As I think about the progress that I would like to make this year and the things that I am hoping to accomplish with Annie one of them is to get her out and about as much as I can. I don’t have any expectations about what we will do at those shows I just want to set some goals to get out there. Based on how she handles it we will decide what she does (if anything) at the shows.
I think that it is a very attainable goal for her to be doing the 2′ this year and based on my friends lovely young horse I am wondering if she might also be able to do more. We will see how it goes though.
Below is a listing of the local shows that are on my radar through May:
- Jaeckle Center Snowflake II (local NR) – 2/20-21
- Brownland No Frills I (local NR) – 3/12
- Brownland No Frills II (local NR) – 4/9
- Hunter’s Court (local NR) – 5/21
These shows alone would have us at about one show a month. I am not sure how realistic that will be for us but I want to at least try to talk about going to these ones with my barn mates and NT.
Do any of you guys have show plans on the horizon? How many shows do you aim for in a year?
That looks like a great show schedule for her! I don’t have any shows on the horizon right now given my location and lack of transportation. That doesn’t mean they definitely won’t happen for us this year but it’s not super pressing either. I do have my eye on a couple of clinics, the first being in early May. Since I just got Nibbles back, I’m trying to not rush into things and overplan…trying 😉
My show schedule is done… but of course nothing is ever written in pen — pencil only!
I freely admit I don’t love horse showing, but I have a green horse that needs miles, so I’m aiming for once a month just to get him out different places.
Right now I’m just planning on unrated shows this year, one in March and one in May to start … if those go well I may rethink what I want to do in the fall and try for an A show (which I have not done since 2006!)
Is Annie a coming 4yr old? I also have a 3yr old and my vet said the occasional cross rail is fine but definitely no courses until close to 5. Not saying anything against what your doing with Annie, just wondering how your vet/trainer approaches young horse training. We spend all of our time on the trails with occasional ring work- just seems like you are doing so much with her already!
Annie is 4 this year. She ends up jumping small jumps (nothing over 2′) and courses are not the norm – just individual jumps in the arena normally. It is moderation that is key. I find that more people think that jumping them young is black and white when in reality me jumping my horse over 4-5 jumps once a week is not the same as someone else jumping their baby horse over extensive courses and drilling over and over. That said my vet and trainer have been consulted.
I plan to get her out and about to as much as I can to try to make traveling no big thing and keep it fun and easy. Thanks for your comment. There are lots of varying opinions on this but I personally do not know of many horses that are not starting jumping at all until they are 5 years old.
Our show schedule hasn’t been set in stone for the rest of the year yet. We’re at WEF right now. My schedule here is typically 8-10 weeks of showing (I rotate my 2 horses so that I show every week, but the horses show 2 weeks on 1 week off). After WEF we usually do 2 weeks of AA showing a month. Last year, I showed every month but November. We go to Tryon, Lexington, VA, Culpeper, Upperville, WEF and some other shows sprinkled in….. It makes me tired to write it all down! 😉
So exciting. Great show schedule. I’m not sure what my plan is for showing this year.