Ridden Showing

[abbijay]

I recently posted a video that got a bit of traction online and it's made me question something. Looking for genuine advice here.
I have always heard the phrase "the ride judge is not there to school your horse" and I took that to mean they will not do lots to get the horse going in any particular fashion but will ride quite well. But do ride judges ever deliberately ride badly to see how well schooled a horse is? I've always asked riders to school my horse nicely in prep but should I be getting people to also throw some clangers at them?
I definitely find dressage more accessible with it's mark book and movement explanations!

 

[Gloi]

I take it more to mean : The judge is not there to put up with an ill mannered , badly behaved horse and is within their rights to get off or even refuse to get on.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Be prepared. Can your horse cope with a drunken ride judge crashing into the saddle after being legged up by the ring steward?

Happened in the cob class at Cheshire Show a number of years ago when I was in the ring grooming for a friend. Ride judge was pickled.

 

[meleeka]

I think it makes sense to have a variety of people ride a horse if it’s likely to face a ride judge at some time. I think I saw that video and I’d say the riding wasn’t up to much at all. What we didn’t see was how the other horses in that class went for the rider? The reality it a show horse should be responsive, yet clearly needs to be forgiving as well.

And this why I’d never enter a class that has a ride judge

 

[SEL]

I saw your video and like meleeka said I wondered if he'd ridden every horse like that. I take the schooling saying to mean the judge wants to get on a polite horse that can W,T,C without getting decked!

 

[abbijay]

I saw your video and like meleeka said I wondered if he'd ridden every horse like that. I take the schooling saying to mean the judge wants to get on a polite horse that can W,T,C without getting decked!

I don't have video footage of any of the other horses so I can't comment on that. I have an opinion but I guess they're like bum holes...

 

[humblepie]

As above. Horse should be mannerly and obedient to the leg. There are some fabulous ride judges and some less fabulous or some whose riding wouldn’t suit a particular horse. Judges come in all sizes so yes useful to have horse ridden by variety of people but always use good riders but perhaps get them to try various things like how they move off so not picking up contact straight off. One county show everything was being rather spooky and the judge just got on with it and gave them all a good gallop. He definitely schooled a few of them. Many years ago my previous horse was pulled in top. Hunter ride judge judging RoR class. Got on my horse who went walk to canter as much stronger leg aid than me. Judge apologised and said he’d ridden my horse badly and then was much quieter on the others. Brave and honest to say that.

 

[conniegirl]

I used to ride judge (haven’t since covid).

I will give your horse a quiet ride. I will ride defensively but im not going to deliberately ride badly.
Im not going to boot a horse to get them to go forward, equally im not going to take a strong contact.
If the horse feels very novicy beneath me i’ll try and build its confidence but im not going to school its balance or way of going for you. My job is to assess its way of going and its level of schooling.

I have refused to get on 2 horses. One was lame, one i had seen rearing and going over backwards in the warm up outside the ring, it lifted the front end a few inches coming out of line and that was enough for me, i wasn’t about to kill myself by riding it.

I dreaded hearing that i was about to be the first person other than the owner on a horses back.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Most judges that have ridden mine have generally been ok I think they were fair in regards to the level of contact and how they asked for things, my view is they should be able to ride your horse with ease and it should be a pleasure for the judge and a nice thing to watch.

Thing is some horses need quite a bit of getting used to someone strange just getting on and be expected to perform and some just get on with it and find it fine.

I used to have lessons with a showing ride judge and it really helped me understand how to ride my horses, she always said everything you ask for should be easy and require a minimal amount of effort from the rider.

 

[gallopingby]

A horse should give a ride judge a pleasant ride. It’s not their job to school your horse although some may well give it a go. Equally they are within their rights to send badly behaved animals out of the ring before getting on and don’t have to ride any they don’t want to. Equally some judges really enjoy themselves on a well schooled horse, it’s usually evident by the way they look. If there’s a ride judge there will usually be a conformation judge as well and these to parts should make up the final result. It’s always advisable to ensure your horse is used to a variety of different jockeys and styles of riding and if you want to do well sensible to practice well in advance. Sadly the standard of riding amongst judges isn’t always as expected but that’s nothing new. In the past is wasn‘t unheard of to ask if you could leave the ring having seen the judge ride a couple before you with dubious results. Ride judges need to be riding fit - they could easily be riding 50 plus horses in a short time. Not all of them will be as fit as they thought and a ‘beverage’ offered by some show secretaries before the start of judging isn’t always helpful.

 

[minesadouble]

I'm sorry you've obviously had a bad experience, obviously I'm desperate to see the video now Luckily we've never had a 'bad' ride judge on any of ours! Was it a panel judge at an affiliated show?
We've always got a few different people to hop on ours and try to look up if the judge has any particular likes or dislikes etc.
When one of ours was to be ridden by Guy Landau (who always wore a rather long jacket) my daughter tied a jacket round her waist at home and let it flop over the back of the saddle just in case the horse objected to the feel of it. But there's only so much you can prepare for!

The judge not being there to school your horse is a reference to the judge not going out of his way to hold your horse together etc., I would never expect a horse to be intentionally badly ridden by a judge.

 

[AdorableAlice]

I have shown at the top level and only had one truly bad ride judge. A slightly built lady riding the weight classes at Addington. She locked her right rein on all of them getting the wrong bend throughout her rides. My lad was schooled to medium and he didn't like that at all, he ran straight through the bridle and was sent out. He was standing top after the go round. She got on the next horse did the same and he hooked off with her too. Sent out. Some tolerated her others didn't and the class saw a big shake up in placings. I put my horse away and went back to watch the rest of the hunters and nothing changed, she got dropped by one of the smalls. I just noted her name and never put my horse to her again. It was annoying because entry fees are not cheap.

A funnier day was the ID championships at Uttoxeter racecourse years ago. Ride judge over from Ireland and the first ride judge I have ever seen carry a hunting whip with thong. He was tiny in height and weight. The class was 4 to 6 yr old purebred stallion or gelding. Massive class of draughts all a tad green and the go round was a bit hairy but my huge 18h lad coped and came in 2nd below Barracaberry Orbit who went on to become a very prolific stallion. Judge rode Orbit and was a proper old fashioned rider, sitting right back on the cantle, toes up the neck, legs flapping and reins like washing lines. Orbit put up with it and came back to the line up. Judge is legged up onto mine and I am stood directly in front of the horse expecting the judge to take a moment to gather his reins and get comfortable. That didn't happen, he just used his hunting whip to slap the shoulder and muttered a 'grrrrr get on' at the horse. My horse who was polite, had to be at that size !!, was taken by surprise, leapt forwards and knocked me over and in the next stride buckled at the knees and put the Irish judge behind his grey ears before gently lowering his head and allowing the judge to slide gently to the grass.

No idea who was most surprised, me sat on my arse, horse on his knees or the judge deposited in the grass. We were not sent out but demoted to last place.