Oso went to his first show last weekend, a combined test (dressage and show jumping) schooling show at the Woodside horse park. It was a great first show experience for him! He stabled overnight with no problems, was easy to handle on the show grounds, and entered a real dressage court for the first time. He was great in the warmup area (sometimes the scariest place at a show!) even when a horse took off with his rider at full speed. While our dressage test had a few tense ‘baby’ moments, Oso received some excellent comments–“Elegant horse” and “nicely on bit”! He will definitely settle as he gets a few more show experiences under his belt. I was very proud of him during our jumping round, as it was definitely more jumps than we had ever done in a row (a total of 8) and even included a bending line. I am fairly certain Oso now considers himself a ‘grown up’ and very important show horse now, as he has been more focused and wants to get right to work in our rides at home since the show!
