# Craziest thing you ever saw at a show...



## princecharming

hmm, craziest thing(s) ove seen:
-last show a sawa a girl warm her horse up for TWO HOURS before her dressage test  this was at an event and the horse and rider still had to ride the test, warm up for staduim, just a course AND go cross-country..that horse must have been super horse!

-at the same show watch a different lady entered in an 18" division with a horse who cleared each and every standerd not so much crazy as hilarious!!

as a disclamer: i have been that crazy person, one dressage judge gave me a 5 because somehow i managed to spin my horse and keep him in the arena after he was in mid jump(two feet off the ground) because she was so impressed! also know as that small girl who bolts through her cross country course trying to compromise the speed with her horse(apparently its weird to try to convince your horse to slow down LOL)


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## Mckellar

Craziest thing hmmm..... A circuit jump warm up rings  games of chicken which leads to running into each other because no one wants to move, cutting across the ring, not calling jumps, crazy horses with equally crazy riders


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## Cinder

Subbing, I want to see people's crazy stories.


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## Equenix

There was this appy at a show once that suffered from sunburn, so it wore a fly mask all the time. I don't know how good the rider was but any way. They were coming to a jump and the horse lept into the standerd and broke it in half. Not even kidding you!


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## Iseul

Hmm..how many of these can I think of? Hah, I'll put a few out there, I don't have the effort to do type all of them, lol.
-gaming 4h show on Saturday. I was just walking around the mare I'm now leasing, since she isn't ready to actually show yet and entry fees were outrageous if she had no chance. Well, during barrels she was actually being good and not having a buddy sour fit, so I got to watch a man (no one I've ever spoken to likes him; he's an ***, he pushes his son too far, and he's sue-happy) who owns a semi-large boarding/training barn kick the living s**t out of his horse with 3", goose-neck, rowelled spurs. While I know quite a few people do it, you'd think someone would say something during the 4H show; atleast I would think so.
-I went to an open show at North Park on Sunday. We got there a bit late, so we missed barrels, but I ended up showing in stakes, poles, and down&back. I was very excited to watch gambler's choice again, because while I would love to run it, my horse would probably either refuse or stumble over every jump. So, I don't remember who it was that was running at the time, but her horse didn't want to turn for the fourth jump and was running almost perpendicular to the fence beside the jump; she managed to get her horse to spin and pop over that jump as they were originally parallel to it.
-At the 4H show from Saturday (again, forgot about this, lol), there are generally a majority of overly hot horses that need to be dragged, spurred, and whipped just to get in the gate. Well, one girl's horse was NOT having it, at all. So, man (mentioned in the first who owns the barn this horse/girl boards/rides at) tries to grab the mare's reins and walk her to the gate. Well, mare decides that flying backwards would be a good idea, and rethought after she got a few good smacks with the crop. Mare then decides to go up and rear and rethought after getting her face half yanked off. Finally, she decides she wants to go in the arena, just over the fence instead of through the gate; I'm not sure how Man stopped her from jumping over, but he finally got her to the gate and in and she had her run. Now, I'm not saying I disapprove of or that I would do what Man did, I just figured it was kind of shocking for me to see a horse so out of control with what looked to be a 10yr old on it, ya know?

Now, I'm sure I have more..but my arm's cramping. If I think of any really good one's, I'll be back. 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Speed Racer

Y'all aren't gonna like my story, because it's not funny.

I was at an Arabian breed show, watching the classes. The weanling class was waiting at the gate to go in after the class ahead of it got placed.

One of the foals started flailing around, and threw himself over backward. He broke his neck, and died within seconds.

Found out later that he'd been stung by a wasp or bee, and he simply panicked from the pain. 

These animals are so darned fragile. :-(


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## SlideStop

^^Unfortunatly freak things happen =\ could of been my horse, your horse, in a pasture or a trailer.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## ThirteenAcres

The craziest thing I've ever seen happen was at one of the out of town barrel races we went to. We were standing near the alley and a girl was being led in to the alley by a friend because her horse was so blown up about running through the alley. The horse freaked out, basically threw the girl leading her across the alley, reared up, and then fell over backward atop the girl, thrashing about insanely.

Luckily, neither were severely hurt. It is one of my biggest pet peeves in barrel racing. TRAIN YOUR HORSE TO BE CALM IN THE ALLEY.


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## BarrelracingArabian

One was when i went to an out of town barrel race with my trainer and theres this one girl who os supposedly ' pro'. Her horse is a stellar barrel horse however this girl has to make a huge commotion about getting in the gate, yelling clear the gate yanking on the reins and havin her mother and friend lead in which this horse does not need he was really trying to just get to the arena.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## TristaJean

Subbing, this thread is really interesting.

The most crazy thing I've seen is girls kicking the crap out of their horses sides. Like....this horse had to have bruises. I watched her for the rest of the day and somehow every horse she got on turned "crazy"...gee I wonder why....
Her horse got revenge by throwing some huge bronco bucks though. 
And I was cheering for him from the sidelines, mwahahaha 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## rodeogirl309

Not sure how "crazy" this is, but it's more inappropriate/rude.

I was at my local 4H show, down in the warm up ring before my class. This adult man come in riding in his Harris show saddle, on a 2 year old. He arrived to the show at start time (9:00) and came only to show in the two open WP classes that didin't run until FIVE O'CLOCK!

Anyhow, he comes into warm up ring (full of 4H kids) SMOKING A CIG as he is riding!! Are you kidding me?!

First of all, the smoking is just wrong, and two, this is a show for 4H kids. We do not need adults coming in just to take the money in the open classes, and you definately do not need to bring your Harris saddle. Thanks. Ugh, it just irked me!


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## WesternTale

Well, about last year, in the middle of a Hunter/Jumper course, there was a rider doing their course, and the horse started bucking. She got bucked off, the ran out of the ring, it was running around for about 5 minutes since nobody could catch it. When it was finally got, one woman walked behind it, it kicked her in shoulder and she got knocked out unconcious. Apparently she broke her shoulder and had to be driven away in an ambulance.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## oh vair oh

Hehe. I've seen a couple trainers with draw reins on their curb bits loping around while yaking on their cell phones. I think it's pretty funny to watch.


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## Cruiser

I was at an exhibition and a team of Percherons were hitched to a dragging thing (looked like a pallet with a piece of plywood, and the driver was walking them up and down the aisles between the barns (there was rows of barns). When the horses broke lose and bolted down the agriculture areas into exhibits, than the mid way before any one could catch them. The team was easily one of the largest teams there, huge. I think a little girl was hurt (I don't no if it was directly related to the horses, or if it was something that happened when people were trying to get away from the horses).


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## COWCHICK77

Not the craziest, but it was cool....

I went to a APHA show last month, I was watching the steer stopping. This guy came out of the box on a younger horse and this colt busts in two bucking...this guy manages to throw his rope and catch his steer while this horse is hogging around.
He catches, dallies, stops and faces his steer....pretty handy in my book!


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## Almond Joy

Hmmm....
-At a Regional chicken show, when the judges were coming to one of the cages, the owner walked up, grabbed his bird out of the cage and licked it ALL OVER until it was soaking wet. 
-A woman screaming at her daughter (She was only 7 or 8) at a 4H Sheep Show because she put the hose back the wrong way.
-Kids always seem to enjoy kicking the turkey cages. Sigh.
-I cant remember any more of them :/


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## waresbear

I have seen lots of accidents at shows, nothing too serious fortunately, also parents yelling at their kids for not winning, & on you go with stuff like that, not really crazy, but not good behaviour in public either. Craziest thing? Hmmm, I will never forget this & still laugh about it, was 20 years ago, an open show, but a very large one, must've been over a 100 entries. There was a green or maiden horse western pleasure class, can't remember but there was about 25 or so in the ring. I was competing but not that class, so I actually got to watch it. There was this young lady with a fairly nice horse, but the way she was dressed!!!! She had on a bikini top kinda looking shirt, no hat, skintight leggings tucked into high heel boots and make up for a stage play! Everyone watching was in tears. She rode ok, even if she was dressed properly she probably would not have placed as there was some very good horses in that class, her horse wasn't bad but it wasn't collected, or cadenced as the others. I am wondering why the gate person didn't tell her that her attire wasn't legal and she wouldn't be placed. Oh well, made for a good laugh. I think someone told her afterwards, but all she did was go on about how good her horse was and how proud of him she was as it was his first time off the ranch, guess it was hers too, what's the name of that brothel in Nevada? The Bunny Ranch!:lol:


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## COWCHICK77

^^^LOL! Moonlight Bunny Ranch...that is a funny story! 

That and the chicken licker....lol!


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## MHFoundation Quarters

Okay, the chicken licker thing :shock: What was the reasoning for that? 

Craziest thing to happen at a show...still makes me see red to this day. I did pretty well, okay real well, when I rode youth classes many moons ago. Made a lot of friends and a few "frenemies". 

I was having a really good weekend, cleaned up every class I went in. Last pleasure class of the day, siblings of one of my frenemies stood on the rail and lit matches and flicked them at my mare's butt every time we passed them. I tolerated it for a few laps and then had enough, took my foot out of my stirrup and when I passed the next time, I booted them without even losing focus. Won the class despite their efforts. One of my friends and I had a 'discussion' with her behind the trailer when the sun went down. 

A real good friend of mine at an open show caught her button up & bra on her horn taking off of the line in a pole bending class, ripping the shirt open and popped her bra. She continued anyway with the girls out for the world to see. She hasn't rode in a speed class since.


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## COWCHICK77

^^^thats funny!
That reminds of a Halloween bash they have at home....they have a bronc riding and bikini barrel racing....more than likely see some ta tas before the evening is done!


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## MHFoundation Quarters

COWCHICK77 said:


> ^^^thats funny!
> That reminds of a Halloween bash they have at home....they have a bronc riding and bikini barrel racing....more than likely see some ta tas before the evening is done!


You going to share vid in the saloon when you participate? :rofl: That sounds like an entertaining evening. I busted a fave VS bra doing the same thing but it was at home and I had a compression tank over it. Thank goodness, my citified transplant neighbors already think I'm nuts. :wink:


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## COWCHICK77

Ha ha...yea right.....un/fortunately I was not blessed with "teats"....you would watch the video and think it was a twelve year old boy! Bah ha ha!

My husband sys he would buy me some but I would rather have Lasik so my glasses don't slide down my nose and I could see farther than my horses ears! Not sure I would know how to contain the things! In the words of my grandmother in law...."wasn't sure if they are fightin' to get in or fighten' to get out!" Lol!


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## Horses4Healing

that's epic about the topless pole bending...I wouldn't be comfortable just due to the size of my chest. I have to wear at least two bras when riding anyway. :?

As far as the craziest thing I've seen goes. 

Funny Thing: I always love watching the schooling rounds at cross country events since most of the horses haven't seen the jumps they are jumping. My fav thing to watch is any horse that thinks it needs to bank a wide spread fence. I've seen horses jump on top of a table spread fence that was no wider than 2 foot 3 inches and I looked at the horse in confusion as to how that was possible. 

Cruel Thing: I've seen way too many people show horses that were unfit to show. Either too underweight, lame, or clearly drugged for one reason or another. 

Coolest Thing: I've seen is someone did a short cross country schooling round bareback and in a halter. Not sure how they convinced the show-master to let them do that, but it all ended well so no harm no foul right?

Sad Thing: I was present when Call Again Cavalier fell at an Indoor Eventing Competition.

Rude Thing: I have been victim to this; when you show up at a new show venue and everyone who has shown there for enough time to be popular looks at you like your worthless and unworthy of being there. Fortunately, I don't really care what they think since I show for pleasure and to gain experience. Plus I somehow manage to place higher than some of them, proving that you can't judge a book by its cover. Goes the same way for if you can't afford the best gear. (Has anyone seen the movie Moondance Alexander?)

Annoying Thing: WARM UP RINGS!!! Rider's not calling jumps, or tracking slowly on the outside, not passing left to left, and rider's who allow their horses to follow too closely to yours or that cut you off.


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## Horses4Healing

oh I've also seen a mini horse (I actually think it was the smallest horse breed, starts with a F but I can't remember) get loose in a warm up ring at the Western States Horse Expo and there were several people trying to corral this tiny pony, but she kept slipping past them all. She finally stopped next to a giant shire that was in the arena.


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## SlideStop

The button up shirt thing happened to a woman I work with. She was running home after a set of barrels. The horn caught the snaps and her ta-tas were exposed to the world. Thank god she is the kind of person who laughs things off! Needless to say she wears a tank top under now 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Saddlebag

I can barely top the last one. A generously endowed gal was wearing a sloppy shirt while running barrels. As she was coming off #3 and heading for the home stretch her horse got a little broncy and she came off. Somehow her shirt and bra were hooked on the horn flying in the wind as the horse continued it's run. There she was down on her knees trying to hide her boobs. Someone arrived with a jacket. Even Hollywood couldn't have come up with something like that.


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## Saddlebag

Years ago a close gal friend decided to sew herself a pair of glittery pants for barrel racing. While at her house she modeled them for me and they gave new meaning to the word "tight". The big day arrived and she and her little app flew into the ring. As he was turning #1 she heard the first rip, at #2, the second rip, at #3 he was realling digging and she heard the last rip. When she crossed the finish her tight pants resembled a pair of chaps with her pink panties exposed for all to see. The entire seam from front to back had let go.


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## MidsummerFable

Craziest thing for me...
Mostly just the people who show up at our shows that cost $20-$40 a class, judging and office fees and $60 for a stall that your horse stays in for about a week for this three day show, and looks like crap. I don't understand why they waste that much money when they don't even do well. 

The western horses that come in with their nose in the air and canter instead of lope or don't neck rein at all. 
Hunt horses without braids.
Badly fitted show clothing.
And of course people who enter their horse in almost every class possible and keep getting last because their horse is so tired after three days of 2 or 3 sessions a day, adding up to probably around 10 classes. I know some people will do that many in one day, but if you send one of our horses out like that over a period of time they start looking like crap, don't win anymore, and they get grumpy and sour.


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## ThursdayNext

I collected one of these just recently. Was at a smallish country show and arrived just in time to see a horse bust loose out of the tie-up to the trailer. Two horses tied up, one started panicking and pulling, just got worse, and then the halter blew and the horse went cantering off at a good clip. The remaining horse was freaked out by all of this, from what I could see, and was ripping out a lot of whinnies and starting to hop around. A guy erupted from the trailer and started *shouting* at the horse angrily (yeah, that's definitely the way to de-escalate) and then, I was appalled to watch, hauled off and socked that horse in the face. The horse pulled it's head away, peeled its lips off its teeth, and screamed at this guy as loud as it could. You don't have to be an Animal Communicator to know what it was saying. 

Later, I saw that same horse - which was huge, taller than my guy, and he's 16.2...and with an obviously hot temperament. I'd give him an 8 on the 0-10 scale. Dunno what breed. Not an Arab, not a warmblood, probably not a QH...my guess is TB.

The in-hand showing was going on, and that horse towed his rider, who was a kid maybe 11 years old into the ring, up and down for the showmanship, and back out of the ring. Later I saw them ride...in the BEGINNER Age 7-12 class...yes, a gigantic hot-tempered horse in the Beginner walk-trot class...and as soon as the riders were cued to trot, this massive creature burst into a canter. Rider couldn't control him AT ALL. Fortunately, no one was injured.

I just thought it was incredibly sad. Rider savagely overhorsed, trainer or parent or whatever violent and abusive. People hitting horses in anger. That horse could probably be a great horse for a more accomplished and patient rider, but as it is, I reckon it's going to be developing a lot of behavior problems and getting handed around to different owners as uncontrollable.


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## Sunny

I was at a local show when I was 14 and a man and his mare were running home after a barrel run. The gate had a bolt sticking out and the mare ran her shoulder into it. Gashed it open. I've never heard so many, "Call a vet!" screams in my life. From what I heard the poor mare was okay and when I was at the grounds the next time the gate had been fixed.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Clayton Taffy

MidsummerFable said:


> Craziest thing for me...
> Mostly just the people who show up at our shows that cost $20-$40 a class, judging and office fees and $60 for a stall that your horse stays in for about a week for this three day show, and looks like crap. I don't understand why they waste that much money when they don't even do well.
> 
> The western horses that come in with their nose in the air and canter instead of lope or don't neck rein at all.
> Hunt horses without braids.
> Badly fitted show clothing.
> And of course people who enter their horse in almost every class possible and keep getting last because their horse is so tired after three days of 2 or 3 sessions a day, adding up to probably around 10 classes. I know some people will do that many in one day, but if you send one of our horses out like that over a period of time they start looking like crap, don't win anymore, and they get grumpy and sour.


 
Snobby people.


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## MidsummerFable

Taffy Clayton said:


> Snobby people.


Showing is my lively-hood and how I make my money. What i'm asking for is for these people to step up their game and give us quality competition instead of just being fillers. I understand that some of them enter just to get their feet wet in the show world, which is great, but after going to 3 shows in a row looking the same and making no improvement is when I start to think it's crazy. They see what wins, and I feel they need to improve towards that since it will improve their horsemanship and knowledge, instead of just pee-diddling around and entering classes for a ribbon.


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## BarrelBunny

uhm... I have to admit that I've been one of those that runs into the ring for a barrel pattern, gets her shirt stuck on the horn, rips it, and goes flying in the wind... lets just say that I finished the pattern one-handed.  Not only did it happen once, but it happened TWICE! The first time I didn't have a tank top on under my shirt, but the second time I did. The worst part of it all: they were T-SHIRTS! Not button ups! :lol: how does that happen?? Needless to say, I retired that horse, and no longer run him. lol He was about 30 years old, anyway. :wink:

The craziest thing that I've SEEN (not experienced.. lol): a lady just finished the pattern, crossed the timer, and the end of the arena ended with a short alleyway and a gate. (which was stupidly closed. it irks me when they close the gates. My boy doesn't have a screeching stop when he gets hyper LOL it's like stopping a freight train!) Anyhoo, the horse took two giant steps, and launched himself over the gate! Clearing it by 2 feet, too!! They landed on the other side, and the lady did a one-rein stop. Nobody got hurt, but still! Everyone was like :shock::shock::shock: lol


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## KissTheRing

BarrelBunny said:


> Anyhoo, the horse took two giant steps, and launched himself over the gate! Clearing it by 2 feet, too!! They landed on the other side, and the lady did a one-rein stop. Nobody got hurt, but still! Everyone was like :shock::shock::shock: lol


My local areana closes the gate and half the time this is the reasult:rofl::rofl::rofl: 

You'd think they would learn!


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## BarrelBunny

You would think!!! Most of the time they leave the gate open, or there is no gate at all!


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## DancingArabian

MidsummerFable - I hear you but look at it this way. Those "filler" competitors are helping find the shows. Imagine how little shows there'd be if suddenly half the competition didn't sign up.

Craziest thing I've seen - At a fancy gaited horse show, a man dressed up as Darth Vader - complete with faux light saber - entered the speed rack class. It was NOT a costume class!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## ThursdayNext

DancingArabian said:


> MidsummerFable - I hear you but look at it this way. Those "filler" competitors are helping find the shows. Imagine how little shows there'd be if suddenly half the competition didn't sign up._Posted via Mobile Device_


This is an EXCELLENT point. I have this in the winter at my ski areas - certain times of the winter, the place absolutely fills up with noobs and rookies, and they totally clutter the slopes, make a nuisance in the lift-lines, and do the occasionally dangerous thing. Every time I find myself thinking "GRRR" I just remind myself that they're financing a lot of the operations, thus making my days when I have the slopes almost to myself, possible.


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## SlideStop

MidsummerFable said:


> Showing is my lively-hood and how I make my money. What i'm asking for is for these people to step up their game and give us quality competition instead of just being fillers. I understand that some of them enter just to get their feet wet in the show world, which is great, but after going to 3 shows in a row looking the same and making no improvement is when I start to think it's crazy. They see what wins, and I feel they need to improve towards that since it will improve their horsemanship and knowledge, instead of just pee-diddling around and entering classes for a ribbon.


... Everyone has to start somewhere. While some of us have a natural ability and the means to take us that far doesn't mean people shouldn't be allowed pursue something they enjoy. I happened to be an excellent swimmer and swam varsity all through Jr high and high school and was asked to join a club team people pay big bucks to put their kids on. I would never think say to them "they aren't good enough competition" aka "you not as good as me, therefore you suck". 

Maybe if you find your competition to petty for your liking maybe you need to take your riding to the next level!!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Arksly

I was scribing at a dressage show once and this lady came in on a Tennessee Walker. Nice looking horse, nice looking rider, cute pair over all. I think it was an intro class. Anyway, so they're walking around and then they go to trot. But it started gaiting. Listening to how the judge reacted made me lose my cool and start chuckling a little. So she rings the bell and calls the rider over and asks why she isn't trotting. The judge told her that she wasn't doing the correct movement and that she could finish the test but she won't mark it unless she trots. The lady starts arguing with the judge, got mad and left. The judge just shook her head.


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## DancingArabian

SlideStop said:


> ... Everyone has to start somewhere. While some of us have a natural ability and the means to take us that far doesn't mean people shouldn't be allowed pursue something they enjoy. I happened to be an excellent swimmer and swam varsity all through Jr high and high school and was asked to join a club team people pay big bucks to put their kids on. I would never think say to them "they aren't good enough competition" aka "you not as good as me, therefore you suck".
> 
> Maybe if you find your competition to petty for your liking maybe you need to take your riding to the next level!!
> _Posted via Mobile Device_



I don't think MidsummerFable means that they suck. But it really doesn't make sense for people to pay a lot of money per class, enter multiple classes, then have to pay all the various costs of going to a show and then show a sloppy, dirty animal or arrive in ill-fitting tack or improperly attired or trying to show an animal that obviously isn't working in the discipline they're trying to show in. It's not about sucking - it's about respecting yourself and your horse as well as your fellow competitors. Not everyone can win a ribbon, true, but everyone can at least look like they're trying for one.


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## vthorse

A local fair had the same horse show judge year after year, for many years. One time when my kids went into the halter class, all us spectators waited at least 1/2 hr watching those poor kids walk around and around while the judge stared here and there off into space. Finally someone asked what was going on....the judge thought he was waiting for more entrants! 
After that, we all voted to get a new judge each year, and that poor guy hasn't ever been invited back.


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## poniesis mee3

-my friend spent 2 hours + cleaing a saddle for a show and barely went in anything

-a little girl fell off and the whole bridle came off the pony too

- a girl was trying to get her horse to jump but instead of jumping it just charged straight through the jump. it was like it didn't know how to jump


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## spurstop

vthorse said:


> A local fair had the same horse show judge year after year, for many years. One time when my kids went into the halter class, all us spectators waited at least 1/2 hr watching those poor kids walk around and around while the judge stared here and there off into space. Finally someone asked what was going on....the judge thought he was waiting for more entrants!
> After that, we all voted to get a new judge each year, and that poor guy hasn't ever been invited back.



That is the ring steward and gate person's fault. The announcer should always let the judge know when the class is in the arena and the gate is closed.


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## Lonannuniel

At a dressage show a year or two ago, a rider was just on her way out of the arena when her horse spooked, he jumped forward slightly but quickly went back to a walk. Despite this, the rider took her dressage whip and gave the horse a massive smack ( the sound echoed, and the horse was visibly confused). The judge stood up, asked the rider why she felt that was necessary, to which the rider gave no answer. The judge just shook her head and sat down. 

Not overly exciting but something out of the norm none-the-less lol


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## AngieLee

I dont have any good ones, but i'v recently started going to watch shows at my local saddle club, to support my riding instructor and her show team, and to know what to expect when my horse and I are ready to show. 

The last show i went to was rather adventful lol

A little girl trying to jump some small jumps, brought the horse in at the wrong lead each time, horse refused each time, so they were disqualified from that class, so she got the horse out the ring and ran him because she was mad. 

A horse was loaded into the trailer, and managed to snap its halter, and slip under the bum straps and go charging off across the open feild. People are yelling to close the gates so the horse doesnt excape into town lol She was caught, a few people got to the gate and though they couldnt catch her, they sent her off in the other direction where the owner was waiting, and as soon as she saw the owner, and heard her voice she walked right over. Luckily they also sell some tack at this saddle club so the owner was able to buy a halter for her lol

The same people also had another horse with, a beautiful bay! placed in all there classes, very well behaved, and a great mover! apparently he wasnt in the mood to go yet tho, as try as they might they couldnt get him in the trailer! they got him in once and they people standing outside the trailer "helping" clearly dont know what help means, as they didnt do up the bum strap and the horse backed out. For ever an hour they tried to get this horse into the trailer. They tried forcing him in, tapping him with a whip, putting the other horse in first ( see above paragraph to see how that turned out), walking him away and trying again, lunging him, finally they moved the trailer to the opposite side of the grounds and tried again. still wouldnt get in! A few people went in and tried to help, either failed, or were told no, they didnt need help. Apparently this horse is a rescue, and blind in one eye, and bumped his head once so has to be handled diffrently, and he knows the one lady that was leading him on. clearly knowing her, wasnt helping to much! lol IMO rescue or not, your horse is well trained, and has trailerd before, so dont coddle him because of his past, because i doubt he's thinking of it, but thats just my opinion. Anyways, eventually! after much frustration, and failed tactics they got both horses on, and the trailer closed up, and headed for home! which is good, because they tried almost everything, so other then asking someone with a stock trailer for a ride home, i dont know what else they could try! lol


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## Eclipse295

At an open pony show there was a girl who got bucked off her pony in the show arena, gets up, yanks on the bridle and starts kicking the poor thing in the ribs over and over and over again until the ring steward makes her stop, then this girl also didnt under stand why she couldnt show in EVERY class, like why she couldnt show her 15 yo mare in the yearling stallion class. Then what really madw it an O.O moment was when the superintendent tried to explain to her that she wasnt allowed to show in every class and shouldnt kick her pony like that, her dad comes over to the super. The superintendent is litterally 5 ft. nothing and the dad is like 6'5 and a bodybuilder the dad rips off his shirt and says 'you don't know who your messing with, I amMr. Kalamazoo 2 years running' and starts doing the whole 'pec bouncing' thing and she tells him that he 'had better get his boobies out of her face and take his pony home.'

We were all standing there like O.O 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## shandasue

this is only my second show season so havnt seen anything to crazy but at last months show the people parked beside us had a horse that was rearing and acting crazy, I noticed he had leg rapps on and thought "omg there burning that horse" but just let it go an figured they didnt want him to scratch his legs in the trailer. later that night i watched them take the raps off.. it took them about 45 minutes to an hour and were late getting in the ring. i was shocked. (it was a horse with a package or pads on or whatever that junk is) i also heard later that they had to give the horse a shot of whiskey to calm him down.
same show a girl was leaving the ring after getting second or third place (cant remember) and the horse just falls, kinda like he triped. i laughed when the owner said "oh he just gets lazy somtimes"
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SlideStop

Bump, anyone else?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## jumanji321

I've only shown 2 years so far, but boy I saw some interesting things this year.

At one show this one mother clearly fancied herself a riding instructor and would yell and scream at her kids while they were riding. One of the girl's horse bucked and took off while they were exiting a class. The one man with her caught the horse and told me to be careful and to keep my distance AFTER he walked the horse toward me. I said it was okay and he gave me crap for being too close and that I need to be careful, sorry that you didn't want to move the horse to an area that wasn't right next to the arena gate. The boy with her also had a really hot horse and when he was doing the working hunter class. The horse refused a jump and his mom(the one mentioned earlier) yelled at him to start again. He was DQed for going off course and wondered why he was. The same show also had a girl fall off in the working hunter class and she wanted to know why she didn't get a ribbon. I felt really bad accepting my ribbon in that class because it was just the three of us and I was the only one who did it without a fault. 

At another show, a boy got overconfident about winning the jumpers class and was really looking forward to winning it. He was having a good time boasting about it as well, he promptly destroyed the course after he couldn't make a turn.

Finally, one show had a woman with a half-cheek on upside down and frequently complaining about the judge while she was right beside her. Oh boy did I have to bite my tongue that day.


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## Captain Evil

Well, my favorite show mishap involved my sister and her little Arabian, Jessa. Jessa loved to jump, but had horrible form. She would fly around the arena and fling herself at the fences, shoulder first, forelegs dangling behind her, and then scramble mid-air to pull her legs over and get her landing gear down in time to avoid a crash. They were in a class with jumps about two feet high, and Jessa was flying down a line of jumps. They got to the first turn, but Jessa just kept going, right over the end fence, through the scattering spectators, over the hill and out of sight.

The weirdest thing I have seen training was at a dressage clinic with a very well-known instructor. Theinstructor wasin the middle, teaching the rider, but also talking to the observers. The student was very experienced, like PSG, and was on a magnificent horse. At one point during his session, he was directed to ride sitting trot to the corner and then do an extended trot across the diagonal. He did this, really flying across the ring with the instructor talking to the crowd about his trot, when the guy slammed into the far corner wall, still at a full extended trot.

When the astonished instructor asked why he did that, the rider said that nobody had told him to turn.


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## hca

This girl was racing barrels and everyone who ran ahead of her had very well trained horses that slid to a stop at the gait. Well this girl did Not train her horse to slide stop, so she snatched on the poor horses face like 3 times very hard cussed her horse yelling "yeah run into the gait stupid horse" then snatches the poor horses face to the side and makes him do a 1 rein stop very abruptly. 

i could have beat that girl stupid for being so ignorant.


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## Horsecrazy4

We was at a barrel show daughter had just ran. Watching the rest of her class the next girl came out and her horse was very hot.. these kids r running pee wee. after 3rd barrel she was running straight for gate couldn't turn her horse fast enough slid off side of saddle and face first in the gate... It was the most horrible sight and sound. She was fine thank goodness had a bloody lip but the sound and sight I NEVER wanna see or hear agin.. At a 4h show a little boy just kept riding this little mini  well he came up to talk to grandma and grandpa I guess the mini had had enough he just laid down and wouldn't move. Finally they took the pony to get water didn't see him the rest of day on pony  the little boy was fine but mini said I had enough lol
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## paintedpastures

Was at a show in my youth. It was a big County fair thing.Pretty big show & high point won a free AQHA weanling:shock:. My friend was determined to win . She had 2 horses & did pretty well with them at same show in previous year. It was lunch break so I had left with my dad to go for lunch. She wanted to ride her gelding/tune him up:-(. I arrived back from lunch & a few exhibitors had come up to me asking how she was,I'm like fine??:? by the 3rd person asking I'm like what is going on?? well she was taken to hospital in ambulance,her horse reared up & landed on her.So off to hospital I rush...long story short she broke her legs!!!{I know how she could be with her horses sometimes:evil: so the accident well....,didn't surprise me} She obviously didn't show that day,but spent the day in camper in agony....
Determined as she was to win this highpoint she was H*LL bent on riding her mare in the trail class the next day:lol:.They had had a good show up to this point & Her mare had very good shot at winning this class! Well next day I helped her up on her mare & off she went with her broken legs & rode her mare through the class & won!!
That was one crazy weekend, May have been MANY years ago,but one of those memorable events in ones life:wink:.


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## monkeyleap

This wasn't necessarily a show I was in, but it was a cattle clinic (cutting, roping, etc.) The man who owns the place I ride at- which is where we were having it- said, "Now, this cow is a little bit fresh, but I think you guys can handle it." (The people attempting to "herd" it are haughty male tween/teens which irritate the heck out of me.) About two seconds after the cow was in the arena, it literally jumped five feet into the air and went sailing across the fence, back to its little cow buddies!!


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## Cweaver

Eclipse295 said:


> At an open pony show there was a girl who got bucked off her pony in the show arena, gets up, yanks on the bridle and starts kicking the poor thing in the ribs over and over and over again until the ring steward makes her stop, then this girl also didnt under stand why she couldnt show in EVERY class, like why she couldnt show her 15 yo mare in the yearling stallion class. Then what really madw it an O.O moment was when the superintendent tried to explain to her that she wasnt allowed to show in every class and shouldnt kick her pony like that, her dad comes over to the super. The superintendent is litterally 5 ft. nothing and the dad is like 6'5 and a bodybuilder the dad rips off his shirt and says 'you don't know who your messing with, I amMr. Kalamazoo 2 years running' and starts doing the whole 'pec bouncing' thing and she tells him that he 'had better get his boobies out of her face and take his pony home.'
> 
> We were all standing there like O.O
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I cannot even begin to tell you how hard I just laughed


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## RBOlena

Once I went to a show and there were two people (obviously from the same barn) loping and jogging around the warm up arena. Whenever their horse would even slightly lift up their head, they would take the crop and hit the horses head with it!?!? Another thing I saw was this older girl on a tiny little pony, waiting to go into a HUS class. And then, I noticed that her kimberwick was on.....upside down. Like seriously. Totally upside down. I told her about it and she didn't even know it was upside down. She thought that was the right way and at first she thought that I was wrong. Then her trainer came over and they both tried to convince me that I was wrong. It was actually kind of funny. Then I told them to ask anyone else in this whole show. So they asked around and they finally discovered that I was right. So then they went to turn it around and I saw that the kimberwick had a port in it. Not just a little port...the biggest port I have ever seen on an English bit. And that thing was on UPSIDE DOWN in that poor horses mouth. I swear that horse was a saint.


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## gogaited

BL. Total insanity and evil.


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## majorserendipity201

Once at a schooling show I saw an older woman on a green looking horse. The horse was acting up rearing, bucking, crow-hopping. The older woman hopped off. Finally after she calmed the horse down the horse went to go scratch it's belly and apparently the woman didn't roll up her stirrups. The horse got its muzzle caught in the iron and started having a panic attack it was circling out of control and backing up at mock speed. Everyone was trying to grab the reins to get the saddle off but the horse just got worse. Someone jumped at the horse grabbing the reins but just then the horse reared up and flipped over. He was okay but it was scary. A lesson to be learned; roll up your stirrups properly!

I have one more! Once we were heading to a show and dozens of ambulences came rushing by. Once we got to the show apparently a woman had been schooling here little girl's pony over a crossrail and the pony refused and she fell off then the horse stepped on her heart. She died instantly. Very sad  she died right in front of her 6 year old daughter. My sympathy really goes to that family.


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## nikelodeon79

The only show I attend is a very laid back county fair.

There's a "show mom" who is very strict with her kids and has a "winning is everything" attitude. One year she got her daughter a cute little pony. They got the pony all prettied up way early on in the day. While the rest of us keep our horses stalled as long as possible or hang out by the arena letting them eat, relax, etc., this mom made her daughter keep her pony squared and stretched the entire time. She would swat the horse angrily if it so much as stomped a hoof or swatted a fly. We're talking HOURS in the hot sun.

By the time the pony's class was called, she'd had it. She took one look at that nice, soft arena sand and dropped down and rolled gleefully. 

I wanted to cheer. I settled for laughing. ;-)

_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## majorserendipity201

The craziest thing that ever happened to me at a show was when I took my big black gorgeous warmblood to a show. He bucked me off and i broke my hip. I went unconscious for a few minutes then got back on and finished the course with a broken hip. All i remember is crying hysterically laying in the back of my friends car. 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## horsegal_7032

I have two crazy stories. Both of them happened at AQHA shows...
-A few years ago, during the Green HUS class, a middle-aged male trainer had a STROKE while riding. 
-Also during a HUS class, a stallion riding in the class mounted the horse in front of it with the riders still on. Luckily, no one was hurt.


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## waresbear

^^^^^OMG to both incidents!!!!!!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## PaintedHeart

I haven't had too many "crazy" things happen at shows I've attended, just the typical stuff. 

Probably the most memorable was actually at a show I was working, not riding in. There was a younger girl, maybe 9 or 10, riding this little palomino. They were both turned out pretty well, cute pair. 
Well the pony took two steps into the arena and took off. The little girl, bless her, was a complete beginner (should NOT have been jumping, she was barely comfortable at the trot) and had no idea how to handle a run away horse. She managed to hang on a respectable time, but eventually fell.
We discovered later that the pony had actually been a barrel horse previously. He had been badly trained and was of the habit of rushing out of the gates and had a tendency to run off with his riders. Turns out they had just recently decided to make him a hunter/jumper and this was his first English show. No one had bothered to work him out of his past issues, apparently just thinking they'd go away on their own. *facepalm*

Sometimes I'd really like to know what goes on in people's minds.


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## 40232

1) I was in a warm up ring for barrels and this girl came in and ran around the arena as fast as possible. She ran into my horses hind end, and cut in front of me many times. Thing is, there was well over 30 horses and her good idea was to gallop in that.


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## 40232

Oh oh oh! I came up with a better one. I was doing flag, and on the run home my horse decided to forget his brakes.. My other horse stops at the gate. Wellll, his was running full speed at a gate and I had his head cranked to the side, but I had to scream at the gate worker to move before my horse slammed into the gate and dented it. Plus, he pinned my leg inbetween the gate, and many people were screaming thinking I broke my leg. Plus, with my good luck, the gate worker was an extremely hot guy. I did the same thing the next week, and put another dent to the one I originally made. And a week later, the judge said if I ran into the gate a third time, I would be DQ'd!


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## DraftyAiresMum

I've seen a few crazy things at the local schooling show in my town.

1) Lady entered in the w/t/c English class with a big, green warmblood. She won, but as soon as the judge handed her the ribbon, her horse spooked and went bat-crap crazy. Started bucking and running around to put a rodeo bronc to shame. She somehow managed to stick in the saddle and rode him out, but he was hell-bent on getting her off.

2) Girl entered her 2yo gelding on stock horse halter. He had never been to a show before and was understandably nervous and fidgety. She didn't place because they were poorly turned out and as she was walking back to the trailer, he spooked at something random. She flew off the handle at him and started shanking him HARD with the stud chain wrapped around his nose and screaming at him that he was worthless because he didn't win her a ribbon. She was a big girl, too.

3) Girl entered her grulla paint mare in WP that was so skinny you could see ribs, hips and backbone. She'd even body clipped the poor thing, so it was even more noticeable. Thing is, she'd been talking down a friend of mone's Arab mare earlier in the day, saying she was too skinny and shouldn't be ridden (Katie was anything but underweight).
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Lexiie

Went to a local show over the summer with my barn.

There were four girls, including myself.
One of the girls had an older horse, who didn't feel like doing a barrel class with us. (we were riding english and it was definitely just for fun)

Anyway, a run or two after I had finished (I was last) the horse who didn't run broke off from the trailer and took off down the road.
All three of us took of down the road, as well as a few people on foot and others in their cars.
We went down the dirt road to pavement, and we kept going. We went down into the plowed soy fields. He was down in a second field. No idea how he got there from the road. There was a huge pile of rock covered in thorns. 

Pretty scary


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## fkonidaris

Crazy and dangerous...

A girl was riding in the warm up ring and her horse spooked and she got bucked off. Everyone left the ring and the horse was removed while people tended to her waiting for paramedics to arrive. She was stable, but unable to move and riders came back in the ring to warm up while the girl was laying on the ground! They're literally cantering around her in a small ring the size of a small round pen while she's laying there waiting for help!


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## JumpingJiminy

Subbing, this is a great thread, love it.


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## sillyhorses

Can think of two crazy things:
1. When I was a kid, I went to the county fair. I was super-excited to watch the horse show and bee-lined for the ring to watch the warm up. A girl and her horse were near the rail, and she was urging him forward as he backed up. He ended up going right in the air and flipped backwards on top of her. He got his legs hung up in the rail o.0 and the poor girl was just being _GROUND_ into the dirt as the horse struggled to get up. The horse jumped up and took off, and the girl stood up, stumbled about a half-step and collapsed. She was not responsive when they took her away in the ambulance  I always wonder what happened and hope that the girl made a full recovery from whatever injuries she sustained  After that, I'm surprised I ever wanted to get on a horse!

2. We knew our newest boarder (at the time) was very into 4H and showing her horse. The horse had come to our barn emaciated and with serious behavioral issues (bucking/rearing/etc) and after a week, they took her to a show. I went to watch, and was horrified to find the girl riding the poor horse from sun-up to sun-down all over the fairgrounds, including the 5 classes they had signed up for. By the end of the night, at the trail class (11p.m.!!!!) the horse had enough and reared up and jumped around so much that the girl was DQd. She threw a temper tantrum about her horse being a "jerk" and not winning her a ribbon (when the horse had already won her two blues and placed in the other two classes before 3p.m.). Yep - she had been on that poor horse's back the WHOLE time. Ended up being just the tip of the iceberg - suffice to say, we were relieved when they jumped into the mud-pits, and they ended up giving the mare away because she was "uncontrollable". Happy for the horse to be out from under that situation!


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## Casey02

> Oh oh oh! I came up with a better one. I was doing flag, and on the run home my horse decided to forget his brakes.. My other horse stops at the gate. Wellll, his was running full speed at a gate and I had his head cranked to the side, but I had to scream at the gate worker to move before my horse slammed into the gate and dented it. Plus, he pinned my leg inbetween the gate, and many people were screaming thinking I broke my leg. Plus, with my good luck, the gate worker was an extremely hot guy. I did the same thing the next week, and put another dent to the one I originally made. And a week later, the judge said if I ran into the gate a third time, I would be DQ'd!


I wouldn't be to proud of that one..sounds like your horse has training issues


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## hisangelonly

Well I too hate it when people give you that "you're worthless" look. I do not belong to a barn. I do not board. I take lessons once a week at a friendly barn. I showed yesterday at a different barn and got those nasty looks. lol. My gelding was not dirty or badly behaved. He was the only one braided too lol. I also see too little of warm up ring etiquette! People reversing in huge circles to the inside all of a sudden while people are passing (in a small covered arena) and stopping abruptly when they are towards the inside. People not watching where they are going. Oh it drives me nuts. 
At this same show, I dont think the judge knew what she was doing or was looking for a reason to knock my gelding down. In our english pleasure wtc class, she told me when we lined up that he was not picking up his right lead at all. and of course I came in last. Well I took a look at the videos my mom took. Ummm...He only picked up the wrong lead once and I immediately took him back to a trot and then went at the canter again. He picked up his right lead every single time after that one time. There were only one or two other people in these classes besides me. My gelding seemed to be the only horse capable of covering some ground haha. He actually collected himself and moved forward. The other horses looked like they were in western pleasure. I passed them in every class because my 15hh arabian gelding moves bigger than these 16hh QHs. I thought that in itself strange! lol. 
And one of the mares that were being shown had a 6 week old foal. That foal had to be in that ring too or both her and mom would go insane. The foal was very disrespectful on the halter too. But very cute. 

So nothing crazy really besides a mini getting loose and a horse going crazy at the sight of jumps taken apart (this same horse later did jumpers fine).


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## JasmineAndNoddy

I was at a local show waiting beside the dressage arena for my test, i watched the rider in the Arena and was totally shocked at what she was doing, she was a large girl on a nice, grey, gelding (around 15hh i think and an Arabian cross by the looks of it) she had forgotten the test and was yaning the horses mouth blaming the horse for her problems. It was my first ever show and y first ever dressage test so i was nervous. Until i saw that


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## FaceTheMusic

I have a few crazy horse show stories...

I was at a 4-H show. I was about to enter the warm up pen and I see a horse go off. He bucked off his young rider, the saddle slid underneath him and he ran the arena for probably 15 minutes before he was caught. The expensive show saddle he was wearing was now missing a whole stirrup and fender. This all happened with dozens of kids and their horses still in the arena...

At the State Fair I saw a girl lunging her horse with his head tied (yes tied) between his legs. He could not get release from the pressure at all. I watched this as she lunged him like this for a good 15 minutes. 

At a really small open show I saw a girl riding with an upside down kimberwicke. The judge didn't even notice until her 3rd class! When he finally noticed he did help her fix it. That horse must have been such a sweetheart.

This one was at the County Fair last year. I was there helping out. A mother was going off at the office staff because her husband said the pole bending pattern was set too close to the timer. I helped set up that pattern. It was set up painstakingly by the book. Literally, by the 4-H handbook. Her daughter still won the class but she went around the whole show telling everyone it was set up wrong. I really hope they don't come back this year...

That's all of the ones I can think of atm.


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## Maple

These stories are fantastic!

1) Not at a show, but at a TB Yearling Sale - I was sitting outside my stalls and noticed that the yearling across the aisle from me was a bit difficult to get into the stall, to be honest he looked like he had just been pulled out of a field and had no handling. The horse got more and more difficult as the day went on, to the point the man grabbed and hammer and gave him an almighty smack on the **** with it - the horse shot forward into the stall out of shock.. shame he didnt give the man a boot for his efforts. I can not for the life of me understand why people would pay the €300-500 entry fee about 3 months in advance, and not prepare their horses for the sales. Surely if you are willing to pay stud feeds and sales entry you should be willing to handle the horse for 6 weeks?

My daughter competes in leadrein classes..... in the UK/IRE a lot of the parents take these classes very very seriously.

1) Some of the outfits... I struggle to keep my cool - they are hilarious! Last summer we saw a mother with a bright yelllow corset, black 3/4 trousers, jester's boots (there is no other way to describe them) and a small hat sitting to one side with yellow feathers sticking out. She walked by us and the people at the next horsebox and my group couldnt contain our laughter.... I felt bad.. but bloody heck. 

2) When people don't enter appropriate classes. Very annoying when we entered a "best turned out family" class with Simba, who as a skewbald was not the ideal leadrein type. We were doing well, when half way through the class a well known rider comes in on her welsh pony, no lead line, and competes with those of us with our backyard ponies. This girl has shown and won all over Ire/UK on this pony, it is a proper show pony and she has won at the RDS (biggest show in Ire) on it. Why on earth did she feel the need to enter it in a class with no money value, where the kids were doing their best on what they had. Her parents are the worse for allowing it. 

3) With our coloured pony we were not the "norm". Our first ever show was a major learning curve for the three of us (child, pony and myself). There were 4 entries, yet the woman who won had a groom for the pony, and a helper to polish hers/child's boots and refused to get out of the arena when we were asked to as it was so mucky. She didn't stop looking down her nose at us for the entire class, but we did finish second!  She did kick our butts every show we met her at, but I didn't mind I was proud of our first season (two 2nds out of 3 shows).


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## princecharming

One funny horse show morning a lady went to go get her big fancy warmblood out of the gelding field(12 chestnut geldings, all warmbloods or TBs). It was 4AM, pitch black and raining. She loaded her horse and drove the 2.5 hours to the show. when we got there she unloaded her horse...and found out it was the wrong one!!!! Instead of her well trained, 13 year old event horse she had grabbed a two year old who had never been on a trailer! Maybe the funniest moment of my life, fortunately the owner was not upset.


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## Thrill Ride

Oh do I have stories!!

1. We were at a benefit show. Now this family is very well known for trying to run their horses into the fence to get them hyper. With the arena they had 3/4 of it used for the gaming, and the other 1/4 was the warm up ring, but it was pretty much the waiting ring. It wasn't big enough so we are all waiting there and their daughter goes in who is a 6th grader on a horse that its his first year running barrels. He goes in and he was already hot, but she starts pushing him into the fence, rears straight up in the air and almost just by a few inches flipped himself over... The last few shows I went to they didn't have him with, I'm guess they got him to hot.

2. At the last show I went to I took a young horse. Now she is a witch horse but placed 1st in Western Walk/trot, she loves pleasure. But she has the perfect build for a gaming horse and I taught her the patterns. We had run well trotted barrels and it was poles time. We walk up to the arena, she stops and I push her forward. Ended up rearing straight up 7 times, and she is a 16hh horse with long thoroughbred legs, bucked about 10 times. At this time the whole show grounds is dead silent and watching me. The gate person asked if he could lead her in. Yeah I said no because she would have kicked him. We had to tie a red ribbon to her tail because she attempted to donkey kick my friends horse twice for no reason at all. 

3. Someone once brought a sick horse to a show, and it ended up getting 2nd. And they didn't make them go home, that horse had a horrible cough, dull buggar eyes, dull coat, everything of a sick horse. And it competed in Showmanship, English Pleasure/Equitation and Western Pleasure/Horsemanship.


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## goeventing

my trainer was at a local show with a bunch of students, and the main ring (a very large grande prix sized ring) was sectioned off into smaller dressage rings and warmups using white rope tied to posts. a horse got loose during one of the test after a fall, and began wildly galloping about. unable to see the white nylon ropes, the horse became tangled in the ropes and continued to gallop around the stadium, catching other people and horses in the tangle as he ran. as a result of this, four horses needed to be put down and seven people were sent to hospital with critical injuries. one of my trainer's students was caught up in the mess and had her ankle broken when she was dragged by the rope. since then, it's been customary to steer clear of using rope as fencing at the shows, as the horses can't see it!


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## faye

princecharming said:


> hmm, craziest thing(s) ove seen:
> -last show a sawa a girl warm her horse up for TWO HOURS before her dressage test  this was at an event and the horse and rider still had to ride the test, warm up for staduim, just a course AND go cross-country..that horse must have been super horse!


Not that unusal. If the horse is sharp and spooky then it can take hours of work to get the horse ready to do a half decent dressage test.
In UK showing I have seen people lunging for 4+ hourse before thier childs class, it only just took the edge off the pony which was still a handful.



shandasue said:


> this is only my second show season so havnt seen anything to crazy but at last months show the people parked beside us had a horse that was rearing and acting crazy, I noticed he had leg rapps on and thought "omg there burning that horse" but just let it go an figured they didnt want him to scratch his legs in the trailer. later that night i watched them take the raps off.. it took them about 45 minutes to an hour and were late getting in the ring. i was shocked. (it was a horse with a package or pads on or whatever that junk is) i also heard later that they had to give the horse a shot of whiskey to calm him down.
> same show a girl was leaving the ring after getting second or third place (cant remember) and the horse just falls, kinda like he triped. i laughed when the owner said "oh he just gets lazy somtimes"
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Why did you jump to burning straight way? it could have been that they were protecting the legs in the trailer. I wrap all of mine for traveling.
If they were burning the horse why wasnt something done about it? 



goeventing said:


> my trainer was at a local show with a bunch of students, and the main ring (a very large grande prix sized ring) was sectioned off into smaller dressage rings and warmups using white rope tied to posts. a horse got loose during one of the test after a fall, and began wildly galloping about. unable to see the white nylon ropes, the horse became tangled in the ropes and continued to gallop around the stadium, catching other people and horses in the tangle as he ran. as a result of this, four horses needed to be put down and seven people were sent to hospital with critical injuries. one of my trainer's students was caught up in the mess and had her ankle broken when she was dragged by the rope. since then, it's been customary to steer clear of using rope as fencing at the shows, as the horses can't see it!


They can see electric rope ok and white rope is regularly used at almost every show in the UK. It was probably less a case of horses being unable to see the rope and more a case of the horse being to paniced to see it (mine has been too paniced to see a brick wall before). Bolting blind is more than just a saying.

I've shown for many many years and got loads of stories.
One of the funniest was a friend of mine who was showjumping, she had very very tight white jods on that were rather thin, I pointed out to her that you could see her knickers through them (red and blue stripes with minnie mouse on the front). rather than buy a white pair of knickers or a thicker pair of jods she chose to remove said knickers.
Unfortunatly whilst jumping one of the larger jumps on the course the seam on her jods split, leaving her naked bum hanging out for the world to see.

I've been sat on a pony who had been an angel all day, won his 2 ridden classes and was almost garenteed the championship as he outclassed everything on the showfield.
Unfortunatly in my individual show his sense of humor reared its ugly head and as I pushed him for an extended canter he launched into a bronc session that any rodeo bronc would have been proud of! God only knows how I sat it but I did! I have photos of me sitting on him with his hind feet above my head!
Conciquently I did not win the championship, I did however get a "well sat" from the judge!


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## Cruiser

I have a couple, mostly with draft horses because that's what I helped show. 

One four in hand of belgians broke sort of loose (took part of the wagon too) and ran threw the fair grounds, a little girl was seriously bruised and a broken leg when she got slammed into.

Watched an unruly six in hand of percherons (first time for most of them) being drove through busy fair grounds without anyone other than the driver.

A percheron stallion tie stalled next to a mare in heat and he wasn't happy about it to say the least.

A six in hand haflingers, owned by two different owners the rear two where not the drivers team. The driver wanted to use his wagon and the not even a lap around the front wheels fell off the wagon and it caught the back two haflingers hind legs doing a lot of damage. One was so scared of being hitched for a year.

We got to a show with the drafts when the light horses were leaving. A little girl's pony didn't do well in barrels to her father (think 200 pounds) got on this tiny, wiry pony (maybe 400 pounds) and kicked the pony until it would move. It wasn't pretty. 

Drunk old men.


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## englishjumper16

Well I was at a fun show not like what I usually show (which is gold shows) So I was doing the 3' jumping course and I was waiting for my class to start so I watched the two foot class. I around 15 year old girl I had seen doing barrel racing/pole bending went in with a horse that was strictly western. She went over the first jump and you could tell she didn't know anything. So the second jump came and she leaned so far forward she was almost touching her horses ears. So she fell on the jump and her parents took her to the hospital because she had hurt her arm. I was a really dumb mistake...


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## xeventer17

I've seen some crazy things (read scary).

A couple of years ago I was at Dressage at Lexington grooming for a friend who was showing. We had some time in the middle of one of the days and decided to wander over the the coliseum to watch some of the in-hand classes. I believe it was during a two year old class that a filly was brought into the ring acting a little nutty. It wasn't exceptionally unusual as a lot of the babies tend to be pretty up (Especially in the coliseum. It's a scary place for a horse). The unusual part was that after she was taken out of the arena and back into the warm-up area, she came galloping back into the arena sans-handler. Apparently her handler had let the lead rope get too long and she bucked, catching him in the face. She tore off half his face and knocked him unconscious. Needless to say, he was taken away in an ambulance VERY quickly.

I have a few other stories but mostly they're just about idiots riding poorly and causing havoc in warm-up arenas. I do, however, have a rather amusing story from a steeple chase.

I go to the Radnor Hunt Races every year as it is held up the street from where I ride. Last year, during the first race of the day, out of a field of 13 horses, only two of them actually finished the race with a jockey on their back. Every single other jockey had fallen off (as far as I know, all were okay). One of the jockeys actually fell off over the first fence, and his horse continued the entire race (all three laps) jumping every jump without him. It was one of the funniest things I think I've ever seen.


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## bpgrider

I saw somebody at an A show in a hot pink jacket


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## cowgirllinda1952

*We were at a Lil Britches Rodeo one year, and a pony didn't win the barrel racing class. The kids mother came into the arena with a big whip, and beat that poor little pony from one end of the arena to the other. It was horrible, and no one did a thing to stop her. I was told she was some sort of "leader", and behaved this way at every show. This was in the days before cell phones. i went to the pay phone and called the police.
Then when I was younger and riding in playdays, there was a man who had two daughters who were contestants. While they were in the arena competing, he was screaming and cussing at them and their horses, yelling things like "get that SOB around that gd barrel" I mean, this man was LOUD, and acted like a deranged lunatic. i felt so badly for his daughters, and his horses. Both girls turned out very badly, with sad, unhappy lives.
*


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## CCBella

I don't compete much but love going to watch the shows. A few interesting things I've seen were

1. Friend of a friend on her luckily very calm and cruisy gelding riding at a canter leaning forward as far as she could holding the reins almost below where they meet the bit. Someone had told her this was how you taught a horse to collect!

2. Lovely young warmbloods first time in an indoor arena. He spooked at something and did an almost perfect capriole. His rider didn't budge and received a round of applause.

3. A friend and I were watching a local cross country event and had stopped to watch the water jump. A lady was standing next to us filming bits and pieces. After about 15mins a girl who would have been around 12 came up to the jump on a nice looking TB who put in a very dirty refusal. Girl went flying over his head, landed heavily and didn't get up. The woman next to us asked if that meant she was DQ'd. When we said yes she snapped the video camera shut and said "Well, we can't use this to sell him then!" and stormed off. The girl was her daughter!!! Lucky she was OK just slightly concussed but I couldn't get over her mothers lack of concern.


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## Incitatus32

A couple since I've really only had the opportunity to show at a local level with my mares grumpieness! So aside from the usual warm up ring craziness here are some of the many crazy ones:

1. In a 4H show I was in the warm up ring (with a loose reign) when an attendant pulled me aside with my horse to ask why I was using a tom thumb. He berated me because my mare wasn't wearing a snaffle. I tried to explain that my mare hates anything other than a tom thumb and I knew how to ride in one correctly but I appreciated his concern. Never quite figured out what that one was about. Every time I was there and he was he always was on my case and yelling at my mom and trainer, and me. 

2. When I was helping out at the State fair for my trainer and another lesson girl who was doing a western pleasure class the judge asked the riders to ride to their breeds descriptions headset wise as they had everything from quarter horses to morgans riding. The judge asked her after the class why she had her horses head and neck up so high and tucked, saying rolkur was wrong. She was riding a Morgan and had a traditional western pleasure headset on him and he wasn't overtucked, he was even poking his nose out a bit. He didn't realize that that was how a morgan is supposed to go in a show.... 

3. At another 4H show a woman kept telling me and my mom that we had stolen her horse who was a registered appaloosa. And was throwing money at us to get her back, and threatening to call the police. There are two problems with this: 1) my horse isn't an appaloosa, she's a very roany red roan. 2) we bought her off a friend who knew the guy who raised her. 

4. I wasn't there for this one but the barn where we used to board held rodeos every so often. A guy came in during a roping class with a paint three year old who was emaciated, dehydrated and scared to death. The horse went through all of his classes until the guy tied him along side other horses and preceded to beat on him for not winning. The gelding backed up underneath all the horses ropes trying to get away from the blows to the head he was getting from the guy. The barn manager (who became a family friend) helped people cut ropes and removed the gelding and saw up close and personal how bad the horse was. The guy was still trying to beat on him when she offered him $100 and told him to leave the horse and get off the property. She didn't even let him keep his tack. When she went to get the horse out of the stall the next morning for the vet she found out he wasn't even halter broke. It took her years but she managed to get him green broke when we bought him off of her. He went to the trainer above (who does morgans) and ended up being a great horse who might have his quirks but is still a lovebug! 

5. When I was showing my mare w/t/c western pleasure there was a slight miscommunication between me and her (despite the fact that she was the horse I took lessons on, owned, had first ridden and hadn't done cutting in years and we knew each other like the back of our hands... hooves) and she had a flashback to her cutting days. In the middle of the cantering portion she slid to a stop, then cut a corner like a cutting horse does a cow. We ended up getting second in the class and kudos from the judge for doing something more original than just bucking or bolting. During day 2 of this three day show (the previous encounter had been on day 1) I was 13 at the time and me and my mare were made fun of because we didn't have the best of tack or the 'show' looks (we looked presentable but like we were in an open show, not AQHA or anything) and because she was the only horse that didn't have papers and I was a kid riding in adult w/t/c wp classes. We went in and came out with a 1st place and with accolades because she was the only horse who actually loped instead of the trot in the hind like most AQHA level horses show at and did in that show. At the end of the show all of the judges said they liked my mares spunk and one of them offered to buy her off of us for a pretty decent amount of money. I turned down every offer. lol

Love this thread! It puts mine to shame!


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## SlideStop

Incitatus32, my mare is an ex Reiner. I used to get frustrated because when we would turn off the rail she would try to run down for a sliding stop. We work on it all the time and she is good now. Then we go to a show and do a horsemanship pattern and of course I feel her wanting to run down. I can't do anything but laugh now and tell people she had flashbacks to her "glory days" when she went to the APHA world show for reining. :lol:
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Incitatus32

lol I'm glad to know that my are isn't the only one to do it! I've just learned to go with the flow over the years because she's a horse that once her mind is made up to do it she's gonna do it. That ended her western pleasure/ show career! It's always good to add that little humor in a show in my opinion, loosens up the atmosphere.


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## amberly

It's more funny than crazy - but it happened to me.

I was registering my horse in for fair and the lady asked me what breed my horse was. well, he is the conversation.

Lady: What is your horse's breed?
Me: Blazer
Lady: I'm sorry, I need his breed.
Me: Blazer
Lady: No, I need his breed.
Me: Blazer
Lady: Girl, I would like his breed not his name.
Me: My horse's breed is a Blazer.
Lady: Are you sure??
My mom: Yes, this horse's breed is a Blazer. They are just not a common breed.
Lady: OOHHHH, OKAY!!!!! Thank you!!


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## Bagheera

You guys will like this one. A few years ago I was at an A show. A girl from my barn was riding her horse up the to main arena. You have to ride past a small swampy spot that leads into a larger pond back by the parking area. Her horse started to freak as she went by the swampy spot, reared up, and flipped them both over into the swamp. Both the horse and rider had to climb out of the pond and were soaked. They were both ok though. For the rest of the horse show, every time she went into the ring, the announcer would change her horse's name to Swamp Thing owned by Salty Bottom Corporation as a joke. It was hilarious!


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## demonwolfmoon

finally subbing, cuz I love this thread


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## Brighteyes

We were doing a CTR clinic at a local riding club one year. I was helping hand out waters to the riders while they sat on their horses and listened to the speaker. I came to this one guy who was riding a skinny two-year-old gelding in an *upside down tom thumb. * 

At a CTR once, a lady had entered her _emaciated _mare in the 25 miler. This horse was skin and bones. Every rib visible; hip bones sticking out. You could see the horse's vertebra. :shock: The vet judge, the ride manager, and rules interrupter gave this lady a serious talking to. 

There is a lady who brings a appy stallion to all our rides. He's a sweet boy...But let's just say I wouldn't breed my mare to him. :wink: I think that was an opinion shared among most of us. Anyway, during ride briefing one night, someone called, "Loose horse!" Two or three people got up to help catch the horse. Someone asked, "Whose horse is loose?" 

"That appaloosa stallion."

And every mare owner in the builder leapt to their feet and RAN to their mares. :lol:

One time, my group and I accidentally cut off about half a mile of trail during an event. We got to the P&R, unaware we had done this until this lady starts YELLING at us. We're trying to pulse down our horses, and she's threatening to get us disqualified! I mean, there was nothing we could have done about it. Wait till the ride is over to berate us. (We didn't end up disqualified.)

Here's a terrible one: I was riding about six from the front of the pack. We were picking our way through a narrow, rocky, slow trail. I ride a SSH who talks pretty fast. The people in front of us were on Arabians. We kept on running up their tails, and they kept trotting away. After a while, we see them stopped on the trail and dismounted in front of us. I ask to pass, and they say, "No. Someone fell off."

Okay, so we wait. I tie my horse to a tree and hold their two horses. The owners head over the ridge and come back in a panic. They ask us for vet wrap and our jackets and saddle pads. The person who fell off actually feel down a 15 foot embankment and was going into shock. :shock: Her horse was bleeding terribly, and the owner was hurt badly as well. We waited for two hours until the EMTs could climb down into the valley to get her.


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## DimSum

Years ago I was riding H/J with a wonderful trainer who despite being 4'10 in her boots had a very commanding presence. She had the uncanny ability to sense when a horse was going to duck out or refuse and her growling command "YOU GET UP THERE" was enough to get any horse she had worked with straightened out. We were at a "B" class show checking out the greenie classes when we see a young gal with an attractive POA enter the ring. My trainer mentions she knows that mare and had worked with her a few years ago. As they went down the line we notice the mare getting sideways and her green rider was headed for a wreck. 

My trainer launched herself up on the rail fence and screams at the top of her lungs "YOU GET UP THERE" and by golly that pony launched herself like she had been stung and cleared the combination with 3' to spare :lol:

The worst wreck I ever saw was at a dressage show of all places. This mare was a veteran competitor and mellow tempered, her rider very well seasoned. The rider had a billet snap and the saddle slipped back. That mare lost her mind, ran through the arena fence and into the parking lot. Her rider should have bailed but tried to stick it out and the mare literally jumped into the front windshield of a truck parked in the lot. Mare had to be euthed on the spot and her rider broke her pelvis.


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## SlideStop

Dimsum, I was in PA taking a lesson with my BO's friend. I rode this gorgeous palamino appy who was cut really late so he was still a bit studdy. I had him on the cross ties and I walk away and he is swinging his butt all over instigating the gelding. The trainer yells down the isle "Doc, mind ya business!" I'll be **** the horse moved right over, dead smack in the middle of the isle, with ears pricked forward as if he was like "Sorry pop!" He stood there like that for my sisters lesson until I came back to tack him.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SlideStop

double post sorry


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## Inga

One horse show that sticks in my head and has for many years was the Futurity Saddlebred 2 year old harness class. I walk in and sit down, the 2 year olds are coming in. One leaps up into the grand stands, not making it all the way but hooking his front legs on the bars, another one flips over backward onto the cart (viceroy)and is now freaking out on the ground and a third tries to jump into the cart in front of him. It made for a very very exciting class. All that said, the arena was full of very very skilled professionals and it was handled quickly and without too much of a problem. There was one horse hurt but not too bad, thank God. I have to admit, It is that memory that still keeps me thinking that horses need to be a bit older before they are mentally ready for such events.


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## Incitatus32

SlideStop said:


> Dimsum, I was in PA taking a lesson with my BO's friend. I rode this gorgeous palamino appy who was cut really late so he was still a bit studdy. I had him on the cross ties and I walk away and he is swinging his butt all over instigating the gelding. The trainer yells down the isle "Doc, mind ya business!" I'll be **** the horse moved right over, dead smack in the middle of the isle, with ears pricked forward as if he was like "Sorry pop!" He stood there like that for my sisters lesson until I came back to tack him.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


That's hilarious! My BO has a 3 year old stallion right now and whenever his attentions wondering to where it shouldn't be she says "Mind your own business!" and that horse stands up straight and doesn't move a muscle. It's hilarious when he's out in a field trying to romance a horse she's training and she yells at him and he just stops and stays quiet for the rest of the time! :lol:


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## remka

I was at a show in Utah last week, it was English equitation, and I saw the craziest trainer. A little girl, I'd say about 8 or 9, was riding a huge arab looking horse, I swear he must have been 16 hh, so maybe not an Arab, anyway, this girl was barely four feet tall, riding a 16 hh horse! With spurs. The girl definitely couldn't ride the horse properly, and the spurs weren't helping, she lost the class, and afterwards, I was standing watching the older kids, and the little girl was being insulted, demeaned, and screamed at by her trainer, just a few feet away. I went into the barn to look at the horses, and there was a whole ton of commotion in one of the stalls, the horse the girl had been on was being "bent" he had one rein clipped off the bridle, and the other one was bending his head towards the saddle it was tied to at quite a severe angle as "punishment" for acting up! All the other riders in the barn, were minding their own business, and/or occasionally yelling at the horse for running around his stall and making a noise. I felt really bad for both the girl and the horse. I finally got someone to untie the horses rein, and later, watched the little girl being kicked and slapped by the trainer as she was sitting watching the show, for no reason. There was also a girl riding a tiny Arab, around 14 hh, and really small build, that was way to big for him, and I mean way to heavy too, the horse couldn't even canter properly under the weight.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## DimSum

remka said:


> ... and later, watched the little girl being kicked and slapped by the trainer as she was sitting watching the show, for no reason.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I'd have had to call for bail money at that point :evil:


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## remka

Horses4Healing said:


> oh I've also seen a mini horse (I actually think it was the smallest horse breed, starts with a F but I can't remember) get loose in a warm up ring at the Western States Horse Expo and there were several people trying to corral this tiny pony, but she kept slipping past them all. She finally stopped next to a giant shire that was in the arena.


It's a Falabella, not sure if that's what you call them in English.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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