# Breed Raceists Judges At an OPEN SHOW!!!



## Siestasgirl16 (May 4, 2009)

Hello,
I just need to vent. I was at my first show of the season this past Sunday. My horse was completely ready as well as I. We went in the halter classes and did OK. When it came to the riding classes we nailed EVERYTHING!!! But do you think I could place in any of the six riding classes NO!!! Soon to find out that the judge made it verbally known that he hates Arabs, Saddlebreds and any other english type horse, and wouldnt you know it NONE of us places. My arab is up to the class A arabian huntseat showing standards. A GOOD judge should know that different breeds ask for different headsets, movement etc. I completely respect people if the beat me and did indeed do better then me but when a girl and her horse pick up the wrong lead in front of me, break the trot and break the walk, and my ride was flawless, I do not consider that beating me fairly. Now I would completely understand IF this was a stock horse show but it was NOT!!!!!! Has anyone else had this? I feel like I wasted my money and day. Please feel free to vent, I dont mind... :evil::evil::evil::evil:


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## Miss Katie (Dec 30, 2007)

Yep all the time. Ive found hacking classes to be completly biased, half the time Im pretty sure the judge makes up their mind before they even see the horses move. I was at my local show recently and saw an absolutly HOPELESS horse and rider combination place above my mare who did a reasonable (not as good as she could have, but a helluva lot better than this other horse) workout. 

Im not gonna bother anymore, I've decided. From now on, I will only compete in performance sports. No more show rings full of painted ponies and judges that would be lucky to tell the different parts of a horse.


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## Siestasgirl16 (May 4, 2009)

I completely agree!! It just makes me soooooo mad that I spent soooo much money and time on training! I would love to show in the class A arab shows but I cant afford it. I am glad I am not alone!


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## MIEventer (Feb 15, 2009)

I wholeheartedly agree Miss Katie.


I am sorry that you had to go through this experience - but this is why I refuse to spend my money on Flat Shows, because they are political and a waste of time/money/effort.

I used to do allot of flat shows back home, and if the Judge was a TB Judge, that's all that would pin. Or a QH Judge, that's all that would pin - etc, etc, etc.

I remember I had a lovely Morab named Ribbon. We have lovely rhythm, our transitions into each gait was smooth and lovely, we never broke our canter, we were a decent package in the ring - but we never pinned. 

The horse/rider teams that pinned were TB's who were not moving into their tansitions properly, running around flat, breaking their canter, on the wrong leads, wouldn't back up - but yet they kept placing.

The Judge already knows who he is placing before you even start the class. 

I refuse to do any flat shows what-so-ever. It is only HT's, Dressage Comps and the Jumper ring for me  Doesn't matter what breed you have, so long as you can answer the questions been given.


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

Why not simply be proud of the job you did and let it go at that?


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## MIEventer (Feb 15, 2009)

*sigh*

Way to go mls, throw the "the real reason of showing" in our faces.........

*hides in corner, rocking back and forth reciting real reason of showing while eye twitches*


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## IrishRider (Aug 7, 2008)

While I agree with mls, for sure, let's face it....we enter shows in the hopes that we win _something. _Yes it's good experience and yes it's fun but it's also nice to be recognized for all of your hard work in the form of a ribbon. So I understand the poster's frustration. It can be very disheartening when you find out how political showing can be. Trust me, I found out when a lady in my class fell off of her horse and still pinned higher than me because the judge that day was from the same barn as that lady. There was also a girl from our barn that rode a beautiful Arab stallion but placed fairly low in her classes because he's an Arab. At an all-Arab show he would have killed it, but against TB's and WB's the judges were biased.

There is nothing you can do about it, which stinks. So try to have fun and not let it get to you and do your best.


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## Brighteyes (Mar 8, 2009)

mls said:


> Why not simply be proud of the job you did and let it go at that?


Yes, the "real reason of showing." Despite, this isn't the reason that anyone shows. Seriously, would anyone spend time and money compeating if they knew that they didn't have half a chance of placing? I know it sounds wrong, but I'm just being honest.


EDIT:

I just said the same thing as Irishrider and didn't even read her post before posting myself...strange... I guess good minds think a like.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

ha ha yep, the old hack judges that hate ay-rabs. They are an undying breed... Aargh! I once got reserve champion arab at an ARAB show, because the other horse was a derivative and won because it's NON arab side gave it a better shoulder and better movement. Uh... Call me dumb but I thought the arab ring was judged against the ARAB BREED STANDARD. lol. I was so mad, my pony was sooo good!


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

That's why I now do speed events, or at least events that have no element of human error :]


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## Spyder (Jul 27, 2008)

Why I prefer jumper.

I even have an "acceptable" breed now and still run into bias. I asked a judge why he was placing in the lowest placings when he was doing so much better the month before against the same horses (it was a hunter series so most showed up each month).

Now I know what _behind the bit_ means in dressage and my boy does not go behind the bit but I was dumbfounded when the hunter judge said he placed him down because he was "behind the bit". The comment might have passed muster with anyone not familiar with dressage but don't tell a former dressage dudge that he was behind the bit and in a HUNTER class !!!!:shock:

BTW...the following month he was show champion !!


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## xChelseaxxSmilex (May 24, 2009)

I also hate the politics!:-x I did so good in this one class and placed below a person who couldn't even get on the correct lead everytime they asked for the canter. I figured out that she's been showing there for a long time, and she's best freinds with the judge. Since it was my first time showing there i didn't place very high, and at the open shows it's way worst!


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## Solon (May 11, 2008)

It's what you gotta deal with if you're going to show. The judges around here are anti draft in the show ring. So you either suck it up and show anyway and have fun and do your best or you don't. Some of the judges are a little too high and mighty. And as long as you show in their classes you're not going to win. It stinks!


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## Siestasgirl16 (May 4, 2009)

wild_spot said:


> That's why I now do speed events, or at least events that have no element of human error :]


 
That is sooooooo funny, I am now considering doing speed with my horse. More fun, less work!!!


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## Spastic_Dove (Oct 4, 2007)

I wouldn't say less work. 
There is still bias in the speed world. It doesn't come from the judges, but if you're trying to do barrels on anything but a quarter horse, people tend to judge you.


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## Siestasgirl16 (May 4, 2009)

Spastic_Dove said:


> I wouldn't say less work.
> There is still bias in the speed world. It doesn't come from the judges, but if you're trying to do barrels on anything but a quarter horse, people tend to judge you.


 
No I know that I am going to be judged for having an Arab but at least all that matters is how my horse and I connect and how fast we do the patterns. I have delt with the bias people my entire horse carrier but that doesnt matter to me. What the clock says is what the clock says!!!

I know that it will be hard work going from dressage and hunt to speed but my precision will be very precise from dressage training. :wink:


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## IrishRider (Aug 7, 2008)

Brighteyes said:


> Yes, the "real reason of showing." Despite, this isn't the reason that anyone shows. Seriously, would anyone spend time and money compeating if they knew that they didn't have half a chance of placing? I know it sounds wrong, but I'm just being honest.
> 
> 
> EDIT:
> ...


Haha. Well if you own Fjords then this must be true. One day I will own one. I just love them.


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## DarkEquine (Aug 29, 2008)

Ugh! I know what you guys are talking about! There was a 17hh WB in my instructer's dressage class that PIGROOTED all down the long side in canter, the rider whacking it with the whip, and she STILL placed higher than the little 15.2 mixed breed she rode, who cantered on the correct lead the entire time!

Oh, and I saw the WB's comments and he said that she 'rode through it well'...what? She was hitting him over and over again!


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## Solon (May 11, 2008)

I don't know how some of you that show regularly deal with all the politics.


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## Dartanion (Dec 8, 2008)

MIEventer said:


> I used to do allot of flat shows back home, and if the Judge was a TB Judge, that's all that would pin. Or a QH Judge, that's all that would pin - etc, etc, etc.
> .


Yep I 100% agree. When I first moved up here it was ruled by QH's and Arabs. I never placed my first year up here and after a Hunter show(Open) with D I asked the judge thought we could improve on since I did not place (didn't want anyone else but we did get a wrong lead, I had one jump i got left behind a little so not a flawless round but we were the ONLY paint team) and the judge said QUOTE:" Go out and buy a Qh Paints should not be jumping, they below with the cows. Better luck next time, if you had a good breed of horse I would have used you." 
Me: :evil: X some huge number. I wanted to tell her what for but being the President of the Judges committe for this particular club I didn't want to shatter my chances of placeing in the futur. I kept showing with D and ONE judge guest judges their 'regional' show and she gave me first in everything! ever since that Bay area judge used us. We've been placing more where we should and not dead last. Don't get me wrong we still have classes we don't always place in but I like to think it's because we had a bad round and not because I ride a paint.


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## Scoutrider (Jun 4, 2009)

I live in an area where there are a lot of do or die Quarter Horse people. Love Quarter Horses, have one purebred and one mostly QH in my barn now. I used to have a mixed breed mostly Morgan gelding, and we frequently lost a lot of Showmanship classes to QHs with obvious performance faults. Our rail work deserved beating half the time, he had a rough trot for western, ha ha.

I'll never forget one show, though. It was my 4-H club's show, where only my club competes, sort of a schooling show for the year and to get our required Grooming and Showmanship score. Most of my club are gamers, and so don't put a lot of effort into correct turnout for G&S, but they do have clean horses that basically know the showmanship drill. At the time, with my Morgan mix (quite obviously no QH, would have tanked a stock horse halter class, ha ha), I left his mane long. Correct for breed, and for his daily-turnout, fly protection requiring lifetyle. After the class and before the placings, the judge commented on the class. She very condescendingly said that all of us needed to work on our clipping and braiding/banding, and that since we all had QHs, we all needed to pull the manes to 4 in. and shave their ears clean inside! Now, this was my club only so I knew all of the horses well. The class had six horses, and only one was QH! Including my Morgan mix, there was one Appy (with spots!, not a lot, but with spots), an MFT, a complete mutt (cobby type), and one sport type paint! Grr. Granted, the Appy maybe should have been pulled and banded, but any _judge_ should have recognized that these were certainly not all QHs! :evil:


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## Nutty Saddler (May 26, 2009)

Many years ago a friend of mine was in a working hunter class and the judge said that she was not placed because her horse's ' bum wobbled ! '

Another time another day, a different judge pulled out a hunting horn and blew it really hard - only 5 horses reacted so he placed them and said the rest had not hunted so were not placed ( pity the poor girl who was doing a jumping round in a different ring - her horse went nuts and started to look for the hounds ).


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