Your first horse show: share!

[luvmycabanaboy]

About 10 years old wearing tan leggings, the rubber tall boots, and a women’s blazer that my mom and I picked up from Beall’s the night before (complete with ruffly shoulders and shoulder pads!!)

The best past however was not the outfit. This was the type of show where it was like $10/class or $80 to show as much as you wanted all day. My best friend and I thought it would be a better deal if only ONE of us actually signed up, and we would flop back and forth between classes on the same horse, switching the jacket to whomever was riding that class. No one would ever notice!! NOT. First, she was blond and willowy and I am brunette and athletic and about 6 inches taller. Second, um hello, even in a similar outfit, we did not ride the same! Eventually the announcer started calling out “Rider number 80A” and “rider number 80B”…and we knew they had caught on to us. Weird that we didn’t win many ribbons, if any…

[eclipse]

My first horse show was around 17 years ago. I was an adult in the novice rider circuit for school horses and Spruce Meadows was a part of it, and it was in their indoor. I could not get over the little x rail so Mrs Southern came running out and made it a pole on the ground. Patted the school horse and told him to be nice and go over the pole…,he did!

[blondewithchrome]

OMG, what a fun thread! My first show was a schooling show in 1997? 1998? I did walk trot (i forget what it was called maybe Mini-Stirrup) on a tiny pony named Puff. Got two 5th place ribbons and they were my prized posessions. Can’t believe that was 20 years ago. :eek:

[hillary_again]

@one1horse, thanks for sharing those photos! Isn’t it cool that we can still remember the placings for these classes?

[Bethe_Mounce]

a lifetime ago (I won’t tell ya’ll the year), first pony, first show, Frying Pan Park, Virginia. Up at the crack of dawn, pony won’t load into a windowless 2 horse straight load bumper pull (pulled by a station wagon); father gets out broom, a few decisive pokes with bristles and pony leaps in. There was a Pet Pony division at the time; I am in the flat class with my black linen jacket, white ratcatcher, tan ole timey breeches with shared boots (too big for me) with the little things that used to buckle above the top of the boots-I was stylin’ so I thought. Helmet was one of those velvet covered non protective types. Class is about 20 ponies; we do fine at walk, trot but…the canter command came and our well behaved at home pony turned into a heathen! Bucking so badly judge calls me in the middle, everyone else merrily canters and I am in the middle alone and miserable. I got over that in the ensuing years in Europe. Pony was bought at Carl Swedbergs place in No. Scituate (sp?), RI for $300 and arrived in the back of a pickup truck with slats when we bought him.

[phoenixrises]

First off this is a great thread. What fun to read.

1991 went to an open show at Cornell University. First class went ok, I came in last because I rode a big appy with a curb bit in a hunter class (a curb bit!!) So the 2nd class was equitation, but the trainer’s daughter was making fun of my bad riding in the first class. I went in the second class and didn’t breathe, somewhere around fence 3 I fainted right off that horse. Passed out cold. Then woke up to the medic helping me but he was missing an arm and in my stupor I think I thought I was missing an arm and screamed like someone was killing me. Soooo yeah that was my first show.

I went on to show in the arab circuit rather successfully thank goodness that didn’t end my “career”.

[Janet]

Fall of 1966, so 52 years ago.

In Armonk, NY, there used to be a General Aviation airport. Then it became a riding stable. Now it is an office park.

In 1966 we went to a show there with Jilly, who was a retired show pony we leased, and my sister and I shared.

I was in some sort of w-t-c equitation class. Walk and trot were fine, but Jilly did NOT want to canter more than 3 or 4 strides at a time. So we would canter 3 or 4 strides, then she would break, and I would kick her forward into a canter for 3 or 4 strides, and so on. I was VERY frustrated. So I was very surprised to get a third place ribbon (out of 6 or 7 in the class. I later found out that, every time, she picked up the WRONG lead, and the judge thought I was pulling her up to try to get the correct lead! I was just trying to keep her cantering.

I do not remember what I was wearing.