You Know It’s the End of Show Season When…
(Because chaos, caffeine, and clinging to the last threads of sanity are a lifestyle, not a phase.)
Ah, show season — that magical time of year when you live off gas station snacks, smell perpetually of ShowSheen and despair, and consider eight hours of sleep a mythical concept. But as the ribbons fade, the tan lines stay, and your truck starts making that “end-of-season rattle,” reality sets in: it’s over. You’ve survived another year of hauling, braiding, sweating, and smiling for photos that definitely don’t show the chaos behind the scenes. And now, as you survey the wreckage that is your tack room, trailer, and bank account, you realize… the signs of show season’s end are everywhere.
1. Your Feed Room Looks Like a Barnyard Tornado Hit It
What was once a neatly organized space with labeled bins and tidy shelves is now a tragic archaeological site of spilled grain, half-used supplement buckets, and that mysterious bag of alfalfa pellets you swear multiplied on its own. You tell yourself you’ll clean it after the next show… only to realize there isn’t a next show. Now you’ll actually have to clean and organize it, which is somehow both comforting and horrifying.
2. The Trailer Dressing Room Is a Scene from a True Crime Documentary
There’s a faint smell of despair, sweat, and leather cleaner mixed with something you can’t identify (and, quite frankly, are afraid to). A lone spur, one left boot, three crumpled Starbucks cups, and a bra from your first horse trial are the only clues to what happened here. If CSI ever needed a new episode, here it is: “The Case of the Missing Garment Bag.”
3. Your Show Clothes Have Seen Things
That once-crisp white show shirt is now a charming shade of “ring dirt beige,” and your breeches are held together by willpower and safety pins. You tell yourself “a little horse slobber builds character” as you Febreze your coat for the fifth time. Tailor? What tailor? You’re considering turning your breeches into barn shorts.
4. Your Tack Is Everywhere and Nowhere All at Once
Your reins are having an affair with your lunge line, and the martingale has gone into witness protection. You have four right-front sport boots and no lefts, and if someone offered you $100 to find a matching set of bell boots, you’d just laugh until you cried. This is fine. Everything’s fine.
5. Your Girths and Saddle Pads Smell Like Death Warmed Over
You’ve started side-eyeing your own tack trunk like it’s an OSHA violation. There’s enough sweat and dirt embedded in your saddle pads to grow potatoes, and that “funky” smell you thought was the trailer? Yeah, it’s you. Or more specifically, your girth. You consider burning everything and starting fresh.
6. You Can’t Remember the Last Time You Washed Your Hair
Dry shampoo has become your personality. Your hair has seen more sweat, helmet hair, and dust than any living thing should endure. You’re 90% sure there’s a burr in there from three shows ago. Someone compliments your “textured look” and you just nod in silence.
7. Your Horse Still Looks Like a Million Bucks
Despite the chaos, your horse is still a glowing, muscled vision of health, perfectly polished from nose to tail. He gleams like a show poster… while you look like you’ve been dragged through a field backward. Naturally, he’s now standing at the gate, plotting a full-body roll in the mud the moment you turn your back.
8. The Check Engine Light on Your Truck Is On (Again)
At this point, it’s less a warning and more a lifestyle choice. You and your truck have been through it all — midnight hauls, quick roadside costume changes, and that one time you forgot to close the dressing room door. You’ll deal with it “after the season,” which was… three weeks ago.
9. You’re Utterly, Unapologetically Exhausted
Your soul is tired. Your knees sound like Rice Krispies. You’ve run on caffeine, adrenaline, and post-class glory for months, and now you’re running on fumes and snacks from the last horse show hospitality tent. Sleep is your new discipline.
10. Your Bank Account Looks Like It Needs CPR
Between entry fees, fuel, hotel rooms, vet checks, and that “one more” pair of breeches you didn’t need, your wallet’s crying in the corner. You’ve started living off ramen and leftover treats from your grooming kit, but hey — those ribbons were worth it. (Right?)
11. You’re Already Planning for Next Year
Despite the mess, the exhaustion, and the financial ruin, you’re scrolling through the 2026 show calendar like it’s your favorite romance novel. Because no matter how wrecked you feel right now, you know that first whiff of spring and the sound of hoofbeats in warm-up will have you hooked all over again. And you’ve already started making plans…
End of show season? Sure. End of the obsession? Not a chance.
