Fuego's First Show: Day 1 - Schooling

Rarely do I make myself eat my own words.

A little under a year ago, when Fuego was first introduced on this platform, I asserted that he'd never be a showhorse because of how tense he was. And I felt certain of that. Even when Trainer T initially mentioned him going to shows, I didn't feel good about taking him. We all know how bad my nerves get at shows. It felt like a recipe for disaster.

But here we are now, heading into the show ring together for the first time. And we're doing jumpers.

This was a huge decision for me to make. Previously, I felt guilty about the idea of showing him. I thought it would be way too much stress, and I didn't want to see him go through all of that. Had it not been for all the changes - and then consistency - that I've seen over the past few months, this never would have happened. I never would have pushed him. It didn't matter to me.

On top of that . . . I'm carrying a metric ton of baggage when it comes to showing. I would be mortified if that baggage was passed onto Fuego in the form of poor riding and bad experiences. It would have nearly undone all the work that I, Trainer T, and Fuego himself have put in over the past year. I went into this weekend with none of the usual show jitters mattering. All I was focused on was creating a positive experience for a horse that deserves nothing less.

Since I'm forced to be an "adult" and work a "full-time job," I wasn't around when everyone loaded and head to the showgrounds. It added to my uncertainty because I wouldn't know how he was in the morning or when he unloaded. It also just feels weird having someone else do everything for me. I left work early and met Trainer T as the sun was setting. We kept the ride short and sweet; one of the lesson kids hacked him earlier, and he was reportedly fantastic. I did also notice how good he was doing in the stall. He was obviously a little bit uncomfy but not coming undone.

He was pretty amped once we were ready to go. Lots of stop-and-stare moments and a tiny bit of whinnying. It wasn't anything unusual for a horse's first show, but it did make it even harder to control the shoulder.

He was phenomenal to the fences, though I was questionable. It was a bold ride but still manageable. Truthfully, the horse under me genuinely felt like a show jumper. Very different from dad bod hunter mode, but I'll take what I can get. He popped over everything the first time. We had one refusal that was 100% on me because I was worried we were about to hit someone. Spoiler alert: we would have been fine, I'm just dumb.

I told Trainer T to jack the fences up as high as she was comfortable with. She didn't have a lot of time, and we were on the edge of daylight; I wanted the ride to be effective but challenging. It needed to make the actual show feel easy. Trainer T obliged. We focused on technical items instead of coursing around. She broke down pieces that she wanted me to work on. Some of the tighter turns were really difficult. It's something we'll master with time. I also kept getting deep, which caused him to knock rails, front rails especially. Striding was great, and he was generally open and eager in his movement.

One of many escape attempts

We did one of the trickier lines toward the end of schooling. It's a wave fence to an oxer, and Trainer T really beefed up the oxer. I just. kept. getting. in. deep. So we did it until I got it right. Fuego was game the whole time and gave me a great ride.

It was a good schooling, just what we both needed. I was still very anxious but went home, cleaned my tack, had a good dinner, and went to bed at a reasonable time.