January at Diamond W Arena in Alvarado. My first show ever. It was an open show but APHA approved. I got last in everything. A very rude judge. I showed in hunter in hand and some english pleasure classes.
March 17. St Patricks Day. Schooling show at the barn where I take lessons at. We had a blast. It was very relaxed and also had dressage tests. We showed in a couple of english pleasure classes and took home the blue in everything! Very friendly and helpful judge. She gave advice to all the competitors. There were very nice people there as well.
March 23. yesterday. There were only 4 of us english riders. The arena was on the smaller side so warm up was a mess even with 4 of us. The judge was very much affiliated with this barn. After the classes, she asked me if my gelding has trouble picking up his right lead. I told her he is left sided but we have been working on leads. She said my gelding did not pick up his right lead at all. I went back and looked at the videos my mom got. What I saw was that she was wrong. my gelding Only picked up the wrong lead once. I immediately brought him back down to the trot and went at the canter again. He picked up the correct leads every time after that. So I dont know what she was talking about. But I took home a 4th, 3 2nds, and 2 3rds. Basically last place because there were only 2-3 people in each class including me. the 4th was hunter in hand.
How is english pleasure supposed to be judged exactly? My gelding was the only one moving big. He was nice and "round" but forward. He moves big (he is only 15 hh). The other horses in the classes were QHs. They moved like western pleasure horses! they practically jogged and had no extension to their trots. Their canters were very small and were more like little lopes! I thought the english classes called for more extension and bigger moving animals! These horses were 16hh.
And passing is acceptable in classes, correct? Since my horse moves so much bigger, I have to pass them, and I have to cut corners. I can not just stay behind them. Passing is the better option in this case, right?
It just seems like most of these classes are judged using the QH standards. AQHA is very big around here. QH dominates here. Therefore most judges in the open shows will use AQHA standards, right? I mean I see all different breeds in open and schooling shows. Every breed has different standards and some have bigger movements, some have more action, and etc. I just wish every judge would judge each horse on how they represent their breed. Same with halter classes, right?
March 17. St Patricks Day. Schooling show at the barn where I take lessons at. We had a blast. It was very relaxed and also had dressage tests. We showed in a couple of english pleasure classes and took home the blue in everything! Very friendly and helpful judge. She gave advice to all the competitors. There were very nice people there as well.
March 23. yesterday. There were only 4 of us english riders. The arena was on the smaller side so warm up was a mess even with 4 of us. The judge was very much affiliated with this barn. After the classes, she asked me if my gelding has trouble picking up his right lead. I told her he is left sided but we have been working on leads. She said my gelding did not pick up his right lead at all. I went back and looked at the videos my mom got. What I saw was that she was wrong. my gelding Only picked up the wrong lead once. I immediately brought him back down to the trot and went at the canter again. He picked up the correct leads every time after that. So I dont know what she was talking about. But I took home a 4th, 3 2nds, and 2 3rds. Basically last place because there were only 2-3 people in each class including me. the 4th was hunter in hand.
How is english pleasure supposed to be judged exactly? My gelding was the only one moving big. He was nice and "round" but forward. He moves big (he is only 15 hh). The other horses in the classes were QHs. They moved like western pleasure horses! they practically jogged and had no extension to their trots. Their canters were very small and were more like little lopes! I thought the english classes called for more extension and bigger moving animals! These horses were 16hh.
And passing is acceptable in classes, correct? Since my horse moves so much bigger, I have to pass them, and I have to cut corners. I can not just stay behind them. Passing is the better option in this case, right?
It just seems like most of these classes are judged using the QH standards. AQHA is very big around here. QH dominates here. Therefore most judges in the open shows will use AQHA standards, right? I mean I see all different breeds in open and schooling shows. Every breed has different standards and some have bigger movements, some have more action, and etc. I just wish every judge would judge each horse on how they represent their breed. Same with halter classes, right?