| Being a judge a horse show is not an easy thing to do. | | | | more than 5 minutes in the show ring to show off their |
| It seems no matter what, someone will be unhappy. I | | | | horses. How can a judge examine each and every |
| have shown for many years and have heard every | | | | horse in the ring and give each one a chance in such |
| complaint from, "the judging was political" to "the only | | | | little time. Can a judge truly see each horse in that little |
| horses that will place are those that the people spent | | | | time? I watched a class which lasted 6 minutes. There |
| a lot of money on" to "the judge is judging from the | | | | were 5 horses in the class and not one horse made it |
| saddle up." I think all of us have thought each of these | | | | completely around the ring even once in any gait. Is this |
| phrases at one time or another at different horse | | | | fair? Can you get a true picture of that horse when he |
| shows. When you go to a show, you are asking for | | | | she is not given the time to settle into his or her gait? |
| one person's or, in some cases, three people's opinions. | | | | I also thought of the impact this time or lack thereof |
| We may not always agree with that opinion, but in | | | | has on the riders. It takes a long time for riders to |
| how many things in life do we always agree? | | | | prepare to show. By the time riders get dressed, get |
| Recently, another question came into my head about | | | | on their number, make sure their riding boots are |
| the art of judging. That question was how long should | | | | polished, their hat is cleaned and all the other items |
| a class be run for everyone to have a chance to be | | | | they need are together, it takes as long as getting the |
| fairly examined. I was at one show where the class | | | | horse ready. Not to mention the time and commitment |
| went on forever and people were complaining that the | | | | people put into their riding so that they are ready to go |
| judge didn't know what he/she was doing. Each class | | | | to a horse show. People deserve to go into the ring |
| was over 15 minutes in length. Even when there were | | | | and have at least 10 minutes of riding time. Taking a |
| only two in the class. Now, this length of time is fine for | | | | horse to a horse show is not cheap. People should |
| aged horses, but it is a bit excessive for horses who | | | | feel that they have gotten their money's worth. I don't |
| are 4 and under. Then, I went to another show where | | | | think it even comes down to the ribbons; it is a matter |
| the classes were over within 5 minutes. The entire | | | | of feeling that you were given an equal chance with |
| performance of 12 classes lasted less than an hour. | | | | everyone else and had the thrill of spending time in the |
| People then complained that it wasn't fair to the riders | | | | show ring. |
| not to have "their" fair time in the ring. Typically, at least | | | | Judging horse shows is not an easy task and we are |
| at a saddlebred horse show, you figure on 10 minutes | | | | lucky that we have people who are willing to do it. But, |
| average per class. | | | | judges also have to remember that the riders put in a |
| There has to be a balance between these two. When | | | | lot of time, money and effort to have their horse at the |
| you think of all that goes into getting a horse ready to | | | | show, and should give the rider and the horse a |
| show--from bathing to clipping to putting in switches or | | | | chance to show what they can do and a reasonable |
| what have you, it takes well over an hour to get a | | | | amount of time in the ring. |
| horse ready to show. After all this, people should have | | | | |