Cotswold Hunt Show

You cannot have a hunt show without the huntsman and the hounds!

There was a new shoeing contest this past Sunday at the Cotswold Hunt Kennels in conjunction with their annual horse show.  The contest for apprentices only, with everyone bringing their own rigs (or their bosses') to work out of.  The quality of the work was very impressive, especially in the bar shoe class, where we were each given 15" of 5/16" or 3/8" by 3/4" and told to make whatever we wanted.  I never got the picture of all of them lined up like I wanted to, because several were stolen almost right after they were judged!

The Shoe Making Contest had an international flare- the guy in the hat is Australian

The show itself was interesting, too, and I actually had time to watch a good bit of it.  There were a few Cotswold sheep to show off, and a fun classes such as Lurcher and Terrier racing for families, but it is primarily a horse show.  It has qualifier classes for Horse of the Year Show (HOYS), so it attracts all the best professionals in the area.  This was fun for me to watch, as I grew up with US show hunters but had not yet had the opportunity to watch English show hunters, or "show horses" as they are called, compete over here.  When I first saw the class list, I couldn't believe how short it was.  However, once you realize what a long and involved process every class is, the short list makes sense!

This is the Ladies Hunter class, and all the horses are shown Side Saddle.  I never realized, but riders don't post when riding aside, so one of the requirements is that the horse be very comfortable.  These horses showed and were asked for the traditional Walk-Trot-Canter and also an individual extended canter followed by a transition down to the trot.

You must bring a groom, because after you show the horse the judge gets on and rides it, in this case more than the competitors did!  She really put them through their paces, asking for lead changes, extensions, etc.

This is then followed by untacking so that another judge can have a look at the conformation.  I did feel sorry for the ladies who had to jog those horses on the hilly ground while wearing a skirt, but they all managed very well and had smiles on their faces the whole time.

THEN you get back on, show the horses a little more, and line back up for the ribbons, which are followed up by a victory lap.  This class, which had only five people in it took over an hour to judge!  Somewhere in there as well, Carl, the man in the brown jacket at the far left of the picture, had managed to have a look at all of their feet and had awarded a prize for "Best Shod Hunter" on behalf of the Worshipful Company of Farriers.