>>>> Did you see any of the European 3 day eventing ? They've now introduced a system where a certain colour flag (i can't remember what colour it was now) is waved to show a rider that the judges are concerned about his/her riding & to buck up thier ideas. I think thats a good idea :-)
That's not bad...anything to get the riders paying attention can't hurt. Based on the post I read on another list though (where it said that any judge who gives a red card may well not be invited to judge again - can you imagine?) will they use that system? Hopefully, this hooha will make a few judges more willing to speak up. And, here's another idea...I wish the focus wouldn't be on HAVING to have an Icelandic judge all the time. How about more of the local shows being intended for educational and fun purposes? Gosh, we have all sorts of riders here in this area - western, hunters, dressage, gaited horses (including some Spanish breeds) and you will only see one judge at many of the open shows. (Granted, there are some discipline shows where the judges are specialized, and there are a few breed shows too.) Can a QH judge in Wranglers and a cowboy hat do as good a job judging an Arab hunter pony? MAYBE not, but Emily certainly showed in front of several "non-English" type judges. Did they always place her and Thunder exactly like the hunter judges would. Well, probably not, but then again, most judging has some degree of subjectivity. Any good judge should be able to learn the basic rules of tack and attire, and any good judge will be able to see if the rider is posting to the correct diagonal, if the horse gets the wrong lead, if the horse is lame (which typically is an automatic disqualifier), if the horse is breaking gait, if the horse is rushing or fighting the bit. They can also tell if the rider is rude, or the horse is tentative or dangerous. The basics of good riding are there in all disciplines. One of the most important things from riding in front of different judges is that the rider can get perspective. They may not get quite as many ribbons (or maybe they will?) but it's always good to get an opinion from someone "outside the box." Over the years, I've read where several American riders (generally whose only horse experience has been along the lines of traditional Icelandic show-type riding) complain when they've shown at local shows...often saying that the judges don't understand Icelandic's. Well, some judges won't understand gaited horses, but I've often thought that none of the judges Emily rode in front of would have been tolerant of horses "star-gazing", or going behind the vertical as an evasion, or of horses who break gait (and "gait" can mean trotting instead of cantering, or doing any non-requested gait), or horses who fight the bit, or get on the wrong lead... I think a lot of riders would benefit from putting the drive for ribbons and accolades on the back burner and opening themselves up to hear the perspectives of knowledgeable horsemen of all disciplines. I honestly can't remember a case where a non-hunter/non-dressage judge gave Emily a placing that was totally undeserved. If a QH judge can adequately (if not 100% perfectly) judge an Arab hunter, why couldn't he at least adequately judge an Icelandic...? By the way, Mic (I think it was Mic) wrote something recently that I liked - I don't remember where I read it. She said she could go to any local Pony Club show and see horses who were better accepting of the rider and the bit than many of the WC competitors and their horses. Boy, is that the truth! I think we need to tell some of the big guys that they need to ride more "like little girls"! In this case, that's not an insult, because I know some little girls in my community who are excellent and brave riders, on their way to becoming real horsemen! Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED] No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.487 / Virus Database: 269.13.27/1020 - Release Date: 9/20/2007 12:07 PM IceHorses Community for Photos and Videos: http://kickapps.com/icehorses "The greatest enemy of the truth very often is not the lie- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive and unrealistic." "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." ~ Arthur Schopenhauer [] Lee Ziegler http://leeziegler.com [] Liz Graves http://lizgraves.com [] Lee's Book Easy Gaited Horses http://tinyurl.com/7vyjo [] IceHorses Map http://www.frappr.com/IceHorses Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IceHorses/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IceHorses/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
