# B Rated Horse Show



## EastCoastEq (Dec 1, 2017)

Hey forum people! I am a hunter with an amazing, big thoroughbred mare named Athena. We are competing in the Maclay finals next year! I am so excited. We've won A rated shows and sometimes compete in the B rated. My best friend has this horse named Willow who is also a thoroughbred. They are competing against us in a B rated show this weekend. The problem is she (my friend) is really confident thinking she's going to beat me, but Willow can't jump over 2'3 with good enough movement for the hunter ring. I probably am going to sound so spoiled, but I am just really lucky to have been able to buy a horse like Athena and to be so privileged in the show world. Athena is a 40k hunter horse with incredible bloodlines and is a proven jumper who has won a lot of shows already. Willow is a 3k ottb, who is new to jumping and can't win a hunter show (probably) I really don't want my friend to be disappointed when she doesn't win (she most likely won't) because it's not her fault she can't afford a horse like Athena. I was really looking forward to this show but I am thinking I might just let her ride Athena so she has a better chance of winning. I don't know what to do. My friend is really sensitive, and I don't want her to feel bad, but even though this won't be a huge A rated show, I was really excited for it.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Well, it's great that you realize just how lucky you are! It's true that an amazing horse with talent isn't easy to come by, and usually not cheap! But those horses aren't always easy to ride either. Give yourself some credit. 

I'm thinking that your friend probably wants to ride her own horse in this show. It's not all about winning. Sometimes, just completing a course with a beloved horse is enough for a rider. My daughter competes at low-level shows locally. Sometimes she does great and comes home with a lot of first place ribbons, other times, not so much. But she would NEVER want to ride any other horse than her dear Harley. Her relationship with that horse goes a lot further than whether or not they bring home ribbons together. She worked very hard to be able to ride him well, and is proud of that. Heck, once, she got a 5th place in a class but was thrilled, because he'd actually refused a jump that time, so 5th was pretty darned good under the circumstances. 

I know your friend thinks she will beat you, and you don't think it's possible. Time will tell right? But either way, just be a good sport, and a good friend. That doesn't mean offering Athena to your friend because you think Athena is the better horse. Obviously, your friend thinks Willow is the better horse, so that would just be insulting her. So she'll either do well and be thrilled, or won't do as well as you do, and then you can be graceful about it. Tell her she did great regardless of whether she places or not. Keep it friendly and supportive.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

I give you much credit and your friend too...
It is a large commitment to get to the level of rider to compete in the "A" divisions and win and then to go down a notch to "B" and win there too..._not easy.
_
You have obviously a proved horse with that kind of price-tag.
Not necessarily easy to ride but one that has road mileage and knows her job.
Best of luck to you accomplishing those lofty goals of yours...

That said...
Your friend is starting out with a horse with potential and learning yet needing done...
A time to see what the horse can do, is willing to do and how the horse handles the atmosphere of a show ring...very different than a race course...
Your friend is riding a total unknown...
A learning curve is to start....with a base of education being applied to reach for the stars.

You know how you expect to win all because you have the accomplished mount....
That may be true tomorrow, but _don't_ count on it to always be true...
That learning curve will put your friend directly in competition with you and your horse.
You will also meet head-on those riding just as skilled a horse as yours or better...
Not everyone is in it just for the ribbons...but is in it for the reward of teaching and bettering the team of horse and rider with each outing made successfully.
Work hard....being "a rider not a passenger" makes all the difference in the world.

Encourage your friend as I bet she does encourage you...
Do the best you can and be proud of knowing you did the best you could in any given class.
You never know what the day shall bring in surprises from the environment, the horse or what the show ring judge may have you do or how they judge the class...
I've seen a few judges have riders dismount and pick from a hat another competitors horse to ride...the truth then shows who truly rides and who is a passenger aboard a machine. :eek_color:

Remember to be encouraging to all riders, to smile no matter how the classes and day went. 
_Good luck. Enjoy the challenge...._
 :runninghorse2:....
_jmo..._


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

Congratulations on competing in the MaClay finals!! 

It is sweet of you to think to offer your friend your horse, but may not be the best thing. 

Your friend and her horse Willow need show experience, and if she and her instructor think the horse is ready to compete, then she should do it. She is learning how to train her horse it sounds like. Winning may not be her goal right now. 

It would be nice of you to let her ride your horse a time or two for practice, so she can feel what it is like to ride an experienced horse. That will help her ride her own horse. 

Also, be a good sport by honestly wishing her well and cheering her on. Be supportive and encouraging, as I hope she will be for you too. Hard to find good friends that also ride!! 

Good luck to both of you. So good to hear you say you are fortunate to have such a special horse (at any price). But she can't do it alone, you two are a winning team. If your parents bought her for you, be sure to thank them too!!


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## updownrider (Mar 31, 2009)

EastCoastEq said:


> Hey forum people! I am a hunter with an amazing, big thoroughbred mare named Athena. We are competing in the Maclay finals next year! I am so excited. We've won A rated shows and sometimes compete in the B rated. My best friend has this horse named Willow who is also a thoroughbred. They are competing against us in a B rated show this weekend. The problem is she (my friend) is really confident thinking she's going to beat me, but Willow can't jump over 2'3 with good enough movement for the hunter ring. I probably am going to sound so spoiled, but I am just really lucky to have been able to buy a horse like Athena and to be so privileged in the show world. Athena is a 40k hunter horse with incredible bloodlines and is a proven jumper who has won a lot of shows already. Willow is a 3k ottb, who is new to jumping and can't win a hunter show (probably) I really don't want my friend to be disappointed when she doesn't win (she most likely won't) because it's not her fault she can't afford a horse like Athena. I was really looking forward to this show but I am thinking I might just let her ride Athena so she has a better chance of winning. I don't know what to do. My friend is really sensitive, and I don't want her to feel bad, but even though this won't be a huge A rated show, I was really excited for it.



The Maclay is a 3'6" Hunter Seat Equitation class but you say your mare, Athena, is a Hunter. Hunters and Equitation are different disciplines with different judging criteria. Equitation is judged on the rider and Hunters are judged on the horse. There are not too many horses that cross over between the Hunters and Equitation successfully anymore because it takes too many classes to qualify for finals and that is a lot of jumping for horses. Athena must be amazing, as you said. 

As for lending Athena to your friend, if you plan to ride in an Open Equitation or the Maclay class you will not be able to compete against her since the rules say horses may not be ridden by more than one rider per class, and as I said, doing Equitation and Hunters is a lot for a horse.


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## EastCoastEq (Dec 1, 2017)

updownrider said:


> The Maclay is a 3'6" Hunter Seat Equitation class but you say your mare, Athena, is a Hunter. Hunters and Equitation are different disciplines with different judging criteria. Equitation is judged on the rider and Hunters are judged on the horse. There are not too many horses that cross over between the Hunters and Equitation successfully anymore because it takes too many classes to qualify for finals and that is a lot of jumping for horses. Athena must be amazing, as you said.
> 
> As for lending Athena to your friend, if you plan to ride in an Open Equitation or the Maclay class you will not be able to compete against her since the rules say horses may not be ridden by more than one rider per class, and as I said, doing Equitation and Hunters is a lot for a horse.


Me and Athena compete in Hunters and Eq. I wasn't aware of that rule, but I was only planning to lend her Athena for this next show. Thank you


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## EastCoastEq (Dec 1, 2017)

horselovinguy said:


> I give you much credit and your friend too...
> It is a large commitment to get to the level of rider to compete in the "A" divisions and win and then to go down a notch to "B" and win there too..._not easy.
> _
> You have obviously a proved horse with that kind of price-tag.
> ...


Thank you! Before I got Athena I worked with plenty other more challenging horses so that I would be the pilot rather than the passenger when I got Athena! Lol I've never heard of the judges doing that... yikes. I wouldn't trust just anyone with Athena.


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## EastCoastEq (Dec 1, 2017)

Acadianartist said:


> Well, it's great that you realize just how lucky you are! It's true that an amazing horse with talent isn't easy to come by, and usually not cheap! But those horses aren't always easy to ride either. Give yourself some credit.
> 
> I'm thinking that your friend probably wants to ride her own horse in this show. It's not all about winning. Sometimes, just completing a course with a beloved horse is enough for a rider. My daughter competes at low-level shows locally. Sometimes she does great and comes home with a lot of first place ribbons, other times, not so much. But she would NEVER want to ride any other horse than her dear Harley. Her relationship with that horse goes a lot further than whether or not they bring home ribbons together. She worked very hard to be able to ride him well, and is proud of that. Heck, once, she got a 5th place in a class but was thrilled, because he'd actually refused a jump that time, so 5th was pretty darned good under the circumstances.
> 
> I know your friend thinks she will beat you, and you don't think it's possible. Time will tell right? But either way, just be a good sport, and a good friend. That doesn't mean offering Athena to your friend because you think Athena is the better horse. Obviously, your friend thinks Willow is the better horse, so that would just be insulting her. So she'll either do well and be thrilled, or won't do as well as you do, and then you can be graceful about it. Tell her she did great regardless of whether she places or not. Keep it friendly and supportive.


Thank you! Come to think of it she probably does want to ride Willow in the show. I I am excited for her and Willow, and I hope that they do very well. I did discuss with her and asked her if she wanted to ride Athena, but she said she would rather win on Willow. She loves Willow, and who knows, Willow might make an amazing hunter! Thank you! Harley sounds sweet <3


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## EastCoastEq (Dec 1, 2017)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LScCUq4OCREKJ94Hix3EIEG1kZiwNM7YOcjTM3fdd04/edit?usp=sharing
Here are some pictures of me and Athena playing around. We have some experience showing, our show is tomorrow! To be honest I hope Willow and my friend beat us. I've already had my fair share of wins. Thanks for spending the time to help me guys! I know my eq isn't perfect here, we were playing around... pretending to be show jumpers lol I'll post some show pictures later.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Beautiful horse!

I have no idea how any of this works i’m a Western Dressage person, but I thought I watched a program on TV on the Mclay and they qualified ifor finals through the year....how came you are qualified for finals next year....

Or maybe I have it all wrong


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## updownrider (Mar 31, 2009)

Golden Horse said:


> Beautiful horse!
> 
> I have no idea how any of this works i’m a Western Dressage person, but I thought I watched a program on TV on the Mclay and they qualified ifor finals through the year....how came you are qualified for finals next year....
> 
> Or maybe I have it all wrong


The OP forsure could not have meant she was definitely competing in the Maclay Finals next year. A rider qualifies to ride in the finals at the Maclay Regionals which are held around the country by USEF zone, and they are not held until September. Over the years, even some of the best juniors have had bad days and not made it through Regionals and gone to the finals.

As for the rest of your question, the OP can answer how she qualified for Regionals so early in the year.


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## EastCoastEq (Dec 1, 2017)

Golden Horse said:


> Beautiful horse!
> 
> I have no idea how any of this works i’m a Western Dressage person, but I thought I watched a program on TV on the Mclay and they qualified ifor finals through the year....how came you are qualified for finals next year....
> 
> Or maybe I have it all wrong


Thank youu! You are right, you rack up points throughout the year. I qualified this year but couldn't make it, and i'm hoping to qualify again.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Be sure to tell us all about how the show went! Your Athena is beautiful and I'm glad you appreciate her for all she is and all she can do. I wish you and your friend the best - please share photos too!


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## EastCoastEq (Dec 1, 2017)

Acadianartist said:


> Be sure to tell us all about how the show went! Your Athena is beautiful and I'm glad you appreciate her for all she is and all she can do. I wish you and your friend the best - please share photos too!


Thank you so much! I'll be sure to share more pictures! Currently at the barn braiding Athena's mane and tail. I love to do that myself rather than having my groom do it so I can spend more time with her. :runninghorse2::faceshot: Thanks for all the help <3


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## greentree (Feb 27, 2013)

You are so lucky to be able to braid the day before the show!! My beasts alaways destroyed braids before ONE day was out! Good Luck today!!!


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## EastCoastEq (Dec 1, 2017)

greentree said:


> You are so lucky to be able to braid the day before the show!! My beasts alaways destroyed braids before ONE day was out! Good Luck today!!!


Ha I know right! Athena likes to keep her braids in I guess


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

greentree said:


> You are so lucky to be able to braid the day before the show!! My beasts alaways destroyed braids before ONE day was out! Good Luck today!!!


You are so lucky to have a groom!


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