JUST "MY" Opinion of Nationals this year.

[myminis]

Let me just start by saying that this is my third year at Nationals. I don't expect ANY good responses from this, but it IS my opinion. The ones I did talk to at Nationals, 99% were of the same thoughts. There was A LOT of grumbling, HOWEVER it was with justification in mine and others eyes but I can't speak for them only myself. If you weren't there or just watched it on video you have NO idea what REALLY went down.

Let me explain a few things. I really don't think it matters and it's going to tick some people off especially "big trainers" but hey you don't pay my entry fees I do.

A. There's so much it's hard to know where to begin. I believe there was a lot Bias and "favoritism," toward faces NOT horses, I don't think HORSES were judged I think FACES were judged. If you look at the percentages of what a "halter" horse is judged on then the horses that were there, which were many so many different ones SHOULD have been PICKED. I feel there was a LOT of bad judging.

1. So many people work JUST as hard, just as many hours, spend just as much time, just as passionate, had just as many years experience, as other people. Other people had JUST as nice "IF NOT, IF NOT NICER HORSES, THEN SOME OF THE TRAINERS/WINNERS...... AND YES, THEY SHOWED JUST AS WELL, so don't give me that, well if you go back NEXT YEAR MAYBE YOU'll WIN. NO YOU WON'T "THE BIG TRAINERS/BIG WINNERS WILL.

2. I had a horse in a halters class and out of the 10 places 9 trainers/big winners won. "9" Now tell me that's fair.

I "personally" think there should be:

1. Professional Amateur.

2. Amateur levels 1-2

3. Big Trainers class

4. Small Trainers class

And I TRULY believe people like E belongs in the professional armature class. They do not belong in a armature class like I'm in. I have no business competing against them My horses are just as good, I'm just as good at showing as them, but they're E and they're going to give it to that person. AND DON'T TELL ME THERE NOT. I've shown with this person elsewhere and seen it. I'm NOT Jealous. I'm flat telling you. It's like that with ALL the trainers, it's the same in open classes, I'm NOT singling anyone out personally. It just the way it is in the AMHR. I can't speak for the AMHA cause I don't show in it.

B. When I FIRST got to Nationals, the trainers/big winners were going in haphazardly day's starting going by and they figured out a system, they noticed the judges would stay (if you were in the stands facing the stage) toward the left so the big trainers started going in last and if you started noticing the judges were picking the winners and spending most of their time down my trainers on that side.

C. I then noticed that when a few trainers were in a class the class went faster, the more trainers the longer a class, NO TRAINERS then the judges actually had to work, it took even longer.

D. I feel like the AMHR failed us as a whole horse community. So MANY people that were trainers DID deserve to win I'm not saying they didn't. I know for a fact Mike Sisk did deserve his wins. He was showing his heart out on one of his horses, his horse was GORGEOUS, and GEE he ended up with a 3rd. I was like WHAT THE HECK.... The judging didn't make ANY SENSE.

E. I DID make my complaint to the judges. I thought the judging was bias the past couple of years BUT nothing compared to this year. I won a lot last year, this year I won a 5 times out of 7 horses and THESE were all TOP NOTCH horses, they performed wonderfully. Just as a lot of other horses and they were slighted just as the same as others.

Basically bottom line, I'm ticked off that so many people, myself included were left out of winning when we had just as good of horses and we show just as well. We just don't have a name attached to ourselves.

I'm not saying using a trainer, or a big trainer is bad, I'm saying we need more of a equal playing field if were not going to have equal judging, PERIOD.

I do use a trainer for 3 of mine and they were even swallowed up by the big trainers and my trainer is pretty well known.

It won't happen again for me I can tell you that much, I won't waste the money. To me it was one big waste of money even though I won 5 x's. It wasn't worth it. I had to high of quality of horses not to walk away with far more. It was ONE sorry show as far as I'm concerned.

Please don't pick this apart, no flames, no oh poor person in Amateur your picking on them, or don't pick on the big trainers their people and have to make a living too. I KNOW all that. I'm saying it was an UNFAIR show PERIOD.

I do have one last thing to say though on a positive note. For those that did win, your a small farm, small breeder, small trainer, I commend you, for your great wins whether first or tenth. You do it yourself or maybe have a little help but have to scrape EVERY dollar you have to get by but you want the best for your horses, clients. I'm glad you won, there's far more of us then there are of them and we make up the majority so I don't know why they cater to them.

AND for you "BIG Trainers, remember you weren't so big once, you used to be like us, I believe you belong in YOUR OWN class competing against each other and not against little oh me cause obviously from this year I can't beat you and last year I did with the same horse, DIFFERENT JUDGES. I felt you were OVER confident that it was a trainers show, that were were a SELECT group of you and when MARK came on and was SCREAMING on the MICROPHONE about these being some of the best horses in the world, I wanted to PUKE. NO they weren't the best horses in the world were out in the stalls.

SO IF IT DOESN'T CHANGE TRAINERS HAVE AT IT AND I WON'T BE BACK. NO LOSS ON YOUR PART I'M SURE........

this is not meant to single anyone out or hurt anyones feeling it is JUST an opinion.

 

[Linda K]

Let me just start by saying that this is my third year at Nationals. I don't expect ANY good responses from this, but it IS my opinion. The ones I did talk to at Nationals, 99% were of the same thoughts. There was A LOT of grumbling, HOWEVER it was with justification in mine and others eyes but I can't speak for them only myself. If you weren't there or just watched it on video you have NO idea what REALLY went down.

Let me explain a few things. I really don't think it matters and it's going to tick some people off especially "big trainers" but hey you don't pay my entry fees I do.

A. There's so much it's hard to know where to begin. I believe there was a lot Bias and "favoritism," toward faces NOT horses, I don't think HORSES were judged I think FACES were judged. If you look at the percentages of what a "halter" horse is judged on then the horses that were there, which were many so many different ones SHOULD have been PICKED. I feel there was a LOT of bad judging.

1. So many people work JUST as hard, just as many hours, spend just as much time, just as passionate, had just as many years experience, as other people. Other people had JUST as nice "IF NOT, IF NOT NICER HORSES, THEN SOME OF THE TRAINERS/WINNERS...... AND YES, THEY SHOWED JUST AS WELL, so don't give me that, well if you go back NEXT YEAR MAYBE YOU'll WIN. NO YOU WON'T "THE BIG TRAINERS/BIG WINNERS WILL.

2. I had a horse in a halters class and out of the 10 places 9 trainers/big winners won. "9" Now tell me that's fair.

I "personally" think there should be:

1. Professional Amateur.

2. Amateur levels 1-2

3. Big Trainers class

4. Small Trainers class

And I TRULY believe people like E belongs in the professional armature class. They do not belong in a armature class like I'm in. I have no business competing against them My horses are just as good, I'm just as good at showing as them, but they're E and they're going to give it to that person. AND DON'T TELL ME THERE NOT. I've shown with this person elsewhere and seen it. I'm NOT Jealous. I'm flat telling you. It's like that with ALL the trainers, it's the same in open classes, I'm NOT singling anyone out personally. It just the way it is in the AMHR. I can't speak for the AMHA cause I don't show in it.

B. When I FIRST got to Nationals, the trainers/big winners were going in haphazardly day's starting going by and they figured out a system, they noticed the judges would stay (if you were in the stands facing the stage) toward the left so the big trainers started going in last and if you started noticing the judges were picking the winners and spending most of their time down my trainers on that side.

C. I then noticed that when a few trainers were in a class the class went faster, the more trainers the longer a class, NO TRAINERS then the judges actually had to work, it took even longer.

D. I feel like the AMHR failed us as a whole horse community. So MANY people that were trainers DID deserve to win I'm not saying they didn't. I know for a fact Mike Sisk did deserve his wins. He was showing his heart out on one of his horses, his horse was GORGEOUS, and GEE he ended up with a 3rd. I was like WHAT THE HECK.... The judging didn't make ANY SENSE.

E. I DID make my complaint to the judges. I thought the judging was bias the past couple of years BUT nothing compared to this year. I won a lot last year, this year I won a 5 times out of 7 horses and THESE were all TOP NOTCH horses, they performed wonderfully. Just as a lot of other horses and they were slighted just as the same as others.

Basically bottom line, I'm ticked off that so many people, myself included were left out of winning when we had just as good of horses and we show just as well. We just don't have a name attached to ourselves.

I'm not saying using a trainer, or a big trainer is bad, I'm saying we need more of a equal playing field if were not going to have equal judging, PERIOD.

I do use a trainer for 3 of mine and they were even swallowed up by the big trainers and my trainer is pretty well known.

It won't happen again for me I can tell you that much, I won't waste the money. To me it was one big waste of money even though I won 5 x's. It wasn't worth it. I had to high of quality of horses not to walk away with far more. It was ONE sorry show as far as I'm concerned.

Please don't pick this apart, no flames, no oh poor person in Amateur your picking on them, or don't pick on the big trainers their people and have to make a living too. I KNOW all that. I'm saying it was an UNFAIR show PERIOD.

I do have one last thing to say though on a positive note. For those that did win, your a small farm, small breeder, small trainer, I commend you, for your great wins whether first or tenth. You do it yourself or maybe have a little help but have to scrape EVERY dollar you have to get by but you want the best for your horses, clients. I'm glad you won, there's far more of us then there are of them and we make up the majority so I don't know why they cater to them.

AND for you "BIG Trainers, remember you weren't so big once, you used to be like us, I believe you belong in YOUR OWN class competing against each other and not against little oh me cause obviously from this year I can't beat you and last year I did with the same horse, DIFFERENT JUDGES. I felt you were OVER confident that it was a trainers show, that were were a SELECT group of you and when MARK came on and was SCREAMING on the MICROPHONE about these being some of the best horses in the world, I wanted to PUKE. NO they weren't the best horses in the world were out in the stalls.

SO IF IT DOESN'T CHANGE TRAINERS HAVE AT IT AND I WON'T BE BACK. NO LOSS ON YOUR PART I'M SURE........

this is not meant to single anyone out or hurt anyones feeling it is JUST an opinion.

 

[CLC Stables]

Not meant to single anyone out, and yet you do. Interesting.

 

[Linda K]

Let me start out by saying, I dont know who you are and to be honest...... I dont care. I've tried to be polite about this subject and 99.9 of the people here have been understanding and supportive. First , If you have somthing to say about my daughter, use her name, which is Erica, not "E". And as far as you not wanting to single out anyone, .... you should go back and read your post, because thats exactly what it sounds like to me.

You know, there were 3 judges that scored their cards and turned them in. "3". They didnt compare notes before they turned in their cards. And its an opinion, for goodness sake. If their were 3 different judges out there, you "may" have had different winners. I will not sit here and bash anyone, or anyones horses. That includes yours! Erica is not a Trainer, she is an amateur. She does however show in open with (in your words) the "big" trainers and seems to hold her own. One thing did catch my attention in your post.... You say your every bit as good and so are your horses ( you may be too) so why does it bother you to show against Erica? Why do you think she needs to be in a professional Ammy class, but you dont belong there showing with her ? Really? reread your post and think about it. I know its frustrating at times, we have been there too. I can go on, but really whats the point? And you know there were different judges for furturity, and open , and she was lucky enough to win some of those also. And that was NOT intended as a brag ! Great horses this year, with great people on the lead, any ribbon is an accomplishment.

sorry, momma bear is now off this subject ! But thanks for thinking she is good enough to be a professional !

I know Erica would have wanted me to ignore this, BUT?????????????????????????????????

Linda Killion

 

[susanne]

Please don't pick this apart, no flames...

Yeah, right. So it's okay for you to coyly "not" identify the person you're ripping apart, but it's not okay for anyone to respond?

Good luck with that one...

.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

And I TRULY believe people like E belongs in the professional armature class. They do not belong in a armature class like I'm in. I have no business competing against them My horses are just as good, I'm just as good at showing as them, but they're E and they're going to give it to that person. AND DON'T TELL ME THERE NOT.

Right. So your horses are just as good, you handle them just as well, but you "have no business competing with them."

Which one is it?

Basically bottom line, I'm ticked off that so many people, myself included were left out of winning when we had just as good of horses and we show just as well.

Amazingly, not everyone can win. I know it sucks but that doesn't keep it from being true! And sometimes things are noticeable from the stands that are hard to see from center ring. Halter is normally a complete mystery to me but this year I finally started seeing all sorts of little things that I'd never noticed before and it's going to make a difference in how I show my own horse next year. Some of the results were definitely different than I expected, but for all I know the horse I liked had a crooked leg I couldn't see. Who knows? You have every right to decide not to show but that's your decision.

Please don't pick this apart, no flames, no oh poor person in Amateur your picking on them, or don't pick on the big trainers their people and have to make a living too. I KNOW all that. I'm saying it was an UNFAIR show PERIOD.

Okay, since we can't respond in any way I will just say "That's funny. There were several 'professional amateurs' from the NW that went for the first time this year and beat the heck out of the big driving trainers!" I would have thought they'd be beaten by the Big Name just because the Big Name has always won, but that was not the case this year. I'll admit the Shetlands won over the true minis quite a lot, but sometimes they were just plain the nicest horse. Period.

Leia

ETA: By the way, you have every right to your opinion and your feelings and you are right to ask not to be torn apart for them. But the WAY you wrote your message was highly inflammatory and smelled strongly of sour grapes. Buckets and buckets of them! THAT is why you're getting no respect in turn. State your reasons in a way that sounds a bit less like a conspiracy theory and have the courtesy to sign your name if you want to be taken seriously.

 

[valshingle]

Sorry, but I have to put my two cents in here. I don't know Erica at all. Her horses are wonderful and she knows how to prep and show them. She has paid her dues. I doubt that when she first started she won against the big guns. When you are showing at this level, it can come down to very small differences. And you need to show the judges horses that are currently in style. You might (not saying you do, just hypothetically) think the QH type of mini is dynamite, but it's not what's winning in the show ring right now.

As a driving exhibitor it can be very frustrating to lose to the biggest trainers, but I do beat them periodically. Not very often, but when I do it's a very sweet victory. And you know what - those trainers are some of the first to congratulate me.

Life is full of politics. Most of the big trainers are known to generally have top notch horses, so yes, the judges will look at their horses more. Many of these known horses have been seen by these judges throughout the year. The judges are familiar with them. They know that trainer "A" usually has great horses. And these trainers won't show horses that aren't likely to win their divisions. Truly, unless you are judging the horses yourself (looking at teeth - the whole works) how can you know what the judges are seeing?

I'm sorry you didn't get the ribbons you wanted. But being a gracious loser is one of the hardest lessons to learn. Ok, I'll put on my flame suit now.

 

[JWC sr.]

Good post Val,

you are right about the hardest lesson to learn is sometimes to be a gracious loser and honestly be happy for someone else's joy of winning.

We that have been at this for a long time have won our share and lost our share over the years. While I may not agree with a certain judges opinion, I did pay for it and will take it for what it is worth.

Not that I will change anything I was doing prior to a certain win or loss, I will continue to try to understand and accept that which I paid for.

As far as trainers always winning, when you have a pool of literally thousands of horses to pick from as versus a small pool of just one farm, invariably you will have a top flight string if you are any good at what you do. And most of these trainers are very good at what they do.

If I were judging, while I would not give any more points for a trainer presented horse, I would though at least give them a second look knowing that the horse they are presenting was chosen as a winner by them or it would not be on the end of the trainers lead. I think if people are honest then they would admit to doing the same thing.

As far as Erica is concerned, I was sick this year and did not make it to Nationals till after the ammy classes were over. But with that said I know her horses and the ones she won with are pretty durn nice and she as an individual is an awesome young lady. Did she get on a roll and win a ton, you bet she did and personally I am happy for her success. Way to go kiddoe!!!

The one positive thing that was said in the original post was the need for a splitting of the ammy classes, I personally have no problem with there being different levels of competition, in order to give new folks an opportunity to learn and grow. Starting out is always hard to do and the new folks could use some help in order to enjoy their respective horses more and have a chance to win.

 

[gvpalominominis]

WOW... hope you feel better now getting that off your chest. I agree that you are correct on a couple points. Yep, there are politics in horse shows... along with human nature and personal likes and dislikes. No two judges like the exact same thing. You may want to learn to deal with it.... or not show. The first year I went to Nationals, it was Lisa Davis' shinning year! Someday... it could be yours.

I couldn't go to Nationals this year and really, really missed being there. There were several of us from this area that couldn't make it and watched it online and compared notes. Yes, we could tell which handlers showed which horses but did not let that influence our own at home picks... our picks of the top horses were pretty right on, regardless of who was showing them. My only complaint is that the videographer might want to take a course on horse show procedure and what people watching want to see... LOL LOL

Words of suggestion ammy to ammy: practice to make yourself better, take lessons to learn more, learn to groom like or better than the pros, show a horse that is competitive, properly condition and train your horse and to stand and show, believe in the horse you are showing, dress like a pro, be prepared and don't take short cuts in your preparation, show with confidence. If you do this, you can win over trainers. Experienced Amateurs like Erica have learned this and work very hard to make it happen.

When I feel I'm being overlooked... I just try harder and show more intently. Most Judges do see that. I also know my horses' faults, know when they didn't show their best and can't complaint if then get beat by a better horse or horse that showed it's heart out. Be resigned that if you are going to show along side the big dogs... you better be ready for it.

Sorry you felt you had such a bad experience, wish I'd been able to be there in your place with my horses. = )

 

[Yaddax3]

I make my living as a writer, and I learned long ago that every cockamamie thought in my head doesn't have to be written and shared with others. Perhaps myminis will learn that from this experience.

 

[CharlesFamily]

Well....if you presented your horses at Nationals with as much grace, dignity and attention to detail as you did to your post - we may have found the problem!

Barbara

 

[SHANA]

I won't say to much on the subject as I have never shown at Nationals but what you wrote gives you the wrong attitude to show. I show at local fairs here in Quebec. I win some, I lose some. I spend way more in entry fees, stall fees, gas, etc to go to these fairs than what I make at the fair in prize money. I go to have fun. My motto is "Participation is the prize, winning is the bonus." I know if I do go to Nationals one day I will go to show my horse and have fun, win or lose I will be losing lots of money if I do show there since I live very far away.

 

[Minimor]

Okay, here's the thing--you consider it good judging if you win, bad judging if you lose. Did you ever think that perhaps other people at the show may think much the same...if they win, it's great, if they lose it's bad judging and unfair competition. If you had won those people might be thinking (most would have the grace not to SAY it) that you didn't deserve to win. Did you ever consider that others may not see your horses in the same light that you do???

If you're as good at presenting your horses in the ring (and conditioning them beforehand) as any of the winners and your horses are as good (or better as you seem to believe) then you DO belong in the same classes with those winners, including Erica. Like someone else said, you can't have it both ways. Either you are equal to Erica (for one example--the example you used) and your horses are equal to hers, in which case you should be in the same division as she is--or you are not. You say you are equal, or even better, and yet you shouldn't have to compete against her...if it's unfair that you have to compete against her then it would seem that you are not quite equal in ability after all? You contradict yourself.

There are plenty of people who believe that they do a wonderful job of showing their horses, and yet the reality is they just are not seeing what is lacking in their presentation. In other words, they aren't as good as they think they are. They don't have the horse quality they think they do and/or they don't have their horses conditioned as well as they could/should be and/or they aren't really so good at presenting the horse in the ring.

Trainers all figured out at this show that they should show on one particular side of the ring?? Well, if you figured that out for yourself and believe that it made a difference then you should have used some strategy and got a position over on that side of the arena too! If that strategy was helping the trainers as you believe then you should have made the effort to use that same strategy!

When I read through the show results each day, it did seem that many classes had a number of trainers in the top ten. But, mixed in with those trainers were some non-pros as well--and there were classes where there were lots of non-pros in the top 10 and some of the pros were in the list of non-placing entries. A friend who showed there was here last night and she made the comment that this year it wasn't a "trainers' show"--she is a non-pro who got some placings but no big wins this year, and she thought it was an awesome show.

It really helps if exhibitors can be honest with themselves and evaluate the competition (and their own horses!) honestly.

You know, your post reminds me very much of an incident back in my 4-H days. I won a big grooming class at one of our achievement days. I started with a FILTHY mud caked horse that morning and cleaned him up so he was CLEAN--he could pass the white glove test with not a speck of dust marring that white glove. One older girl was MAD, stomping around ranting about how it wasn't fair, she should have won. She honestly, truly believed that she had deserved to win that class. Instead, she did not even place. And you know what? Every other person at the show could see that her horse was not well groomed--she patted him on the back & there was dust rising under her hand. He totally failed the white glove test. But in her mind he was as clean as he could be. Barn blindness combined with a very big bucket of sour grapes is what she had, and I see the same thing in your post.

Barbara (Charles Family) - excellent post! I love it!!

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

Well, I don't know what classes you were watching but it wasn't the same ones I was watching. I felt the judging was pretty much on target.

As for the handlers coming in to be on the left side- of course that's PLANNED. That's to throw your opponent off. We did it in the Over Stallion class with my friend's horse. It's to make an IMPRESSION. And it worked for "our" guy, who was Reserve. And then went Reserve Senior Stallion. And THEN went Reserve Grand Champion Stallion.

And we beat trainers in EVERY SINGLE DRIVING class we were in.

Erica (use her name- it isn't hard to spell) placed under THREE DIFFERENT sets of judges. Sounds like GOOD HORSES to me.....

 

[kaykay]

Kinda off topic but I get such a giggle out of the whole line up thing. My first Nationals I was very rudely told that a certain person was taking my place in the line up. I didnt fight her and someone asked me why. My reply was a great horse stands out no matter how they are lined up and it wasnt worth my time to argue with someone right before going in a class.

Another time a trainer tried to pull the same crap with me at a National area show. This time I had had enough and told him where he could stick it and again repeated a great horse stands out because its a great horse. And I beat him.

I do understand the theory of trying to line up where you want but its taken too far. It was very obvious watching on cam what was going on and I just had to giggle.

If you really think you won because you lined up in a certain portion of the arena then I dont know what to say except again a great horse always stand out no matter if he/she is on the left, the right or the middle. Be confident in your horse!

 

[txminipinto]

Wow. Glad you got that off your chest!

Now here's what really went down. You're coming off of last year's high of doing well and it stings bad when you don't repeat that success. I find it funny I don't know who YOU are, yet you want to speak poorly of one of the best known horsewomen in our industry. A woman who has worked hard and smart to get where she is today. If you have the balls to post such a disrespecting post, then have the balls to reveal your identity.

I watched most of the halter classes and I have to disagree. In the open division, not a single trainer dominated compared to years in the past! It was evenly spread out amongst some of the top trainers. Even some new people took home some very fancy titles! As a trainer, I can tell you how HARD our job is! We're paid to win. Clients spend THOUSANDS with us and expect us to win. We have to pick the best of what we have in front of us and yes, we do get to select from a much larger pool of horses than the typical Joe. So that ups our odds of doing well. But it doesn't always mean we will! Small farm/owners who only have one or 2 horses to work with can invest much more time in their horses than a trainer can invest in all of their client horses. YOU actually do have an advantage.

Frankly, if you are so good, post your face, your horses and put your money where your mouth is. And next year, work harder because there's ALWAYS someone better, more prepared, and better presented. ALWAYS. Get used to it and work harder.

And leave this filthy attitude in your barn. It will bite you in the butt in the ring.

 

[myminis]

I knew you'd miss the point you guy's this point was JUST NOT about E. NOT at all. You seemed to singled her out. It was about ALL the big trainers and ALL their faces including E's. I'm not saying they're bad people. I'm saying they got picked for who they were NOT for who their horses, PERIOD. There were JUST as many nice horses there that could have been chosen from but didn't cause they didn't have a NAME attached to them. I don't care what any of you say it's the truth and I'll die with that. You guy's are so blinded you can't see it. I WAS there and saw it and have seen it at other shows. Here it was so OBVIOUS and BLATANT it was disgusting.

I wish no one ill will or they're wins, hey if E wins on merit more power to that person they deserve it, but I'm sorry I don't believe out of ALL those horses that their wasn't some just as nice. Cause I SAW them and their were.

I'm not out to convince you that some people are bad, I'm just telling you it was an unfair show and it needs to be looked at and they need to separate the professional show people from the ammy's. Put the face people together and let them have their own class.

ALL you guy's are concerned with is that I bashed someone and that wasn't the case. It doesn't matter whether I showed good or bad I wasn't going to win anyways, PERIOD.

I KNEW coming on here it would be just as one sided as the judges and the one camp. If YOU were in some of the shoes we were in you wouldn't be feeling that way. There were a LOT of them that DID deserve they're wins and I'm NOT going to take that away from them. There's just a select few who kept winning over and over and over and over again and it wasn't about the horses it was about the FACES...... PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

AT LEAST I HAD THE GUTS TO SAY SOMETHING. NO ONE ELSE WANTS TO SAY SOMETHING FOR FEAR OF REPERCUSSIONS. WELL I BELIEVE SOMETHING "NEEDS" TO BE SAID CAUSE IF IT ISN'T THEN THE SAME OLD SYSTEM JUST CONTINUES AND THE GRUMBLING CONTINUES AND NOTHING IS DONE AND PEOPLE LIKE ME WHO SPEND "HUNDREDS" OF DOLLARS ON LOCAL SHOW ENTRY'S WILL JUST EVENTUALLY DROP OUT, OUT OF FRUSTRATION.

 

[txminipinto]

Her name is Erica.

What's yours?

 

[~Lisa~]

What many do not realize is our funky judging system which you need to be another Albert Einstein to understand plays a big part.

When looking at the cards from this year and past years you can see it is very possible for a horse to place

example of 2 placings on cards for this year....

 

2nd-6th and 8th and yet still be the National Champion of the class

yet another class was 3rd 3rd and 4th and that person placed Res Champion

this means that in just those 2 classes the person each judge actually put as first and or2nd did not get a champion or a res placing in the class

The system is confusing I do not understand it I do not know one single person who truly does understand it but the judges may have very well not placed a person first every time and the crazy percentage system put them there.

AS for going in last that is not a new thing it has been going on for years to be first or last and yes one time I made the mistake of going in towards the end in the middle of the big guys. I was out horsed plain and simple and of course looked more like a doofus then ever in the middle of that elite group but guess what I was able to see I was out horsesd and clearly do not have the talent that the big guys do I can not blame it on faces there was a dose of reality in there for me.

AS far as things not being fair well never anywhere is a horse show fair unless you are in a timed only event. Just part of the game there will be someone with a better horse in your class -there will be someone who is more experienced in your class and there will be those who are just flat out lucky at that show in your class.

There is only one class I saw where the judging was clearly off. Something not subjective in any way the judges simply did not follow the rule book period- however that was in ONE class the rest.. well when you pay for someones opinion you are not always going to like it.

As far as Erica goes well every year there is at least one person made to feel they need to defend their wins and I hate that. I will not even waste time addressing it. Erica should not have to defend her wins to anyone including and especially someone not using their name. Let me tell ya what Linda is more of a lady then I am.. much more of a class act cause if you came after my kid like that on a public forum.. well I can assure you I would not be as classy and tactful as Linda is.

Linda I applaud you for the restraint (purely as a mom) you are showing. Now I see where Erica got her class from.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Wow.

Ok for one thing IMO the youth/amateur judges were great. I think they really tried hard picking the right horses. I didn't see the open judges that far off either. Honestly the only complaint I have was seeing how many shetlands were at Nationals this year, but you know what I guess thats AMHR's route, so I don't see that changing anytime soon. We have also determined that you have to trade up to show at Nationals every 2-3 years. It changes so fast how the show world changes. If you still have a horse thats placing that you showed 5-10 years ago, congrats you got yourself a good horse.

To me this is just sour grapes. I placed dead last in my halter class, yes there was trainers that beat me. Use to I would complain and yell political. You know what this year I didn't complain. I was hoping for 8th to get the brown ribbon but oh well lol. I think the longer you show at Nationals the more you see the bigger picture of things.