Hello!
My name is Flip, and I'm a member of the OAC, or Obsequiously Aggressive Club. I'm looking for more members, please send a SASE to 777 Wooof! Thank you!
I've been very, very, Very busy! Mom's OtherSiSter is here! I jumped up on her, and EvErYthing. Mom and OtherSiSter both tried to tell me aGain, that jumping is wrong, but hey, DADdy and Mom's BroTher let me! My Mom does NOT know AnyEveryThing. She's pretty well-trained now, though, my weird Mom. Her rules about chipmunk hunting are just plain silly. My VeryOwnDogBlaze just doesn't get the "ignore Mom when she's calling" rule, when on the scent of GooD. I found some more GooD tonight! (belch, fart, gulp)
I'll bore you with my tale of horse-show disillusionment, if I may.
I'm at my first recognized show, with my mare, in the green hunters. I'm a very early teen. I'm riding the hack class, having bombed out over fences. We ride around for that usual interminable amount of time, and the class begins to line up. A horse and rider sweep into the ring, tall dark handsome guy, gorgeous huge moving chestnut horse. The class is basically over. The guy wins it. He wasn't even THERE for three-quarters of it!
Oh, I was a kid, and I was aNNoYed. I wrote an impassioned letter to the Corinthian, (Horse Sport, it's called now) and it was published, to my delighted surprise.
Now, I had absolutely NO chance in that hack class. ALL the other competitors would have had to scratch. But I still felt that TallDarkHandsomeFamousOlympicJumperLaterBecameBN-TB-trainer won unfairly. Today, I'd be much more laissez-faire about it.
It was a hunter hack class. Best horse would win it. It doesn't take long for good judges to see the best. The rest are supposed to learn from that. Sure wish I had. You see, no-one replied to my letter, editorially speaking. If the editor had said, "Perhaps the best horse did win, because of blah, blah, blah", I might have learned something.
Instead, I was left to think I was right. (Hah, now That's a fractured pun, if I ever saw one.)
But, really, honestly, deep down, I was mad I hadn't won a darned thing. That should never, ever be the only reason for showing. It's to see who's "best". At whatever you choose to excel at.
Learning from the best, or just the better on that day, should always be a positive thing. I don't get why it isn't, really. I'm wondering why my youthful mindset was like that. Even though I was in the presence of a highly successful rider, I was blind to anything he was doing.
Learning to accept the inherent unfairness of life itself is a pretty hard lesson. It can be learned at a horse show, too.
Striking, how some never do seem to get it.
8 comments:
Grace is busily getting her SASE ready to send. She feels the very same way.
Well, I am just going to have to say, that the rules were not followed in that class, so soon to be BNT should have been DQ'd, I don't care how nice his horse was! So There!
OOOOHHHHH, looky there, I am
FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Skeeter is thinking her could join the club , but he is shy , so we will see. I agree with CCC best horse or not ,you snooze you loose he should not have placed being late.But I do get the point of your story , show to show , or learn,or train, or display your stock. Its not all about the WIN
Great post as usual GL!
Ooooh, I remember the show...a horse worth so much money I'm still sure he had green skin showed up. Kicked my unworthy butt he did!
But then I remember another show when a young girl riding a wonderful old campaigner told me "I am not going to sign up for a class if you enter, because I know I don't stand a chance." She had assumed that I had bought a trained horse and had lots of money. Nope, trained my horse myself and budgeted for a year to go to the dance.
Hopefully at a show the classes will be fair and rules will be followed, but sometimes that is not the case. I do wish that all judges were as open about what they saw and why they placed riders as a friend of mine is. She has an incredible memory and writes critiques on almost every rider.
It was a real education to be her ring steward and see what she was seeing from the judges perspective. I really don't envy her her job, the riders and horses were ALL great. The differences in placing can be minuscule variations when seen from the center of the ring. The decisions that she has to make in a split second would leave me paralyzed! Deciding if a missed lead is more importance than...(take your pick!)
Rules are rules, and if a judge does not have one darn good reason for a variance, the club or organization that hired that judge should fire that judge. I know one judge that I refuse to show for because I do not respect his opinion enough to bother. And it's not even sour grapes! He placed a horse that I was riding that tried to buck me off in the ring, because he likes that specific look and bloodline and was willing to overlook bad behavior for the 'picture'. Now if I were riding for a validation of breeding stock I'd probably love the guy!
I would love to see more small shows. C'mon folks, they can be great money makers for a club or barn. Let your local 4H and Pony Club kids be judges. GL, FV, all of you knowledgeable horsemen offer your services to a local barn! Fun shows, schooling shows, lets get back to having fun showing off our horses and how much we've learned. There are so few shows anymore that unless you have the money to travel you just can't get the experience you need 'on stage' to be a competitor.
I've never minded getting beaten. I don't like being robbed. If you out ride me or your horse is better, great you win. I don't like it when judges just place names, or groups under certain trainers. Bugs the crap out of me.
I see stuff go on that is just insane. The horse can't get the correct lead, and still wins the class? What the hell? And why are pleasure judges placing horses that four beat? A lope is a three beat gait last I heard. Or they place lame horses. I thought you were supposed to be excused if your horse was off. And what is it with the tipped into the rail for the lope? Can't your horse travel straight?
I see some dressage judges place a flashy mover with errors, over the horse that was correct and obedient but not as 'big' a mover. And gawd help the 15h horse in an open dressage show.
I did switch to timed events for awhile. Just run against the clock, fastest horse wins. They can hose you there too. Oh, timer failer...sorry you'll need to re-ride. That only happened to me a couple times. They'd ask if I wanted my re-ride now, or later. I always go right away...my horse just had a practice run. I almost invariably have a faster time the second go. lol
Oh, the world of judged competition. Makes me wonder why we do it.
I will admit, it was tough bring the girls up on backyard ponies and competing against top dollar mounts. It sucks having to explain poor sportsmanship to an 8 year old. The only thing I could say to my girls was "A bad example is a good example of what you DON'T want to be".
And FTR, dog shows are as bad or worse.
Henry joins Grace in sending his SASE.
great post, as usual, GoL!
is Tad looking up the hill or down? I see him contemplating lift-off.
HP, I'm with you, and I think a bunch of people are. Maybe the idea of correct small shows could really catch on! You would be my pick for a judge.(Hint Hint;)) There's a bunch of riders out here that just want a small fair venue to show in.
PA, that is just the coolest avatar pic!!!!!
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