How should i prepare my horse before a show?

its a dressage test then a cross country course. he needs to be not to frisky and listening to my aids. i dont want to exhaust him before it. thanks

I trust you know what to do appearance wise, if not, look it up on the internet. I advise you get into the arena 1 hour after you feed your horse breakfast. Only ride for 10-30minutes, to get him listening to your aids (just go through walking, trotting and a quick little canter), and to make him alert. If you ride for over 1hr, your horse may be abit lazy when it comes to the actuall test. 30 minutes before the show, give him a little bit of a carrot (cut into long pieces) to make him a bit more spirited.

I wish you all the luck in your show. With these warm ups, I am sure you will do well.

Bye!

Hack him in the morning before your dressage test to give him a chance to get settled. If he is the type that needs to get a few bucks out you might want to put him on a lunge for a few mins (like 10 at most) not to tire him out, but to give him a chance to play.

Make sure you do it early enough to give him a chance to chill in between (untacked, groomed/bathed and given a chance to unwind)

I like to arrive the day before the show to give my horse a lot of time to settle. If you can't go the day before, go as many hours before your ride time that you can. I also like to longe before dressage to let him blow off steam and nervous energy. I also try bery hard to control my own emotions so that he does not react to my nervousness.

Have a set training schedule every time you get on your horse. If/when he starts to play up at a show, before you go into the ring you can do that warm up to settle him down. He'll know he needs to calm down and that it's time for work.