Sending an OTTB to his first show... (updated w/pics & video!)

[Slewdledo]

I’ll preface by saying I’m super excited.

We have a guy I posted about last summer, now 10YO, raced through last summer. He failed jumping school and came home to us. Hates not having a job, loves attention, big spoiled brat.

This weekend, he is going to participate in an IHSA show doing flat classes. Did I say yet that I’m excited?

I am pulling his mane and he’s getting a bath tomorrow.

Just wanted to post. I am a racing girl ONLY, know nothing about shows, but he is such a nice horse and I’m excited that he’s getting a chance to show his stuff. (Also hoping the exposure will help him find a new home.)

Jingles please that he’s a good boy and all that! Also any advice on what else I need to do to get him ready would be great.

[Justa_Bob]

Wonderful for you and him! Hope he loves the limelight and shines. No advice. Lots of good wishes. Oh and PICTURES. Show him off…

[PNWjumper]

Hooray! I’m glad that you were able to hook up with the organizer :yes: I think I’m looking forward to meeting a bunch of COTH people almost more than anything else!

[jengersnap]

Best wishes!!!

[TwoDreamRides]

My first show with my OTTB went dreadfully, through no fault of his own!

He loaded no problem, went to pick up friend’s OTTB, got stuck on uphill gravel driveway leaving their farm. Unloaded horses, tied to fence, and unstuck truck. Meanwhile, her OTTB broke halter and ran loose.

Got to horse show, went to check in at show office (left horses on trailer due to recent halter-breaking episode when tied). Came back to rocking trailer and lots of commotion. Her OTTB (in front stall of slant) had flipped over backwards into my OTTBs stall. Both horses in one stall standing head to tail. Her horse has cut withers, mine is fine.

Mine shows W/T/C and wins it all.

Proof that OTTBs can handle anything. His first jumping show went much more smoothly, and equally well with ribbons.

Good luck with your guy, fingers crossed there is no "excitement, but if anything goes wrong - remember that he is “been there done that” and has probably seen just about everything in all his years of racing!

[onthehill]

Slew? Was this the “ugly” horse??

Good LUCK!!! Do post pics or videos! We’d love to see him!

[Voldemare]

I love using Perfect Prep calming paste. It’s legal (but check, of course) and has been effective for our excitable OTTB boy. You can give a tube of the “Gold” variety the day you trailer to the show then the “Green” tube an hour or so before your horse is ready for the show ring. You can repeat dosages as necessary.
Good luck, have fun!

[Slewdledo]

Thanks, all! PNWjumper, had you not posted on this very message board, we wouldn’t be doing this at all. So thank you!

Onthehill, yes, same horse. The show organizer came out to try him and make sure he’d be a good fit and he went soooo well for her. Looked awesome. (And she was a real sport, putting up with some tough-guy bravado I didn’t know he still had!)

I’m pretty sure that after his spiffing up today, he was thinking, “OK, where’s the racetrack?” (All the fillies said, “Oooh la la” and his pasture buddies were like, “Duuuuude.”)

[Slewdledo]

First day and two classes down.

This boy - who came off the track in June, spent about 2 months at a hunter/jumper barn that sent him back to us, and who has been turned out ever since - maybe ridden 3 times in the past 4 months -

WON the first class he ever competed in in his life. I have no idea what the class was, other than walk/trot/canter or what the riders were being judged on, but he was a ROCK STAR.

He came 3rd in his other class about an hour later for a different rider.

We are SOOOOOO proud of him. He has one class tomorrow and then he comes home. We were trying to network with people at the show who might be interested in taking him, and have a line on donating him to one of the schools. Soooo many people complimented him - my favorite was from the rider who won on him. She said she loved the little piggy noises he made throughout the class.

3 things he does not particularly care for:
going clockwise
sitting trot
lining up and standing still (you could see him going, “um, you pulled me up. Now is when you get OFF.”

[Slewdledo]

Here are a few pictures schooling and outback before his class. The lighting wasn’t conducive to pictures DURING the classes, but I did get video which is uploading now.

http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz129/pokeydoke1/IMG_0306.jpg
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz129/pokeydoke1/IMG_0304.jpg
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz129/pokeydoke1/IMG_0302.jpg
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz129/pokeydoke1/IMG_0301.jpg
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz129/pokeydoke1/IMG_0300.jpg
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz129/pokeydoke1/IMG_0299.jpg
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz129/pokeydoke1/IMG_0297.jpg
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz129/pokeydoke1/IMG_0293.jpg
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz129/pokeydoke1/IMG_0290.jpg

[Slewdledo]

Schooling (mute unless you want to hear a lot of chatter)
Horse critiques only, please, I know nothing about anybody that rode him and I’m just glad that they were willing to do it! Every one of them did a better job than I would have!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8qTLKAYPRM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB5_SaA3ZWM

[No_Really]

Great photos and video. Thanks for sharing!

[onthehill]

Slew, he looks great!! And what you describe him not liking is perfectly normal for an OTTB just starting out. Really, he doesn’t look all that unhappy going clockwise. If I were you I’d be super-proud too!!

He’s going to make someone a REALLY nice horse.

To me, this looks like it might have been a low-level Dressage event for a college(?) I know you had him at an H/J barn … but he looks like he could accel in dressage. Have you gone that route at all in your search for a home for him??

[PNWjumper]

He looks great! I can’t believe I missed you somehow yesterday!

I’ll be wearing a purple coat today and will be there with my mare for the jumping classes (she was a rock star for the girls yesterday!) and for the first couple of flat classes. Hopefully we’ll get to meet up!

onthehill–it was an IHSA show and it looks like the videos were taken during the flat warm-up before they started the flat classes.

[Slewdledo]

Here is a video of yesterday’s winning class. (Warning, I let Youtube select the video so you might want to mute it! Also, the last 3 minutes are just the lineup but not the announcement of placings so probably no need to really see that.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P2n8jCM7pw

I think it was called “Intermediate Equitation.” Especially note what a good boy he is when the horse and rider in front of him part company.

He was not used today, so got to come home early and go back to his buddies.

Onthehill, we are open to anything for him so long as his new home will take care of him and feed him lots of licorice. It is hard to get people to come out to our place and see him. (We’re not set up well for riding, especially in the winter.) His age turns people off. (Sigh.)

PNW jumper, sorry I missed you, too! I had a black jacket on yesterday and red/black today but I was only there for about 40 minutes. Which one was your mare? I noticed there were some good (well-behaved) and some not-so-good for the jumping. We did catch the end of the jumping yesterday.

Kudos to the show organizer and everyone who made this happen. We are so glad that they were willing to use him and it was so much fun!

[tradewind]

He has such a kind expression, and you can see in the video that he is really trying his best to do what his rider wants. Whoever gets him is going to be really lucky!

[PNWjumper]

[QUOTE=Slewdledo;5425822]
PNW jumper, sorry I missed you, too! I had a black jacket on yesterday and red/black today but I was only there for about 40 minutes. Which one was your mare? I noticed there were some good (well-behaved) and some not-so-good for the jumping. We did catch the end of the jumping yesterday.[/QUOTE]

My mare was one of the well-behaved ones

She took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in her first class this morning (they were clearly low on jumping horses today!) and then the kid that rode her in the intermediate class also won on her. The first class was funny…they did a ride-off and all 3 riders in the ride-off were on her. And then I think she was 2nd and 3rd in her flat classes. She’s a bay with 3 socks and a white stripe down her nose (this is her: http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2422298560094686761QImQWx).

Bummer that we missed each other!

[vbunny]

I’d say he looks more like an low level event horse, too. I bet he’s a clever little jumper.

[Slewdledo]

PNW Jumper, I DID see your mare. She was very nice! What a good girl to deal with so much.

Cross your fingers - just sent our boy out on a very short trial with some Pony Club or 4H teenagers and their trainer.

[witherbee]

Congratulations - he looks like a really nice fellow!

Hopefully you can sell him/place him easily - you are doing the right thing in getting him training and exposure.

You mentioned donating him to a school - please research that carefully. Many of them do not keep the horse and run it through auction. They also do that when the horse is injured or not useful any more - just do a search on COTH for donations and school or college and you will see. Great thought, but unfortunately the schools are running a business and often do not honestly tell the donating what they plan for that horse.