World Show Superstitions… EC Blog by: Keaton Crawford

EC Blog by: Keaton Crawford

It’s not uncommon to hear about a rider wearing lucky socks, a lucky necklace, or having some type of superstition when it comes time to compete at the World Show. Some equestrians even have routines they follow that they believe will help put them at the top of the judges’ placings and possibly even leave them as the last one standing in the arena.

Basketball player Michael Jordan even had a superstition that he carried on into his NBA success. He wore his old college basketball shorts under his uniform shorts during every professional game. Despite his immense talent, he still believed that if he didn’t have those shorts, something might go wrong.

Many exhibitors here at the 2015 AQHA Youth World Show have their own superstitions they believe will either help or hurt them when they walk down into the Gateway of Champions.

Taylor Searles was given a good luck charm box that holds all of the different good luck charms and tokens she’s been given over the years. She brings this little box to every horse show. The only time she didn’t bring it was at the AQHA Open World Show where she competed with her horse Ryder in Senior Western Riding. She ended up changing leads over the pole and received a zero for the pattern. Needless to say, she’s brought the box to every horse show since!

Taylor also has some fun little rituals that she does right before she goes into the pen. She says a little prayer while she’s walking down into the show pen, and she always hums a song that she has in her head. “The guys down there probably think that I’m crazy, but it works,” she says. “Masterpiece” by Jessie J was the song she was humming before she went into the pen to win her third Reserve World Championship this year in Western Riding.

Chelsea Sterling and her mom, Kathy, have a secret handshake they do before every class. Kathy has to stand on the left side of Triplicate Pleasure, aka “Spike.” The handshake must happen with Chelsea’s left hand and Kathy’s right hand. If the handshake doesn’t happen, something doesn’t feel quite right. Also, Chelsea likes to do everything the same exact way on the day of finals as she did on the day of the prelims. For the last two years, she has placed sixth in Western Riding at the Youth World, so something is definitely working!

Shannon Rohring, who rides Lopin For Hours, has a superstition about her lipstick before she goes in the pen. She thinks that if she doesn’t have her lipstick, she definitely won’t have a chance to win the class.  Shannon and her trainer Dan Prouhet also believe that a horse’s mane has to be banded on the right side, because “luck runs out on the left.”

Charlotte Selby, who rides Whos All Invited, aka “Sally,” has a bracelet with Sally’s name that she wears when showing. If she doesn’t wear it, she doesn’t feel fully prepared. Her other superstition concerns her saddle. If she’s not the one to shine it at every horse show, she believes the event will be a disaster. During the one horse show that she didn’t shine her saddle, it was the worst horse show she’d had in the last two years. Her horse even seems to have a superstition of her own. If she doesn’t get a cookie before she goes into the pen, she doesn’t seem to do as well as if she did have her cookie.

Livvie Van Lanen has a good ‘ole fashioned good luck charm, a sterling silver coin that says good luck and has a horseshoe on it. The charm has to go in her boot. However, if it’s not in her right boot, it’s not going to do its job. She also believes that if she doesn’t wear red lipstick, it will mess up the luck. She wore purple lipstick in the Horsemanship Preliminaries at this year’s World Show, and she says she’ll never do that again.

Claire McDowall has a good luck ring that she got at the All American Quarter Horse Congress. After winning the Novice 13 and under Trail a few days later, she says she’ll never show without it again. She also wears a bracelet with a gold horseshoe on it that was given to her by good friend EB Combs. Claire also has a few superstitions about showing. One of those superstitions is that she doesn’t shine her spurs, otherwise it might bring bad luck at the next horse show. She also believes that if you hit a pole when walking the Trail course, your horse will hit that same pole too. She’s extra careful when walking the Trail course at the World Show!

Cori Cansdale has a bittersweet good luck charm that she puts in her horse’s tail at every show. It’s a piece of her late horse’s tail. 24 was Cori’s first horse that had to be put down a little while back.  Despite her loss, Cori likes to keep a little piece of him with her at all of the horse shows, because she knows he’s cheering her and Blaze on as her guardian angel. She knows that if she’s riding with both her horses, nothing can truly be bad.

Clara Johnson has an anklet that she believes brings her good luck when she shows in all of her classes. She also has a lucky fake forelock that her horse always wears at the show. She thinks that having the forelock gives her a little extra in the show pen, for looks and for her own personal confidence. You definitely won’t see her horse without it.

When Kaylee Mellot had her horse Juan, she would give him the same amount of peppermints before the finals as she did before the prelims. Also, her routine for the day of the finals always has to be the same as the preliminaries.

There are some youth who don’t believe in good luck charms or superstitions, like Bailey Anderson, who rides Zippos Kat Man Do. Bailey tries to focus on her riding and leave everything in the show pen.

Whether an equestrian has a special superstition, a lucky charm, or nothing of the sort, they all find what works for them. Each team prepares in a different way in order to prepare mentally and physically to show at the World Show and give it all they’ve got!