The Legal Equestrian

19 Stages of Competing in a Horse Show

By: Grace O’Brien

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Horse shows: we love them, and we hate them. There are so many ups and downs that we go through while showing. Despite everything that may go wrong during a horse show, one thing is for sure: we are hooked.

1. Weeks before the show you start doing as much research on your competition as possible.

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2. Getting to the show grounds the day before you show with your friends like…

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3. But that night the reality sets in that you’re going to have to show in front of a judge…

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4. The next morning you pull yourself together and walk into the show grounds like…

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5. You try getting your horse to come near you for a pre-show pep talk but it doesn’t really work out.

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6. You get your horse ready for the show ring and while you wish they looked like this:

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They actually look like this:

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7. You head to the ring to warm up and see your friends and family cheering for you.

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8. While you’re warming up you to try to be discrete about looking at your competition and it looks more like this:

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9. Your warm up goes decently well, and you’re feeling kind of ready.

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10. But then the nerves set in…

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11. Your trainer gives you some words of encouragement and off you go!

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12. You trot into the ring and pick up the canter but feel like this inside:

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13. You give the course the best you got – or at least try to

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14. The judge and the ring steward watch your ride like…

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15. While your trainer is watching at the in-gate like:

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16. Finally your division is over and everyone tries to get their horses to stand still in the lineup, but it ends up looking like this:

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17. You’re sitting in the line up minding your own business when you hear your name called for first place:

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18. You leave the lineup to take pictures, and as you wait for your victory gallop, you pause to take it all in – all of the hard work, sweat and most likely tears, has paid off.

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19. After you take care of your horse and hug your trainer, you then go raid the horse show’s concession stand…

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Followed by a nap on the closest tack trunk:

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Up & Coming Riders: Maya Nayyar, winner of this year’s Hunterdon Cup

Maya Nayyar & Connaro. Photo Credit: Lauren Baker.

Maya Nayyar took home top honors in this year’s Hunterdon Cup at the Brandywine Valley Summer Series on July 11. She ended her first round ride on her horse Connaro on an 89 to put her in first place. Her handy round scored her a 90, keeping her in the top spot. She was called back to test, along with four other riders – Emma Kurtz, Taylor St. Jacques, and Grace Boston.

Maya switched with Kurtz, who was riding Clearway, for the work-off where they were asked to canter to the first jump, counter-canter a bending line, and then do a few rollbacks to a sitting trot before exiting the ring.

Maya has competed in the Hunterdon Cup three years in a row, and this was her first year taking home top honors. She competed on her main Medal and Maclay horse, Connaro, that she has had for about three years. She said she has developed a “strong relationship” with him over the period of time she has owned him.

“He has a great temperament, huge stride, and an excellent jump so he makes competing in big classes a lot of fun,” she said.

Maya, who trains with Stacia Madden and her team at Beacon Hill Show Stables, said that she didn’t really do anything special to prepare for the Hunterdon Cup. However, she did say just coming off two weeks of showing at Lake Placid was “helpful” for her and Connaro.

Maya said that the first and second courses she rode had long lines that “really allowed [her] to ride forward and show confidence. She also said that going into the test she had a feeling she was going to switch onto Clearway.

“Clearway and Connaro are similar in the way they go; they both have big, slow strides so I really focused on riding forward,” she said.

When asked if she ever expected to win a major equitation final, Maya had some great advice that every rider should aim for.

“My objective is to do my best in every show.  Yes, I want to win the big classes but it is not realistic to assume on any particular day that I will win,” she said.

Currently, Connaro is on break until indoors. However, Maya will be taking her other two equitation horses, Fox Z and Narco V A, as well as one of her jumpers, to Kentucky. In the fall, she will be competing in the big equitation finals.

Photo Credit: Jumper Nation.

Like most equitation riders, Maya would like to transition more into the jumpers and hopes to do so by the end of this year. She also will be a freshman at Columbia University, and she plans on continuing to ride while in college.

All this competing takes a lot out of a rider, so we asked Maya how she unwinds from riding and competing.

“I adopted a puppy earlier this year [at] WEF so playing with him helps me unwind,” she said.

Finally, we asked Maya if she had any advice for young riders looking to compete in the Big Eq classes and be competitive in National classes like the Hunterdon Cup. She gave top compliments to her trainers throughout the years.

“I would not be the rider I am without the trainers at Beacon Hill and Mario Deslauriers, so my advice is to surround yourself with great trainers and people who can instill confidence in you.”

Maya’s first round performance can be found below.

What’s in your meat?

Infographic Courtesy of the ASPCA.

Infographic Courtesy of the ASPCA.

Every year about 130,000 American horses are shipped to Canada or Mexico to be slaughtered for human consumption. Horses are also slaughtered for human consumption in other countries, as horse meat is considered a delicacy there. While some areas, such as the European Union, have a specific regulatory system set in place to ensure that horses with dangerous, deadly substances in their body are not allowed to enter the food chain, other countries, like the United States, do not. This means that the horses being slaughtered in Canada and Mexico have dangerous, potentially lethal or terminal illness causing substances in them, like the ever famous Bute.

The ASPCA recently launched a new campaign, #NotWhatIOrdered, to bring awareness to this issue. Obviously, horse slaughter is a controversial subject, with some falling on the line of it being better than having abused and neglected horses overcrowding auctions and being set into the wild where they cannot fend for themselves; others believe horse slaughter is inhumane and that the consumption of horse meat is a complete taboo, akin to eating a cat or a dog.

According to the ASPCA,

Horses are routinely given chemicals toxic to humans, including anabolic steroids, stimulants and cobra venom. These drugs, over 50 of which are prohibited for use in food animals, can cause severe health problems like aplastic anemia, liver cancer and liver disease in humans.

Additionally, there are substances given to horses that can seep into a human’s skin

Infographic Courtesy of the ASPCA.

Infographic Courtesy of the ASPCA.

immediately upon contact and have an horrible outcome, such as hormonal treatments for broodmares that can cause abortions if the person the chemical comes in contact with is pregnant.

The ASPCA has put together a petition to help bolster support for the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, which, if passed, would ban the slaughter of American horses and outlaw the transport of horses to Canada and Mexico for that purpose.

If you feel strongly about the transportation of horses to Canada and Mexico for horse slaughter, you can sign the petition here.

And, if you want to bring more awareness to this issue, you can share this post on your social media pages or tweet the follow message: Tweet: Hungry enough to eat a horse? Help the @ASPCA keep horses off the dinner table. Sign the petition: http://ctt.ec/5sN7U+ #NotWhatIOrdered (Click to Tweet).

Heels Down U25 Equestrian Creativity Awards

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As y’all may know, I am a writer for Heels Down Magazine. Recently, Heels Down Media launched a contest for those under 25 who are involved in equestrian creativity activities.

The categories include:

  • Photography
  • Blogging
  • Video Production
  • Art & Design
  • Entrepreneurship

Entries are judged by an expert panel, which counts for 75 percent, and public vote, which counts for 25 percent. Full Disclosure: I am on the blogging expert panel.

If you would like to enter, please go here. Please remember you must be under 25 years of age. The deadline is June 25, 2016, at 11:39 PM EST.

Good luck!

Book Review: Unrelenting: The Real Story: Horses, Bright Lights and My Pursuit of Excellence by George Morris

I recently read George Morris’ new book Unrelenting: The Real Story: Horses, Bright Lights and My Pursuit of Excellence. Mr. Morris warned it would be raw, uncensored, and the real story. He was right. In addition, it was peppered with quotes from those who have worked with him in the past and who know him. It truly shows the real story behind the hunt seat legend, and he leaves no detail uncovered.

It took me a while to finish the book. I am actually a quick reader, but I soaked in every detail, wanting to know more about the man most hunt seat equestrians look up to. I found the book engaging, interesting, and like he said, raw and real.

He goes through his story decade by decade, which I appreciated. There were a few things that surprised me most about him:

  • He was a timid rider;
  • He was a party boy;
  • He rode mostly Thoroughbreds, popular back then;
  • He is noted as kind and generous by many individuals quoted (not that I think he is mean, but he is known for being tough);
  • He used his perfectionism to his advantage;
  • He sometimes let a student wallow in their mistakes rather than disciplining or yelling at them

I found the book to be inspiring. As I said, one of the most surprising things was that Mr. Morris was a timid rider. I am a timid rider. However, he worked through that and got to where he is today. I also find inspiration in his perfectionism and how he uses it to his advantage, not letting it get to him in a negative way. That is something on which I need to work.

Another big thing is the popularity of Thoroughbreds back when he was honing his craft. I never knew this; after all, warmbloods are mostly, if not all, of what I’ve ridden and know.

He speaks candidly about the horse world; its weaknesses; America’s weaknesses; Europe’s strengths; and being gay, which I think is hugely important to recognize in the equestrian community. Male riders don’t see a stigma, as far as I know, for being gay, but you don’t see as many female riders coming out. As an avid LGBTQIA+ rights individual, I really appreciated his emphasis, though small, on this aspect of the community.

He is truly an inspiration, and I found his book to be motivating. I’ve even given it away twice, and I think anyone serious about riding would benefit from reading this text. It covers a lot of detail, and I learned a lot from it. I also found a lot of quotes that resonated with me, which I will be covering on the blog decade by decade.

For those of you that have read Hunter Seat Equitation, this book is a lot less technical. There are teachable excerpts and a general focus on technique and riding, but if you are looking to truly learn the correct, recommended way to ride hunt seat, I would encourage you to read the aforementioned book. I encourage you to read both books, in fact.

The book is long, but it is well worth it. It tells you all about Mr. Morris’ experiences – horse-related and non-horse-related – and it gives an idea of how things were prior to 2016. My biggest recognitions, as I said, are highlighted above.

Overall, the book is well-written, thoughtful, and very thorough – something I greatly appreciated. I also appreciated the quotes from those who have worked with him over the years, though I do think some equestrians were missing (Lillie Keenan, for example).

So what are you waiting for? Pick up a copy of this book and crack it open to learn even more than you did before. You won’t regret it.

Have you read the book? What do you think? Leave a comment below.

 

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