LEARNING
FROM MISTAKES HELPS IMPROVE TRAIL CLASS PERFORMANCE
By SUSAN
DUDASIK
Spring’s
here and many of you are preparing for the show season, so now
would be a good time to review some showring strategies. First
of all, remember while it's great to win ribbons and trophies,
that shouldn't be your only reason for competing. If it is,
you'll soon burn out your horse and yourself. Competing should
be viewed as a way to judge yourself against your own best standard
by trying to improve over how you did at the last show. If your
horse hit three poles in a trot-over and this time he went clean,
you've won. Or if you finally got him on the right lead, you
won. If you approach showing with this attitude, you will succeed.
There have been many times when the blue ribbon didn't necessarily
go to the best performance. If you understand how your horse
goes, you will know instantly in your own mind where you have
placed, ribbon or not.
So, armed
with that attitude, it's up to you to do the best job you can
and learn from your mistakes. When I was showing I had plenty
of opportunities to learn from my mistakes and in this article
I'd like to pass on what I learned. Aside from the old standards
of practicing as many different types and variations of obstacles
as you can and watching and learning from others, make sure
you are prepared for your class. Arrive early and study the
course. If you don't understand something, ask the ring steward
or the Judge. Don't assume anything. I was at the Bishop Mule
Days and one of the obstacles was to side-pass to the mailbox
and sidepass away from it. Well, everyone smartly side-passed
to the box, took out the mail and side-passed away, except one
gal. She just sidepassed to and away from the mailbox. Everyone
assumed she really blew the class and didn't have a prayer of
even placing. Imagine our surprise when she won. When we complained,
the judge simply said "Next time read the instructions.
They never said to show the mail!" Lesson never forgotten!!!
If the instructions say left-hand pull gate, that's what it
means. If it just says open gate, you're better off asking how
it should be done. When in doubt, ask.
On that
same line, always ride your own course. Don't just follow in
the hoofprints of the horse ahead of you. Watch and learn from
other riders, but don't blindly follow them. I was judging a
4-H Trail class and the first rider was off course, so were
the next six. One boy finally rode his own, correct course and
won the class. When watching a class, observe how other riders
approach their obstacles and where they are having problems.
If there's a tight turn from the bridge to the trot-overs and
everyone seems to be hitting the poles, perhaps you might try
making a wider approach to the poles so you are coming in a
straight line instead of on the diagonal. It's amazing to watch
a class with a big slick, muddy spot about 100 feet from an
obstacle. Undoubtedly nine out of ten riders will slip and slide
through the muck rather than go around it just because the first
rider did. When I'm judging a class, these are the little things
I look for in over-all presentation. Is the rider a thinking
rider and in control or is he simply following what everyone
else did.
If you
do have a problem at an obstacle, handle it as smoothly as you
can. If your horse refuses, let him settle a few seconds and
try again. If he back-up, rears, runs-off or generally is telling
you there is no way he's going near that obstacle, graciously
nod to the judge, go around the obstacle and finish the course.
Don't make a major scene in the arena. If you and your horse
are a real team, you'll know whether he will go on a second
try or not. Just don't loose your cool. Most judges rate each
obstacle individually and it is possible to completely blow
one and still place, especially if everyone else worked an obstacle
wrong or went off course.
Don't be
a show-off. We were doing a raincoat obstacle where we had to
take it from a fence, put it on and then replace it. One competitor
was going to impress the judge with how good his horse was so
he started rubbing his horse's head with it then leaned way
forward and started rubbing his face. Well, by leaning so far
forward he threw his horse off balance and the horse had to
stumble forward to keep standing. Needless to say, he didn't
place. If you have an obstacle like that, less is better. Just
do what is required. If the obstacle is to carry a sack of cans
from barrel A to barrel B, do it calmly. Most times you don't
earn brownie points for shaking and rattling the sack over your
horse's head and your horse will be very appreciative if you
don't. Again, follow the instructions. Does it say shake cans
like a wild person? You can keep the sack by your knee and rattle
it gently. The same goes for the mail obstacle. You don't need
to flap the letter between your horse's ears, just show it to
the judge and replace it.
Another
good rule is to check your cinch just before you enter the arena,
even if you don't have a mounting or dismounting obstacle. There's
nothing more embarrassing than to lean over to get the mail
from the box and having your whole saddle slip completely sideways.
Or, if you are doing an obstacle where you have to get back
on and your cinch is loose, take the time to tighten it. That's
why you are supposed to check the cinch before mounting. A judge
will place you higher for fixing the problem than he would for
having to readjust the whole thing because it slipped as you
started to climb aboard.
The gate
obstacle is often the scene of interesting rider maneuvers.
The general rule is that once you commit to the gate, you don't
let go of it. This seems to be something that adults drill in
to young riders and often, no matter what the situation, they
hang on to the gate. I actually saw one young rider jerked off
her horse and ended up sitting on the gate. The surprising thing
was, later she was proudly telling her mom, "But I didn't
let go of the gate this time!" No matter what the obstacle,
don't be so determined to "do it right" that you end
up in a bad situation. Again, the best approach is to know how
your horse handles uncomfortable situations and act accordingly.
Don't be afraid to let go. Keep the safety of you and your horse
foremost.
These are
just some of the things I have learned either through actual
experience or by watching others. Trail is a fun, exciting,
challenging event and as long as you approach it with a sense
of adventure, you will succeed. It may not always be with blue
ribbons and trophies, but with the sheer pleasure you'll feel
when you and your horse conquer that man-eating trot-over obstacle
or you get the gate closed on the first try. It's the little
things that make Trail class such a challenge and the relationship
that you create with your horse that makes it all worth wild.
Susan Dudasik
Shadow Rider Equine News
srider@salmoninternet.com
Member: Idaho Press Club
North American Saddle Mule Association
