Judges riding. Does it ever go wrong?

[Kaylum]

Yorkshire Show was fun last year over 50 in the class all had to be ridden. No restrictions on numbers entering its all about money.

 

[conniegirl]

Yorkshire Show was fun last year over 50 in the class all had to be ridden. No restrictions on numbers entering its all about money.

Not really, it gives everyone a chance to enter a HOYS qualifier. You don’t have to enter if you don’t like a big class.
I think the record was 115 in the welsh D HOYS class at the Royal welsh. Class was split into 4 for judging

 

[Rokele55]

I love a good ride judge, especially in retrained racehorses. They must embarrass the regular riders when they get a lovely forward, joyful ride out of something which has been an utter pinging twit in the go rounds. They have the advantage of bring a a confident, fearless rider out on their own I suppose.

I have seen a few very inexperienced ride judges sent skyward at small local shows, usually on a young horse who hasnt yet learnt to tolerate new riders and the judge lacks the experience to deal with it. They Never get asked to repeat though.

Never seen an overweight ride judge locally, usually nice neat youngsters who improve the horse tremendously if the normal jockey is a bit of a ham fisted lump! One last year went from nearly bottom to top when the ride judge showed how he really could go!

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I love a good ride judge, especially in retrained racehorses. They must embarrass the regular riders when they get a lovely forward, joyful ride out of something which has been an utter pinging twit in the go rounds. They have the advantage of bring a a confident, fearless rider out on their own I suppose.

I have seen a few very inexperienced ride judges sent skyward at small local shows, usually on a young horse who hasnt yet learnt to tolerate new riders and the judge lacks the experience to deal with it. They Never get asked to repeat though.

Never seen an overweight ride judge locally, usually nice neat youngsters who improve the horse tremendously if the normal jockey is a bit of a ham fisted lump! One last year went from nearly bottom to top when the ride judge showed how he really could go!

The one thing that annoyed me about Gray was at Blair one year he gave the ride judge a better ride than he had been giving me! It might have been that he had finally got tired after an inhand class, a ridden class and another ridden Go Round before he got on. It was Wills Oakden. But my horse just looked sublime! Not that he ever went badly for me he just looked to have that something extra with Wills. He handed him back and said he was lovely and his kind of horse but took a bit too much riding to be a Judges Ride. He made it look effortless... but I know what he meant, you rode Gray (leg on, used your seat and asked him to work) you didn't sit on him and ride judges expect to just be able to sit and press buttons. Still came 5th out of 20 odd.

 

[Snowfilly]

Yorkshire Show was fun last year over 50 in the class all had to be ridden. No restrictions on numbers entering its all about money.

This used to be common in my younger days, I don’t think I ever saw 50 but 30-35 was usual in plaited ponies and hunters. Quite often, no hopers were put into a back row and invited to leave without the judge riding.

Nose to tail on the go rounds, it was like riding a carousel!

Even my local hunt show used to get 20 a class and maybe a dozen hacks.

 

[sky1000]

It was really striking to me the difference that the ride judge made to the winning order in the ridden heavy horse class a few years ago. Note, it was a few years ago so I might be exaggerating slightly. Was mainly made up of shires and clydesdales, and the shires tended to be pulled in higher. After the ride judge had done her stuff the clydesdale, standing about 9th in the initial line up, won. The ride judge was beaming as she brought him/her back.

 

[Cortez]

They have the advantage of bring a a confident, fearless rider out on their own I suppose.

They have the advantage of being highly qualified, trained, and carefully selected more like. Being a judge requires extensive examination and evaluation, or at least it does here. How are judges selected in the UK?

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

They have the advantage of being highly qualified, trained, and carefully selected more like. Being a judge requires extensive examination and evaluation, or at least it does here. How are judges selected in the UK?

There are some questionable ride judges on the RoR panel that are on because of who they are rather than the fact they have done the assessments etc. Thankfully they are very rarely used.

I have stewarded for a lot of ride judges in the horse classes and I honestly can not recall one single bad rider. One was too heavy to be allowed to ride the hacks - tall, solid built chap rather than fat. But he rode the other sections beautifully.

 

[Rokele55]

They have the advantage of being highly qualified, trained, and carefully selected more like. Being a judge requires extensive examination and evaluation, or at least it does here. How are judges selected in the UK?

I go to a lot of small local shows, not sure how those judges are selected. Pony club dc recommendations or a local trainer a lot of the time ;-). Obviously different at large shows and qualifiers

Acquaintances who do the bigger shows have been known to withdraw if the ride judge is deemed inadequate.

 

[lar]

Years ago I was watching the local working hunter class at Cheshire Show. A horse came in to jump that looked to be completely out of control - carting it's rider round, head in the air, rushing the jumps - absolutely awful. But it was leaving all the jumps up. You could practically hear the sigh of relief from the ride judge when it had the last two down, meaning it wasn't going to get called back in and she wouldn't have to ride it.

 

[LEC]

I have done some ride judging at decent step below county shows and really enjoyed it. It’s amazing what you click with and don’t click with very quickly and sometimes for no reason. I have got on horses and they didn’t go as well for me as their owner so they get dropped down the line. I basically aim to ride on a relaxed rein, want them light in the hand and balance and off the leg. I rode some young horses in a hunter class then rode same horse a few months later and they had taken on board my comments and it was a much better ride the next time.

I would probably do more and get signed off but I don’t have a background in showing really and it can be a bit of a painful process if you are an unknown.

 

[sport horse]

Many years ago I was asked to be ride judge as someone was ill. I approached the second horse to be told 'do be careful of his mouth he had a tooth out yesterday'. I declined to ride the horse, not only for my own preservation but it should never had had a bit in its mouth, let alone be at a show. Guess who was slated all around the showground that day?

 

[Orangehorse]

The judge who broke his back at Dublin is local to me, and I have to say when he rode my horse in a class she looked wonderful, she went better for him than for me, and he put her up the line.

 

[Gamebird]

I love a good ride judge, especially in retrained racehorses. They must embarrass the regular riders when they get a lovely forward, joyful ride out of something which has been an utter pinging twit in the go rounds. They have the advantage of bring a a confident, fearless rider out on their own I suppose.

I have seen a few very inexperienced ride judges sent skyward at small local shows, usually on a young horse who hasnt yet learnt to tolerate new riders and the judge lacks the experience to deal with it. They Never get asked to repeat though.

Never seen an overweight ride judge locally, usually nice neat youngsters who improve the horse tremendously if the normal jockey is a bit of a ham fisted lump! One last year went from nearly bottom to top when the ride judge showed how he really could go!

I remember doing an RoR class at one of the big Yorkshire shows - maybe Yorkshire Sports Horse Show or similar. There were 45 in the ring, and we had to canter in two separate lots. Some were rather more Retrained than others and it was all a little hairy. My extremely well behaved (I could canter politely in the go round with both reins in one hand and the other hand on my thigh, despite others overtaking at speed) but otherwise very plain chestnut mare got pulled about 15th. The ride judge (experienced racehorse rider) had a horrid time with a lot in the class, and was gradually getting greener as she went down the line. She got off mine and pretty much gave it a hug - she was so pleased to have been on a nice ride. We eventually moved up to 3rd or 4th. The mare would have been too plain to ever have won, but manners got her some prize money.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I remember a few years back now at a local show; there was a rather unprepossessing horse in the ring - it was all over the place and was being allowed to lob along, and we all thought it wouldn't even get a look-in. Remember it was a bay horse.

This little lady judge hopped up; and it went like a dream. Totally different horse. Rider needed to have taken note, woken up - and ridden it instead of just sitting on it. Judge placed it Third I seem to remember?

 

[scats]

I found a previous owner of my old horse and she had bought him from Ireland to show. Unfortunately he didn’t cope well with different riders so she sold him on because she couldn’t trust him not to be silly with a ride judge. She said 9 times out of 10 he was fine, but the risk to someone was too great so she found him a different job.

 

[Annagain]

Many years ago, when I shared my Sec D before bought him, his owner used to show him. At one county show the ride judge was about 6'4" and well built. It was a huge class and they said they'd only be riding the top 12 after the initial go round. Every single one of them was about 15.2 including a few that really weren't very good quality compared to the 14 handers left behind. There was uproar. My boy was 14.1 on his tiptoes so despite doing very well on the circuit that year he didn't stand a chance. We never saw that ride judge in a D class again.

Monty always did well in classes with ride judges as he was just so polite and easy. We'd end up jumping up three or four places usually. He didn't have loads of presence to look at as he had so little attitude, he just got on with the job so he wouldn't do so well in the inital stages but that lack of attitude paid off with a ride judge. We'd look for classes where he would be ridden by a judge.

 

[honetpot]

A horse I owned had previously done some showing with a pro rider, and if he didn't like the judge he just wouldn't go forward, and he bit one judge. We took him RR class at a local ag show, the judge was experienced with TB's and he actually went really well, on his own terms.

 

[MagicMelon]

The Competitor can decline the ride judge (I've done it).

If you can do this in the class, are you allowed to choose to show the horse yourself instead? Surely the judge then looks down on you after that as its not the "done thing" to reject a judge. Im specifically not entering a working hunter class this year (which I do every year) because I dont want that judge riding my horse!

Honestly I wish it wasnt a thing for the judge to ride anymore. If they can judge and place ponies (usually not ridden) accordingly then why cant they with horses? It makes me so nervous letting a stranger on my horse especially at a show in usually a busy, crazy environment. I trust my horse and they're always well behaved but they can still be spooked by kids balloons floating past etc. It just seems too risky these days IMO.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

If you can do this in the class, are you allowed to choose to show the horse yourself instead? Surely the judge then looks down on you after that as its not the "done thing" to reject a judge. Im specifically not entering a working hunter class this year (which I do every year) because I dont want that judge riding my horse!

Honestly I wish it wasnt a thing for the judge to ride anymore. If they can judge and place ponies (usually not ridden) accordingly then why cant they with horses? It makes me so nervous letting a stranger on my horse especially at a show in usually a busy, crazy environment. I trust my horse and they're always well behaved but they can still be spooked by kids balloons floating past etc. It just seems too risky these days IMO.

Yes you can do this. Some judges will be nice about it with a horse new to showing and will allow you to complete the class with everyone else but they can't place you anywhere but last so you effectively end up competing HC. Some judges won't allow it and will ask you to leave the ring. It's down to the judge on the day. I would always allow one to stay for educational purposes so long as it wasn't a danger to others or upsetting them.

 

[Cortez]

If you can do this in the class, are you allowed to choose to show the horse yourself instead? Surely the judge then looks down on you after that as its not the "done thing" to reject a judge. Im specifically not entering a working hunter class this year (which I do every year) because I dont want that judge riding my horse!

Honestly I wish it wasnt a thing for the judge to ride anymore. If they can judge and place ponies (usually not ridden) accordingly then why cant they with horses? It makes me so nervous letting a stranger on my horse especially at a show in usually a busy, crazy environment. I trust my horse and they're always well behaved but they can still be spooked by kids balloons floating past etc. It just seems too risky these days IMO.

The ride is part (usually the major part) of the overall assessment in a ridden class. Not all horses are able to take part, so I suggest you find a class that suits them better.

 

[honetpot]

I have stewarded at qualifiers, and the ride judge often will be the decider, but the ones I saw were all very good fit riders, and the standard of horses was high.

 

[spacefaer]

I have done some ride judging over the years and two particular horses stand out in my memory - one good, one less so!

I was new to the area so was judging what I saw/felt, not on local reputation. I saw a lovely looking horse, going well for the rider. My co judge and I pulled him in first, I hopped on him, looking forward to a nice ride. He was Horrible! Heavy in the hand, stiff, slow off the leg, not forward going..... He had only ever been ridden by the one - horse owners, and judged by non riding judges. Apparently he usually won EVERYTHING. She was very miffed to be 6th
Second horse - looked fabulous, rode beautifully - absolute class. I so wanted to take him home. New purchase by the owner who'd been entered in the class under his stable name. Turned out he was a semi-retired show horse who'd been produced by one of the top professionals and had been placed in his weight class at HOYS. (I was chuffed to have such good taste!)