10 Priceless Pieces of Advice for Show Moms
For Mother’s Day, we’ve asked 10 well-known industry show moms for their best piece of advice for other show moms!
Hear from show moms Kaleena Weakly, Michelle Preston, Kelly Wheat, Cara McMillian-Gibson, Shay Weakly, Kristin Brock, Tammi Smith, Sarah Hostetler, Serena Zizza, and legendary show mom, Andrea Simons!
Read some very valuable advice from the voices of experience here:
Kaleena Weakly keeps showing fun for 5-year-old Knox Weakly – photo credit: Cody Parmenter Photography
Kaleena Weakly: Coming from the mother of a 5 year old, let them be little, let them play with their friends at the show, and keep it fun so they want to stick with it. They have so many years to get super serious and focused about this passion.
Also, have lots of short mini practices if they are doing patterns…nothing worse than them going out there and forgetting the pattern! We want their time in the show pen to be as positive as possible!
Part of Michelle Preston’s go-to strategy is watching with a group of show moms.
Michelle Preston: Practice Patience! This is not a natural thing for me, so doing this is hard. So many emotions good and bad are experienced while being a side line cheerleader/horse show mom. I have to remind myself that sometimes you can’t fix things instantly, you have to be patient for the process.
As my girls got older I made sure to have a fellow group of horse show moms/friends to practice patiently waiting in the stands.
Kelly and her husband, Greg, have taught Steve self-reliance among many other strong values.
Kelly Wheat: We’ve always believed in, “Don’t impede your children by making their lives easy.” Life is not easy- teach them to do things for themselves; self-reliance is very important. They’ll appreciate it more the harder they work for something.
Also, we’ve taught Steve to always Love God, Love Yourself, Love your family and Love Your Country and education is very important – and to always listen- there might be a word or two of wisdom from everyone you meet!! And to know your mom and dad will Love You forever!!
The Gibson Family with Carolyn Stewart, who handed down a philosophy of gratitude to Cara and McKenna.
Cara McMillian Gibson – This is advice coming from Carolyn Stewart, my mom. Back when the Youth World was in Tulsa, she was on the Youth Committee, and she was the one always handing out the youth awards. When I started showing, after years and years of her handing those awards out, this is what she taught me:
Every time – no matter what you get or thought you should have gotten – you have a smile on your face. Say thank you and be gracious about what you receive. Be respectful of however you place.
They don’t realize the thousands of dollars and the time people have put into these events. I’ve instilled that in McKenna, too, that if you don’t get the place you should have gotten, you still thank the person there giving you the award and the opportunity to be there.
Shay Weakly demonstrates support and love for others to Sloane.
Shay Weakly: Be the parent that cheers on other people’s kids, supports the trainers and thanks the judges. One may feel this takes away from their child, and I simply disagree. The more I’ve poured into other people’s children, the trainers and the judges, the more my child has received. It may have not been in the shape of a trophy, but it has been a much greater gift, that of being a good human who supports, loves and competes in the arena and in life in a healthy way.
Kristin values the time spent with Hannah at horse shows.
Kristin Brock: I feel like the best advice I can give is to soak it up!!! Don’t worry about the small stuff. If they want to wear bright pink lipstick, let them! Take pictures and videos. The time spent together is the best part of it all. The prizes won are just icing on the cake.
Tammi Smith has always encouraged Colton to be highly involved to broaden his experiences and leadership.
Tammi Smith: I think my best piece of advice would be to get more involved at both the national and state level. Showing horses at the weekend horse shows is great fun. But if you and your kids get involved with your state affiliate you’ll get to do more than just show horses together. You’ll start to make all kinds of new friends and find there’s so much more to showing horses than just showing horses. Plus this is where leadership skills are learned, scholarships can be earned, and much much more.
I know I’m only supposed to give one piece of advice… but my piece of advice that pertains directly to the horse show would be to remember the show pen isn’t like the practice pen. Just because you can do it in the practice pen doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same in the show pen. My mom once said, “A show mom should never yell at their kid for messing up in the show pen until they have been in the same situation.” It’s always easier to sit from the sidelines and say why this or that.
Sarah Hostetler surrounds Izzy with people who are positive and encouraging. Photo credit: Beth Foster-Hattan
Sarah Hostetler: Izzy has been showing since she was five, and the one piece advice I would give a fellow show Mom would be…..Be positive and encouraging to your kiddos and surround your kid with people who will do the same. It’s going to go by so fast. Buy the horse, make the memories, and enjoy the ride.
Serena Zizza keeps her input short and sweet when Angelica shows so she stays focused.
Serena Zizza: I am always more nervous than Angelica and I try to say as little as possible so she stays calm and focused! My last minute recommendation is: always have fun, stand straight, elbow tucked and smile!
Andrea instilled in her daughters, Jana and Sara, that showing needs to be enjoyable.
And perhaps the most essential piece of advice to remember, from Andrea Simons:
It’s okay not to win. Showing show be enjoyable – have fun!
