Our first show of the season is in one week! I'm just finishing putting the freestyle music together today so we can run through the whole thing once or twice before competing! I'm out of town for work Wednesday-Thursday, then have a networking-type event to attend mid-day Friday. Not the ideal work week leading up to a show! On the bright side, I hear the BHB has successfully mastered his first tempi changes with Heather, so maybe I will actually get to try a real lead change someday soon!
One time I trailered to a jumper show across town, unloaded my horse and was preparing to tack up only to discover that I forgot to put my tack in the trailer! Luckily, I was able to send my dad the 30 minutes back to the barn to pick it up, but how mortifying would it be to have that happen at a dressage show when you're much further from home! Also, in dressage we have custom-fitted saddles and bits carefully chosen through trial and error, so it's not as easy to find tack available to borrow as it would in the H/J world where saddles and bridles seem to be constantly thrown from horse to horse.
When I was foxhunting, I wouldn't trust myself to pack everything correctly at 5am on a weekend morning, so I would actually tack up the horse completely before throwing it on the trailer so I could just hop out and mount up. It also helped that I didn't have to saddle a dancing horse at the meets! Now, I don't saddle up before going to a dressage show, but I do make a list to make sure I have everything before leaving for the weekend.
This is the checklist I use for going to shows. It may seem like quite a bit, but most everything should already be in one place (like the trailer) or easily grouped together.
TO DO DAY BEFORE SHOW:
Bathe Mark
Clip Mark
Clean tack
Fuel-up truck
Put coggins, health certificate, insurance info in truck
TACK BOX (The bolded items are things that don't always live in the show box):
Body brushes
Tail brush
CANTER Mane & Tail spray
Hoof pick
Hoof oil
Braiding supplies (comb, clip, rubber bands, quickbraid)
Small cordless clippers (charged)
Shampoo
Bathing sponge
Sweat scraper
Scissors
Sunscreen
Sugar cubes
Tack cleaning supplies
Adult amateur calming supplement (I.C.E. mini liquor bottles)
Clean towels
Polos/boots for schooling
For championships: white polos
Fly spray
Schooling gloves
PUT IN TRAILER:
Tack box
Full hay bag for Mark to munch on
Show bridle
Extra noseband option
Extra bit option
Saddle
Girth
2 white saddle pads
1 schooling saddle pad
Thinline pad
Blankets/sheets if cold weather
Hay
Grain
THINGS THAT SHOULD ALREADY BE IN TRAILER:
Chairs
Folding table
Water buckets with hooks
Feed pan
Hose with sprayer attachment
Muck bucket/wheelbarrow
Pitchfork
Shavings
Twine (from hay bales)
Saddle rack
Bridle rack
Folding step stool (for braiding and mounting)
GARMENT BAG:
Show coat
Stock shirt (1 per day showing)
Stock tie
Boot socks (1 pair per day showing)
White breeches (1 pair per day showing)
HELMET BAG:
Show helmet
Hair net
White gloves
BOOT BAG:
Boots
Spurs
Boot polish
BACKPACK/SUITCASE:
Video camera
2 casual outfits (jeans, t-shirt)
Schooling shirt and breeches
Cash for concessions/shopping
Sweatshirt/jacket
Sneakers
Toiletries (for overnight)
PJs (for overnight)
COOLER:
Snacks
Lunch
Breakfast (if not staying at free breakfast hotel)
Water
Electrolyte drinks (Gatorade, propel, coconut water)
Carrots
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