Showing Judges

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Walnut

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Dec 10, 2006
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Entered a class at the weekend and came out feeling like me and my horse were not worthy! It was a small, local show which I entered for fun but it has put me off showing for life :( The judges said nothing nice at all about my horse, argued with me about the colour of my tack and the quality of my saddle (which was all clean but not brand new of course!) and were even smoking in the show ring! Is this normal behaviour for showing judges or are these an exception? I'd be interested to hear about others' experiences.
 
If its a local show I would say that they were not very good judges! I was a secretary for a saddle club and had to choose judges and they were all expected to be well presented etc.

It sounds as if maybe the committee have chucked any old Joe Bloggs to judge it (save them money I guess! :()
 
It's definately not good behaviour for a judge (either to be smoking in the ring, or to be rude). The colour or quality of your tack may or may not have been ideal, but there are ways of saying things.

Try not to let it put you off showing. If you can, get some advice from people who do more showing than you (to see if the comments really were justified), and have another go. Often you'll get some really good pointers (said in a positive way!) from judges on how to improve, even if you don't win the class.

I've been reccomended several judges for a show I'm organising, but on further investigating found some totally unsuitable (from one being scruffy, to several people independently saying one is cruel to their horses) - so people seem to have different standards for what is acceptable in a judge!
 
I agree, dont let it put you off. I started judging last year after doing my assessments etc..one club I went to in particular was not like Ive seen before, obviously teh competitors were new to showing, pink over-reach boots, winnie the pooh numnahs etc..mis-match tack, gags, martingales..this is in ridden classes.

I judged them for their own credit and politely gave them advice at the end with regards to turnout etc. I wouldnt think of putting them down, at local level its all about learning how to progress.
I am pleased to say that Ive judged there this year twice already and the advice I gave LAST year has really been taken on board, Im so pleased that the standard has improved 100%! and there are some good horses that wouldnt look out of place at county!

Needless to say I had great feedback and the club want me to go back and judge again, and apparently the members now look forward to me judging as I help them. Thats what its all about.

Ive been there at teh bottom of the line, being told my cob is long backed/my jacket is the wrong colour etc...Id rather be given some feedback on how to improve myself.

Definately go to another show, and if the judge doesnt offer it, ask for feedback. And write the name of that bad judge down, and never show under him/her again. That was just rude. (sorry for waffle)
 
that wasn't a very nice judge :confused: ,my judge on sunday said that my 3yr old welsh D x (m & m class) would make a nice driving pony :eek: mmmm thanks for that,take it with a pinch of salt ,a new show, a new judge, a new opinion :D
 
coyote said:
that wasn't a very nice judge :confused: ,my judge on sunday said that my 3yr old welsh D x (m & m class) would make a nice driving pony :eek: mmmm thanks for that,take it with a pinch of salt ,a new show, a new judge, a new opinion :D
Click to expand...

What's wrong with that? :confused:

Walnut - just smile, then mentally stick two fingers up at them. In fact it's worth putting in a complaint to the show organisers so they don't bring the judges back next year. I've been really lucky with all my judges so far, but I've had some cr*p stewards - inc one which said we only won because of Daffy's manners. :rolleyes:

Problem with local shows, is that they can struggle to get judges, so many have to take what is available. At the end of the day the organisers won't know what you think unless they are told - send them an anonymous letter if you feel better, but they can't do anything about it if they don't know about it. If you do have a problem, voice it and work with them to solve it.

I wouldn't worry too much about your tack, yes it matters if you go above local level, but there's plenty you can do on the cheap/for free to improve your overall turnout, so that things like poor quality/wrong colour tack aren't as noticeable. Lastly, anybody can show, and it's meant to be fun whatever the level, so don't let them get to you. :)
 
Thanks for all the encouragement, I too thought that showing was for everyone - especially if you're not taking it too seriously but I would like to clarify a few matters!

Last year, in the same class I used a white saddle pad and was told (very rudely and by same judges) that it was completely unacceptable etc, etc They advised me that it is either a discreet numnah (same colour of horse) or nothing so I actually bought a brown numnah to match my bay boy! Got a telling off for that! The issue with the tack was that a bit of the stitching around the saddle has worn away - no threads hanging or anything and so I was told that usually I would be thrown out of the arena but that luckily:rolleyes:she was letting me off. PLEASE, at a local show? She then mistook the colour of my bridle as black when it is brown and said my reins did not match and told me off before being corrected by me and verified by the other judge.

So many other things were said too that I didn't agree with like "why don't you wear spurs to make him respond better" etc

May send an anon letter, that's a good idea as I am certainly not usually one for moaning and doing nothing - it's just that this is a good place to vent one's early frustrations!:)
 
I wouldnt send an anonymous letter Id write my name in capitals, bold and underline it! You pay money to enter these shows and you should expect a decent judge. Whats the point in going if the judge is going to knock you down like that?
 
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