My horse and I recently competed in our first show. It wasn't actually much of a competition, since it was a schooling show at the end of the show season, and the turnout was small, resulting in no one else riding in my class. (They combined my class with another age group, but still placed us separately.) I was actually glad of the small turnout, however, because it meant a little less stimulation for both me and my horse -- and a better environment for us to get used to showing for the first time.
It wasn't our first time being at a show, actually. I took him to a schooling show a couple of years ago, at which he was a complete wreck. We went with a horse he was corralled with -- his "girlfriend," actually -- and he spent the entire time at the show hollering for her. He was bothered by all the horses in the practice arena before the show started, and even once the practice ring emptied somewhat, he was very anxious and high-strung.
We didn't try again after that for a long time, but earlier this summer, I finally took him to another schooling show. The local group that puts these on does one every month throughout the show season, and they are fairly inexpensive. I brought him to the show in August just to hang out and let him get used to things, and to my surprise he was pretty chill -- a dramatic difference from how he was two years ago, so I decided that next time we would actually do the show.
