Welcome to Showmanship-Patterns

The blog with patterns to practice showmanship with! These patterns may not be used for publishing or resale, however feel free to copy them for your own personal use!
I'll post my findings on these as we practice them ourselves! Happy practicing and we'll see you in the show pen!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Pattern 50: Novice

Instructions:


  1. Starting with Cone 2, back your horse 2 horse lengths

  2. Trot past cone 3, make an arc as drawn.

  3. Upon completion of arc stop at cone 3 and complete a 360 degree pivot.

  4. Walk to judge and stop.

  5. Set up for inspection.

  6. Follow ring stewards instruction after dismissal.

Findings:



  • Beginning with cone 2, back 2 horse lengths (about 10 steps) when my students finished their front feet were at cone 1.

  • Trot past cone 3, stopping at cone 3 and being in line with Judge, now this could be problematic if you don't have a good sense of direction, because unless you are tall or have a short horse, you were turning blindly into your horse to line up with the judge.

  • Stopping at cone 3, you needed to stop with your nose, the judge in our pattern was VERY CLOSE to cone 3, so if you stopped at the shoulder you were sure to run over the top of the cone during your spin.

  • As you are finishing up your spin, be sure to look up and at the judge so that you don't over or under spin.

  • Walk off to judge and then stop and set up for inspection.

  • Upon dismissal, I instructed my clients a 90 degree turn, look at judge and walk away...

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Hats

After seeing some fabulously AWFUL hats at the last few shows...let's discuss hats. A nice hat is what defines what kind of show person you are...floppy brim, dirty, flies off your head screams NOVICE!!!! A nicely shaped, clean and well fitting hat says "I'm a Pro!".... what does your hat say about you?

Straw Hats
I LOVE my straw hat (photo'd below), nice and cool and less likely to give me a "hat" headache...the only downfall of straw hats is that they are only wearable MEMORIAL DAY through LABOR DAY. Straw hats are much cheaper than a nice felt, but make sure they have that show crease... they should be kept in a hat box also to maintain their nice shape.



Felt Hats


Nothing says PRO like a nice felt hat AND they are "in" all year (unlike straw hats) BUT they are pricey! Get the most X you can afford (I personally show in a 100X that I STOLE for $250 from someone getting out of showing). Felt hats are more delicate, and require delicate handling, DO NOT handle by their brim, instead handle them by their crown. Invest in a hat brush and brush your hat after each day at the show. Store in hat can... keep it AWAY from plastic bags!!!!! I see lots and lots of people stuffing their felt in plastic rain covers during a rain storm...they are RUINING their hats...they are STEAMING those delicate brims...let it rain and let it dry...then get it reshaped! A really good felt will last for YEARS!







Now I'm going to PLUG one of my favorite shopping places (and this is where I'm borrowing my photos from) PARDS. These are my go to guys from everything from boots to hats... and they know how to shape a hat!!!! LOVE MY PARDS.


Shaping
Ask for a show crease...your hat will have those wonderful corners as shown above....


Remember, showmanship is like going in for a job interview...first impressions COUNT...let it be a good one with a good hat!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Why you should KEEP SHOWING after your mistake....

Ok, ok, I know it's be FOR.EVER since I've posted...consider that my business has been, well, busy... it's a good thing for me...but maybe not for my followers... anyway....
One of my students was showing this weekend, standing up at the first cone WAITING on the judge, but this pattern had her start by standing on the right side of her horse, what my student DIDN'T see was the HUGE HORSEFLY land on her horse's muzzle. She could tell the moment she started her pattern that her horse was not acting right (at this point she had no idea why he was acting weird), shaking his head, he was trying to swipe at the fly with his legs as he pivoted (though he never moved his pivot foot) and was shaking his head the entire way to the judge. The judge even commented she thought he might have a fly...my student...never losing her cool...just smiled and said "I have NO IDEA what came over him"...and continued on with her cross overs and never let her horse's action deter her from showing him... she finished the pattern and came out and saw a POOL OF BLOOD by his chin... OUCH! Poor Fellow! Her placing out of 12...2nd.... she kept her cool and earned herself a point. She told me afterwards that she kept hearing my voice "keep showing!"...and it paid off!
***ALWAYS KEEP SHOWING!*** let it be your new mantra!