One difficult run can suddenly convince someone they’ve made no progress at all.
Jen: The first Reining and Ranch shows of the season are underway in Ontario and for many riders, months of winter preparation have now met reality.
For my students, all those cold nights in the arena, all the lessons, the drills, the pattern practice, the conversations about timing, position, softness, speed control and mental preparation.
Now it has been tested.
And the interesting thing about showing horses is this: you never really know what you have until you walk through the gate.
Because the show pen is unlike anywhere else.
For roughly four minutes, it becomes just you and your horse — and you are both operating on separate playing fields at the same time.
Your horse has their mental and emotional state, you have yours.
And somehow the goal is to get those two worlds aligned long enough to produce a smooth, connected run.
Sometimes it happens beautifully, sometimes it doesn’t!
That’s the sport.
What many newer competitors discover after their first show is that what happens at home and what happens in the pen can feel like two entirely different things.
At home, your horse may stop perfectly, spin smoothly, stay relaxed.
Then show day arrives and suddenly: they’re looking at banners, getting strong, getting sticky, over-firing, or mentally checking out.
At the exact same time, riders are often dealing with their own internal noise:
nerves, adrenaline, overthinking, second-guessing, trying too hard, or replaying mistakes before the pattern is
even over.
Sharon: This 100%! I went to the ORHA Clinton show and my mare behaved in ways she never has before – it took me a while to get us aligned – what helped was the good coaching calls with you Jen.
Jen: The fascinating part of reining is that horses are incredibly sensitive to human emotion and tension. You may think you’re hiding your nerves, but your horse often knows before you do
That’s why the biggest learning point in showing rarely comes from where you placed in the class or even your score; it comes from the information.
The show pen gives honest feedback.
It tells you: where the training held, where communication broke down, where confidence disappeared, where preparation was solid, and where more work is needed.
That information is invaluable — if you’re willing to look at it objectively.
After the first show of the season, it’s tempting for riders to become emotional about results. One difficult run can suddenly convince someone they’ve made no progress at all.
But experienced competitors know better. One run is simply data.
The key is to assess it clearly with the help of your coach:
• What went right?
• What improved from last year?
• Where did your horse stay with you mentally?
• Where did things start to unravel?
• Was it physical?
• Mental?
• Timing?
• Preparation?
• Rider tension?
Sometimes the answer isn’t “train harder.” Sometimes it’s: prepare differently, warm up differently, manage your nerves differently, or simply gain more mileage.
The riders who improve the most over a season are usually not the ones who obsess over scores, they are the ones who work with their coaches and become students of the process.
They review, adjust, refine.
Then head to the next show with a clearer understanding of both themselves and their horse. Because showing is not really about proving perfection, it’s about learning what happens when preparation meets pressure. And now that show season has begun, the real education starts.
Sharon: That’s me with my plan!
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'From the Trainer's Eye articles written by Jen Jonas of Jonas Performance Horses and one of her students, Sharon Jones of Be A Better You Inc. Both Jen and Sharon are believers in continuous learning - if you're not learning you are not growing'
