Diary of a Mad Webfarmer

 

One of the reasons I’m taking the Boi to assorted events when I can (time and travel are major factors) is to get him adjusted to a lot of different things going on around him. While Marker’s a steady horse in familiar settings, he tends to be a bit edgy around new stuff. Which—that sums up a lot of horses but many of them learn to handle new things. It’s a process of exposure and training.

Therefore, the annual trip (when we can) to the local 4H horse show that has adult classes. It’s basically what is called a “schooling show”—that is, a show where training and practice is the intent, not earning scores toward a breed association or open (non-breed registry-associated) horse show association award. It’s a lot less intense than the big shows, and good manners plus sportsmanship is the norm. Contestants talk freely, wish each other good luck, and are otherwise friendly.

Last year, Marker screamed his way through the show, usually with his nose right next to my ear. It was a bigger event that year with more adult competitors, which—these things vary from year to year. By the time we reached his undersaddle classes, he was brain-fried and wanting to be DONE—which led to him bucking in the portion where the entire class is circling the ring, because he had figured out where the other exit gate was, and he wanted OUT.

This year was much better.

For one, there were fewer adult attendees—three in the showmanship (halter) class, and four in the undersaddle classes. For another, this time I started out with him saddled, and rode him around until it was time for showmanship, and I left the saddle on. This gave him the chance to move around, and unlike his predecessor, Mocha, he calms a lot better with me in the saddle than with me on the ground.

The low numbers also meant that we were guaranteed to place, though most likely last in the class. Which is fine—again, this is a training event and a horse going to his second show is unlikely to score high. Mocha didn’t and she was bred and trained to be a show horse, unlike Marker.

This time around he was much calmer when I unloaded him from the trailer. Alert, checking everything out, but not screaming frantically at the other horses. Yay. Riding him around also gave him the chance to disperse his nervous energy while investigating what was going on. This time around, he only whinnied once, and it was a quiet call, not a frantic “where are my friends???” scream.

Showmanship…well, one issue is that he still doesn’t quite square up. Again, Mocha had plenty of practice because Gregg used her a lot for ground work and showmanship practice in his college horsemanship classes. I made the decision that I was not going to nitpick precision with him in this show, because that comes later. Right now, my goal was calmness and cooperation. Which happened quite nicely in showmanship. We placed third of three.

Western Pleasure and Equitation…well, he did better. Considering he bucked last year, that’s saying a lot. He became noticeably tense and worried as we approached the time for those classes to begin. Not bad, but he started chewing on the bit more and feeling more tight under me. When it was time for us to enter the ring, I brought him in first. He still let me know that there was an exit gate on the other side of the arena, and could we please go out it, get in the trailer, and go home? Pretty please?

But he didn’t argue with me about it. A win right there.

Cantering was…interesting. Something kept flapping and I realized that it was the way I had pinned my number on my shirt. Not something I could do anything about. It worried him so we were in a high gear rather than his usual rocking-horse gait. But he remained under control and well-mannered. It helped that there were only four horses in that class, not the eight or so that were in the class last year.

All the same, I ended up riding more defensively and less in an equitation style. Couldn’t be helped. We placed third out of four which—honestly, for him was a good placement. The top two in both showmanship and the undersaddle classes show much more frequently and they were riding horses bred and trained for show.

At the end, he was eager to get into his trailer and VERY eager to unload. As we walked back to the field and his friends, he had his nose down, sniffing, to confirm that he was, indeed, back home. Once turned out and having had some cookies, he was ready to be done with human stuff for a while.

He goes back this evening for a single class—trail. That’s going to be a strictly training exercise because it’s his first time in that class. Hopefully, I’ll be able to go through it slowly and take the time to let him work through things. We shall see.

So, given that he’s not bred and trained to be a show horse, unlike Mocha, why am I going through this process with Marker? Part of this is discovering holes in his training. One big thing about him is that he gets nervous and worked up when riding in a crowd of horses. I don’t know if there’s a history behind that reaction or if it’s simply lack of experience, and while he’s comfortable when I ride him in the field with the herd loose and wandering around during the winter, it’s a different experience away from home and with others riding under saddle in a much smaller environment. Taking him to events like this horse show helps him develop confidence in that type of experience.

The other piece is that while certain parts of the show experience don’t necessarily translate to other types of riding, the basics definitely do. Even a trail horse needs to know how to work around other horses, deal with loud noises and activity, sidepass, turn on haunches and forehand, and back up calmly. Training for show, even if that’s not what the horse is into doing, is one way to put those skills onto a horse.

I’ve figured out that Marker does not have a show horse’s temperament. Mocha did. She had what some trainers call sting—that little extra competitive edge. I could put her in a place where she could watch other horses working in the ring and she would pay attention (Marker doesn’t), observing and remembering the patterns they did (easy enough to tell if a horse is doing that when you’re in the saddle because they’re more responsive to your cues). Once she set hoof in a show ring, she was on. She was precise from the beginning about maneuvers such as haunches turns (one of her favorite things to do in the field, up to her death), sidepassing, backing through rails laid in a pattern, and so on.

Marker…not so much. Now he’s shown me that given slow and careful practice, he’ll learn them, but…those maneuvers get him edgy and worried. He’s bred to be a horse that you basically put into a fox trot and go along at that gait for a while. I noticed this in his early training days with me—when I was working him on a lunge line, he had this tendency to zone out and keep on going, especially when fox trotting on the lunge. I’d have to holler his name several times to snap him out of it. He doesn’t zone out like that when road riding, but comes close.

In any case, this show tells me what we need to be working on, and gives me a progress perspective. Even though he’s not a show horse by temperament, it’s still useful as a training tool and…given that I’m in my late sixties, there may come a time when I need to find a new home for him. By spending this time with him now, training and preparing him, it increases the likelihood that he will find a good home should that circumstance come about.

He might surprise me and become a show horse, but—in any case, in his circumstance, showing is a training tool, not an end in itself. Which is how it should be.