We all recognize them. Some horse show officials live in fear of them. And if we had one, we considered ourselves lucky. We’re referring to a Horse Show Mom. Now ShowMom LLC has announced the launch of a new website for hunter and jumper show parents. The site provides information, advice and tips for busy horse show moms. These are the sainted people who write the checks, drive the cars and are masters at finding lost and misplaced tack, supplies and show clothes. The site includes access to a monthly e-newsletter called, The Savvy Show Mom.
ShowMom.com is packed with information and articles ranging from packing and organizing for shows to tips for raising a teenage daughter while horse showing. The site is designed by longtime show mom Kathy Keeley after years spent on the local and A-Circuit for hunter/jumpers. Keeley owns her own barn and several show horses. After accompanying her daughter across the southeast and mid-Atlantic to horse show after horse show, Keeley found herself the unofficial advisor and mentor to many new show moms and was asked to start a website to share her experience. As the “Dear Abby” of the hunter-jumper show world, she receives e-mails from moms across the country on everything from the perfect fit for a show coat, to how to get a long with a trainer, to help in defining the difference between a cooler and scrim.
“Horse show moms provide the glue and the green cash that make it possible for their children to show. They spend hours driving their kids to lessons and become experts in a whole new world of horses, competition and strategy,” Keeley says. “For many it can be either a bonding time with daughters or the nightmare of working closely with a hormonal teenager.”
Now, doesn’t that sound like Keeley is a true horse show mom?
