Pre-Show Panic Jitters

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Trying to keep my pre show panic jitters at bay! I'm a bit psyched out about all the things I have left to do and doubts about how ready I am for the show. I tend to talk myself through things- below is my inner dialog- excuse bad grammar- I'm conflicted between being 1st person and 2nd person! lol

Chimi not amused

So what if I forgot how to ride my horse today? After flopping around like a sack of potatoes and somehow expecting my horse to magically start cantering because I leaned, pulled, and tried to kick my way into the canter. Nope- he's not going to do that. But when I sit up and stop riding like a sack of tubers my horse suddenly becomes quite fancy and CAN canter on the right lead. Ride strong with a soft following elbow. 

Johnny- FENCE 1999

So what if I've forgotten to take my show coat to the dry cleaners. It's just a jacket and the cleaners can clean it up for me in a day. The show is local so no worries about being 5+ hours away from your show coat. Or if they can't get it clean in time just take a damp cloth and wipe what you can off. It doesn't look that bad

Blue saddle pads are easier to keep clean- to bad my horse looks FABULOUS in white!

So what if I couldn't find my brand new WHITE Back on Track saddle pad that was purposefully bought for shows so it could stay white and I wouldn't be panicking over how gross it looks from daily use- thats why I have a brown one. Just ask for help looking for it and magically it will appear still in the same box you left it in to keep it safe from bad things.

Gus at FENCE 2013

So what if you're worried about fitting into your show breeches because your weight crept up on you and suddenly you found yourself not fitting into your old clothes. You still have a pair of pants stashed away just for such occasions and are working on reversing the number on the scale so it goes down. Just because I didn't make it to where I wanted to before the show- no big deal. Keep up the work and you will be successful soon. 

Team Beebee at FENCE 1999

So what if you haven't been able to show consistently in years? What is important is that you are finally getting back out there. Just take it one show at a time. Just be time conscience and make sure you arrive on time/early for your dressage test. After that the show is in motion and you just ride the momentum.  

Sugar to Starter jumps is like Chimi to Novice jumps- we can so do BN

So what if the cross country course is different then the years past. You know it changes yearly and Chimi has jumped a lot of the jumps out there. Ride confidently and trust that the jumps are small enough that he could walk over them if he had to. After all Chimi is 17h and the beginner novice jumps are only 2'7"ish. 

Brit and Foster pants making Novice dressage look easy

So what if you haven't practiced your dressage test enough times. It's BN test A. You trot circles, canter circles, and walk straight lines. Ride with a smile and whatever happens happens. You can't fix anything the week of so just ride the horse that shows up to the show. There is plenty of time in the future to perfect small details. Just ride.

We gots this mom!!!

Enjoy the weekend and imagine safely finishing up the weekend. The ribbon color doesn't matter- or a ribbon at all. Yes a really pretty blue would be the icing on the cake but what is really important is giving Chimi a successful ride and building his confidence. He is a nice enough horse that one day he could be winning blue ribbons with ease, but it takes time and patience to get there. Ride confidently and your horse will be confident. 

Here's to the last couple of days before the first show of the season.