Horse Show Blunders?

Question

Okay, so I'm sure that this question has been beaten to death, but I thought I'd give people another chance to recount their tales.

Here's mine: Yesterday I was in a barn show, not a big to-do. I knew the course, but I was so focused on getting each jump right I started my courtesy circle and realized that I had not done the last THREE jumps! (In my defense, the fifth and eighth fence were the same single in the same direction.) My thought process was literally "Good, I'm done. Wait- I haven't done the line the other direction. I should probably do that." So I finished the circle, did the line and single and did my courtesy circle. After the placing, the judge talks to each of us to tell us what we did well and what we could improve. She kindly let me know that I had trotted my last fence. I wasn't sure, but I had blocked out the course right after I rode it. I wen't home and looked at the video of my ride. I did trot it. Oops!

(ran out of room)
So, all in all, it was highly embarassing. But I learned that I really need to keep the big picture in mind, just not the individual parts.

Answer 1

Worst in the WORLD (literally) for me was the 1988 AJQHA World Championships in Tulsa OK. I was on "Be A Wonder" and we went into the show #1 in the nation. After 82 riders jumed the 2 fences in Hunter Hack, the judges produced a call back of the top 20 for flatwork later in the week. We were #1 out of 82 of the best in the world. 5 days went by, standing on concrete in a 10 x 10 stall. By flatwork time , "Wonder Buns" was so lame we made a laughing stock of ourselves. We finished 20th. My trainer had falsified pre purchase X rays, the Vet had collaborated, we had shown (unknown to me) on BUTE the entire year, and when we got to the World Show (my lifelong dream about to come true) we came up lame because they actually USED TO DISQUALIFY people for using painkillers in competition.

Wonder never walked a comfortable step another day in her life and that trainer and Vet were sued for 10 times what we paid for her. She was able to wear pads and get around well enough to have a few beautiful babies, but nothing ever broke my heart more than to know I was winning on bute when I was #1 in the country. I personally think it should still be illegal.

Answer 2

This past summer I helped out with a horse camp at my barn. A bunch of 10-16 year olds were there, and on the last day of camp, we packed everything into the trailers and headed to a show. I brought my horse, it was the first show of the season and I thought it would be a fun start to go with everybody. =]

I was watching all my friends in the bareback class (I wasn't riding) and everyone was doing great. When 4 of the 6 riders from our stable were in the same corner, a lady (who I should probably add, has never been to a horse show, or around horses) shook out her blanket and spooked all four of the horses, along with a couple others I didn't know.

Thankfully the judge saw the whole thing, and not just the riders falling off their spooking horses. She came over and talked to the lady and helped the riders back onto their horses. She also told them that this wouldn't affect the placings at all.

It was a bummer, we had a broken finger, sprained wrist, cuts and bruises...and a 3rd place ribbon. =]

Answer 3

Hahaha, I've got quite the repertoire!! (Not sure if I spelled that correctly!! :D) More recently, I was showing two summers ago, we were in jumpers, and 99% of the time my horse then was really good and loved his job. But for some reason this day he was terrified of the cameraman. He was a thoroughbred... go figure. Anyway, he was being really wiggly and balky for my classes. Usually some leg did the trick, if not a quick tap with my crop did the trick and he got over it. For my last class though, the course started with an in and out straight at the photographer!! I even asked them politely to step away from the ring before because he was being so silly. They complied graciously, but nonetheless, he spooked anyways. So we headed toward the in and out, and he began getting really choppy and almost balking, but I legged him on and he took the fences, granted with an extra stride in between, but he took them. Coming from the fences, he was cutting the corner and really slowing down. As we were cantering along I just got really frustrated, he was not listening to my leg or anything else. I just took my crop and gave him a healthy crack behind my leg. I expected him to jump ahead and take off like usual, so that is how I readied my body. Instead, he slammed on his breaks and took off in the other direction!!! I hit the dirt, but it serves me right I guess!!! Unfortunately I had to put him down this past summer due to a really bad injury while he was in the pasture. I miss him bunches :*(.

Answer 4

I once coached an adorable but evil group of young vaulters who demanded I ride in their vaulting class with them.

Having no shame, I said ok, and was pushed onto a draft horse with the help of 6 small children.

Everything was going well until I had to put some weight on the vaulting harness. It slipped, I almost fell off head first, and inadvertently let out a swear word right in front of the judges.

Mortified I shifted the harness back, got into basic position and flashed the judges the biggest smile I could muster.

Needless to say I didn't place but the kids loved it, and I got a ribbon for being a good sport. LOL.

Answer 5

I was riding a QH stallion in a small show. The judge walked along the line of horses, and when he was in front of me, the stallion I'm riding let out a loud whinney. The judge turned away, wiping off his face... I guess all the spectators were laughing!

In the next class, he asked me when he was gelded. Um, he's not gelded. I got told I wasn't allowed to ride a stallion in the junior class, even though I was 18 at the time. Oops. I had no idea. They put me in the adult classes for the rest of the day.

Answer 6

Just before I started my last year as a junior at the AQHA shows, my mom offered me a choice.....a car (our training stable was about 20 miles from home, and it was either I took the car, or she had to drive me), or a horse.....not just any horse, but the one that would let me compete for high point. This was before it was one rider/one horse, and there were kids who had four or five. My gelding was a good performance horse, but too hot for pleasure classes, and not a halter horse. The Medal Finals that year were at the International Forum, and they were going to have a big sale...and there was an absolutely gorgeous mare in the catalog. Bred and trained by one of the best, this mare had gotten her AQHA championship at age 4. (And like one of the previous posters, dead lame, and doctored up by the trainer AND the vet, who was later stripped of his license). Nevertheless....my trainer was bidding on her for us, and it was between the most notoriously cruel trainers in the history of the sport, and us. (I had a friend say once that she would believe in karma when she heard that this guy had died and come back as one of his wife's horses). Well, we got her. And despite the problems that we were able to keep under control with good shoeing and constant care, I had a good year on her.

I may have forgotten to mention that, in addition to being a little ouchy, she was also an escape artist. I found this out the hard way. I put her into her stall, which was in one of several blocks of temporary stables in the parking lot. I closed the door, and we went off to lunch. I came back to check on the horses before going to school for the finals, and the stall door was standing wide open...and she was nowhere to be found! I was in a panic...Inglewood, CA is not the place to be misplacing a horse. As I ran around the end of the barn, I happened to look over at the property next door, which happened to be a municipal golf course. And there, in all her glory (and thank God she wasn't wearing an identifying blanket), was my new pet, peacefully grazing on the 14th green. I went to get the lead rope (she was wearing a halter), and had no sooner clipped it on than I saw two very testy looking men heading our way in a golf cart. I quickly walked her back to the barn, threw her in the stall, shut BOTH halves of the door, and walked away. She was a bay horse with no markings.....they could not have picked her out of a lineup of nuns. I heard later it was $25 per hoofprint if you got caught. Whew.

Answer 7

It was my first show and it was at my barn so we got to do a practise course. I got over the first jump and the pony sensed that I was nervous so started to canter and I hadn't cantered yet. I fell right off. I got to try the practise course again and someone was holding the pony but after the third jump I still fell off.

Last year, at the Christmas show at my barn I was riding this pony that I fell off of a couple times and she bolted a couple times in previous lessons so I was really nervous. We had to canter three circles and our partner also had to do it at the same time. I was so nervous so I trotted it. I looked like ****.

-Horse S

Answer 8

One year another lady and I were supposed to canter the flags in before the show during the anthem and pledge. We had this nifty pattern worked out where we would cross in front of each other and do some circles, etc. It would have been really cool. We practiced it a few times, and I thought it was great.

So they start the show, begin the opening ceremonies, etc. I canter the Appy I was on out and start my circles etc, and apparently the other lady BLANKED. she just trotted out and stopped in the middle of the ring. I almost died. I wanted to just find a rock. Everyone blamed her, but geez, it was so embarrassing.

On the tapes, it looked like we were just both doing our own thing. Yuck. What an awful day. The beginning colored the whole day for me, and the show SUCKED.

********************

EDIT: Wow. WTF Fever. I think your story should win. What a suck thing to happen. And I remember you and you beautiful horse from QH Journal... believe it or not!

Answer 9

I find it rather difficult to select which one was the worst, since when they happen they all feel like the worst moment ever, but as long as no one was hurt they usually seem funny some time after the show ends. This past season, I was showing one of my yearling mini colts inhand and when the judge walked behind him she ran her hand over his rump and down his leg to feel his muscle tone (as she had done to the other two dozen horses in the ring) when all of a sudden out of nowhere rocket gave a stupid little whinnie and dropped for everyone to see him show off. What was worse was when the horses standing on either side of him started getting antsy and dropped too...it was like they were having a contest, I was so mortified. We got third out of 25 horses, and everyone laughed and applauded as we left the outgate, but I did not enter rocket into any other classes that day.

Answer 10

My daughter in the middle of of a jumping class saying right in the front of the judge "oh, shi*$**, I forgot my course". I could hear the judge laughing from the other side of the ring.

Another friend's daughter was so totally caught up in the moment during a jumping round, that she came off a jump and zoned out and actually jumped right out of the ring into the holding area. Fortunately, she and her horse weren't hurt.