Thoroughbred Logic, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products: Just Do It

“No one is ready. Is anyone ever ready? Nope. Just gotta go. Pull a Nike. Just do it.”

Welcome to the next installment of Thoroughbred Logic. In this weekly series, Anthropologist and trainer Aubrey Graham, of Kivu Sport Horses, offers insight and training experience when it comes to working with Thoroughbreds (although much will apply to all breeds). This week ride along as Aubrey shares her logic on the necessity of just getting out and showing. 

By far one of the oddest things about moving north has been the exceptionally short show season — there are some outliers, but really it is June to September/early October. Sure, sure, folks told me. I was fairly warned. But I didn’t understand it because when I moved here, the show season was in full swing — and I was dead broke from moving 11 horses from Georgia to New York. (Yes, that 11 quickly expanded, but that’s a story for another time). I had friends each weekend asking if I was signing up for this show, or going to that hunter pace. My truck took that time to break not once but three times. It was all overwhelming and the answer last year was always “No.” I watched the frenzy of ‘every weekend’ activities from afar because I just wasn’t ready and neither were my horses — the move had upended a little bit of everything.

Schooling Neil (Lute’s Angel) last year at the Barrel Racing barn I was boarding at in Bath, NY. Photo by Sarah Hepler.

And so I didn’t show. And my horses didn’t get off property. Neil (Lute’s Angel) went to the Makeover completely unprepared for off property experiences and I nearly pulled the plug on going at the wire. (End of the day, he did great, but still…)

And the summer — which was green and wild and beautiful — closed quickly to a bright fall and then came months of winter and cold and more cold and then eons of dismal spring rain. We hit May and I was itching to get out, do something. But day after day of going in circles in the indoor didn’t make me confident about my horses’ abilities to jump a full course or tackle cross country. So we built a tiny cross country course in the yard and on days that aren’t too wet (or as it was for months, too icy) and I started hunting for shows and activities to get their feet wet (literally and figuratively). But no one felt ready.

Yeah… there were a lot of days of snow at the new farm in Lansing. Photo by Izzy Gritsavage.

Then Neil stepped on a nail, and to Cornell we went. Then Koops instigated a scuffle with Wolf and a seemingly benign kick wound landed him at Cornell for five days. We got a thermometer as a form of frequent flier miles. And I was about to throw in the towel before the season started.

Shows are now running. My eventing prospects haven’t even seen cross country water because, ironically, it has been too wet — it has been one of the wettest springs in one hundred years and most of the cross country schooling opportunities up here have been closed or limited. I need to get more creative. But here’s the point. No one is ready. Is anyone ever ready? Nope. Just gotta go. Pull a Nike. Just do it.

Major Spin wasn’t ready for his first show in the sandbox either. But he was absolutely stellar (and gave me ample homework). Photo by Izzy Gritsavage.

A while back I wrote an article about Go Show. And I also wrote one about keeping the Bar Low and Hopes High. Both of those apply here, and to be frank, I nearly re-wrote the same article because my brain is sometimes akin to a goldfish. But, the difference is that I wrote those from a place where preparation was easier. I was in the south. Excluding early and late season outliers, the show season there runs somewhere from February/Early March to November and the cross country courses and schooling opportunities were open year round. Schooling shows abound and there was usually on site stabling and the ability to slowly trot them through the course and the water the evening before. So yes, all of that applies. But I’m writing this one and encouraging folks to get out there from a place of increased understanding of what it means to feel unprepared.

So when I say, “Go show” from the North, I expect that early in the season horses are perhaps less prepared than their southern kin. And there may be more learning on course than learning the day before. There may be more finishing on a letter not a number, more raising a hand and living to fight that another day. And all of that is OK. Because they are still getting out. And it is all so worth it so long as the bar stays low, the willingness to call it a day and end on a good note keeps even an iffy trip a positive one, and one gets to take home homework and build up for the next one.

Major Spin really figuring it all out on the fly. Photo by Izzy Gritsavage during the Cayuga Dressage and Combined Training “Keeping it Casual” show at the Ithaca Equestrian Center.

The biggest things are to train the elements you can, ensure their fitness is appropriate and that there is a modicum of safety/you know your horse and always, always read the room (especially the warmup arena) and the horse under you.

Recently, I have had a chance to put my theory to the test and have managed to get Artie (Reunion Tour), post-op Neil, Indy (Star Player) and Spin (Major Spin) out to competitions. And by keeping the bar low and hoping to stay in and stay on, I have had a blast, and they have come away learning so much. So yep… just do it.

Artie is a petit powerhouse and a great example. He gets anxious hauling or being alone and he has some big feelings trapped in that little body. I had no idea how the first show was going to go. But, I tossed him on the rig (in the box stall to give him hauling confidence) and put a quiet, seasoned veteran, Wolf (Louisiana Moon) in the straight.

Artie passed his warmup arena test with flying colors. Horses could approach from in front, from behind, and at all gaits. The dressage arena gave him a bit more pause and while we stayed in and on, we spent the second half of the test doing fancy, jiggy, incorrect lateral movements where we should have been walking. All good. I laughed and patted him, while onlookers who don’t know me or how green these horses are said things like, “oh dear” and “eeeeeesh” and “how unfortunate.” Lily Drew (my working student who was videoing and holding Wolf, on the other hand provides hilarious commentary).

Ridiculous side passing and all, I was thrilled. He did the job, learned a bit and would prove me right at the next show. He also jumped out of his skin in the next phase and reminded me why I had decided to keep him along for the Makeover journey. Good kid.

At a local dressage show (the Cayuge Dressage and Combined Training Keeping It Casual Show) a few weekends following, he showed off all his new knowledge. He pulled much improved scores in the sandbox with absolutely no enthusiastic side pass bedazzlement. And at each little endeavor since, he has gotten stronger, more confident, and more willing to hit pause on his big feelings and see if what is being asked might actually be fun.

Artie knocking it out of the park at the Keeping It Casual Show. Photo by Lily Drew.

Last week, I filled the trailer with Neil, Artie, and Indy and headed off for a fun morning supporting a great Thoroughbred cause at the Beyond the Backstretch Charity Hunter-Jumper show at the Chemung County Fairgrounds. For all three, there were new challenges and I honestly had no idea how they were going to field them: there were gaits and ramps and flower boxes and a big ole pretty stone wall. Sure, they had seen some of these things at my facility, but new place, new fillers… I expected we might have some “learning moments.”

Artie really figuring out his jump at the Beyond the Backstretch show. Photo by Lily Drew.

So I went slow, sat up, kept my leg on and miraculously with these three green beans (OK, Indy is a bit more seasoned), we didn’t incur a single refusal. Were there rails? Sure. Were there poor distances or places I got ahead of the motion? Yep… I mean, what is a show without the creation of homework?

At the end of the day, none of these horses were what I would call “totally ready,” but with a super low bar of “let’s go see what happens and how they handle it and adjust from there,” they were set up to succeed. Because all they had to do to succeed in my book was try. And they definitely did. I laughed my way through Neil’s huge jump, Indy’s speedy enthusiasm, and Artie’s insistence on running over the start cones on the bending line. All good.

What article on showing isn’t complete without a photo of Neil effortlessly trying to clear the standards. Photo by Lily Drew.

So now I’m on the hunt for some xc water to school (hoping to get to Fiddlesticks Field next week), and to find some schooling horse trials to get all of these guys out and laughing our way around Beginner Novice before we hit the end of July.

So go ride folks, and even if you don’t feel ready — just do it. Just go show.

About Kentucky Performance Products, LLC:

Fight back against dangerous dehydration and electrolyte imbalances with Summer Games® Electrolyte.

Summer Games is a unique blend of both electrolytes and trace minerals specifically formulated to replenish critical electrolytes in the proper ratios. Summer Games supports healthy electrolyte balance so horses stay hydrated, perform at optimal levels, and recover faster after exercise or in stressful situations.

Summer Games contains a research-proven electrolyte formulation that was originally developed for the horses competing at the 1996 Olympics. Formulated using the results of extensive research studies investigating the composition of sweat, Summer Games contains both key electrolytes and trace minerals in the actual amounts that are present in the sweat.

• Adjustable serving rates allow you to easily meet your horse’s individual electrolyte needs.
• Affordable price allows you to consistently replenish key electrolytes in appropriate ratios.
• Concentrated formula ensures your horse receives both critical electrolytes and trace minerals, not sugar and other fillers.
• The unique ingredients in Summer Games support optimal performance and speedy recovery during exercise or stressful situations.

The horse that matters to you matters to us®.

Not sure which horse supplement best meets your horse’s needs? Kentucky Performance Products, LLC is here to help. Call 859-873-2974 or visit KPPusa.com.