Control of your horse’s feet without having to handle them, even if you don’t compete in halter, conformation or showmanship classes, will come in handy for vet work, photos or even stepping your horse off the hose during bath time.
To be competitive in a showmanship class, your goal will be to get the job done in a couple of seconds and move each foot only once. Nothing makes time stand still and faces flush more than trying to set up a distracted horse while he does the Texas shuffle as the judge waits…and waits.
Set ups are the least practiced manoeuvre, simply because it’s time-consuming work, boring in comparison to pivots and trotting in hand. Following are the ingredients necessary for an efficient set up: