What Do People Get Wrong About Showing? Vicky Smith on Producing Show Horses in the UKPublished 7 May 2026 Just Horse Riders Podcast Episode 37Key TakeawaysShowing is the only equestrian discipline where you train all winter to hand the reins to a stranger the judge in the summer.Six weeks of roadwork in January remains Vicky Smith's non-negotiable foundation for fitness, even for show horses going to county shows rather than three-day events.Variety is the engine of mental freshness Vicky's horses never do arena work two days in a row, and herd turnout is treated as part of training, not a luxury.Bitting is the most over-thought area in showing most "bit problems" are training problems wearing a costume.The biggest mistake in the show ring is taking a horse before it's ready preparation in busy environments matters more than another schooling session at home.Pathways into showing are wider than people think riding clubs, BSHA Rising Stars, the TSR series and London International all give grassroots riders a route in.Your team is the difference between winning and not head girl, vet, farrier, dentist, physio, and a mum who'll arrive with cake and an opinion on every horse.Quick Answer: What Do People Get Wrong About Showing?Most people think showing is the easy option compared with eventing or show jumping. In reality, producing a horse calm enough for a county ring surrounded by funfairs and Red Arrows, fit enough for back-to-back classes, and trained well enough that a complete stranger can ride it cleanly, is a discipline of its own. The work is quieter than a cross-country round, but the standards are unforgiving.Meet Vicky Smith Cheshire's Show Horse ProducerVicky Smith is a UK show horse producer based in Cheshire, running a yard of fourteen horses between Peckforton and Beeston Castle. Her record reads like a tour of the major British show ring: Coloured Ridden Non-Native Horse of the Year at HOYS in 2018, 2019 and 2021 on Bart; Maxi Cob of the Year at HOYS 2024 on A Red Knight; the working show horse class at Royal Windsor 2022 on Bart; the ridden coloured championship at Royal Windsor 2025 on Chynas Top Deck; and Reserve Supreme Riding Horse at the Royal International 2025. She also judges the divisions she competes in, and trains amateur riders at the London International Horse Show.Before all of that she was a full-time PE teacher at a high school on the outskirts of Stockport, riding before school, after school, and through every weekend her colleagues used for rest. The pivot to full-time producing came in 2018 after a HOYS weekend where Bart won the Coloured Ridden Non-Native title and Bling Cobsby stood Reserve Cob of the Year and she was breaking up a fight in a school car park by 8.30am the following Monday.The Definition of a Show Horse ProducerWhat Does a Show Horse Producer Actually Do?A show horse producer trains and campaigns horses on behalf of their owners, taking them from young, often green animals through to competing at major venues like HOYS, Royal Windsor and Royal International. The role combines daily riding, fitness work, show-day management and ride-judge preparation, alongside an honest commercial relationship with owners about what each horse can realistically achieve.Vicky frames her own approach broadly. "We've got four-year-olds up until the oldest horse on the yard at fourteen," she told Aaron. "Mainly show horses, but just produce horses really to go on hopefully in the show ring, but also try and give them a wide education. So if it doesn't work out for them, they've got another job."Why Showing Is Harder Than It LooksAccording to Vicky Smith, "showing is a sport where you are being judged so to be judged for a living is quite hard." That sentence does a lot of work. It captures something the discipline doesn't always communicate well to outsiders: the deliverable isn't a clear round or a fastest time, it's a subjective assessment of manners, ride, conformation, type and presence, made by a judge who has thirty seconds to form an opinion and another five minutes on board to confirm it.According to Vicky, there is no other equestrian discipline where a rider spends all winter training a horse only to hand the reins to someone else in the summer. The horse has to behave for two riders in succession its own, and a stranger in front of a crowd, often beside a funfair. That is the job.The Long Road from Pony Club to ProfessionalConnemaras, Welsh Ponies and WembleyVicky's earliest "big stage" memories are of HOYS at Wembley, finishing second three times in a row in the large breeds on a Connemara called Sydserff Golden Oak for breeder Liz Milner. That early exposure planted the seed, but she drifted into eventing and hunting through her late teens and twenties, kept showing on the side, and quietly built up a reputation for getting on with horses other riders found awkward.Teaching PE and Producing Eight Show HorsesBy the mid-2010s she was juggling full-time teaching with six to eight show horses at home. "I'd get up at five or six in the morning, muck out, ride before work, quick shower, full days teaching PE in a really good high school on the outskirts of Stockport," she told Aaron. "Some really brilliant but often challenging kids. Some great personalities."The school year didn't bend around horses. Weekends in winter were the only daylight she had to ride. Show season simply meant working through it.The HOYS Weekend That Broke the Camel's BackThe pivot came in October 2018. Bart won the Coloured Ridden Non-Native Horse of the Year. Bling Cobsby stood Reserve Cob of the Year. Vicky drove home, slept briefly, and was back in the school car park at 8am Monday morning, separating two pupils mid-fight before she'd even crossed the threshold. Her then-headteacher, Pam Campbell, offered her a year's sabbatical. The school took on a replacement. Vicky never went back.Fitness and Conditioning: Why Roadwork Still WinsHow Do Professional Show Horse Producers Get a Horse Fit for the Season?Vicky's fitness regime is deliberately old-fashioned. Horses come in from their winter holiday in January and walk on the roads for six weeks before any faster work begins. The aim is to build legs, strength and stamina the slow way the way her mum's generation did it for eventing. By April, when the show lorry first leaves the yard at 4am, the horses are ready for the physical and mental load of a show day, not just for the riding inside the ring.The Social Media Fitness Problem"It really worries me when I look on social media and you see people saying, oh, big Teddy's back in from his winter holiday, and there they are flying around the arena," Vicky said. "Then there's a post on big Teddy's legs."The principle she keeps returning to is one any half-marathon runner would recognise. You don't ask a body to do hard work it hasn't been prepared for. Aaron put it neatly: he ran a half marathon in October, and being asked to run another one now without training would be unreasonable. Horses get treated worse than that all the time.According to Vicky, Recovery Is Part of the ProgrammeAccording to Vicky Smith, the day after a show should never look like another working day for the horse. Hers go out in the field sometimes for the day, sometimes for several days, depending on the individual. Some are flat out in their beds by lunchtime. The more modern, warmblood-influenced horses tend to want fewer days off; the older traditional types take more. Knowing which is which is part of the job.Mental Freshness: Why Variety Beats RepetitionHow Do You Keep a Show Horse Mentally Fresh?Vary the routine every single day. Vicky's horses never do arena work two days in a row. A typical week might include hacking, schooling, lunging, pole work, a farm ride, herd turnout and a quiet day in the field. Show horses are still horses herd animals and Vicky's go out together in small groups despite their value, because the alternative is a brittle, anxious animal that doesn't last.The Hacking ArgumentIf forced to choose between the arena and hacking, Vicky picks hacking every time. "You can do leg yields, you can do transitions, as long as you've got somewhere to canter," she said. "You can find somewhere and do some schooling work around a field." For her own head, hacking is also therapy. "Tack up one or two horses, put the phone on silent, go off down the road, listen to the clip-clop of hooves, the birds, the sun. There is nothing better than that for just making everything feel okay."If you ride and you've ever done that ride, you know exactly what she means. A good pair of comfortable jodhpurs for those long lane rides earns its money very quickly.What to Do When the Weather Won't Let You HackBritish winters do not co-operate. Vicky's solution is to look at the forecast, pick the worst day of the week, and book a local indoor school. The horses get on the lorry for twenty minutes, ride for an hour, come home. It's not glamorous, but it's far less stressful than asking a young horse to do a useful schooling session in sideways rain. It also doubles as travel education the most valuable thing a green show horse can quietly accumulate before it sees its first county ground.Working with Owners: The Honest ConversationManaging Expectations from Day OneVicky's commercial pitch is plainer than most. If somebody rings about a horse, she watches a video or visits in person, then tells the truth. Sometimes that's "this could be a top show horse, but he's only four give him time." Sometimes it's "this isn't the horse for me." Sometimes it's "I can't promise you Royal Windsor.""I'm so lucky that all the people that I've ever had invest in what I do have been really good and really trust in my process," she told Aaron. The trust isn't accidental it's a direct consequence of Vicky telling owners what's actually possible before she takes a horse in.How Long Does a Show Horse Stay in Production?It depends on the owner and the horse. Some campaign for two seasons. Some come in as three-year-olds and stay through their novice years and into their teens. The point at which a horse leaves often isn't because it's no good it's because it's done what it can in that division, and a younger, fresher face is on its way through the yard.According to Vicky, Letting a Horse Go Can Be the Right CallAccording to Vicky, every honest producer has had to ring an owner and say "this horse isn't for me." Sometimes it's a man's horse needing a different routine. Sometimes the chemistry simply isn't there. Pride gets in the way more than it should. The professionals she respects most are the ones who hand a horse on rather than grind it through another wasted season.Bart The Horse of a LifetimeEvery producer talks about one horse like this, and Bart is Vicky's. A coloured non-native she took on when his owner Gillian sent him out for a fresh approach, he had bucked previous riders off and arrived with a reputation. He won the Coloured Ridden Non-Native Horse of the Year at HOYS three times 2018, 2019, and 2021 and added the working show horse title at Royal Windsor in 2022, which is unusual because that's a class with fences, and Bart was a flat show horse."He was such a character. He bit the girls don't let him bite you, oh, but it's Bart. He just became a bit of a national treasure," Vicky told Aaron. When she split with her partner and had to downsize, Bart went to her former groom Kiera Mullen in Ireland, who took him sidesaddle and won at Balmoral, Tattersalls and Dublin in the same year. The right horse, in other words, finds the right person more than once.Building the Team Behind a Show YardWhy Showing Is Never a Solo SportVicky's mum has been there since the riding-bike-alongside-pony days, and remains active on the yard, ringside, and at owners' picnics. Hayley, her head girl, joined as a sixteen-year-old college student on work experience and has grown into the role of indispensable show-day partner knowing when to feed Vicky, when to hand her a gin and tonic, and when to let her concentrate. Penny the vet nurse drives the lorry on busy days. Chris, an old eventing friend with an HGV licence, has become a regular fixture warming horses up at shows.The Vet, Farrier, Dentist and PhysioHird's Veterinary Group (Halifax originally, now also Cheshire six minutes from Vicky's yard, as Google Maps now tells her automatically), farrier Rob, and dentist Jake Patton make up the wider professional network. The point Vicky keeps making is that these aren't service providers they're friends who pick up the phone at five in the evening when a shoe comes off the night before a show. That kind of relationship cannot be bought; it can only be built.Part-Time Beats Full-Time on StaffingVicky used to run two full-time grooms. She now runs four part-timers. The flexibility for staff illness, holidays, weekends off has made the yard more, not less, reliable. It's a counterintuitive lesson for any small operation, equestrian or otherwise.Pathways for Amateurs Who Want to ShowHow Do You Qualify for Horse of the Year Show?You qualify by winning or placing well in qualifying classes throughout the season local county shows for some sections, dedicated qualifying days for others. Vicky's advice for anyone aiming at HOYS is simple: don't put too much pressure on it, and focus on improving the horse at home rather than chasing the result.Riding Clubs, BSHA, TSR and London InternationalThe grassroots route in is broader than most riders realise. Local riding clubs run classes for every level. The British Show Horse Association runs Rising Stars classes that ultimately qualify for the London International Horse Show. Grandstand Media runs the TSR (The Showing Register) series, which has classes for ex-racehorses, retired event horses, and pretty much anything in between. Vicky herself trains riders at London International each December, alongside Ian Smith.Find a Professional, Get Feedback, Don't Buy a New BitAccording to Vicky Smith, bitting is the area riders most overcomplicate. Most "bit problems" are training problems wearing a different costume and a new bit very rarely fixes a horse that isn't between hand and leg properly. Her advice: find a professional in your area, get them to assess your horse, work out which class it actually fits, and start from there. A new bit is the equestrian equivalent of buying running shoes with carbon plates and expecting your 5K time to drop.The Worst Day in the Show RingShould I Change My Horse's Bit or Work on My Training First?Work on your training first. The vast majority of resistance, leaning and head-tossing problems are caused by inconsistent contact, a horse not properly between leg and hand, or a horse that is bored or under-prepared. A different bit might mask the symptom for a class or two, but it won't solve the underlying issue, and it will make the next ridden judge wonder why you're carrying so much metal.The Horse That Jumped Out of the RingVicky's funniest cautionary tale involves a young horse she'd bought in Ireland and taken to a Royal International qualifier. She was the only entry. The judge rode him, gave him a good ride, jumped off. Vicky stood him up for the conformation assessment that's the walk-away-and-trot-back routine but had never actually practised it at home. He wouldn't trot back. Her mum tapped him. He took off. He bolted around the ring. Then he jumped out of the ring entirely and ran around the showground."You left the ring, didn't you," the judge told her. No qualification. Lesson learned. Practise the basics especially the boring ones.What's the Single Biggest Mistake in the Show Ring?Taking a horse out before it's ready. The horse hasn't been anywhere busy, doesn't settle, whinnies to the others, and the rider spends the whole class trying to ride a horse that's mentally elsewhere. Most of the time, what looks like a temperament problem is just an exposure problem. The fix is unglamorous: more outings, more indoor school hires, more arena hires, more farm rides. Time, in other words. None of it Instagrammable.Quick-Fire Wisdom from VickyThirty minutes a day: rotate the focus. Hacking one day, schoolwork the next, lunging, pole work. With a plan, half an hour is enough.Talent vs training: good training wins. A beautiful horse with poor transitions doesn't win prizes.Arena vs hacking: hacking, every time.Most over-thought piece of kit: bits.The detail judges notice: tail length. Show horse tails should sit just below the hocks. Most are too long.Advice for HOYS hopefuls: don't give up, and don't make it the only goal. Improve at home, and the rest follows.How to Listen and WatchThe full conversation with Vicky Smith is on the Just Horse Riders Podcast on Spotify, or you can watch it on YouTube using the embed above. Listen now it's a properly honest hour and a half on what producing show horses actually involves, with all the cake, lorry breakdowns and ringside meltdowns left in.While you're getting kitted out for your own show season, Aaron's team have stocked the website with everything from riding boots to competition gloves, plus everyday supplements for keeping horses on form through the long roadwork weeks Vicky swears by. Shop now if you're stocking up before April.Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat does a show horse producer actually do?A show horse producer trains and campaigns horses on behalf of their owners, taking them from young animals through to competing at major venues like HOYS, Royal Windsor and Royal International. The role combines daily riding, fitness work, show-day management and ride-judge preparation, alongside honest commercial conversations with owners about what each horse can realistically achieve.How long does it take to produce a show horse?Most show horses come in as three- or four-year-olds and are given a slow education over multiple seasons. Some campaign for two seasons before being sold on; others stay with the same producer from novice years into their teens.Why do show horses get ridden by the judge?In ridden show classes, the judge mounts each horse to assess manners, ride and way of going. This is unique to showing no other equestrian discipline asks a rider to spend all winter training a horse only to hand it to a stranger in the summer.How do you keep a show horse mentally fresh?Vary the routine daily alternate hacking, schooling, lunging, pole work, farm rides and herd turnout. Avoid arena work two days in a row, and remember horses are herd animals that benefit from being out in a group.Is showing easier than eventing or show jumping?Most riders outside the discipline assume so, but producing a horse calm enough for a county ring beside a funfair, fit enough for back-to-back classes, and trained well enough that a stranger can ride it cleanly, is its own form of difficulty. The work is quieter than a cross-country round; the standards are not.About the AuthorAaron Englander is the Founder of Just Horse Riders and host of the Just Horse Riders Podcast. With over 15 years in the equestrian industry and the creator of the Englander Equestrian product line, Aaron speaks to riders, producers, vets and trainers across the UK to bring the riding community honest conversations about the work behind the rosettes.