Prepare with good training and gradual exposure, keep a familiar routine and forage on the day, arrive with time to settle, stay calm yourself, and support the horse’s gut and hydration. A settled horse performs and travels better.
Prepare at home
Confidence at shows is built at home. Expose the horse gradually to new places, noises and situations, and practise loading, standing tied and being ridden among distractions. A horse that has met new things calmly copes far better on the day.
Keep a familiar routine
On competition day, keep feeding, tacking up and warming up as close to normal as you can. Bring familiar forage and let the horse eat as usual, since routine and a full gut are reassuring and reduce stress in a strange environment.
Arrive with time to settle
Rushing a horse off the box straight into the ring invites tension. Arrive early, let the horse take in the surroundings, walk it around to relax, and give it time to settle before you ask for work. Patience here pays off in the performance.
Support the gut and hydration
Travel and excitement raise the risk of ulcers and dehydration. Keep forage available with a slow feeder, offer water regularly, and use electrolytes for a long, hot or hard day, always with water to hand.
Stay calm yourself
Horses read our tension. Breathe, keep your aids and voice calm, and reward relaxation. If the horse is worried, slow down and give it a moment rather than fighting. Your steadiness is one of the strongest tools for keeping a horse settled at a show.
