IEA/IHSA Team Tryouts—10 Tips for a Good First Impression

Summer’s here, and it’s the season when IEA and IHSA teams hold tryouts (for teams that select specific riders for competition) or evaluation rides (for club teams that accept all interested students).  Here are ten tips to help you make a good first impression.

1. Be punctual.  Show up on time or even a little early.  You don’t want your new coach to have to wait on you or rush through your lesson in order to stay on schedule.  Also, make sure you know how to get to the farm.  If you are planning to use a GPS, it’s a good idea to confirm the directions with your coach first because some farms are way out in the country and your GPS may not be accurate.
   
2. Dress appropriately.  You should wear ‘clinic attire,’ which includes britches and tall boots (or half chaps), a tucked in polo shirt, gloves, and a belt.  If you have a show helmet, wear it along with a hairnet.  If you don’t have a show helmet a schooling helmet is fine, too.  No matter what you wear, make sure your clothing is neat and clean and your boots are polished.  Don’t spend a ton of money buying new clothing for your tryout.  If/when you make the team, your coach will tell you what brands or styles she wants you to purchase.
   
3. Know your riding and showing history and be accurate and truthful about it.  Before you ride, you and your coach will spend a few minutes discussing your previous riding and showing experience in order to determine which showing division is appropriate for you.  Take a look at last week’s blog post HERE to learn the importance of proper division placement.
   
4. Make a list of questions in advance.  You are going to be nervous and having a list you’ve prepared beforehand will ensure you get all of your questions answered.  I did a blog post about important questions to ask any IEA/IHSA coach a few weeks ago.  You can find it HERE.
   
5. If you don’t understand something, ask.  When tacking up, if the horse requires a piece of equipment that you’ve never used, ask someone to help you.  When riding, if you don’t understand an instruction, it is better to ask for clarification than to do an exercise incorrectly.  Often the issue isn’t that a student doesn’t understand what to do, it’s that her home trainer uses a different word to describe it, and once the vocabulary is straightened out, things go a lot smoother for everyone involved; the student, the coach, and the horse.
   
6. Be prepared to ride without stirrups.  Coaches want to test your fitness level, which means riding without stirrups.  If your training regimen doesn’t already include no-stirrup work, you should start practicing in the weeks leading up to your tryout so you’ll be prepared.
   
7. If you are asked to do something beyond your experience level, speak up.  Your coach wants to find out what you know, not push you too hard or get you or the horse injured.  For example, if she asks you to jump higher than you’re comfortable jumping on an unfamiliar horse, or if you aren’t confident riding without stirrups at the canter, let her know.
   
8. Take proper care of the horse and tack after the ride.  Take the time to cool the horse out correctly, offer to clean the tack, put all tack and grooming tools back where you found them, and clean up your crosstie space.  Once you’ve finished, ask if there is anything else you need to do.
   
9. Say thank you for the opportunity, follow up with an email, and keep in touch with your coach as your enrollment date approaches.  Coaches understand that riders’ plans change.  If you decide to attend another school or choose not to ride on the team, let the coach know as soon as possible so she can alter her team plans accordingly.
   
10. And for goodness sake, have fun! When all is said and done, we ride horses because we love it.  Don’t let the pressure of trying out for a team cause you to lose sight of the reason you first started riding horses in the first place.