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The Centerline

Arizona Dressage Association

www.azdressage.org Vol. 21, Issue 11 November 2021

Ready, Set, Show

By Beth Martinec

If you had asked me last year at this time if I was going to ever show my horse again, my answer was firmly no. I assured all my friends that the only reason to put my horse into full training was just to take lessons on a horse that a., looked like he knew a thing or two and b., wasn’t going to try to launch me into orbit every time I rode him. I had no intention of taking my horse to a show. Flash forward to three months later though and I did exactly the opposite of all that. I took him to a show and I was hooked. The rest of my year went by in one carousel joyride of irresponsible spending. I went to a lot of shows. Yes, I may now have a problem, but I’m firmly in the denial phase, so let’s not ruin it for me. Let’s focus on the real problem which is that I was seriously underprepared for navigating the mindboggling requirements necessary to enter these shows. Even last night I spent two and a half hours signing up for the next show. And even now, I’m still not sure I have all the required numbers and forms filed….I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that they need to know my blood type and my astrological sign? Plus I probably have to pay a fee for that. Do I have to go through this every year?

As I was researching for information to help write this article, I came across a document written on this exact topic – an easy step-by-step guide to entering recognized shows. I had struck gold I thought. Someone has done all the hard work I thought and I can read this and it will all be clear to me. Except that this “easy guide” is thirty-two pages of absolutely everything you could ever want to know and was too much for me to absorb. It seemed so overwhelming that I didn't even try to read it.

So here's my best advice for all of you who are new to this too. Find someone who has a whole bunch of show experience and ask them to be your new best friend. Sit them