And no one responded! 
[This message was edited by devildog20 on May. 14, 2001 at 10:30 AM.]
And no one responded!
[This message was edited by devildog20 on May. 14, 2001 at 10:30 AM.]
I don’t actually have nightmares themselves, rather, I walk up about every 1/2 hour during the night CERTAIN that I’ve slept thru the alarm! I don’t just do this for shows, every time I have an early morning presentation, plane to catch, meeting, etc., I’m up every 1/2 hour in a panic! I even set 2 alarms… but that hasn’t helped.
You’re not having senior moments.You are adjusting to change.Change is hard. You will adjust. It WILL get better!
I don’t really have nightmares. Maybe because I’m not really sleeping. 
I just lay in bed imagining every possible course to jump and way to jump it. over and over and over I try to think of everything that could go wrong and how to adjust it. over and over and over
It really makes for an exhausting night. 
No nightmares, but the butterflies will flutter in around 1:30 AM.
~Erin Lizzy
Visit my Website!
No matter how rough things are, it could always be worse!
devildog: Fantastic! You must be really pleased! My first show of the year was a complete and utter disaster but we won’t go there right now. Well done. May the rest of your season be as successful. 
Showing for me is a LIVING nightmare!
Alcohol interferes with REM sleep and will ensure a comatose-like evening… 
Beyond that, self confidence through watching videos of your best trips will also help alleviate sleepless pre-horse show nights. Watch the video, remember the ride, close your eyes and relive the ride over and over to give you confidence for the next days show.
Thanks! We did great!
Well, first off Devildog, youre nightmare reminds me of something that happened to me for real!!!
It was one of my first big shows that I did as a teenager and I was sooo excited…
I’m at the horse show, we just trailered in, and Im getting ready to warm up for my first class. So I go to tack up and get my saddle…wait, where is my saddle!!! Oh yeah, it is sitting on my saddle stand in the garage of my house!!! My trainer is already in a bad mood and I am panicking! I call my dad, he RUSHS over to the show grounds, (which is about 20 mins away from my house) and sneaks it is the show tack room. Meanwhile, I am doing my best to (pray) and buy time to I have to tack up. Oh well, happy ending, my trainer never knew and I made the class!!!
Erin
I’m with you Merry - horse shows ARE the living nightmare.
I seem to sleep just fine, and can even overlseep if the occassion warrants, and I am mostly fine during the day, but damn, the first time the fences get racked up in the schooling area - that is when I am full of “what ifs” (what if I lose my eye - as if I had one - is the predominant one).
Mostly I am better if anything in the schooling ring is smaller than in the show ring, because it all disappears once I walk in the ring. Of course, about half way through my trip, so does my focus, and I seem to view it as a social occassion… sigh… there are plenty of ways to beat yourself at a horse show, you know?
Congatulations DevilDog!! It sounds like you were on! And great for your barn!!!
I always have those kind of dreams before a show. Sometimes in my dreams we don’t even make it to the show grounds. The dream is one endless packing nightmare where I can’t find anything I need.
I once had a dream that I was going to ride Gem Twist in a show but I didn’t have any show clothes and the class was going to start in 15 minutes. I spent most of the dream going to tack stores trying to find what I needed. Somehow the dream ended with me riding Gem bareback and he was an old swayback.
I know I have these dreams because I am anxious about forgetting stuff, with good reason. I am just starting to show again and I almost went into my very first class without my number on.
Hmmm… I don’t think I’ve ever had a horse show dream or a nightmare, probably because I’m living them out so intensely in real life! I swear, I’m so neurotic. I have a three-day show NEXT weekend, and I’ve already cleaned my tack, put my show clothes in their zipper bag, my polished boots in their bag, and packed the show trunk. Why? To avoid my living nightmare: having to rush around at the last minute, leaving post-it memos everywhere so I don’t forget the feed buckets, the show pads, the lunge line, etc.
I’ve been having the most awful nightmares on a too regular basis since my former husband vacated the premises. They are mostly about forgetting something to do with the children, but often have to do with horse and show related things, as well business stuff.
I used to be one of the most organized people I knew, down to never being late…I don’t know if it’s the stress, or lack of sleep, or just plain lack of confidence at times, but I have been forgetting things of late. I just hope it remains the unimportant stuff in the scheme of things.
Needless to say, I refuse to write off these forgetful moments as “senior moments”!
Hey Duffy,
not to be too Freudian, but maybe you are “forgetting” because now you can and noone else can get on your case because you did. Ranks right up there with that fear of failure/fear of success deal.
Keep venting it out around here, kind of like saying it out loud, and I bet you feel better about the oopses. It is hard to be the perfect one, always having to see that everyone and everything is on time and perfect. Trust me on that one, I lived it for too many years.
As for the horse stuff and nightmares, I am usually too pooped “gathering” to the last minute before a trip to loose any sleep or dream. I have to have lists of lists, and own two of everything, keep it in my trunk. Then that way everyone depends on “you” to have what they forgot.
I have to agree with FIRSTCRY. Asking if we have nightmares before a show presumes that we sleep before a show. I have been showing for 13 years and have yet to eat or sleep before my schooling round. I am a stress case who probably shouldn’t show, I’m going to give myself an ulcer one of these days. The weird part is, I miss showing when I’m not able to go. I guess I’m a sucker for punishment
Well, congratulations DD, on having a fun day. Looks like you went into it with the right attitude, as a learning experience, and thus came out with exactly the right thing. You and Chloe keep learning and growing, but, most of all, keep having fun!
Yep, I been riding over 25 years and still get the butterflies and imaginary leg cramps the night and morning before a show. But yet, you stop showing and start having withdrawl symptoms.
The mind is a strange animal to understand. making us suffer sooo much for something we love to do.
