How do I manage my horse's energy and excitement during a mounted shooting competition?

A mounted shooting horse at a competition is exposed to a combination of stimuli — other horses moving at speed, the sound of multiple competitors shooting throughout the day, the energy of the crowd, and the excitement of the competitive environment — that can elevate its baseline energy level significantly above what is normal at home. Managing that elevated energy to produce a safe, controlled competitive run is one of the practical horsemanship challenges that mounted shooting riders develop over time. Arriving at the competition with enough time to allow the horse to settle into the environment before it is needed for a run is the most important pre-run management decision. A horse that has spent several hours at the show grounds — grazing, observing activity, being ridden quietly in the warm-up area, and becoming familiar with the shooting sounds of other competitors' runs — arrives at the competition gate in a different mental state than a horse that steps off the trailer directly into the competition warm-up. The warm-up for a mounted shooting horse should allow it to move through its energy — trotting and loping in the warm-up area until the freshness has been used productively — without exhausting it before the run. A horse that is thoroughly warmed up and mentally settled moves through the course with the focused, directed energy that a competitive run requires rather than the scattered, reactive energy of a horse that is still processing the novelty of its environment. During the run itself, the rider's own mental state transfers directly to the horse. A tense, anxious rider communicates that anxiety through the seat, legs, and hands in ways that are invisible but completely legible to the horse. Developing the ability to manage personal competition anxiety — through practice under competitive conditions, experience with multiple runs, and deliberate attention to staying physically relaxed during the run — is a skill that benefits both horse and rider performance.