Take the time to reflect over why you have a horse in the first place. Horse shows can be a fun thing to do, but it shouldn t be the most important thing to you, especially if you haven t had a horse for very long. The first priority should be the well being of the horse, then that you both enjoy each others company and really can be a recreation for each other. The next time you go to a show watch how many people treat the horses before and after the classes. You ll see special equipment that is removed just before the class begins, they get that horse into that frame with any means available, and hopes that the effect will last the class through, and maybe they can sneak in a little quick jerk on the rein when the judge is not looking, to remind the horse that this is serious business.
Horses are so sensitive, so intelligent that they deserve the best possible deal with their humans.
They need guidelines to follow, in the wild they will follow the guidelines of their heard leader, this is what makes them feel safe and happy. And the leader will have to be tested, because even if you showed yourself as a leader last week it does not mean you are a good one today. My work consists of going out to peoples places and work with their horses, or teach the clients how to do it. Because I believe that if you want to get a good horse you really need to do the training yourself. The reason for this is that the horse understands the difference between people very well, I have worked years in riding schools and seen very clearly how the horses differs between the different students.