Show Day T - 21: 3 Weeks Til We Go Show!

Silkk Alchemy Z (Persia), my two year old Arabian filly will make her horse show debut in San Antonio on May 23rd. She will be showing in Sport Horse in Hand in two classes. We leave for the show on the 21st of May, so all her preparation needs to be done within three weeks.

Until I really, really, definitively decided to take her to this show (that is, I wrote the checks and committed the money), it seemed like we had a long time to prepare. Now the time seems much shorter.

How much could there be to do, you ask? Showing Sport Horse In Hand is a relatively easy process: the horse need only walk and trot next to the handler, keeping straight, turning away from the handler on the "triangle". No big deal.

In fact, it is a big deal to do properly. And it is particularly a big deal in showing a young horse who has never been to a show, not ever been trailered since foaling, and has done little more than "grow up".

So, in deciding to go to the show, there were a set of skills that I realized Persia must learn in order to be prepared. She needed to:

1. Learn to stand quietly while being bathed -- a frequent necessity for a show horse.
2. Stand quietly for clippers, not just on her body, but on her head and in her ears.
3. Tie -- something that I hadn't spent any time on as she was growing up.
4. Lunge -- to condition her and to understand the voice commands for walk and trot, which she needs in showing.
5. Load and ride in a trailer -- it's a 2.5 hour drive to the show and she needs to arrive in good shape physically and mentally.
6. Walk and trot on the triangle -- nicely! -- to show her to advantage.

For the past month or so we have worked on these skills and we have made a lot of progress. She has had daily handling for her entire two years, but I didn't realize that she needed some remedial work until the day she burst from her stall as I opened the door and she knocked me down. At that point, I realized

• (a) She is now as big as her 4 year old brother, not the tiny little foal I still thought of her as, and
• (b) Her sweet, baby temper had morphed into that of a strong-willed adolescent trying to determine her pecking order in her horse-and-human-herd.

After the incident where she knocked me over, I was concerned that she might have become a monster. Now, after a month of working with her, I'm much relieved to find that sweet little filly emerging, again. She has readily accepted the limits I have set for her --no barging, rearing, kicking, or striking -- even when they needed to be emphasized with an infrequent "spanking". Now, punishment is no longer necessary and she accepts my directives willingly. Such a relief because I much prefer training through positive reinforcement, rather than punishment!