If she does a horsemanship class with a pattern, study the pattern very carefully. If it’s drawn with the horse on the right side of the cone, be on the right side, not the left. Judges can and will DQ kids for something like this. Accuracy (stopping right at the cone, round circles etc) and showing good control counts for a lot, especially at the lower levels. It doesn’t take having the fanciest, prettiest moving horse.
Be sure to tell your student to do what you talk about, not what kids going before her do. I have seen classes in which the first kid did the pattern wrong, all the rest (except one) copied the first kid, and the only one to get it right won by default, even if their ride was not technically the best.
For that matter, for some kids, even watching the runs of the kids before them is too nerve-wracking and they start second guessing themselves (assuming it’s the type of class where everyone goes in individually, does their pattern and finds a spot on the rail). For other kids, watching other kids’ trips and talking about what they did right or wrong is educational. Depends on the kid (I liked watching other kids go, my sister would practically hyper-ventillate comparing herself to the other riders).
Good luck
BES
