A friend of mine was saying this only yesterday.....really annoying when it's obvious all the work has been done by the parents.....the classes should be sub divided to be fairer & reflect the work done by each entry.
Yes that is rather annoying, I am luckily never in a class with any little kids thank god, I dont do that kind of class anyway, have always been in coloured classes with other one, and with ben its ridden hunter.
That is the reason I never did equitation plus the fact I am not a tidy rider lol. You get all the little show ponies winning as the judges look at just the horse and not horse and rider, which I think is unfair.
I can really appreciate the frustration, especially after the hard work that goes in to preparing a horse for in-hand showing.
I have no issues with kids taking part, in fact its great (Ahh factor) but maybe local shows should have two classes up to 16 and 17 & over for example (numbers permitting).
I have no problems with the kids and ponies being in the same classes just that they should ALL be judged on their indivual merits against each other and not that everyone knows if there is a small child with a fat little shetland that they will automatically win.