First recognized show questions!

[atlatl]

@TwiSedai

The long skirt is such good advice especially, but all the tips are great as well. Thank y’all so much! I’m both nervous and super pumped! Time to make a list of everything I need and plan out the days

Honestly, if you’re stabling, I think you’re find that you have plenty of time on your hands. I’ve actually taken naps in between classes. Typical show day for me:

Arrive on show grounds roughly 2 hours before first ride and feed/clean stalls. Maybe just feed if my first class is before 8am in which case I show up around 0530. 90 minutes before class, braid (I braid/rebraid every day), groom, then change into show clothes, tack up. In the warm up 30-40 minutes before my ride time. Ride test, if next ride is over 30 min later, I go back to barn, give horse a drink, maybe untack if it’s over an hour to the next ride, then go back to the warmup, very light warmup, then last ride, back to barn, untack, then change clothes, unbraid, hose/bathe horse and hang around.

For the FEI horse, same routine, a little longer in the warmup because he needs to walk more first, ride the test, back to barn, untack.

Even if you don’t rebraid everyday, you’ll need to redo some of them. If you practice braiding at home, you’ll know how much time you need.

[dotneko]

Do you have any other color breeches? Anything but bright or patterned pretty much goes these days. You should have a spare pair - what if it rains?
I saw dark gray at third level recently.

Here is the picture book of changes lol
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usdf.org%2Fdocs%2FShowFlash%2Fweb%2FTechnicalDelegate%2FA%20Visual%20Guide%20to%20the%20Dressage%20Attire%20Rules%201_23_2022%20USDF.pdf%3Ft%3D2%2F12%2F2022%2011%3A33%3A55%20PM%26fbclid%3DIwAR0orfU917ainmVLx9boTStVui-DHVV3DeHTTkvLjWXOtH0ZwWaU_GOVTV4&h=AT14W7nLGV0kaVbcrDnhWU98CsA49dKcNXHId205mgSwwB2ao7R6cy4KdYBUvj5ugX5zwWZWr4t_E3SKCtkzA-10W6Y4eluob8OpPaAQaCOyZBkC-Rez70W5RmGaF8EYOwhX_BhYhHVvL9kPRUaB&tn=-UK-R&c[0]=AT1VpQ56bthFZdKEHprcz-43-h89Ay1kD9XRz4G7QkR311ziJ-Yqy-1Xw3M3Ay54_TsqymZsk2UA8g1YIXSMRczZdRstELGHV6tpX4ZJDkjOrfgr4Ys24HCGtYJHR_LrUBkIREccj1Er7P2n8_8IT7Y1Uw

[BlueDrifter]

Here’s a rat study of two shows I scribed for:

Judges never said a thing about attire. Unless you are really frazzled appearing, the judges are non-stop watching your performance, not your outfit.

[eightpondfarm]

i went to my first recognized show today and i couldn’t tell you what anyone was wearing except there was just a whole lot of black and white. All i could see was the horses’ legs, almost all the time. My partner noticed that most of the women had dirty boots however i didn’t notice until she said something, and didn’t actually pay any attention to that even after she pointed it out. Some nice rides. Weather was perfect.

[sparkygrace]

Most people try to have someone wipe their boots off when they leave the warm-up and enter the show ring. If it is really dusty or muddy, it’s hard to look perfect. And, not everybody has help.

[TwiSedai]

My classes are pretty much one in the morning, one in the afternoon, so that’ll be a nice long break. I have a few pairs of breeches/tights to take as back ups. We have a tack stall that can double as a dressing room so no changing in shavings, luckily. And my pony’s mane is roached so no braiding needed I THINK we are ready to go! Time to go embarrass ourselves in front of the fancy prancey horses in the Open classes since I was too lazy to do all the required things to change my status back to Amateur

Wish us luck!

[EVneo]

Glad you have a tack stall! My rec is quadruple check that you have everything from the trailer HOURS before you even start thinking about tacking. Having forgot my watch for xc, there was a lot of cursing and flooring of a golf cart back to trailer parking as I was supposed to be jumping on to trek down to warm up. It’s a haul and a half, luckily you won’t have to worry about dodging HS graduates at the alltech arena this year. Also, give your horse a good chunk of time to get used to the horse park. I’ve seen many a seasoned show horses forget how to think there.

[TwiSedai]

Just wanted to do an update. It was AMAZING. My horse was literally perfect from the second she stepped off the trailer, didn’t spook at a single thing all weekend and was a rock for the greenies we had with us. Came home with two ribbons, no score lower than 55 (which is actually pretty huge for us ) and even a score in the 60s which I’m thrilled about. Already booking a campsite for next year!

Thank you for the tips, our weekend went so smoothly almost the entire time. And riding in the Rolex Arena was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done, the atmosphere there is just amazing. Can’t wait for our next recognized show!