Showing - Part of your training program

One of the cowboys I used to ride with.
This man has been a cowboy for 40 yrs

Is someone who rides every day, for several hours every day, entitled to expert status? You’d certainly think so, wouldn’t you? However, I know lots of folks, who do just that, and their skill level hasn’t progressed past “Advanced Beginner”. Ok, they know how to stay on a bit more than a normal beginner. But helping their horse improve is absolutely beyond them. The best they can do for improving their horse’s training is… ride him every day for several hours.

What renders a person unable to advance? There are many factors involved.

These men rode to do their job. Which means, the horse, and the horsemanship, were only a means to an end, not the primary mission.

• By virtue of their job, they were deemed to be experts in their field. The title “Expert” carries with it connotation of not pursuing advancement.  Although any true Expert of any field would be able to tell you how much they have to study and learn to stay experts.
• Most of these men were unwilling to receive instruction. Even though they often had other riders available to them, who strove to improve, the stagnating ones would rather cut their own hands off than ask for a bit of advice.
• The nature of the relationship of a horse and his rider. Most horses are only run of the mill in athletic ability and training. However, each and every rider will tell you their own horse is the very best one there is. Every rider has experienced the moments where their own horse has saved the day. This is especially true for Cowboys and their mounts. We ask a lot of our horses, and so, the horses have plenty of opportunity to bring a lot to the table. And we thrive on those moments. To suggest that our partners, our heroes, could use a bit of improvement is almost… Blasphemy!
• There’s no end goal. This is probably the most important one out of this list. None of these riders is aiming to get their horsemanship to any level. Even though cowboys are competitive, and strive to be the best hand possible, there is no reward for being a good horseman. The best horsemen get the recognition of their peers, but no extra boost in wages or any other official recognition.

I have spent quite a bit of time picking on my fellow working cowboys. They are the one group of people that anyone reading this blog will be able to look at, and say “Surely not… My heroes have always been Cowboys”. As a group, they are revered, not only for their own spirit and personas, but also for the style of horsemanship they represent. But, they are not the only group of people affected by this thinking. I have known riders of all disciplines, ages, and nationalities who will never advance their horsemanship.

Looking back on my own journey as a horsewoman, I have certainly been guilty of all of the above points over the years. And not just once, and then learning from my folly, going on to bigger and better things. Oh no, I struggle with some of the issues I described often.

Matter of fact, looking back, I had two great periods of learning early on. The first was, obviously, when I first learned to ride. The second was when I was introduced to Natural Horsemanship. I had an Aha! moment then, which opened the door to big learning strides over a short period of time. But then, I spent the next 15 yrs camping on the skills I had put together in the first two forward jumps.

Fif-Teen Years!!! Fifteen Years!!! Can you imagine where I would be today, if I had actually learned something during that time? Oh, I learned a bit here and there. Some new insights, a few new skills. But nothing like the huge learning jump I have been going through the last 7 years.

So, what has changed 7 years ago, that has kicked my brain into gear again?

I started showing.

Otb and me struggling with balance during
one of my first tries at the Vshows

By showing, I had to submit myself to constructive criticism.
Oh boy, that was fun… That judge didn’t know what he was talking about. My horse is perfect, the judge just didn't see it. Besides, I ride for a living! I’m a Cowboy, yes, a real life Cow-boy! We are perfect by definition. I just can’t imagine some judge thinking I wasn’t the best.

In the end, I had to take a good, long, honest look at myself and my horses.  Yes, it took some serious soul searching, but I finally concluded that I had to improve.

By showing, I also had push my boundaries.

There are certain things I can train in my sleep. A light horse, that easily flows through transitions, stops and turns nicely, those are easy for me. Back then, collection and self carriage were quite a bit tuffer. When I started riding the tests, I found out very quickly, that my strengths don’t matter one bit, when my weaknesses are very apparent. Competition tests are designed to test a well rounded, educated horse. They are designed to test the best trained horse… not the best loved one.

Otb and me doing much better after a few
months of participating in the Vshows

By showing, I had to train to a timeline.
By such and such a date, I have to have XYZ trained. Not just X and maybe a little bit of Z, but Y had to be good, too. Early on, I only showed in the Vshows and they were due once a month. This gave me a date each month to perfect the skills in which ever test Otb and I were ready for. It put the rubber to the pavement, so to speak.

I can highly recommend the two online clubs I am a member of, IPHDA and NAWD. Both have programs with progressive tests, meaning you can start with Walk-Trot and advance your horse as your training progresses to more difficult maneuvers. Today, my showing is more active in NAWD. Their variety of tests are more interesting to me.

The best thing about both these clubs is that, while they both have local shows, they also have the virtual show programs. That means you choose your test, take a video, upload it to Youtube and submit it for the judging, which is usually done within a week.

For me, that meant I didn’t have to go through the expense of trailering to a show, or the trouble of leaving my place for a weekend. I simply took the video when a helper was available and sent it in, along with their small class fee.

Having some success at the virtual shows, I then bit the big bullet and started going to some local and regional shows. And, lo and behold, I did very well. This is a video of Otb at my first EXCA cowboy race, and here’s one at a FQHR show. That was the beginning of my current learning jump, and I’d like to say, my horses and my skills have improved drastically since then.

Showing should be part of your training plan too. Clinics and lessons are valuable, and you should go to both. But only showing will make you submit yourself to constructive criticism, challenge your horsemanship comfort zone and make you train to a time table.