Now I know that not everyone is like me, but I really don’t enjoy competing that much. However, I thought it would be a really good experience for myself, and mostly for Rupert. I hope to be the only home he ever has, and I didn’t want him to miss out on any experiences because of me.
The first thing you have to do is decide what discipline you want to compete in, for me, I thought dressage would be a good start because it wouldn’t get Rupert too excited (or so I thought) and it would be easy to see what we needed to work on.
Then there was making sure I had everything I needed, one thing I would say, is the more prepared you are, the better you will feel, so if you need a white numnah and you haven’t got one, I’m sure a friend has. You will also need to check what tack is and isn’t allowed, I know for me, I had to change Rupert’s bit for dressage as he wasn’t allowed full cheeks.
Compete at a level you feel comfortable with, for me, it was a walk and trot test. I went right in at the bottom because that’s where I felt the most comfortable and that is where I would feel that I had the most control over Rupert.
Then there’s the training, the more prepared you feel, the more confident you will feel on the day. But don’t over do it. One thing that I learnt is if you have a really good ride about two days before you go. DON’T RIDE AGAIN. If you were to have a rubbish ride the day before you go, you will worry about it.
Then there’s the fun part, the getting ready. I love bathing Rupert the day before and getting his feathers all white, oiling his tail and making him look like a new pony. Then to try and get the purple shampoo stains off my hands, get clean myself and lay what I need to wear out ready for the morning.
Make sure you leave in plenty of time, give yourself time for traffic, time for loading problems and time for tacking up. I usually get there and hour before my test and have time for a cup of tea.
A little tip I have for keeping my breeches white is wearing pj bottoms over the top.
If you’re not competing dressage and you’re doing jumping or cross country, make sure you allow plenty of time to walk to course and feel comfortable with it.
For me I would go over my test one more time in my head. But I always took some money to donate and had a caller.
Once you’ve competed, give your pony a pat, a rosette means nothing to them, they’re there because you wanted them to be. Another piece of advice is to stay for the rosettes, even if you know you haven’t placed, it shows good sportsmanship and you will be able to cheer on your team mates.
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Try and just enjoy it though, remember, no one is forcing you to go. If you don’t get enjoyment out of going then why are you doing it? Try and make sure that you take away the positives, it might not be your best test or round, but your horse did stand nicely tied up, or you might have knocked a pole or gone wrong in the test, but you saw a friend you hadn’t seen for a while. It’s not all about the rosette.