What have I let myself in for?!?!?

michellev123

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Hi all!!

I am taking Oscar to his first show in june :D (he is 2 and 15.1hh) I think he is going to be really excitable and silly cause he gets excited when he sees new horses!!

I have picked a smallish show and the classes are fun "most handsome gelding etc!" So no pressure!

When there what can I do to calm him down? Was thinking let him graze?

He also gets impatient standing still for too long (all part of being a baby) so thought mite help calm him to walk him around too?


I havent done any shows for a long time and then was with my sensible old girl (RIP) so am nervous and excited!!

So any tips on keeping him calm and making it enjoyable for all parties would be appreciated!!!

We are going with some other youngsters from the yard so dno if that will help or hinder :-S

Im not wishing big, might not even enter the ring if he is too excitable.Just want him to go be excited, silly babyish, inexperianced etc but then calm down and have a good experiance.
Wish us luck!!! :D
 
and if theres a sensible/calm horse around he knows try and keep him with them rather than over excited nutty ones
 
Ok calm horse check my frineds horse is usually pretty good so fingers crossed he willbe a calming influence.... Or though I think we may be hitting the terrible 2's..... and he has only been 2 for 17 days!! Lets hope its the spring grass!! :D
 
aww bless! They are lovely at that age, I'm sure you'll be fine, and remember, even if you don't get in the arena, as long as he has a positive experience, it's an experience you can build on in the future!

You could even try and find out the layout of the ring before hand and maybe do a bit of replica work before you head out so he's used to different surrounding ect... just take it slowly and steady and you'll be fine
 
I always try to arrive really early to allow time for me and daughter as well as pony to chill. Always much better, somehow if we're running late it always goes a bit wrong! Sometimes we arrive first before almost any other competitors so we can watch them gradually arrive, and as the field fills up bit by bit it's not as exciting as suddenly arriving in an already busy field. That way you've also plenty of time to walk him round the venue to see the sights, perhaps lunge him if he's over full of himeslf, and there's no stress (which always passes on to pony). Hopefully by the time of your first class he'll be totally calm and chilled and ready to shine!
 
Yea the fun classes start at 1pm so were gonna arrive around 11am but there are some other classes in the morning so field wont be empty :-( but that is a good point! Think arriving at 8 (an hor before other classes start) and waiting till one would be far too long for my impatient little man!!! :)
 
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