So the clinic on Sunday was so-so. The judge from the day before did the clinic. He liked Lucas' walk and trot, but thought I was having him go way to fast in the ring.
He didn't think much of Lucas though, he recommended that I look at purchasing a young prospect as he thinks all Lucas is good for is the HUS and showmanship. (Even though he still gave him a reserve in halter)
And I agree, Lucas does get extremely worked up over the pattern classes, so much so that we never practice a pattern at home or at a show with cones. I only have one good pattern, after that I might as well just not even bother. So when we practiced several patterns on Sunday Lucas just couldn't handle it. Hes so worried about messing up that if I as him to do anything he panics and just shakes, and loses complete focus.
The judge was good in giving his opinion on how things look from the middle of the ring but didn't have much of an opinion on how to improve things... Once Lucas had done his 'freek out' over the patterns the judge wanted to know what exactly had led up to this point. He is very 'anti-trainer' (not that that is a bad thing, and he is a breeder, not a trainer) and was not surprised with Lucas' back groud. He was also sure that Lucas' tail had been done at one point.
He referred to Lucas as the "Monster english horse",,,
It kinda pisses me off, is that how the industry should be? Horse doesn't fit your exact specifications, sell, and buy new? If people didn't work with the horses that had minor issues, what would happen to them? And I don't mean horses that try to kill you, but not alot of owners would be willing to deal with Lucas' issues. Such a disposable society....
Anyways Lucas isn't going anywhere!!! Even when I cant ride we will still be able to do showmanship and halter :)
4 comments:
I like your loyalty to your horse - there are many people out there who treat horses like disposable sports equipment and it's great to hear about people who don't think that way.
I agree with Kate, I used to show but gave it up, because I put my horse above the sport. I knew many people over the years who got a new horse almost every year.
How unprofessional and rude for the JUDGE to be so negative about Lucas! Buy a new horse??...WTH? Sad. Glad to hear that you and Lucas will be an item for many years to come! :-)
I cannot believe the judge said that to you. He has no right to criticize your horse in such a way. If anything, he should be providing CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.
My AQHA gelding also gets flustered about patterns. One thing I do is practice pattern elements without cones (lots of transitions, pivoting, sidepassing etc but all done on the rail). I also set up cones in the arena and during my cool down just stop and stand at a cone, then walk to the next, stop, back, and stand. I also dismount at cones. This way the horse associates the cones with easy things and rewards (such as you dismounting once he's been standing quietly). I always have cones set up when I ride so that they become no big deal. After awhile you can build up to doing things like a canter circle around a cone, then stop at the next, etc. Just start super simple and gradually build up. If you do decide to try it, I hope it helps! It helped my Appendix gelding tremendously.
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