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Baby Horses; When Show Day Runs Too Long

More or less looking to see what calls everyone else makes with their young horses on show days when they get delayed and run SUPER long!

Took my just started gelding to a show yesterday, he is pretty saintly compared to all my other baby horses, a thinker in most cases yet looky which is expected, it was a crazy venue with three rings running.

We arrived early morning, a couple hours before our expected division run time. Just the hack.
Show got rained out with thunderstorms after the first division which caused a 3 hour delay and later an additional 2 hours, putting us at a run time of around 4-4:30 versus 11-12am.

I had a short warm up in prep of regular run time in the early morning and again a few hours later before another rain rolled in dramatically.

My gelding was looky and nervy but we got the chance to school in all three rings as they rotated classes and allowed us inside due to rain and he settled into his normal relaxed hunter self.

Long and short of it, despite entry fees and my desire to show him off I made the call to quit for the day and scratch seeing as it was still another 3-4 hours until we might run our division and we loaded up.

I could feel he was mentally tired even though he was willing and was finally going oh so well. I felt he was telling me it was a lot for the day and it would be ‘human’ of me to make him wait and ride again.

Anyone else make these calls with their young horses? Normally I would just let the horse chill and wait it out to get more experience yet I don’t think we really missed any part of the experience



Thank you in advance!

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I would also have scratched. Its not worth it to make them learn to hate showing! When they are older they can learn those skills.

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It’s never a bad decision to call it quits before a good schooling experience turns into a bad showing experience! I think you were smart to realize he was mentally fatigued and go home. At that point in life, I’d call that a win!

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100%. The idea is to give them a positive experience. They have no idea whether they went in their class or not. Good on you.

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I think you made a good call.

I scratched my last class at the second show I took my horse too. He had been good all day and we were both tired. Not worth it

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Oh thank you all so much! After many years of competing I’ve never scratched and I was second guessing myself.

Love this forum, emotional support group :joy:

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Nodding in agreement here :+1:
Both for your decision & for the replies you got.
Not just babies.
My older (6-8 years) Hunter hated the U/S classes.
Our Champs & Reserves were always based on placings O/F.
If - Lord Help Us - the hacks for divisions ran back to back, by the 3rd, I was guaranteed a ride with flattened ears & a sour expression.:expressionless:
This was his Game Face for fences:
-forgive antique pic, circa 1989 :wink:-

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He’s lovely!!! Gorgeous pair
 there is something about the 80-90’s hunter scene that I wish would come back. So classic and clean.

Mind you I didn’t get to personally experience that scene but the photos of it being done well are fabulous

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Thanks :slight_smile:<I blush
Note the trendy aviator specs & decorative Huntcap on me :laughing:
Also: the Fly-in-the-Face-of-Accepted gray breeches :smiling_imp:
No pukegreen TS* for me!
Because: cheapskate :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

*Worn by Anyone who was Anyone :unamused:

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I definitely would have scratched. You were able to get him in all the rings, and if you had signed up as a non-showing entry, you probably would have paid most of the same fees. Sounds like it was a good experience even if you didn’t get a chance for a ribbon. He doesn’t know that he wasn’t judged. And you did still practice some of the hurry up and wait. At some point, it’s just too much waiting for the young ones.

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Sounds like a perfect day for a green baby. All the chaos of the show, riding in all the rings, and then going home before their brain is totally fried.

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If you take the long view
you absolutely did right by your young’un. So many people get in a rush about these things and its so very hard to undo what has been done. Always better to bag it early and on a high note than risk a really terrible situation or a fried brain!

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Yup. School, scratch, and leave. It needs to be a good experience above all else.

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I scratched a few weeks ago at a CT becasue it started snowing and sleeting. I was over it. He was leading the division with a 27 score but I said- screw it. Long days, bad weather- I have zero problem calling it a day to salvage some sanity (for me and the horse).

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That sounds like a very productive outing for a young horse. You finished the day on a good note when he relaxed. He learned something! He can learn what a courtesy circle and ribbons are later in his life. He doesn’t have to learn that all today.

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Of course! You both had a good day, that’s what is important. I routinely take young horses along for miles and exposure and expect them to just absorb and enjoy. Well done!

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Young horse or not, correct call
quit while you are ahead. What else is horse supposed to learn? They get tired, they get cranky and cant absorb anything positive.

First time you scratch for reasons other then injury or illness is the hardest, it will get easier and you will not feel the need to justify or go on a guilt trip.

And forget the horse,how did you feel when you decided horse had had enough? Its supposed to be a fun opportunity to show what you and horse have mastered, not a test of your mental and physical endurance. Its OK to say “enough” and head for home or happy hour.

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I was once pressured, by the steward no less, not to scratch a young horse from the jumping portion of a combined test at a year-end final.

We had qualified after attending one combined test at a very quiet venue, and we had spent the rest of the summer doing some low schooling classes at hunter shows.

I thought that attending the finals and having a fairly low-cost opportunity for her to experience the hustle and bustle of attending a large show and sleeping away from home could be a positive experience, especially as she would be accompanied by my experienced jumper.

We schooled in the dressage ring the day before, then had a decent dressage test to put us in third place heading into the jumping phase.

The next day, I took her out for a morning lunge near the hunter rings and cross country field, which is where the warm up for the combined test was to take place (they basically cordoned off a chunk of the cross country course to run the jumping phase of the combined test, which warmed up and started on the side of a hill). She was nuts compared to how she’d been the day before.

Once our ride time rolled around, I walked her over towards the warm up and she felt more tense than I had ever felt her, before we even got into the busy, tiny warm up area. It was just too much to look at, with the hunter rings going beneath us and all the combined test insanity happening on the hillside.

This was not feeling like a positive experience and the horse had a history of rearing, so I hand walked her over to the steward, who was also acting as the in-gate, and said I was scratching. In response, she said I should give it a try and said I could even hand walk to the start box and mount up there where it was quieter, and that I could then pull up as soon as I felt uncomfortable (the jumps were tiny so no warm up was not a big problem). Feeling like I must be the unreasonable one at that point, since she kept saying I should try it, I agreed.

Two jumps in, she spotted a very spooky filler beside our next jump and stopped dead. I put my leg on and she immediately flipped over on top of me.

I learned that day to always trust my gut and listen to the horse. She had enough, was overwhelmed, even though she had been good the previous two days, and anything further was going to set her off.

Good on you for recognizing it in your horse before it got to the point of giving either of you a bad experience.

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Totally agree, thanks so much all you are confirming what I was thinking. And yes first scratch is the toughest :joy:

I felt it was enough and I was super pleased that while I knew he was spooky and afraid of new things, (like tents, speakers, the yacht storage area, most importantly the BBQ station)
. He did his job without question. Hesitant in some moments, yes but willing. Really I couldn’t ask for much more, the ribbon would have been icing but nothing more than what you have all confirmed for me. Perfect baby horse experience.

I really appreciate the responses!! Had to share a pic of the warmup because I’m a proud mama :crazy_face:

image|690x414

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Oh wow @Night_Flight!!! Thank you for sharing that, this is a very good point!

I hope you and she were okay!!!

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