first graded show

[princieboy]

Hi guys!!!

Guess what? I'm going to do my first graded sj show in 3 weeks! I'm sooooooo excited! ;D
I'm entering 2 JF classes - probably tiny to most of you, but to me (and definitely prince) it's big enough for now!
Does anyone have any tips? Prince isn't particularly willing when it comes to jumping... When i'm determined enough (physically and especially mentally) he soars over the jumps with ease, but as soon as i enter the show arena he just switches off, spooks at everything and uses his tried and trusted "i'm way too tired to do this mommy, how can you possibly expect me to jump these monstruous horse-eating jumps"-trick. I KNOW we can do it, but i tend to forget it while we're cantering towards the jumps, especially parallels . Also, i'm worried about the time limit - prince is in lazy-mode 90% of the time. What can I do?

[duster]

just relax Princie and you will do just fine

[jemma]

do the big SMACK!@#? (he he)

[nikki]

Your time limit will be pretty big so just chill!!! You gonna knock the socks off all those other horses! If he gets lazy then encourage him! I always go around screaming, "come on Queen!! lets go, 1,2,3, yay and we over!!! Only Another 9 to go!!'' Everyone may think i am mad but its the only way she gets excited and starts having fun!! Try it it works for me!! Good Luck!!

[princieboy]

Thanx nikki! I usually give princie some vocal encouragement!

[Chrissy]

I have to say....be lazy, shhhhhh, nooooo....quietly.... lol! My horse is the complete opposite!

[duster]

Me to chrissy my pony loves to jump

[HH]

Hi there, and congratulations on progressing so well and putting in all the hard work to get you to going to graded shows - awesome!!! The best advice to stop the nerves and guarantee a good day where you and your horse have a good learning experience is really good preparation. If you and your instructor have faith in the work you've put in and your level of accomplishment, then have faith - you're ready and you'll both be able to cope with the atmosphere, the course and everything else. Take a deep breath and try and stay calm and enjoy it all - we do it for fun after all!!

Re time, here are some general rules that may help you. The general rule of thumb is to arrive at least 45 minutes before the projected start of your class. This gives you time to unbox, relax, collect your programme and check your number in the class. When you should tack up and how long your warm up should be is hard to say, it really depends on your horse and how much of a tune up he needs to get him warmed up and listening to you - you know him best, so have a think and have a plan for this beforehand. A hot fizzy horse may need a long warm up, walking around the show grounds on a long rein having a look at everything and calming down, before you start cantering and jumping, whereas if you've got a laidback character, maybe ten or 15 minutes is all you need - you'll get the feel of it the more shows you go to and the more mileage you get under your belt.

Re times int he arena, they're quite generous, so don't worry too much about that - the rule is usually that the judges run the class in this way: at any time during th erunning of the class, there'll be one horse jumping, one horse walking around the perimeter of the arena, and one on standby at the gate. When you get called in, try and position yourslef at the end of the arena where the start flags are. The JF classes are usually big and under time pressure so the judges will ring you in quickly after the previous round has finished. Once they ring the bell, you have first clocks put on - this gives you 45 seconds to go through the start flags. It may sound short but it's actually quite long! Even if you don't manage to get through the start flags int he 45 seconds, all that will happen is that the recorded time for your round will begin - they won't eliminate you or anything like that. Your time allowed is based on the speed the horse should be going at, and the length of the course - you'll see your sourse designer measuring the course with a wheel to get this distance accurately and be fair to the riders. I think the JFs should be going at 300 m per minute , and this goes up to 350 m per minute for the higher grades. It's plenty of time, so provided you don't go for a hack around the arena, you should be fine for time. Enjoy, lots of luck and please let us know how it went!

[nikki]

My one horse takes me around the course! He was a B grade! But my mare, OMG is she lazy! She loves jumping and gets excited but that amount of excitement is still very lazy!

[princieboy]

Thanks guys!! I'll definitely let you know how it goes.

[duster]

WOW kari you got a lot of tips!