Youngstock Class, our first time, worried about trot

Lex1979

Lex1979

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Hello had my 3 year old around 3 months. Got him to a point on the ground to take him to in hand class. However, the trotting in hand isn’t the best with no consistent pace. And I must admit I’m not the best runner 🤦‍♀️ This show isn’t to win anything just experience but equally I don’t want to look an idiot. Any tips?
 
Practice practice practice at home, other than that, honestly don't panic. I've been in plenty of youngstock classes where the ponies were fooling around or flat out refused to trot, you might not place, but you won't get laughed out of the ring.
 
When I took my youngster to his first show in hand we spent the weeks before trotting everywhere at home, so it just became a normal thing to do for him, we also had to practise turning to the right while trotting.

For his first show he behaved perfectly once he'd had a look round and settled down. For his 2nd show he came off the trailer like he'd been doing it everyday, then just before we had to go in the ring he had a complete meltdown. The judge and the steward were both so supportive and encouraged me to go in the ring and were really nice during the class as well even though we'd regained some composure by then 🤣
 
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Yes. Practice. Meaningful practice, so if you have to get someone that's better at it to help you, don't be afraid to.

When I first prepared my 2 year old for an in hand class he was a bit baffled by trotting in hand initially. He wasn't sure why I was running, and then thought, oh, we're running and got ahead of me. I also made sure he was solid at the walk first in that he kept to the pace established by me.

He soon realized that rules from the walk also applied to the trot. I gave him huge praise whenever he trotted nicely beside me. It started with just a few steps at a time, then I built on from there. I found his threshold for how many steps he could get before he got chaotic and worked within that initially.
 
Thanks, I not really sure why I’m so nervous it’s only up the road from my stables the ring starts at 9 and I’m about 7th class should I arrive at 9?
 
I was terrified before our first show, I was imagining everything that could go wrong and had visions of being asked to leave the ring or the pony getting loose and causing chaos. In reality everyone was friendly and supportive and I had a great time, even the 2nd time when treated everyone to his gymnastics display people were really nice about it.
 
Lex1979 said:
Thanks, I not really sure why I’m so nervous it’s only up the road from my stables the ring starts at 9 and I’m about 7th class should I arrive at 9?
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You don't need to be there at the start, but do allow yourself and pony plenty of time. I would suggest allow 15-20 mins per class before yours, and try and be ringside shortly after the class before you goes in so pony can acclimatise.
 
Don't stress about it- I took one of my youngsters out to our local show and some people in the youngstock class didn't want to trot at all!
You get a real mix of levels at local shows, so I just focus on making sure my youngster has a good, positive experience.
 
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