# Don't you just hate that!



## Ink (Sep 25, 2009)

I was at an IHSA show a couple weeks ago. I had a really good ride the day before, so I was confident going into my class. When we were in the line up the judge walked up to me and said. "Do you want the good news or the bad news?" He proceeded to tell me that I would have won the class if I hadn't missed my lead the second way of the ring and never corrected it. WOOPS! 
I couldn't even tell that horse was on the wrong lead. I'll definitely be double checking my leads from now on!

Have any of you guys blown a class on simple mistake? Share your stories!


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## ridergirl23 (Sep 17, 2009)

hahaha i got to confident and i guess my horse felt it, because he NEVER does anything like this... he decided to just ignore me and leave the ring!!! haha i was like: ummmm thanks.... but we finished our test, but sadly were dicqualified.

haha at my very first horsshow...i was about 7 or 8 i was riding an old schoolhorse named dusty.....well, we were doing hunters and at the VERY LAST JUMP he decided he needed to pee, oh well thanks dusty, haha he stopped (ignoring my kicking to go on) and went pee,then he crashed through the whole fence, haha he took down EVERY SINGLE POLE in that fence. it was pretty embarassing!!


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## thunderhooves (Aug 9, 2009)

I accidentally ran the barrel pattern wrong! I didn't cross them. a ran left,right, thenthe right of the top barrel, instead of the left.


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## 1dog3cats17rodents (Dec 7, 2007)

I got cut off by the person in front of me and had to break. No big deal. But then I noticed three or four people trotting, so I assumed I'd missed the "trot please, all trot". Nope, it was just one person trotting and everyone else following the leader. *oops* I'll never make that mistake again!


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## upnover (Jan 17, 2008)

UGH! that stinks! A few shows ago I went into the ring with a project and jumped the best freakin 8 jumps we've ever jumped in our lives, finished with a beautiful closing circle... and then was told there were 9 jumps in the course. AAAURGGGHH!


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## Gidji (Dec 19, 2008)

I remember going over my showmanship pattern heaps about a year ago, and practicing and trying to remember.
So, I was about 4th to go and the first 3 didn't even halt at a certain cone. So smart little me went in, halted at the cone and jogged off.
But as soon as I jogged off, I heard the judge mutter, 'no inspection miss?'.
I was so embarrassed because I worked so hard.


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## LoveStory10 (Oct 31, 2009)

Oooh you guys, that must have sucked. I havent had a thing like that, but my friend Jess Lee has. At an SPCA show last November, she was taking our schoolmaster Bishop in the 60cm class. She went in, and jumped BEAUTIFULLY... only to be disqualified for going before the buzzer! I felt so bad for her!!


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## ~*~anebel~*~ (Aug 21, 2008)

I was doing an under saddle hunter class on a mare that won every under saddle class - very hunter type with good forward movement and she was super easy to ride. We were in about a 100x250 ring with jumps set up (minus the ones on the outside rail) and they crammed the entire class of 40 horses in there. We were cantering around and I was riding quite defensively to keep riders away (I wish I would have brought red ribbon!). Until the judge looks over and a girl swerves in front of us and my mare breaks to keep from running up this other horse's ***. I was soooo mad. This is the same girl who was going into the ring and then smacked her horse un-necessarily and it went flying backwards right into the mare I'm riding who was a good 20 feet away from the entrance and off to the side.
That cow lost me a championship because the judge then couldn't place the horse in the U/S, and we had been 1st or 2nd in all our over fences classes in the division.

Another time I was riding FEI Jr/Yr on a seasoned horse. It was my first time in front of an "O" judge (olympic level) and so I was a little nervous. The individual and team tests at that time had similar canter tours. So I'm going around in my team test, and instead of doing a simple change from left to right, I accidentally stay on the left lead, and consequently miss a flying change. *oops* That was also my first 0 on a test! Anyways we still ended up winning the class (I have no idea how that happened) and got a comment on the bottom saying "best test of my day, thank you". It was sweet haha.

I have lots of screw ups  It happens when you show for a long time, and you just learn to take them in stride.


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## Kayty (Sep 8, 2009)

My worst was probably at the Spring Dressage Champs earlier in the year. I had placed quite highly the day before in both my YR tests, and the Sunday I was riding open. I got into the arena for my novice, and she felt just amazing, the warmup had been terrible but she just changed and really shone through this test, I was sure I had it in the bag against a large field. Almost to the end, beautifull lengthened trot aross the short diagonal, come around to A to go up the centre line, I asn't paying attention as I was so happy with how she'd gone and was just so excited, that she saw the oppertunity and took it... jumped out of the arena!! I ws devastated! The judges were still kind enough to give me my marked papers back, and work out my percentage... I would have been 4th in an open class full of stallions and some of the top riders in the state!! But it's ok... in my eyes I still placed there.... we just exited a little early :S


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## IheartPheobe (Feb 15, 2009)

I was at a pretty big show this summer, and I was really nervous because my warm up had gone terribly. During the actual show, I was so proud of my pony because he was being perfect! But.. woops. Forgot to check my diagnol. Didn't even place. ;D


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## Hoofprints in the Sand (Nov 23, 2008)

This was my first show season and my horse and I were both new to it all, but she was handling things so well! Well, we Event, and at this one show we had a great dressage test, first place! Then jumped clean in Stadium...then on the second to last jump on the cross country course we refused the scary horse-eating tire jump and I was jumping ahead so of course fell off!!!

So frustrating to go from the blue ribbon to being Eliminated from the show and getting nothing! :-( But it was a great learning experience, and we're both better from that lesson now! ;-)


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## horseluver2435 (May 27, 2009)

Luckily not too many horror stories (only been showing 3 years) but:
-Boomer and I went into a trail class and totally failed trying to open and close a gate...then he refused to side-pass over ground poles. And let's say that after we backed through the 'L' ground poles...they weren't exactly in an L shape anymore.
-Rainy decided after we entered Halter class that she did not know how to trot in hand- despite doing it several times at shows and at home...
-While warming up at one of my first shows with Rainy, she started to canter as a horse raced past us (so annoying) and the person next to me decided to snap, "Learn to control your horse!" What a way to start a show...
-We've been cut off so many times in classes, only to break gait because they're in front of us. 
-Almost ran over a judge because she stood in the corner as five horses ran around her...oops.

Yeah...
Yay for mistakes!


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## JumperDak15 (Dec 14, 2009)

Yeahhhh my gelding and I were doing a 3ft6 jumper class....and I took the wrong jump!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## dressagexlee (Dec 15, 2009)

I do have a funny story about my friend;

Only eleven years-old at the time, she was riding in a hunter class for Pony Club on a particularily lazy horse. She thought she judge was standing in the middle, so she waited until the person looked away, and then booted and kicked with her outside leg and crop, proceeding to reassume pretty hunt-seat when the person was looking.

After she came out of the ring her friend said, "Dude, you know that was the jump crew in the middle of the arena. The judge is sitting in the stands."


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## Void (Jun 26, 2009)

Ultimate jumping no no, I jumped an Oxer backwards  lucky that the pony had scope!


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## Tasia (Aug 17, 2009)

I have one...
I was showing my horse for the very first time in halter he has never been out of his pasture for 7 years so I go in and I have to discipline him a couple times and at the end of the class the judge comes up and tells me I shouldnt show my horse ever again or try halter I was 10 I was almost in tears well she was telling me that I had a bad horse... That **** should see us now things have changed! 
tasia


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## BarneyBabby (Nov 18, 2008)

Oh gah.... I hate that that happen to you! There was one time that I entered the show ring and Barney(only 2 at the time) he was being perfect like normal. I went around the ring on the 3rd lap and he started to kick and then buck. I held on of course not freaking out but softly saying easy. He calmed down enough for me to walk him out. I was so embarrassed. I got off Barn and my sister ran over to me and grabbed him. I wanted to be mad at him for doing that to me but I senced something wasn't right. although he was just a 2yr old he was perfect! I looked up and down his body, my sister asked what the heck I was doing i replied "Somethings not right." and thats when I spotted it hidden under his tail, it was a bee stuck into his skin.....yes i said it....a bee. A small bee caused him to freak out like that. I got it out of him after he stopped cow kicking everytime I tryed to get near it.

Later that night during another class the same judge walked up to me and told me that hes never seen someone handle there horse like that and not scream and yell at it. I replied with "I have been raised around cowboys all my life sir. The first thing I know is not to yell at the horse until your safely on the ground and not under hooves." All he did was smile and walk away. I got first place in all my saddleseat classes after that.

Im sure your next shows you will do great in!


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## Phantomcolt18 (Sep 25, 2007)

okay i've heard alot of english riding mishaps(nothing against english im actually starting to get serious jumping) i have had a TON of mishaps in the western world and I just happened to get this one on tape. Me and Phantom were doing the basket weave and we started out great his lead changes had been improving and after we started i got very confident. Well my foot came out of the stirrup during a lead change and i came off.....it was such an amateur mistake ugh i keep kicking myself about it he was practically walking/standing when i came off lol.


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## ShebaGurl (Nov 13, 2007)

My first rated dressage show ever, my trainer who was going to read my test at the last minute decided she couldn't and asked her friend to do it. Well I didn't want to rely on her friend if she wasn't loud enough so I tried to memorize the test. Well I spent the morning memorizing the wrong one. Her friend was still my reader for the test but I was so like I can do this that wasn't paying attention and went the wrong direction right after my halt because it was a completely different test. Well 2 point error. If I hadn't done that I would have been Champion instead I got Reserve champion. So all was not lost but it was still embarrassing.


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## HorseLuva97 (Jan 29, 2009)

same thing happend to me! I messed up my canter leads and it put me in last!


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## HorseOfCourse (Jul 20, 2009)

Hm..Ive got some stories
Onetime, I had to change in the tack room in my trailer and got locked inside because the handle on the inside wouldnt work.
One time my pony decided she didnt want to be good anymore and almost ran the judge over, to the point the judge was a couple fet away while she was inspecting her.
One time my friend and I were riding her horse double and I started forward first, then we went into the middle of the arena to switch, and everyone was laughing at us..even ourselves because we did it very awkwardly because we didnt practice, but when it was over her horse started moving around and I slipped right off.


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## ShebaGurl (Nov 13, 2007)

There was another time where I was doing a showmanship pattern with my friends quarter horse mare and decided to go first in the group cause everyone else was nervous so I went did what I thought was everything only to have the judge point out that I missed the 360 pivot after the back up, them while everyone was in the line up she came over and said you would have been first but now you're fifth It was also one of those rare times where my friend's horse and I were actually clicking, too bad my brain wasn't on.


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## QHDragon (Mar 6, 2009)

Not sure if this counts, but a few years ago I was doing showmanship when I asked my horse to back she stepped on her fake tail and ripped it out. That was the last time I ever used a fake tail. It was super embarrassing!


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