What are some things that you have to do to feel prepared to show?
Shane Walters
I’m kind of picky and everybody saddles my horse for me, so whenever they get done, I always go back and make sure that I pull the cinch one or two more holes, and then I put it through the latigo myself and make sure everything’s ready to go.
Matt Palmer
We always make sure the night before, we have our bits changed, we know what outfits we are wearing on each horse. I always try to be prepared, knowing what saddle pads. Everything that we’re going to do so it’s not a rush before you go to show. I like to have all that lined up. And then, a fun fact is, I always wrap the left leg first.
Jessicah Keller
I like to listen to the radio or music or something and just, kind of, try to block everything else out and concentrate on me and my horse and not listen to everything else the outside noise going around. Also, I like to saddle and put splint boots on my own horse.
Casey Hinton
I carry a buckeye in my pocket because I’m from Ohio, and I’m a Buckeye fan. As far as things I have to do to feel prepared to show is controlling everything to be perfect. That’s my prep to really feel like everything is in order. Everything, whether it’s your boots, your headstall, or your saddle pad. You want all of that to be in preparation to be always in line, not interfere. So, like a lot of times, people like to make sure they’re saddling their own horse, doing everything because then they know that it’s done right,
and going towards that, you want to make sure that everything lines up for you, and that everything’s taken care of and in line for you to be prepared.
McKinnon Larcombe
I have to be organized. You know, I need to have a have a game plan in the sense of how many horses I’m going to get ready before which kind of depends on the horse, I guess. I’m one of those people: I can’t get ready by myself. I need a couple of hands involved, otherwise, I get very stressed.
Bud Lyon
I like to get to the show about three hours in advance of showing. It’s therapeutic for me to do the saddling, all the prep, work, cleaning, and all that kind of stuff, but it also gives me an opportunity to run through my visualization again.
Bobby Avila, Jr.
Just get ready. If I’m not ready… I don’t like being rushed.