03/16/2026
Reposting from an acquaintance... Lol made me laugh ! ................... ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ ๐ช๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ช ๐ฆ๐ข๐๐๐ฆโฆ ๐ง๐๐๐งโ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐ด ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ก ๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ช ๐ฅ๐๐ก๐
It's Friday the 13th... a day of superstitions.
Show ring superstitions fuel this entire industry. Not training programs. Not bloodlines. Not saddle fit. Superstitions. ๐โจ Horse people will spend $50,000 on a horse, $10,000 on tack, and $5,000 on a show outfitโฆ and then refuse to wash a pair of crusty socks because they wore them the day they won a class in 2017. Apparently if those socks touch a washing machine the entire competitive trajectory of that horse will collapse like a poorly built Jenga tower. ๐งฑ๐ฅ
The logic behind it is incredible when you think about it. You can change trainers. You can change bits. You can change saddles. You can even sell the horse and buy a completely different one. But God forbid those socks see Tide detergent. Thatโs how you anger the show ring gods and summon a string of bad luck that will apparently follow you around the arena for the next decade. ๐
People will polish their boots until they shine like a damn mirror, groom the horse until it looks like a bronze statue in a museum, and spend three hours braiding every hair into placeโฆ and then pull on socks that could legally qualify as a biological hazard. ๐งฆโฃ๏ธ These things havenโt been washed since the Bush administration. Theyโve been through 176 horse shows, 27 states, 537 thunderstorms, and at least 12 emotional breakdowns in a tack room. ๐ฉ๏ธ๐
And the funniest part is everyone just pretends thatโs completely normal. Nobody questions it. Nobody says a word. The socks get rolled up, shoved back into the boot bag, and resurrected again at the next show like some kind of fermented good luck charm. ๐ช
You know why you sweat so damn bad in your show clothes? Itโs not nerves. Itโs the smell wafting up from those fu***ng socks hitting your olfactory senses with the force of smelling salts and a bad case of BV. Your brain is basically trying to evacuate your entire body because it thinks something died somewhere near your boots. ๐
And if weโre being honestโฆ this probably explains a few things about certain classes.
The pleasure horses arenโt slow because theyโre lazy. Honaaaaaayyyyyโฆ that rancid sock stench is wafting backward through the lineup like a toxic weather front rolling across Kansas. ๐ช๏ธ The horse in front smells it, the horse behind smells it, and everybody realizes if they go any faster theyโre going to plow straight into the epicenter. So they all just keep the same mechanical speedโฆ because if that line compresses even a little bit the whole damn class might tip over like fainting goats. ๐
And the cowhorsesโฆ you ever wonder why those cows run so damn hard down the fence? Everyone says itโs pressure, instinct, prey drive. ๐
Nope.
You guessed it.
Theyโre trying to get the hell away from your crusty ass socks. ๐จ
Now if one of you comes on here and says you have the same superstitionโฆ but with your underwearโฆ weโre going to have to have a serious intervention.
Because that means your crotch cooties have been fermenting in there all show season like a damn sourdough starterโฆ just quietly brewing between classes while you sit in the saddle pretending everything is normal. ๐ฆ At that point youโre not protecting your luckโฆ youโre running a full blown microbial research facility in your pants and calling it a winning strategy. ๐
Alrightโฆ your turn.
Drop your weirdest show ring superstition in the comments because horse people have some absolutely unhinged rituals before they go in the pen. ๐๐
