Taking your child to their first show

Just to clarify I am going to focus on lead rein age in this post.

What to wear? How to pick a show? How to prep?

There are lots of places nowadays that sell children’s show wear, from big brands to smaller companies that sell second hand items. Charles Owen do very good show hats for young riders and I would definitely recommend buying those new but the rest of the outfit I would personally buy secondhand.

Charity shops are a great place to put together a leader’s outfit.

When picking a first show my advice would be to go for a lo-key local one and be sure to enter a novelty class so that you always come back with a rosette!

Prepping for the first show does depend slightly on whether you are entering fun classes only or doing a “proper” class. If you are doing a “proper” class be sure to practise your show routine beforehand. The Ring Craft book has examples of the ideal lead rein routines, I am sure they will also be available in other books and online too.

The most important thing is of course to have fun!