Horsemanship How-to: Line up Like a Winner

A horse show class can seem like a marathon torture session, especially if you’re aboard a cranky horse or trying to hold your position despite the fact that your body’s going numb. Yet you can’t relax just because the announcer instructs your class to line up. Instead, use the line-up to your advantage. Here are a few tips to keep in mind.

• Always strive to create a straight, even line in the center of the arena. If the some of the riders are strung out like a snake, so be it. Join the portion of riders that made an effort to look like a cadet review.
• Calculate how much room is available before you try to fit between another horse and an immovable object like a jump standard. There’s no sense in squeezing into a parking space where you’re not wanted.
• Hopefully you used your showmanship skills and identified any troublemakers in your class. Remember the horse that bucked in the corner or the one that pinned its ears when you tried to pass on the rail? Don’t line up next to those horses.
• Give the judge a final glimpse of what you and your horse do best. If, for example, you’re in a hunter under saddle class and your horse has a fabulous trot, orchestrate your ride into the line-up. Providing you don’t disrupt anyone else, demonstrate a few strides at the trot one last time.
• In contrast, if your horse is tense or antsy, and unlikely to stand still for long, don’t rush to line up. Take your time. That doesn’t mean that you should hide out on the rail like a non-conformist, but let the more anxious riders scramble into place. Then ride calmly to the far end of the line. Your diversionary tactic will eat up some time and then your hyper horse will only have to stand still a few moments until the ribbons are announced.
• What can you do if your horse gets tired of waiting for the ribbons? Unless he’s threatening to mutiny, do not leave the line-up and walk in a circle. Not only is that poor schooling but it can disturb the other horses. Instead, use some soothing techniques. Rub your knuckles against his withers, speak to him quietly in your “happy barn voice” or subtly pick up and jiggle one rein, then the other. Some seasoned show riders even carry sugar cubes in a pocket and discreetly reach down and slip them to their baby greenies in the line-up just to keep them happy.
• Most of the time the judge will only change the ribbon order if someone does something egregious in the line-up. Don’t be that person. Be sure to maintain contact with your horse’s mouth so he doesn’t do something embarrassing like snack on the decorative shrubbery. Keep your eyes up and refrain from chatting with the other riders. If you keep your horse calm and your position correct, you’ll look like a winner in the line-up.