Anyone Participate in Young Horse Show Series?

The 2015 Spycoast Farms Young Horse Show Series finals concluded today (at Tryon International Equestrian Center in NC) and I spent a few hours each day spectating. It was an interesting format and I was wondering if someone who has participated would be willing to comment on their experiences (in this or other years).

Overall, I appreciated the chance to see the youngsters work in-hand, at liberty, and through a jump chute, as well as under saddle in flat and jumping classes. They were all over the map in terms of maturity and ability level, with many different warmblood registries (plus one Haflinger and one Andalusian) represented, so each presentation was unique in many ways. The atmosphere seemed very welcoming and educational, and the judges were particularly kind, patient and straight-forward in their critiques.

Do you see this as a valuable tool for getting some early, low-key mileage? Have you sold horses as a result of showing in this program? Have you bought horses as a result of attending a Young Horse Show? If you could make changes to the format, what would you do?

How was the turnout? Decent class sizes?

My friends and I went this morning as spectators ( and owners of warmblood yearlings ) and really enjoyed seeing the yearlings and two yr olds. We also found everyone to be exceptionally friendly and helpful. The judge was very informative and we learned alot. I personally saw three 2 yr old’s that I would love to own - the two grey’s that were so quiet and the black ( with white ) filly that was so exquisite - all three will make wonderful hunter’s!
My only complaint is that it was not advertised - I am positive that there would have been many more spectator’s there - which could have possibly resulted in future sales.

[QUOTE=tucktaway;8393364]
How was the turnout? Decent class sizes?[/QUOTE]

There were 61 total entries and the website said “entries closed… full show”.
I don’t know if that number represents a norm, or if it was just for the finals.

How many 2 year olds?

Who were the judges? I participated in a Qualifying show. I will stick with USEF/USDF rated shows. This was a very expensive schooling show.

We participated in the qualifier on Friday, and in the finals on Sunday. Our two-year-old BWP stallion Nylander RGS, bred by Page Brook Farms and owned by Paige DeLeo was the champion in the 2 year old Jump Chute with an overall score of 8.62.
We had a wonderful time, and found the show to be well run and informative. The facility in Tryon is lovely, despite the 19 hour drive.
Next year, we hope to participate again with more of our young horses.
Our young horse trainer Marcus Rhatigan did a fantastic job prepping Nylander, and The handlers were exceptional. Special thanks to Phil Silva for his handling tips at the NEDA Fall Festival which helped us prepare our stallion.
There are photos of Nylander jumping on Facebook. He is the grey stallion with the blue eye.

[QUOTE=NJRider;8394563]
Who were the judges? I participated in a Qualifying show. I will stick with USEF/USDF rated shows. This was a very expensive schooling show.[/QUOTE]

The judges were Jos Sevriens (NL) and Dietrich Felgendreher (GER).

Congratulations, kealea31! Nylander RGS definitely caught my eye. Great athleticism and terrific manners. :slight_smile:

[QUOTE=tucktaway;8393500]
How many 2 year olds?[/QUOTE]

13

Link to info, rules, entries, etc:
http://www.younghorseshow.com/2015-finals.html

Can anyone give me a quick synopsis on what this series is about? I looked at the website and there is a lot of info on there but no FAQ page.

So it’s for hunter/jumper and for dressage bred horses? And there are jump chute classes for the h/j? And there are at liberty classes? And in hand classes? And then under saddle classes? For both disciplines?

I have a 2013 holsteiner gelding that I want to do some breed shows with next year and really, am dying for an excuse to check out the tryon showgrounds. :slight_smile: He’s jumper bred and I want to do eventing with him. While he does have more hunter movement, he has an amazing brain which is why I bought him. Would I go the h/j route at this show?

This was a new experience for me, but from reading and being there…

The shows are designed to provide experience for young horses, education for people who breed/own/train/handle/ride young horses, and a gathering spot for sellers/buyers of young horses. (Some horses are listed in the entries with price tags, some listings say “inquire”, and some are listed as Not For Sale.) Developing riders, IEA/IHSA and Pony Club members were also invited to a lecture/video format clinic in the late afternoon of the first day to provide more education about the world of young sport horses.

Horses are “declared” as h/j or dressage prospects. There are group flat classes for the h/j horses and individual tests for the dressage horses. There are unjudged warm up rounds over fences, and judged rounds over fences. (Over fences, the horses stay in the arena and do the same course twice. From what I gathered, this allows the judges to examine both stamina and the horse’s ability to learn from previous mistakes and/or display consistency.) All may participate in the in-hand/liberty/jump chute portion of the show (with live critique by the judges following each horse’s performance), but you may elect to skip the in-hand/liberty and just do the jump chute*, or do the in-hand/liberty without the jump chute. (*Jump chute-only horses are still warmed up in canter/trot at liberty for a minute or two before going over the fences.)

The classes are grouped by age. On the first day, flat classes and dressage tests take place in the morning, with over fences classes in the afternoon. On the second day, horses participate in the in-hand/at liberty/jump chute portion of the show.

Professional handlers take over the horses on day two, for safety and so the horses receive training from experienced professionals. (Watching handler Quinnten Alston was a true pleasure. Each youngster he worked with visibly relaxed and improved in short order.)

The arena (at least at this show) for the in-hand/at liberty/jump chute portion did not have the “triangle” I’ve been used to seeing for sport horse in-hand classes. It was a simple oval, surrounded on three sides by the chute for jumping. All the horses I saw were presented by the handlers for conformation judging, then were walked/trotted down one short and long side in hand before being turned loose for some trot/canter before jumping.

This show was the Final for the year, so horses had previously qualified at other Young Horse Shows. But there was also a qualifier on Friday, with the “real” show taking place on Sat/Sun.

Hope this helps.

[QUOTE=Meshach;8395276]
Can anyone give me a quick synopsis on what this series is about? I looked at the website and there is a lot of info on there but no FAQ page.

So it’s for hunter/jumper and for dressage bred horses? And there are jump chute classes for the h/j? And there are at liberty classes? And in hand classes? And then under saddle classes? For both disciplines?

I have a 2013 holsteiner gelding that I want to do some breed shows with next year and really, am dying for an excuse to check out the tryon showgrounds. :slight_smile: He’s jumper bred and I want to do eventing with him. While he does have more hunter movement, he has an amazing brain which is why I bought him. Would I go the h/j route at this show?[/QUOTE]

Yes, it does. Thank you very much for responding!

It sounds very interesting and something that I think I’d like to do next year.

I did one of the YHS this year with my 3yo. Yes, it was an expensive schooling show, but it did allow me to take him to a show where the atmosphere was low key, which was nice.

They did have a jump chute schooling class early in the morning. I chose not to do that (I had schooled some at home) because my classes weren’t til the afternoon and I didn’t want to be there all day long.

I was disappointed in a couple of things. The venue for the class itself did not lend itself to photos at all. If you get your young horse braided and to a show some nice photos of free movement and through the jumps were in my plans to get. A chain link small pen with the jump chute on the back side did not allow you to do that at all.
Also many of the first horses were basically overfaced and either refused multiple times or jumped very awkwardly. It was not good to watch and was certainly not confidence building. I was going to ask them to lower the jumps by the time my guy went but by then they had started doing that so the later horses had a much better experience.
The handlers varied on how good they were. And by handlers in this class I mean ground crew moving a horse around the pen, changing directions and catching afterwards. The judge kept trying to instruct them but it was often quite dicey when the horse was worried and racing around.
I do a lot of ‘free lunging’ groundwork with my horses and it definitely benefited him in this area as he understood what was going on and was easy to maneuver and catch.

I didn’t get to see the riding classes so I can’t comment on that at all.

Just curious, are the horses led into the chute during free jumping? Or run through without a handler?

[QUOTE=sylvan farm;8404608]
Just curious, are the horses led into the chute during free jumping? Or run through without a handler?[/QUOTE]

The horses were led into the chute.
Some were allowed to move freely as soon as they were in the lane, and some were in-hand right up to the base of the first little crossrail (one of three efforts). If the judge felt the handler should do something different after the first time through, he quietly made the suggestion to “let go sooner” or “stay with him longer,” etc.

[QUOTE=DLee;8401283]
…many of the first horses were basically overfaced and either refused multiple times or jumped very awkwardly. It was not good to watch and was certainly not confidence building. I was going to ask them to lower the jumps by the time my guy went but by then they had started doing that so the later horses had a much better experience.
The handlers varied on how good they were. [/QUOTE]

There were definitely some “oops” moments at this show, as well. Refusals, awkward jumps, less than stellar free-longing… but most of the horses did very well, and all improved in their subsequent “runs” through the chute.

There were four handlers in the arena, but only two worked with the horses directly. The third adjusted the fence heights and acted as an additional “driver” when the horses were moving loosely and through the chute. The fourth was the “catch” person at the end of the chute. They did occasionally need their handler-ninja powers to dodge a youngster changing direction or speed unexpectedly.