News: Articles

An Amateur Point of View

Troubleshooting
by Russ Vento

From my experience, when something goes wrong at an important time, it is seldom just one thing. It is one thing after another. Sometimes I wonder if Murphy’s Law was first discovered at the U.S. Nationals in the amateur division. This month, if you are one of the thousands who have met Mr. Murphy personally, I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to ruin your week.

Let’s say you’ve been having great rides on your horse. If you live in a different city from your trainer, you’ve flown in regularly for your practices and everything has been fine. If you worked at home, you and your horse were on-target with each other and sure that you were a team. Then you get to the horse show (it doesn’t have to be Nationals; it can be any competition), and ohmygod! It’s Murphy’s Law—the domino effect, as one thing after another just hits the pile. You’re dumbfounded. What went wrong? Why is my horse being bad? Why have I forgotten how to ride? Why is my trainer yelling at me like that? Why is he not there for me? And why did the zipper on my riding pants have to break now?

Simple. It is just nerves and pressure. To some degree we all suffer from it, and what we do about it makes all the difference. Start with taking a look at the situation: Your horse is at a new facility, and it is nervous. It senses that you are nervous. Your trainer is nervous. He (or she) has to perform and make sure the horse is ready for you. Add to that, he has to worry about all the other horses in his barn that are going to be performing. Sound like a recipe for disaster? It can be, but it doesn’t have to be.

Stop. Take a deep breath and reassess the whole situation.

Nerves

“I’m nervous.” Why am I nervous? Because I’m afraid of showing? Because my clothes aren’t going to fit, or my husband is not going to be there, or I don’t have enough time to change clothes between classes? Find out what it is and address it. If you do, you’re going to feel better about yourself and your performance.

Did you have a bad practice? We all have bad practices. It doesn’t matter; tomorrow is a new day, and you don’t show till then, or maybe even for two days. Talk to your trainer: “Can I have a lesson? I want to work specifically on what’s going wrong.” Then you get on your horse—and the problem is gone. When we have a bad practice, most of us will ride it in our minds all afternoon, all night, dream it in our sleep. We’ll end up fixing it ourselves before we ever get on the horse.

In a situation like the Nationals, most bad practices are simply nerves. Or perhaps there is an equally transient reason. Maybe the new surroundings distracted you, or you’re not up to your game because you had too many martinis the night before. Okay, you have a reason. Now don’t dwell on it; just believe in yourself, and know that every ride is a new ride.

One trick many of us play on ourselves—and we shouldn’t—is that we look though our programs and psyche ourselves out. “Ohmygod, this one’s in my class?” It may be venting our nerves, but it’s not good for our outlook. We need to be aware of the level of competition in our class, but we shouldn’t be beating ourselves up before we go into the ring. Just believe in yourself, your horse, your trainer.

Speaking of your trainer—what do you do about a trainer who seems to be showing the stress? Take a look at what you can do to ease the overall strain. Maybe he hasn’t had a decent meal. Have someone run to a deli and bring back a sandwich. Or just show that you are part of the team: “Hey, can I help groom the horse? Put the horse away? What can I do that will take some of the pressure off?” Not only does that help your trainer with the time, because they get finished earlier and can sleep better, but also it keeps you busy so that you are thinking about something other than Ohmygod, am I going to get my lead?

Nine times out of 10, if you give it some thought, you will identify what is causing your nerves and you can take steps to fix it. However, remember that tenth time; sometimes, trouble just hits the pile and you have to accept it. At that point, be glad that just because something is tough on Monday doesn’t mean it has to be on Tuesday. We all—trainers, horses, amateurs—have bad days. Yours may be happening at the Nationals, but it will end.

So much of what we’ve talked about relates to getting ready, doing the steps, taking the time, stopping to reexamine your situation to make sure you’re ready to go forward. Many of us are lucky enough to have trainers who do all that for us, but many of us have to do it all on our own. Use your friends, your parents, your children—get your support team in place. Talk about it. It’s okay to say, “I’m nervous. I’m scared.” It helps you feel better.

Strengthening Your Mindset

One way to deal with nerves is to get proactive. Instead of letting the pressure distract you, take steps to strengthen your own mental contribution to your performance. Remind yourself that you’ve worked all year for this, and ride your best ride in your head, whether it’s a practice ride or on the trail or last year’s top ten or champion—ride that ride again. Take that feeling and every time you get on that horse, emphasize to yourself, “I want that again.” It’s just like a continuation. It’s a mental thing.

I also make time to go to the ring and come up with my plan for my class. Everybody will be practicing, and I’ll get a Coke and sit there and think, “I’ll do this when I come in the gate, and this the first lap, and that …” It helps me. Just like the equitation kids plan their movements in their patterns, we can do the same kind of thing. It’s all a performance, and we’re rewarded for our performance. There is no reason that you can’t have your own pattern sketched out in your mind, as long as you remain alert and able to change if events in the ring demand it.

Practical Problems And Techniques

Nerves aren’t the only problems we confront at shows. Thank heavens, most other snafus can be covered easily. Now, if you wait until the morning of your class, you are going to have to toughen up and get through it, but ahead of time, most things can be fixed. Maybe your clothes are tight or you split a seam. There are outfitters with tailors on the show grounds at the larger shows. You can even buy a new pair of pants right off the rack if necessary. If you are at a smaller show, there are a lot of talented people in the horse business who can let out a seam—or lend you clothes.

Many other aggravations can be avoided with a little planning. For instance, be prepared for the weather. That’s a huge thing. And then there are the parties and social obligations. Don’t skip them; just maybe steer clear of them right before your class. Do you want to eat a big lunch before you compete? For some people that makes them feel better, and for some it doesn’t. If your class is at 8:00 a.m., maybe you shouldn’t have that extra glass of wine the night before. Get up a little early so that you’ll have lots of time to relax and get prepared. Put your number on the night before, and be sure that your clothes are all in order so that you’re not hunting for things at the last minute. If you have to pick up your husband at the airport an hour before your class, get your friend to do it. Get things in place an hour ahead, so that when you get on that horse’s back and go through the gate, it’s your time. This is what you’ve worked for. Become one with your horse and concentrate on the positive aspects. The main thing is that you work to keep everything positive. It’s troubleshooting—before anything can go wrong, take care of it.

Plan Your Show To Minimize Disappointment

A common mistake that can bring down a Nationals experience is entering a horse in too many classes. Sure, these are Arabians and they are capable of endurance—but the point is to get their best show, not see how many times they can go around the ring. What it amounts to is don’t be greedy. If your horse is ready for amateur, do amateur. If it’s open, do open. If it’s going to do four classes, be sure it’s strong enough to do four classes. It is one thing if you have two classes in park; that’s one go each. But those who try driving open and amateur, or country open and amateur are facing a lot, given all the preliminaries in those divisions. Too often, you wind up giving your best performances in a cut because your horse is fresh and exciting. The bottom line is, recognize how many performances your horse can sustain at that national level. My guess is that you will be happier with the outcome if you are realistic about your horse’s and your own physical capabilities.

Judging

I think the best way to accept the judging is to be realistic about your performance. Give it your all—but if you do make a mistake, don’t jump to the conclusion that you no longer have a chance. If you take a wrong lead, or two steps in a wrong lead, get better. Get stronger and make up for it. The class is not over. Don’t quit riding.

It also helps to remember that every judge has an opinion and we’re paying for it. Personally, I don’t subscribe to the theory that all judges have agendas and are out there trying to reward their friends. I think everyone goes through the gate the first time with the same clean slate.

As I’ve mentioned before, it also is a fact that judges get tired. We compete for 20 or 30 minutes; they’re on their feet 10, 12 hours a day. They’re human, and they get tired. So make them remember you. Be special. Give it your all and get that extra little look. Be proud of yourself.

If you have a clean ride and are not rewarded, really look at that ride and decide why you were not rewarded. Everyone is fallible; we’re fallible and the judges are too.

On top of everything, there are so many variables in people and animals. You can do all your work with your halter horse and go in there and it doesn’t feel good because it has a temperature. Or maybe you don’t feel well. That’s part of showing horses.

Remember What Is Really Important

Right now, I’m not saying that the most important thing is that you have a good time. Of course you should have a good time; I’ve covered that before. This time, I’m talking about what is most important in our performances.

As amateurs, we’re worried about how we look and how our horses look, but the key to a successful amateur performance is how well we make our horses look. Listen to us: We’re worried about whether we’re sitting up and our chest is out and our shoulders are back; we obsess on whether our horses are going fast or if they’re prettiest. What we need to remember is that we’re being judged, as amateurs, on how well we present our horses to the judges—our performance as a team of horse and rider.

We can go buy the best horse and we can take lessons from the best people, but if we can’t put it together, we’ve missed our goal. It’s more than just you and me. It is us and the horses together. That is true in all divisions.

It’s more than walk trot and canter; it’s about headset and movement and aggression and form. We shouldn’t sit up there like a sack of potatoes (although some of us do from time to time), but we can be the worst riders in the world, and if we present our horses to that division’s equivalent, we can win. It is all about horsemanship.

And Now—Love What You’re Doing

Finally, if nothing else works, ask yourself: What is the worst thing that can happen? Your horse takes the wrong lead? You take a long leap? Your zipper busts? Your bud falls out? As long as you’re enjoying what you’re doing, you’re going to be there tomorrow. It’s not the end of the world. We all want to be one of those last 10 out of the ring, but if we’re not, we did our best and there is always next year. It will not make us love our horse or our trainer any less. We all have a competitive nature, and that’s why we’re doing it—but all we can be is the best that we can be on that day.

For anyone who would like to email questions, topics, or comments, I can be reached at info@battagliafarms.com. I’d love to hear from you.

Russell Vento Jr. has been involved in the Arabian industry for 25 years, and since 1989 has been a partner in Battaglia Farms. He was honored twice with APAHA Amateur Horseman Awards. To date, he has owned or shown 30 U.S., Canadian and National Show Horse national champions, and he now enjoys watching his daughter Skyler win on many of the horses with whom he was successful. He has been a Large R USAE/AHA judge since 1996.