Why go to the Show Pen?
By Todd Martin

Some people have no desire to go to the show pen and compete with their horses. Yet some do nothing but eat, sleep, work (as little as possible) and go to horse shows. Why? What is the lure of the show pen? Besides, it is all about how much silver your saddle has and how expensive your outfit is, right? Not really.

In my eyes the show pen is to make me a better horseman, and to help me make my horse more competitive. If you ride your horse at home, and practice at home, then what reference do you have to judge your progress and your horses capabilities.

I often have people come take a couple of lessons to help them reach the next step in their horsemanship. Often times what they find is that they have actually become so stagnate in their abilities, we have to go back to their basics and redefine those points first, before we move on to the next step.

It is like you are playing tennis with a ball machine and not getting any help or guidance from an instructor. You hit balls with the machine three times a week and feel like you are doing pretty good. But, in reality you do not really have a good idea as to where your game is at until you actually put it into play. That is where you will find your real weaknesses. The same goes for me as a trainer. I have horses in training that I am expected to take to futurities their 3 year old year. I may ride them everyday for a year and feel that they are very good. It is not until I take them out and put them in the show pen with other three year old horses that I really know where they stack up against the competition.

Competition should inspire you to become better and practice more. It should give you goals and levels to reach. There are so many arenas to compete in with horses now days that you can compete at any level you desire. Here are a couple that come to mind; open shows, breed shows, event specific shows. You should start at the type of shows that complements the breed and type of horse that you have. Then pick the type of show environment that suites you as an individual. Let me give you a list of association shows that I compete at and why. This will give you an idea as to how they are set up and what about them draws me to them.

1. Breed shows: These are specific to a breed of horse, like AQHA, and sometimes are held in conjunction with open shows. Prizes are usually ribbons and circuit awards that are sometimes buckles and saddles. The placing of these events give you points and the accumulation of these points qualify you for World class events within the association.
2. Open shows: These shows are the same as the breed shows with the same events but are not associated with a specific breed and do not have a World class event. Plus these shows points are not recognized by breed associations.
3. Event Specific Shows: These are associations like the NRHA( National Reining Horse Association), NRCHA( reined cowhorse) and the NCHA (cutting). These shows are one event shows. Like the breed shows they have different levels of competition but are often times much broader. For example: in breed shows you have Open classes which are for anyone to compete in (but you will compete against the trainers), amateur classes, and novice ( for beginners). In the class specific events they may have everything from Open to Green as Grass classes so that the person just starting out is not competing against someone who has been showing for years. In the green as grass classes you can not show in this class for very long. This makes it a stepping stone. Often these shows will have up to 10 or more different classes in an attempt to make the playing field even. These associations also pay out money instead of points. The bigger the show the bigger the purse and prizes i.e., buckles, saddles, trophies. The money won at these shows is also reflected in earnings and are recognized by breed associations which helps in breeding programs.

The thing to remember about showing is that it is a place where you are surrounded by people that are there because they all are looking for their best ride yet. And more important their love for horse and because they love horses. It is not a place to be intimidated but a place to help you become a better horseman and have fun with like minded people. Something else to remember when going to your first show is that every person there had a first show too. Plus for those of you who have been to shows for years and you see someone who you can tell it is their first time, go introduce yourself and make that person feel welcome.