type (for all those solid hairies),M&M inc partbred, Coloured, Oddcoloured, Thelwell type? could call it the "kipper" class- lol!
 
pony/horse judge most wants to take home :) a lot of people like horse & hound classes - teeny jumps for a pony and someone with a dog to run over.
 
For the jumping ring :

Parent & Child scurry, 2 rounds timed on same pony. Child goes first. Parent gets on and does the second. You might want to make the 'parent' fences tiny for those who will be led by their offspring.

Also 'tap and out'. You have a line of bounce\grid fences, the number depends on the ring size). All single rail uprights. Everyone in the ring at once, start with them all as poles on the ground, and gradually put them up to fences and then raise to about 2ft max. Anyone who refuses, runs out or 'taps' a pole is out. You can start coming in any pace, but as they get better you can make them come in canter, and eliminate anyone who doesn't\breaks the pace. When I was a kid they used to take your stirrups\reins away too. But you can make it harder by putting in a plank, or filler if you need to get some out cos they are all too good.

We went to a show which always had a 'silly low jumping' class for Adults. The fences were tiny, and you weren't allowed to do any other class. My mother (who doesn't really jump) used to do it on my jumping pony, who always popped round, at speed with a bored expression on her face. It was always a hit, especially with all the parents who 'used to ride' and those on young horses who didn't want to compete against kids.


Showing:

As someone else said - Pony the judge would most like to take home.

Masterclass showing - Like a normal showing class, but the judge tells you what you did wrong in your show, and you get a second go.

Family Pony - You can run this as a 'normal' showing class, or you can have some sort of obstacle test which will catch out all the 'show' ponies. You know, take the carrier bag off the judge, open and shut gate, walk over platic, meet a couple of 'hounds', something involving traffic cones and road signs etc. Normally involves more than one person riding the pony.

Handy Pony - Always a fun one.
 
Shazzababs said:
Oh, and you can never go wrong with a few mounted games.
Click to expand...

DO NOT forget the adults in this either:D How about Chase me Charlie?

Trying to recall what we had for our PC shows. It was all about getting the Punters (no offence) money so we had classes for every sort of horse we could think of. We had massive entries for 'bays, chestnuts, blacks' (pop palominos in there too maybe? But they won't be happy;))because if you have a Coloured class, and an Odd-coloured for roans, and spotties, the solids moan that they don't have a colour class. Whatever you do, you can never win, it is impossible to please all of the people all of the time, there will always be some moaning minnie:mad: We thought we had it cracked once, not a moaner all day, then some woman came up to me and complained that it was muddy in the trailer park! :confused:

If you have several 'Best this, that or the other' classes you can get through them pretty smartish. No trotting up required, a quick bimble around, line up, Judge walks through and doles out the ribbons. If you are fundraising time is money. Fancy Dress is popular, it doesn't always get huge entries but kids enjoy it, timing is important with that one though, you have to give people a chance to get ready, after lunch is a good time, at the end of the afternoon often isn't because by then people are off home.

Good Luck,:D
 
Last edited:
Can I make a request for a novice working hunter pony :D I really want to try one on my 14.3 one-eyed pony but the one we were going to enter was cancelled :(

Also the others that include 14.3hh in the WHP class say you have to be under 21 years old.

Definately have the bucket jumping......where the line of buckets gets shorter and shorter until you have to jump one bucket......love that game!
 
Thanks for the great ideas :) keep 'em coming :)

for those that asked, its a CHARITY show nr Aylesbury on 11th July (if this offends any button pushers as advertising then let me know and i will delete this reply rather than lose the entire post)
 
Ooooh yeah, definately prettiest mare, handsomest gelding, best tail etc

Plus, maybe a junior handling class for the inhand?
 
To discourage the pothunters in the showing, have LR, PC and family pony classes, but state on the shedule that they are to be judged on manners and suitability, not loooks/conformation/movement. Make sure your judge understands this too. It would be fun to have a handy pony type obsticle course for these classes too.

Why not have an 'all my own work' BTO?

I would agree that a Chase me Charlie goes down well, and handy pony and gymkhanna games, include sections for adults for a laugh!
 
In hand best turned out - only say this because when my old boy was retired it was one of the classes I loved doing. The Old Berks Hunt show in Oxfordshire always have one showing ring which is open classes and then another more novice ring where people competing in that class cannot compete in the other ring.
 
jumping- lead rein, horse and hound, novice horse/pony never been placed, beginners/tiny tots- poles on ground!
ridden showing- m&m, pony club pony, riding club horse, family pony, lead rein, first ridden, cob type, best re-trained or rescue? (all judged on manners/suitability/presentation not conformation and type). Novice class is a great idea.
in hand- best condition, veteran, youngster under 4, child handler, adult handler (!), best turned out,
 
Darkly_Dreaming_Dex said:
Hi, Still havent managed to wheedle out of organising this show and need your help- PLEASE :)

I have a main ring of normal SJ from 2'3 to 3' open so thats ok.

(1)The 2nd jumping ring needs 6 classes from 12" upto 2'3". I already have a Peter Pan and a pairs so what about the other 4????

(2)A ring of ridden showing. My "problem" is that this is aimed at the much loved family pony NOT the pothunters so which classes will attract the first and alienate the last :confused: I thought tack&turnout is popular and also a "novice" class for never having won a 1st - 3rd rosette in showing where they dont have to canter as a group- only in the individual show- so need another 4 suggestions...family pony 13hh-15.2hh- acquired blemishes not to count?

(3) Inhand to also attract family/happy hackers...i thought Best Condition, Driving type (for all those solid hairies),M&M inc partbred, Coloured, Oddcoloured, Thelwell type? could call it the "kipper" class- lol!
Click to expand...


Listen - as a veteran of starting up a fun show for charity, KEEP IT SIMPLE!!

People have given some great ideas, BUT you need huge amounts of woman-power and judges to run some of the suggested classes. So from experience, unless you have more volunteers than the Red Cross, keep it straight forward.

Why not just have in the little jumping ring a 1'- 1'3, 1'6 , 1'9, 2', 2'3, and choose one of the middle heights for a pairs. It doesn't have to be a special class, lots of little kids just want to jump two rounds and go home. Don't bother with fillers unless you want lots to topple off as the pony takes fright and stops dead - the little sods do that at shows.

Horse and hound classes are great but some dogs can't jump very high (think terriers!) and small kids tend trip over their leads, which is a pain as you have to find the first aid bloke who is probably having an illegal fag behind the burger van, so we had to set up a separate mini course in the ring made from plastic blocks which was time consuming but much safer.

We allowed help in the first 3 classes (could be led or adult in arena shouting directions/abuse!) but not thereafter, and if they did the first two, then not allowed to jump higher to stop pot hunting.

If you want to raise money, don't put too many restrictions on the class, like saying not to have won more than twice at this height, otherwise you exclude too many people. But you could limit amount of classes a pony is allowed to do, so some poor beast doesn't get jumped in all 6 classes - I've seen it happen!

For fun showing, we did handsomest gelding, prettiest mare, best mane and tail (as in clean and shining, not longest, otherwise you get lots of tails dragging on floor, not safe and my pet hate), then use something like pony judge would like to take home as that means you can use it as a consolation for anyone who has entered lots but not been placed.

It's tricky to do tack and turnout, as it's time consuming to judge, and everyone has to be there really early, all neat and clean, so it's not always that popular.

In hand is VERY popular, esp with the happy hackers, and it's so nice to offer something for everyone, so like the sound of all those.

Have you got enough help? I am very bossy and if I am free (not looked at diary at moment) I am willing to come and help if you get desperate - I have very loud voice and previous convictions for putting stroppy parents in their place (I used to be one!).
 
Llewelyn said:
Listen - as a veteran of starting up a fun show for charity, KEEP IT SIMPLE!!

People have given some great ideas, BUT you need huge amounts of woman-power and judges to run some of the suggested classes. So from experience, unless you have more volunteers than the Red Cross, keep it straight forward.

Why not just have in the little jumping ring a 1'- 1'3, 1'6 , 1'9, 2', 2'3, and choose one of the middle heights for a pairs. It doesn't have to be a special class, lots of little kids just want to jump two rounds and go home. Don't bother with fillers unless you want lots to topple off as the pony takes fright and stops dead - the little sods do that at shows.

Horse and hound classes are great but some dogs can't jump very high (think terriers!) and small kids tend trip over their leads, which is a pain as you have to find the first aid bloke who is probably having an illegal fag behind the burger van, so we had to set up a separate mini course in the ring made from plastic blocks which was time consuming but much safer.

We allowed help in the first 3 classes (could be led or adult in arena shouting directions/abuse!) but not thereafter, and if they did the first two, then not allowed to jump higher to stop pot hunting.

If you want to raise money, don't put too many restrictions on the class, like saying not to have won more than twice at this height, otherwise you exclude too many people. But you could limit amount of classes a pony is allowed to do, so some poor beast doesn't get jumped in all 6 classes - I've seen it happen!

For fun showing, we did handsomest gelding, prettiest mare, best mane and tail (as in clean and shining, not longest, otherwise you get lots of tails dragging on floor, not safe and my pet hate), then use something like pony judge would like to take home as that means you can use it as a consolation for anyone who has entered lots but not been placed.

It's tricky to do tack and turnout, as it's time consuming to judge, and everyone has to be there really early, all neat and clean, so it's not always that popular.

In hand is VERY popular, esp with the happy hackers, and it's so nice to offer something for everyone, so like the sound of all those.

Have you got enough help? I am very bossy and if I am free (not looked at diary at moment) I am willing to come and help if you get desperate - I have very loud voice and previous convictions for putting stroppy parents in their place (I used to be one!).
Click to expand...

Thankyou :) great advice and a PM on its way :)
 
OMG that sound so much fun, I'll come I live nearby- can you have a specific class for big orange horses with shiny coats and hogged manes? Can do tricks... ? Yey, can't wait!! I'd second the prettiest mare/handsomest gelding and maybe say that both can be in hand or ridden. I always wanted to enter best tail with my old mare but was a bit embarrassed as they were kids classes... Probably all I would have been placed in.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top