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| How to be a good reining show groom |
| So you have a friend or family member competing at a reining show and they have invited you to tag along?
Here is how to be a good "pit crew" or groom for your competitor. First and foremost, be careful with your questions if you are very new to reining. Try to get the information you need by observing and listening rather than asking a lot of questions. Trust me, it will all come together for you in no time. Remember that you are your competitor's support and if you "bug" them too much they will lose their focus. This is their time to prepare to compete, you can ask them questions all you want after they have had their time in the show pen. So, the key that you need to know as the groom is - when your "charge" will be getting ready to show. Likely they will know when their draw (Read the Reining Glossary page for a definition of draw) is and somewhere about 15 horses before their turn in the pen, they will be getting ready. If they seem somewhat stressed out, you can go ahead and look up their draw, and not even ask them. The draws are posted in a couple of places. 1. A draw list with full names is usually posted at the show office, and 2. "by number only" (meaning you need to know their number) back at the in gate on a board, or perhaps on the Whipper-in's (gate person) clipboard. Don't get too distracted watching the show if you are the groom, you need to keep with your charge when it comes time for them to get ready. Once you know their draw, be ready to wander to the barn with them to help them get ready. Let them prompt heading to the barn, but you can suggest they go get ready if it gets to about 15 horses before their turn. Back at the barn, easy things to help with if you are not a horse person are, to hold the horse, brush the horse down, or you can also help them put their chaps on easily enough. If you are a more experienced horse person, you can help with whatever, but try to help when they ask. Perhaps ask one time "what can I help with" and if they say nothing, just kick back and watch. After they are all saddled and dressed, do a spot check for the key items: hat, chaps, horse's boots, number on pad. Usually a groom bag with rag, brushes, duct tape, clean boots also need to come up with you. The helper is in charge of carrying any of those things that is needed. Stay calm and supportive, again not asking tons of questions, letting them go through their mental pre-class preparation. In the warm up pen, be aware of the draw and when the drags (a drag is when the tractor tills up the show arena) are going to happen, if a drag will be done before your charge's go, then that's an extra 15 minutes allowance to factor in. You should head over to the final staging area no later than 3 horses before their turn to show. Kindly remind your charge when it is time to go if they haven't already made a move to go there. Once at the final staging area, it's final prep time. If you are not experienced, just hold the horse while they do the prep work. If you are experienced, you can help with whatever they need. Be sure the horse is clean, tail brushed out (watch for braids or socks, the tail MUST be undone all the way), all boots are on (check the back legs for skid boots), chaps are on and rolled all the way down. Then it's a good luck and they are off! |
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