First horse show in six weeks --questions and opinions on .

[Foxglove]

And I mean first for me! I was the groom/help for my kids, but that was 20 years ago.

Show is Ranch Horse so Bob goes into the ring clean. Period. No braid, no clip.

Keep in mind I am 73 with rebuilt knees, hip, and shoulders --although I am fit, lifting and/or carrying heavy, awkward items is not a good idea —except for Bob, my horse, I will be alone. I plan on renting a stall at the 3-day venue, but also plan to take Bob home each night (40 min drive). Both he and I will sleep better at home.

I will need to move the following from my trailer to the stall --not sure what the distance will be, but even 10’ would be a challenge for me to carry:

1. bale of hay (could do half in two different nets)
2. saddle/bridle (could saddle Bob at trailer and make him carry his own)
3. saddle stand (to put saddle on between classes --not sure I will, but like the option.
4. muck bucket (I have both small and large so a muck bucket carrier with wheels might be a good idea) and maybe would fill all needs?
5. buckets and grooming supplies --fork, lunge line
6. clothes for me --jeans (heavy starch with center crease), shirt, hat, wild rag, chinks --All but hat will fit in a garment bag --along with tiny makeup bag with lip gloss, Dippity Do and hair spray to slick back my mop of hair into something that will fit under a hat)
7. bale of shavings --can buy there, or I could bring from home and could “break” the bale in the trailer and transport half at a time in muck bucket --as Bob won’t be in the stall much (I don’t think), he won’t need a whole bale of shavings
8. chairs and cooler --two chairs b/c maybe a IRL friend might want to come by and sit and have a soda or water --or I make some new friends who want to sit at my stall with me and admire Bob!

I am considering a muck bucket cart with wheels, but also considering a “garden wagon” --remembering that I have reattached shoulders --pulling a heavy wagon over uneven ground might be a bad idea --however the muck bucket cart with wheels would be something I push . . .

Thoughts? Opinions? Links to what you like or suggest?

Anything I am forgetting?? (I have already made copies of all Bob’s paper work and my cards --have that on my phone and hard copy (triplicate) in a folder with our name on it. I have extra back numbers for us (and extra saddle numbers) --club allows members to “pre select” numbers . . .

[2DogsFarm]

IIRC, you did a Dressage test or 2 not that long ago.
Though that was a 1-day thing, didn’t you still have to pack pretty much the same stuff?
My last overnighter was to the Ntl Drive 3yrs ago, that was for a 4-day stay.
My routine is to pack the trailer the day before & hitch to my SUV the night before.
So Morning If I just need to load horse.
My GoTo is a handcart for everything I need to move from trailer to my stall.
Where I setup “camp” - hay bale(s), small tote holding bagged grain, treats, grooming/first aid stuff & meds (I never travel w/o banamine). I have a 6-hook hanging tack holder that holds a small basket w/brushes, curry, hoof pick & harness.
I have a small wrought iron table, 2 folding chairs & a small softsided cooler. All of the above sit in front of my stall. Under the table I stash a small (1 gal) bucket I use to refill his water bucket (clean towel covers the bucket).
Pictured here:

If I was at a show, my garment bag would stay in the SUV until I had to get ready for a class. Then I’d change in the stall (in front of my horse ).

[Annie10]

The show grounds usually will let you park very close to your stall so that you may load and unload so you shouldn’t have to drag all that stuff too terribly far depending on how your show ground is set up. I have a little muck cart on wheels that I use you can put a hay bale on top of it and wheel a bale around. I also have one of those Stanley job boxes and I pack everything I can pack in that and wheel that in And then everything else I have pretty much streamline down to not bring a bunch of stuff that I don’t really need. And then everything that I can leave at the show stays at the show and I don’t pack it all up every night and take it home.

[Foxglove]

@2DogsFarm the dressage show three years ago was one day and 20 min from my house. Hugh Jackman had two classes back to back. My DD and DH were both with me. DD saddled HJ at the trailer and I wore my dressage clothes to the show and home. So much simpler with no stall, no hay, one water bucket, and exta peeps to saddle/unsaddle. This time I am on my own at a three day venue with 10 class spread over the days. So much to remember and no one to blame but myself if I forget something!!!

[cayuse]

Tylenol or Aspirin. Don’t forget to bring some for you just in case. And for Bob a dose of Banamine in case of emergency. Once at a show I had a pony leave the ring and as I was leading him back to the trailer he flopped down with colic. 10 minutes later he was back to himself but after that excitement I decided to keep a tube of it in the trailer.
Good Luck!

[Annie10]

Just remember, you can pack the things that you absolutely must have and get them up there to your stall and if you get there and find there’s something else that you thought you might need, but weren’t sure you can always leave those things in your truck and get them if you need to. I know you don’t wanna make 8000 trips back-and-forth to your truck when you have a stall, but there are some things usually that we tend to pack and drag around that we really don’t need and if you have them in your truck, you can get them, but you still don’t have to hump them back-and-forth to the stall.

[Foxglove]

Good point @Annie10!

[Foxglove]

I will definitely pack Bob some Banamine --I keep Tylenol in the trailer --but both are good ideas!

[Night_Flight]

You might want to carefully read the prize list and/or directly ask the show management if trailers are restricted from entering the stabling area at any point. Some shows allow you to drive right up to your stall to load/unload things at any time, while others will restrict arrival and departure times (so you can still arrive/leave when you want, but can’t bring your trailer close while the show is at its busiest or whatever). Given you’ll be going in and out a lot, asking in advance will help you to schedule yourself around any restrictions, if needed.

[Foxglove]

@Night_Flight -great idea! Except for Bob, his saddle/bridle and my clothes, I plan to leave what I bring in his stall overnight. Further, I am taking Bob to the venue a day early --practice day --so I can take a deep breath, ride him around the unfamiliar rings, and drop off some of our stuff. I will take all my paper work then, and ask about where trailers are and are not allowed. This is not a big show --actually, I’m not sure how big it is --but it is 1) local 2) being held while kiddos are still in school --based on the numbers listed rom last September, class size is 8-15 depending on division. Mine division (Amateur Novice) appears to be the smallest division. But I could be wrong on that --I just know the numbers are not going to be close to what my kiddos showed, where 300-400 entries was the norm.

[exvet]

I’m 61 and after years of having children who even as adults were close enough and often willing to give me a hand, hear/read your pain now that neither are around and much I do alone. First if it’s close enough and safe, I try to leave as much as I can in my horse trailer (I have a large dressing room) and/or truck so that all changing, tacking up, etc is done at the trailer. All of my horses are well behaved standing trailer side whether they have food in front of them or not. This helps me with number of trips back and forth, keeping things safe under lock and key and there’s less forgetting. I have come to the point now that I leave a list of must haves to take back with me to the arena for the actual show/ride before the judge to help prevent any miss ups/gaffs and last minute panic attacks. For keeping said horse in a stall, I will park for unloading where it is close but also not congested which means I usually do have to walk a ways. I’ll unload my horse and take him (all of mine are geldings) along with at least one hay bag and a bucket with hanger to the stall. I tie my critter up, hang all stuff up in the stall and then place the bedding, usually at least a couple of bags of shavings already purchased and stall side. This way horse is settled quickly with the main necessities in one trip. My next trip before having to move trailer to trailer parking is to move my tack trunk which I purchased from Home Depot. It has wheels and really has grooming supplies et al, not really much ‘tack’ so-to-speak because again saddle, bridle et all is all left in the trailer. I do have duplicate sets of grooming supplies so I have both in trailer and in tack trunk (after having horses for the majority of all of my years having duplicates and back ups are much easier to do). If I need a second hay bag I usually throw that on top of the tack trunk along with an extra bucket if needed and wheel all that to the barn/stall. For multiple day shows I have a hay bag with wheels that will hold a 120 lb bale. I have both a large and a small tack trunk (same brand) both with wheels for one day and multiple day shows. So that means with unloading for a one day show I usually am taking only two short trips with all the horse supplies, move and park trailer, then one longer trip when it’s time to take horse to trailer, tack up, change and then do my class or classes. I should mention that on the single show days if I have multiple classes my tack trunks each have a bridle rack and saddle rack to hang stall side so I can untack horse in between classes if the timing warrants and that way I’m usually not making several trips back and forth to the trailer. Now if I’m showing two horses which I occasionally do, you can multiply all described trips by 1.5, not two because I’ve become the queen of balancing as much crap as possible on my rolling tack trunks

[Laverne77]

I always go to shows by myself and what I have learned is to just ask for some help if I need it. Especially at smaller shows it seems like the people are generally friendly. I just walk up to someone who looks approachable and ask if they’ve got a spare minute to give me a hand.

[endlessclimb]

May I ask what show it is, and when? I might be able to come be your COTH fan club and take some of the load off for a class or two!

[2DogsFarm]

Apologies, but I’ve done this for so long on my own & from what I know, you’re a pretty organized person.
Short version:
Make lists: 1 for Bob, 1 for you
Says the woman who has…
*Arrived at a weekend H/J show without a change of shoes (from dress boots) or shampoo for myself
*Unpacked for a weekend horsecamping at Brown County to find out I had no girth for my English saddle. Everyone else had Western or Tucker saddles
I forget how I managed the first 2 days, but on the 3rd rode in a borrowed Western treeless

[Foxglove]

@endlessclimb --Ranch Horse Association of Michigan “RHAM” Show May 9-10-11 held at Berrien County Youth Fairgrounds 9122 US Hwy 31, Berrien Springs, MI 49103. Show starts at 8:00 AM. Bob plans to enter Friday class # 1, 2, 7, 9; Saturday class # 25, 28; Sunday class #48, 52. You can find a showbill at https://www.facebook.com/RanchHorseAssocMi --it would be fun to see you IRL! PM me for contact information . . .

[endlessclimb]

I could come watch and help Saturday! I’ll PM you.