Hi everyone! I’m a current freshman in college and am on my college’s equestrian team. I am extremely excited to begin showing next semester in IHSA, does anyone have any tips or things to know for me? I’ve shown before in the Northeast but was never in IEA. Thanks!
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Do not ever, EVER, post so much as a single step on the wrong diagonal at the trot. There are a huge number of things you cannot control at an IHSA show, but you have absolute 100% control over whether you ever post on the wrong diagonal and make a poor impression on the judge.
Do not ever, EVER, say one negative word about any horse you see or ride during an IHSA show. Murphy’s Law of Horse Shows decrees that the person standing right next to you or right behind you will be that horse’s owner, who will be offended and will never let the horse participate in another IHSA show again. Just don’t do it. Save any negative comments for the bus ride home with your teammates.
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This. It’s also good to remember that people are essentially donating these horses to riders they’ve never seen and no matter how many spare parts it took to make the horse, he is a gift to you and your team.
Also, use this as an opportunity to focus on yourself and your basics. Whether you’re in Walk Trot or Open, there’s only so much you can do with the horse underneath you so IHSA is really a wonderful time to get really nitty gritty on your angles, your position, your strength. Before IHSA I was an effective rider, but after four years in IHSA I am now effective AND pretty rider 
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I rode IHSA for 4 years, am currently riding alumni for the first time, and have been schooling horses for my former IHSA team’s home shows for six years. Here are the top things I would tell someone (caveat that some of this is level dependent, and may be familiar to you if you rode IEA):
- Its been said, but bears repeating: don’t ever talk badly about the horse you’re on. That is what the bus ride home is for, or dinner with teammates (as long as you’re hours away from the show).
- Watch the horse you drew school if the draw is posted before schooling. Watch any classes the horse is in before your own. You cannot ride the horse before you show, but you can watch how it goes with the person schooling it (who has most likely ridden it before) and with others who drew it (who have mostly likely not ridden the horse before). See what riders are doing well with the horse and what they aren’t (did it break at the canter? is it only doing simple changes? did it blow the right lead in the last two flat classes?)
- This may be region dependent, and dependent on coach/school preferences, but if you can talk to the person who owns or schools the horse, that is ideal. I always appreciate people who ask me for tips on the horses I’ve schooled, and I always asked the school that owned the horse for any advice (or the schooler). BUT ask your coach first if this is appropriate - it is in two regions I’ve ridden in, it may not be everywhere and not every coach may want a student doing this. ETA: I think there is also a misconception that owners/other schools won’t tell you how to ride the horse because they don’t want you to beat their rider. But what I have found is that people just want their horses ridden well - no one wants to watch their horse be ridden badly. If a few tips is going to set their horse up for success, I have found most schools are willing to tell you them.
- Check, but do not adjust, your girth. You cannot tighten the girth yourself - in IHSA the only thing you can adjust is the stirrups. However you can check the girth and ask the handler if they might consider tightening it if you are concerned about it being too lose.
- Know ahead of time if the horse is a stick option. Some handlers with know the horse really well, others will have no idea.
- If you show over fences, take the draw into account when you’re thinking about your track. At a recent show I watched four people in a row trot across the diagonal to get their canter in the corner to start their course, only for the horses to bust into the canter a few strides to early and on the wrong lead. What might work the best on a horse you know well (a slick inside turn, a trot-walk-canter start to your course) may sabotage you on an IHSA draw. If you draw a bus of a horse who needs a simple change, a tighter roll back turn may not be the best option. This is where watching the horse school and go in earlier classes really helps.
- Support your team. You had this experience in IEA, but for many riders IHSA is the first time in their life riding is a team sport. If you have a terrible round or a terrible day, take a few minutes to (privately) be upset, and then shake it off and be there for your teammates. It is supposed to be fun - there is so much you can’t control in IHSA so enjoy the things you can.
Good luck! I loved it, learned a lot, and am not having a lot of fun showing alumni 8 years after graduating.
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I judge a ton of IHSA shows. Never have I ever eliminated someone for one step on the wrong diagonal. Just saying. What I do look at is basic correct position (heels must be down) and correct angles. I dislike stiffness and posing.
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Control what you can control and accept what you cannot! Horse doesn’t collect? Don’t try to collect it. Horse doesn’t have flying changes? Don’t ask for flying changes. Just control what you can control, like your diagonals, getting the correct lead (even if you don’t pick it up at first), jumping the jumps in the right order. There will be times where you will place lower or not at all purely because of a bad draw so just know that and accept it. IHSA is unfair but it is equally unfair to everyone.
Also treat every horse like it’s the nicest horse you’ve ever ridden and thank the owners for letting you ride their horse.
Four years of IHSA did more for me as a rider than probably all of my previous lessons did combined. It’s a great experience, enjoy it!
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This has been my experience as well. Nobody will sabotage you or give you bad advice, everyone just want the horse to get ridden well. A lot of times the horses aren’t the teams horses but just some horse owner that boards at the host schools barn so if you go up to them and asks out their horse, they probably won’t even know or care what team you ride for.
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You’ve gotten some great advice here so far. I will add that it can be worthwhile to take a peek where the draws are posted and make note of who the alternate horses are for your class. Keep an eye out for them in the warmups and in classes before your own.
In the event your original draw comes up lame, or is pulled by the stewards for whatever reason, it can be really helpful to have a little insight onto the alternate horse. If nothing else, it’s a good way to pass the time on some long show days.
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I like the above comment of “control what you can control”, so polish your dang boots! I watched an under saddle once that was so incredibly close, the judge literally walked around during the line up and looked at the riders turnout. My friend with the not so clean boots came out second 
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I have always emphasized to my riders to “Ride the horse you drew, not the horse you want.” If you go in expecting something out of your ride, it will not happen. Relax and listen to the horse under you - it will tell you if it needs more leg, softer hand, more bend, less connection, etc. The top riders adapt to the horse and don’t expect the horse to adapt to them.
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Always make sure you feel 100% comfortable in your tack before you go into the ring! I did my first class of IHSA with stirrups 3 holes too long because I thought I was holding up the show and had to go in and ride. Adjusting what you can adjust before you go into the ring is never frowned upon!
Also, STRATEGY!! In IHSA you can show the division above once you have qualified for regionals in the division below. Take this from someone who made it from Novice to Open way too fast. Don’t try to qualify quickly, take your time and maybe use this rule to show in the division above before you compete at your regionals. It really does help.
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Ask the handler how the horse goes, read about it on the draw board, and watch the horses schooling or in other classes.
We had this horse at one college that was a bald faced bay. His board always said “hit with stick before first fence.”
Any girl that felt she was a superior rider and didn’t need to hit the horse ended up on the other side of the fence sans horse. EVERY TIME. If you hit him before the first fence he went around like a machine if you felt like you rode well enough that your leg was enough you ended up on the ground.
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I’m going to say the opposite of a lot of people, and say DON’T ask your horse’s handler about the horse. It may be a regional thing, but a lot of times the holders are members of the team or from the barn or from IEA (in our case) who may or may not actually know what they’re talking about. You can watch the horses go in schooling, your coach has probably seen a good number of the horses before, and any special quirks such as “use the whip hard one time before you start” or “stay in two point to walk away from mounting block” will be told in the coaches meeting. In my experience, especially if you have horse holders who are a)younger kids or b) owners who know nothing about IHSA, you either get wrong information (“omg he was so fast in my lesson last week be careful he doesn’t run away!”) or you get over information (“when you land off the grey single you should do this for 1.3 seconds and then do this for 4 steps and then do this”) and it’s completely overwhelming. Have a general plan that will apply to most horses, and then follow the horse descriptions and information that you saw in the schooling.
One of the hardest things for me to learn, and I now emphasize it to my IHSA students, is that you are not out there to train the horse or make it better. You have 5-7 minutes in a flat class and 2 minutes in a jumping class. You have to ride what you’re sitting on to the best of your ability. If the horse wants to go with his nose poked out, don’t try to put him in a short, upright frame. It’s just going to make him mad or upset. The LAST thing you want to do is go out there thinking you’re going to make the horse go your way and end up frying its brain to where it can’t be used in any more classes. I’ve been on both sides of this as a coach, where one of my riders was too aggressive with a sensitive horse, and that horse made it one more class before having to be pulled very early. I’ve also had a rider go in and give a horse such a positive ride that even though it wasn’t the winning trip, the horse was so happy and continued to go well because of the confident ride, that the horse’s coach even mentioned that positive ride.
Second, third, and fourth what everyone has said about being appreciative of your horse even if it felt like the biggest slug you’ve ever ridden. Nobody wants to hear negative comments about their horses. We can’t run these shows without the horses, so we have to appreciate what each one can do for us.
Finally, hang out with your teammates and show that you are making an effort to be part of the team. While it might not help you specifically in the ring, I can tell you that your coach is going to take notice and will often time try to use you more at shows than someone who cancels a lot of lessons, never helps out, etc.
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Definitely ditto what has been said about appreciating the ride, and not trying too hard to fix the horse, just do the best you can on what you’re sitting on. I once won a flat class on a horse that was bucking and squealing- I didn’t get after it, just sat as quietly as I could and rode out the class- the judge will take these things into account.
I would also advise you to ride as many different horses in your lessons as you can, and work on the details. If you go to regionals/zones/nationals, or end up in a ride off, you may be asked to do things beyond the normal protocol for the class. Being able to sit that jackhammer trot, or post quietly without stirrups, or properly ride a trot fence can make all the difference.
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Seconded the “you are not here to train the horse or make it better”
If your farm hosts a show, do not use any sexual innuendo, even if PG, in the horse descriptions when the local fundamentalist bible college will be attending, because anyone holding that horse being asked for details is going to be put into a very awkward position.
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Wait, what?? 
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Wait now I need to know the story behind this… 
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I was mostly joking- Trying to avoid outing myself too much but we had a horse named after a movie character whose description referenced the movie. It seemed hilarious when we were writing the descriptions up, but it was less hilarious when their coach complained that even a reference was vulgar, and the person who was holding that horse had to try to explain the joke all day. Should have just said “great draw” and moved on.
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Remember, a well done simple change is perfectly acceptable, so don’t overthink the changes. If in fact you opt to do simple ones, plan ahead in your mind where you will execute a transition to the trot and ask for the change.
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Agree! And the best rider maybe the one that picks up the diagonal for a step and corrects it right away. I would not make that a deal breaker.
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