Is it just me but show jumping all day?

[howengold]

I do think sometimes I am too soft on my ponies when I go to shows as they do a couple of showing classes and my NF does two open jumping classes with my daughter and then we go home when everyone is finished. My old mare would do a clear round, handy pony, best kept and Veteran showing, she would be untracked and rested with hay and water inbetween classes while my other daughter would do a clear round and two open classes, may be handy pony. And my shettie and niece only every did handy pony and M&M.


Yesterday I was at a show and one woman arrived at 9am and her daughters pony jumped every class in the schedule, did clear rounds, cantered nonstop round the collecting ring and they didn't leave until the show finished. The pony was exhausted when we got there at 12 and even the owner said he was exhausted and had lost a lot of condition due to being at pony club all week and not getting home until 11 the night before, I trained the pony a while back and he was a small hairy cob type but his weight was closer to my fine NF than a nice healthy cob yesterday. He just looked run down and even when he was evidently done and struggling to jump they just used the crop and like the angel he is he carried on amid complaints from his owner that he was too slow for a placing .

The jumping stewards and judges had to have a word about the use of the crop and the girl then moaned that she wasn't using it that much.

I am not being a softy by being chooses about how much my horses do in a show am I or is this woman typical of horsey mums?

[ruftytuftyrider]

In my opinion it sounds like that poor pony was being asked to do far too much. It is a shame the jumping stewards and judges could not ban them from entering any more classes once they saw the pony was exhausted.

Pushing a pony to exhaustion is abuse and I do not think for one minute you are being a softy you are ensuring that your horses welfare is paramount.

[bethanyy]

I agree, sounds like the pony was pushed too much. As a child I used to want to do every class and would want to ride around the show ground or in the collecting ring showing off, but knowing that it was unfair on the pony would pick my favourites.

I think every horse has different levels of stamina and ability, therefore can do different amounts of work and classes, but pushing it too exhaustion is terrible.

[jumpoff]

I would like to know, which show allows a pony to jump in all of the classes? Perhaps a slight exaggeration. As we have jumped for many years and every show we have ever been to has only allowed 2 jumping classes. For example, beginners and novice, or novice and intermediate, or intermediate and open.

Please advise which show this was? As i really cannot see this being allowed?

[howengold]

I can guarantee it happened and has happened regularly with the pony involved but I would rather not name the show as I have to live in the area and you don't. I have lodged complaints as have several other owners who saw the show. I have been able to enter my own pony in all but two classes at local shows and although I never actually took her in them all (just entered all in advance so I could pick and choose as they day went on without worry about booking in all the time) no one at the local shows has ever questioned me. And to be fair the woman was entering each class separately and not all in one go so the stewards possibly never noticed as they were busy.

And for the record I know the woman well and I am not exaggerating.

[parsnip]

That makes me cross - if the child has no concern for her pony then the grown-ups with her should! It's a pony not a BIKE! I do wonder how she would have been allowed enter all of the classes anyway? Most shows have restrictions of some kind. Our veteran pony does a clear round to warm up (40cm!) then under 10's jumping, 50cm, cradle stakes and sometimes equitation. He's fit and very keen jumping but he's ready for a roll and a snooze under the tree with his mates by then!

[hs]

It just would not happen where we are as both the RC I am member of put restrictions on the number of classes the same horse can do which is normally 2 plus clear rounds. They are inforced as people do complain especially if there is more than one person sharing the same horse. There are also restrictions that prevent people from doing both beginners and say open classes on the same horse.

However most people are very good we had one person today not go into the jump off as she felt her horse was tired and another retiring after doing half of her second class as she too felt her horse was tired. We also had some parents tell their children off for bombing their ponies around.

I think in some cases the over riding of ponies at shows is due to lack of responsible adults possibly because the parents are not knowledgable about horses and the children far too competitive.

Many ponies on the yard I am on had been to camp and only got back on Saturday and they were not competiting today as they had been working hard at camp and deserved a few days rest.

I too am really soft in that I would not make my pony wait all day at at show especially if the weather was either very hot or very wet/windy cold.

[lucretia]

My bugbear is in hand classes where babies do the youngstock class, breed class, condition, open showing and stay for the championship- you can see them becoming tireder with every class. I have even seen one baby lie down he was so tired

[brindlerainbow]

Poor pony. Shows should put restrictions in the schedule and only allow a pony to do 2 jumping classes. Some people see their ponies as nothing more than machines

[B_31]

thaats awful

i felt mean asking my 6 year old (fit) mare to do 4 in-hand classes earlier this year! (she did them but she didnt like it lol)

when my 2 year old goes out to play i intend to do 1 class (possibly two but absolutely no more than two!)


Mabey i am soft but, id rather my horses have a good experience and a nice day out than to come home with serveral rosettes....

[Milliesmum]

At all the riding clubs round here you do two SJ classes, e.g. beginner and novice, novice and Intermediate, Intermediate and Open. Then you can do a working hunter and a showing class. Plus in hand, dressage, handy pony, games. I don't think that's too much for a fit pony to do, but not when it's been at camp all week and not even had a day off to recuperate.

[sometime]

Only 2 classes of jumping allowed at our RC show too. so one in hand, one ridden one wh and two showjumping would be the absolute maximum any pony could do but I have seen ponies used as a seat for spectating which really annoys me too

[bumblebee]

In my cobs first season (as a 5 yr old) he struggled to do 2 inhand classes without ending up shattered - many times he'd spend the whole afternoon asleep after his classes. Even now he only manages either 2 riddens and an inhand or 2 inhands and a ridden. At Equifest last week he never did more than 2 classes a day (mix of inhand and ridden) and had one day in the middle of the week with only one inhand class as a bit of a rest for him. Between classes he spent his whole time asleep in the stable, and had a week off in the field when he got home (he's 6 this year but still lacks stamina). I dont understand how people cannot realise when their ponies are tired!!

[Milliesmum]

Well first of all, all ponies are different and have differing levels of fitness/stamina.

At local/club shows, the pony is generally an all rounder/happy hacker that goes to the local riding club, rather than a pony bought specifically for showing. Hence they probably have a reasonable level of all round fitness. It's also possible, although I realise this is a generalisation, that they are not carrying the same amount of 'condition' as a pony whose only job is in the show ring.

It's really a case of knowing your own pony/horse and recognising their capabilities. I don't think the number of classes mentioned in my previous post is too much for a fit pony, but an unfit or tired out pony obviously wouldn't cope. I think it's just as bad also to leave them in the field from one show to the next then expect them to be fit enough to do everything asked!

[snooperdooper]

Some shows limit the amount of classes a pony can enter on one day...

[Grrrrrrr]

It happens. I do a bit of local judging and it seems that some show organisers are quite happy to turn a blind eye so long as the entry fees are paid, particularly at shows that are run by commercial venues as opposed to not-for-profit riding clubs. It breaks my heart to see really honest ponies trying their best but on their knees with exhaustion, doing class after class. I do my best to advise people that pony needs to go home, but short of refusing to have them in the class it's very difficult and parents can get very stroppy about it. There was one adult last year who, having been told her horse was lame in the in-hand class and asked to leave the ring, then proceeded to tack him up and bring him in a ridden class. Of course they were asked to leave again; I couldn't believe that anyone could be that clueless, but they ARE and we have to educate them to do better for their ponies. Next year when this show invites me to judge I will offer to do so on the proviso that they recognise their responsibility in ensuring that no pony is forced beyond its limits, however many classes that may be.

[sometime]

If the pony did the class and was then dismounted and allowed to rest it would need to be an awful lot of classes that added up to an hours intensive lesson. If a show lasts less than a minute and the go round last five that means it would be 10 classes before the pony had been asked to an hours work.
The biggest problem is the constant sitting on the pony like a sofa to spectated and the round and round the practice ring plus the initial hours lunging to quieten the pony down enough to lower the child carefully on to before its first class that adds up to exhausting the pony. A pony that is fit and properly treated should be able to manage quite a few classes without being tired.
One thing that used to annoy me was that the horses were all given the day off after a single dressage test so they did a few minutes work then had a day off. No wonder they are not very fit or fit enough to work properly
All in all overfed and underworked is the commonest reason for the tired pony syndrome so although the pony's welfare should come first the pony should also be ridden regularly and not expected to come from the field after a week or three off and then work all day A pony that does an hour or twos work everyday will easily cope with a day at a show or even a week at camp followed by a day at a show provided of course it is also correctly fed

[lozloz1]

I usually do about 6 classes at my local shows but one is usually best turned out, the jumping is no bigger than 65cm and about 2 in hands. He's always got a fair bit of energy for the way home too And I always dismount between classes!