Misbehaving in the ring

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cracklethepiglet
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Misbehaving in the ring

Post by cracklethepiglet » Thu Jul 05, 2018 2:26 am

I had market swine showmanship this past Sunday, and my pig was being a complete pain. She did way better at home than she has been doing at the fair. She’s always been stubborn, even at home, but at the show on Sunday, the worst came out in her. She rode the fence the whole time and wouldn’t even budge. I was embarrassed because I’ve done way better with showing pigs before. Even now when I take her out for practice showmanships at the fair, she did the same thing on Sunday - rode the fence and I have to hit her very hard to get her to move off the fence. She’s also now screaming when I walk her. I do not know what to do and showmanship is today. I saw someone kneel down in the show ring while they let their pig chew on the whip, kinda trying to get their head up. Is that something I should do when she’s not behaving??? Any advice is appreciated!!!
Crackle the Piglet :D

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hogger39
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Re: Misbehaving in the ring

Post by hogger39 » Fri Jul 13, 2018 1:29 pm

A little late of a response, but I hope this helps later in showing. The pig is probably terrified. Personally, I don't use the whip hard with my pigs unless they are doing something wrong. Eventually, they learn not to do whatever it was. There was also a few times I used the whip when we still had rat poison set out and they flipped over the board. I wrote a research paper in my freshman English class last year and talked a lot about a bond of trust between showman and pig. I think the pig is terrified and no longer trusts you. If you still have the pig, and plan on showing it again, I would take some time to sit in the pen with the pig. Another thought is the possibility of a different whip at the show to what you trained the pig with. Did you wear bright colored clothing and have always wore dark clothes training? If you have taken it to practice shows, it should be better, but I guess not. this is what is stumping me, as well as you seem to be. If the judge didn't pull the showman who knelt down, I wouldn't say not to try it. I hope you did well with the pig at the show. Hope you get something out of this rambling.

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cracklethepiglet
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Re: Misbehaving in the ring

Post by cracklethepiglet » Sat Jul 14, 2018 8:05 pm

Thanks for the response! I think she had a hard time transitioning to the fair w/ other pigs because before that she was all alone @ home. I only show once a year, so I think my nerves may have also got the best of me on Sunday and that nervous energy transferred to my pig and she began to misbehave. I don't have the pig anymore, but I really appreciate your input. I will use it in the future. Another interesting thing is I always trained her with colored clothing on, but we have to wear white jeans and a white button-down in the show ring, so maybe you were right. I didn't even think about that but now I'm suspecting that could have been another thing! Her only time at a show was at the fair so not sure how she would've behaved at different shows...

Anyways, I just wanted to say that I got 2nd place in intermediate showmanship and then advanced to senior showmanship, which I placed 8th in. I was very pleased with the results, especially because I knew how stubborn she was - I thought I wouldn't even place. What I changed from Sunday to Thursday was:
-I tried to stay way more relaxed (which I did)
-Used the whip I trained her with, instead of another new whip to her - I used a new whip (to her it was a new whip) on Sunday
-and was more gentle with my whip

When my family was observing me showing on Sunday, they said they could tell that I kinda "gave up" when she began riding the fence - I really did, but I still tried to get her off, although I felt disappointed and basically gave up. On Thursday I made sure that if she began misbehaving again, I wouldn't give up. I think I calmed down more by the time that Thursday rolled around which helped to keep her calm. She did try riding the fence again but I got her off pretty easily because I was calm. Your "rambling" ;) was helpful and thank you so much for the well wishes!! (I rambled a lot more, lol!) I wish you the best of luck with show pigs :)
Crackle the Piglet :D

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