Whats The Worst Comment A Judge Has Ever Made To You In A Showing Class?

Oh dear, to the original poster, please watch a showing class 1st so at least you know what you are supposed to do. Why do folks think showing is easy?!

It would be like me putting the Todmiester into a BSJA show jumping class just because we had done a couple of clear rounds at the local riding school showjumping night. And then wondering why we were eliminated at the 1st jump.

Love the poster about her 17hh grey. Have I met you some where else?
 
If he wants uncontrollable he should have seen the gray at Burgie in the WH class! The ride judge looked a tad scared as she galloped it and it refused to be controlled (it was pratting about with its rider before hand). Now to me that horse should not have been in a showing class as it wasnt controllable.

Showing isnt that hard, its like dressage with extra smiles, elbow grease and bitchiness.
 
Not quite the same, but when I was 17 and doing a WH class, I got off for the judge to ride and he said "I don't think I'll be sitting on that saddle and you may want to excuse yourself to go to the loo".........I looked at the saddle and to my ultimate horror I had started my period and it was all over my breeches and smeared on my saddle. Mortified, totally mortified.:eek: I haven't done another WH class since and I'm not 43!
 
Angelbones said:
Not quite the same, but when I was 17 and doing a WH class, I got off for the judge to ride and he said "I don't think I'll be sitting on that saddle and you may want to excuse yourself to go to the loo".........I looked at the saddle and to my ultimate horror I had started my period and it was all over my breeches and smeared on my saddle. Mortified, totally mortified.:eek: I haven't done another WH class since and I'm not 43!
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You poor poor thing, that is the actual worst thing I have ever heard! I would have locked myself in a room for the last 25 years, how awful you have my unending sympathy :o
 
well i have been asked to leave a ring before - but it was discreetly so i didnt mind - horse was being a nightmare.

However I had a cob called jack and he would canter everywhere, it was always very difficult to get him to trot, however i had pretty much sussed this at home, so decided to take him to a local show.

Framlingham horse show...... The warm up areas at that show are rubbish tbh (well were dont know what they are like now) Anyways it was just ridden coloured cob class so just a bit of flat work.

Well the class opened and we stepped into the ring and he cantered as they were workers jumps in there, and i couldnt get him to stop!! He just shortened or lengthened his canter!! The judge pulled us in last in the line up, and as he got to us i said you dont have to ride him, he said he would. I explained he wont do anything horrid, he just wont stop cantering.

He then turned to the crowd (massive crowd as show is in the middle of a small town!!) and tells them "GOOD JOB I'VE HAD MY WEETABIX THIS MORNING!!"
the crowd laughs - i want the ground to open up, and swalow me up!!! EEKS!!!
 
Angelbones said:
Not quite the same, but when I was 17 and doing a WH class, I got off for the judge to ride and he said "I don't think I'll be sitting on that saddle and you may want to excuse yourself to go to the loo".........I looked at the saddle and to my ultimate horror I had started my period and it was all over my breeches and smeared on my saddle. Mortified, totally mortified.:eek: I haven't done another WH class since and I'm not 43!
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Oh God, you poor thing, everyone's worst nightmare, I am mortified for you!
 
At a local show in an in-hand class, an old man was judging, class was very large, and it started chucking it down, absolutely torrential, Toto was a star and behaved impeccably despite this, and did his individual trot-up perfectly. One other horse bucked all the way round the ring, reared and dragged its owner round. Then the judge (who was carrying a wooden walking stick) arranged the lineup, he said "you, over there", swung the stick right at Toto in the direction we should be going, obviously Toto pulled back, he nearly got hit in the face with a stick! Judge then made a snooty remark regarding my pony's behaviour, I was furious :mad: We got placed last, the horse who bucked all the way round the ring won, turned out they knew the judge. :mad:


The funniest, stupidest one has to be "his paces are not floaty enough", this was in a class against lots of horses, my pony is a chunky 14hh connemara x NF, how floaty do you want him to be?!
 
i qualified my connemara for the royal international horse show in the connemara and new forest class.
We won the class and when they judge came to present our rosette she asked...
"is this a lippizaner????!!!"
i politely said no hes a connemara....the only thing they have in common is he is grey!! oh dear....never mind still got the ticket!
 
Todmiester said:
lol I thought dressage was like showing but with more bitchieness
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Well prob near enough the same, but with showing you have the added element of opinion. Not a lot of folk like being told someone is better than them.

I don't care if someone is better than my horse, but I would get p'd off is something clearly worse got placed above. So I don't put myself through it cos as much as I love my boy, not everyone does. He is a blobby cob, and he can be fun to ride but you need to know HOW to ride him and it puts folk off. That and I have been told in no uncertain terms that if a judge rode him we would not get placed - as he needs to be easier to ride (he is well behaved, just stubborn!)
 
Eriskayowner said:
There is not a single show around us that will take Eriskays.

I have judged local showing classes and I would not have turned Mouse away from a M&M class if I had the breed standard.

I also do not understand how they are not a M&M - they are more so than a welsh pony for example, IMHO.
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It is getting to the stage that the only shows in my area of Scotland who don't accept Eriskays in M&M classes are the affiliated ones. Even some of those turn a blind eye. Campaigned my Eriskay mare in mixed M&M classes for the first time this year, best place was second from a judge whose opening comment was not in the spirit of this thread i.e. 'It's great to see the Eriskays out competing with the other M&Ms'.

The best thing is that Eriskays have classes at the Royal Highland Show and have recently been moved into the main ring in mid morning which gets them seen by a lot of people.

Not a show, but my son rode in a Pony Club cross country event with no less than 3 other Eriskays earlier in the summer.
 
I got told in a veteran class at county that my bay mare was too plain. Fair enough I thought she's not everyone's cup of tea being all brown with no white markings. Judge then went on to say that although she realised she was a hunter pony through and through she'd look "much more pretty" if we painted a star on her head and put her in a coloured browband. I pointed out that she was a hunter pony and as this was a veteran class she should be turned out to type. Judge agreed but said she would refuse to ever put her higher unless I painted a star on her haed. Needless to say we never went under that judge again!
 
Once i took Lucy in the ring and as i walked passed the judge i heard them say "yuck chestnut mare"

Also at the VHS reagonal qualifiers last year the judges took no notice of us in the inhand class and when we went into the ridden class they hardly watched me in the go round then started pulling horses in saying things like "the grey hunter" "the bay riding horse" "the prity show pony" then when they pulled me in last i heard them say "oh and the chestnut THING" :mad::mad::mad:
Then they came over to me and said they thought Lucy was lame and i shouldn't be riding her. I left the ring having said i didn't think she was lame but i couldn't argue with the judge and anyway looking at the quality of the others in the ring they wern't even going to look at Lucy anyway and the judge agreed with me :eek: :eek: :mad: :mad:
I left the ring and the organiser of the show came over and asked why i had been sent out. I explained how the judge said she was lame but noone else agreed and the organiser gave me my money back and they NEVER do that do they :eek: :eek:
Anyway the ring was full of HOYS and top level dressage horses Lucy was the only hard working pony in the ring and no one else could believe what she still did at her age. Everyone else thought Lucy deserved to win and go to olympia more than all the other horses. But hayho thats showing and thats why i hate it.
 
This isn't a 'worst' comment, more a very confusing one.... I was told on Sunday in a novelty class (Horse judge would most like to take home) that 'it was nice to a chestnut that wasn't obese'. I don't know if this was a pointed comment about another competitor (although no other chestnuts in the class), but I didn't know chestnuts (or any other particular colour for that matter) were known for being fatties!
 
We were at a show a few weeks ago doing the M&M, the judge pulled people in asking the arab to stand next to the cob!!
The 'arab' was placed 3rd!!
 
Do you have mules in the UK or are they an American thing?

Anyway, my farrier was showing his mule in an in hand class (for mules, not mixed)and was quite pleased to be pulled first.

Until the judge explained his placing by saying "She has great hips for foaling"!
 
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I've had no bad comments, at my first show i was riding AWFULLY and managed 2 3rds :eek: recently i went to a WH show, jumps had loads of fillers next to them and AJ was a bit :eek::eek: at them and i doubt my round looked very good! Got round clear, and was in 5th for individual show (unless they weren't doing it by placing). Did a pretty lazy show, but not too bad IMO, and was placed 3rd :eek::eek: :D
 
We always show in equitation against this beautiful cob who is one of those horses who makes the rider look perfect no matter what happens - one judge usually pulls us in before them (:D) and another judge always always places us last no matter what! (:() some judges just don't like horses! When we went to the HOYS qualifiers, there was one grey and one chestnut (ours) and not one got pulled in, the judge rode them for the minimum time he could get away with and not once looked at them properly, very annoying. We overheard spectators talking about hunter classes and "why people bother with greys and chestnuts!" :mad:
We've been kicked out of the ring a good few times, me and Kelly (usually her pratting about!!), but built up quite a good rapport with the clear round guy who used to put all the jumps down to the floor so Kelly would actually go over something then give me my pound back for "giving him a giggle!" :D
 
I was in a veteran class once, my horse didn't used to like standing still in the line up, the judge said oh your horse is behaving like a 4 year old ! I thought well thats a GOOD thing in a veteran class ha ha
 
I entered a coloured class with a mare I had on loan and was told it was a shame I hadn't left her feather on - she had none she was a sports horse. There were loads of complaints that day.

At Chaska's second show I took him in the Best Turned Out just as a warm up and it was hilarious - the judge was about 80 - very 'jolly hockey sticks' and walked up to me and said 'hmmm oh dear - and what colour would we call THAT' I mumbled 'near chestnut leopard spotted' and he just went 'hmm yes well' as if he didn't approve. Came second from last - he kept glaring at Chaska clearly wishing he would vanish and stop looking spotty in his line up. Bit unfair for a turnout but there you go he was obviously horrified by the very thought of my spotty pony who was standing sucking a mint imperial oblivious to this man wanting him dead. He won the spotty class anyway
 
I went to a show on Sunday and watched a Norwegian Fiord get placed 3rd in the M&M class and a Welsh Sec A got 4th in Family Mount, (suitable for any member of the family to ride??? :eek: ) No wonder people get wound up when they pay good money to enter these classes!!
 
bitlessbill said:
I went to a show on Sunday and watched a Norwegian Fiord get placed 3rd in the M&M class
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I have, on occasion, entered M&M on my fjord, but only if there are no other classes for us - unless there is an unusual coloured then we struggle:mad: However, I would not expect to get placed above the UK M&M breeds, unless they were lame.

There are two local judges who like my chap, and another 2 who dislike him intensely and always place us last. Like I care, we just like the day out!!:D
 
I did a leadrein handy pony with my 7yr old son on a 4yr old welsh section A dragon at its first show. There were bending poles with balloons on top, and the judge wanted the kid to bend through the poles with one hand on the reins and one hand on top of his hat. He then asked me to let the leadrein go really loose so that he could see that the child was controling the pony himself with one hand. I had to politely point out that the reason the child was on the leadrein was because he couldn't control the pony alone - even with two hands, let alone one on top of his head!! Luckily the dragon pony just followed me meekly and we came 4th!!
 
fjordhorsefan said:
I have, on occasion, entered M&M on my fjord, but only if there are no other classes for us - unless there is an unusual coloured then we struggle:mad: However, I would not expect to get placed above the UK M&M breeds, unless they were lame.

There are two local judges who like my chap, and another 2 who dislike him intensely and always place us last. Like I care, we just like the day out!!:D
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I do sympathise if there are no classes for you, but it was a very strangely judged show we were at, every class in one particular ring had very contraversial results!
 
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