As promised, I will begin explaining how the intercollegiate horse shows work. Today I'm just going to go through the different classes and the schedule for a typical show day. The horse shows start with schooling which is where they warm the horses up. We get to the show in time to watch the horses warm up and in that time we can see what quirks they may have. In intercollegiate riding we draw what horse we ride out of a hat so it's very much a luck of the draw sport. You find out what horse you will be riding approximately five minutes or less before you ride. We don't get to warm up at all with the horse, we just have to get on and be ready to compete right then and there. After schooling, the show begins with the upper level classes and work their way down. They do the fence(jumping) classes first beginning with open and then proceeding to intermediate and novice. After they finish with novice fences, there is a short "intermission" where we go out and take the jumps down. After the arena is cleared, they bring the horses in to school again for the flat classes. When schooling is finished they resume the show with open flat and move through intermediate, novice, advanced walk trot canter, beginning walk trot canter, and walk trot. Typically the shows last from 8:00am to about 3:00 - 4:00pm. They announce the placings for each class as soon as the class is complete. The shows in general run a bit like track meets. You ride your class and the rest of the time you are there supporting your team mates. It's a bonding experience just as much as a competition.
That's all I have for this week. Next week will be a recap of how our team did last year.
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