gohorseshow.com had an interesting article about whether or not exhibitors should get patterns ahead of time. They had comments from judges and trainers both and they received mixed comments. I’m in the camp that patterns should not be provided ahead of time.
I know many exhibitors like to get patterns ahead of time. They seem to think it helps them somehow. I think the opposite. When I judge a show where patterns are given out ahead of time the riders and horses do a worse job in completing the pattern. Their horses anticipate. The riders overthink. It rarely flows and it almost always looks rushed.
Let’s face it, it can be a lot of pressure to try to memorize a pattern in a few short hours. But that is really all a good rider should need to do. Remember the pieces in the right order. When you are at a show, it is not the right time to be training your horse how to do a 360, or for a rider to learn what 4 steps back feels like. Anything a judge asks for in a pattern should already be known.
Anticipation of each piece is a big problem for the horses. When riders practice a pattern over and over, which is what they tend to do when they get patterns early, the horses learn the pattern. And then they think they know the pattern better than the rider. When they are supposed to stop at cone B, they often stop a step or two short of cone B. Or they start the pivot at cone C before the rider asks. All of which will look choppy and rushed.
In the article online a few people had commented that it isn’t much different than reiners having the standard patterns. But I do think it’s different. Very different. Reiners never practice “the pattern”. They practice the parts of patterns. Which is what horsemanship, equitation, and showmanship competitors should do. Let’s face it, there aren’t that many different manuevers that can be called for. Circles, serpentines, back ups, pivots of varying degrees. Throw in some lead changes and stops and you’ve got your patterns.
I agree with you somewhat, but I find that often (especially at small open shows with very little down time in between classes) the patterns get posted about 10min prior to the class, and it’s very difficult for me (as an adult rider showing by herself with non helpers) to get off my horse, tie him up, go up and look at the patterns, and then still have time to get on my horse and go warm him up, compete, and make it back to look at the NEXT pattern they’ve posted for the next class I’m entered in. It’s a lot of “back and forth” for me. It’d be nice if they’d have all the patterns at the start of the day.
I can not disagree with your comments. I have found, like you, at smaller shows patterns are almost an afterthought. It’s like they forget about it until someone asks and then run to post it. I can’t blame them entirely though. Most smaller shows are run by volunteers and sometimes they’re not even “show people.” They just like to help. And often they are trying to get through the day. Sometimes it can feel like the day is taking forever and sometimes it goes by so fast you don’t have time to think about all that needs doing. I suspect that happens a lot with the smaller shows. Someone looks up and says, “My God, they’re already finished with halter and we haven’t posted showmanship patterns yet!”
I recommend asking show management first thing in the morning when you can expect to see patterns posted. About an hour before your class, if they’re not yet posted, I’d recommend you going back to the show office.
If the shows are run by a club or association, attend one of their meetings and mention your concerns.
And finally, become involved. I know that most smaller associations welcome volunteers. Pick a show that you’re not going to actually show at and offer to be in charge of patterns for them. Get copies from them or the judge (as appropriate) and post them.
What a lot of smaller shows are doing in my area is creating pattern books that exhibitors can purchase for $1.00. It includes patterns for the entire show. You can’t get them until that morning so there isn’t a problem with exhibitors having the patterns too early. Make that suggestion to your local shows. It’s a small revenue generator and then they don’t have to worry so much.
I’m enjoying your posts. Please keep it up!
I have a question and don’t know how to contact you.
We were in Open Halter this past weekend and the just comes up and says-
I love Clydesdales, they are one of my favorite breeds, but I can’t judge you because I know nothing about them. Comments????
That’s a great question, and unfortunately it’s reality. There are so many different breeds and open show judges have to know so many different types of breeds. It can be nearly impossible for an open show judge to know the breed standards of every breed that could possibly show up at an open show. I’ll never forget one of my first shows. They had a couple of gaited classes, open to gaited horses of all types. My gaited pleasure class had: Tennessee Walking Horses, Rocky Mountain Horses, an American Saddlebred, a few paso finos, two Peruvian Pasos, a racking horse, and three Missouri Fox Trotters. Now that is a difficult class to judge! Even though I have some knowledge of all the breeds, since gaited horses are judge so strongly on their gait, when you have multiple horses doing multiple gaits going around the ring, it’s hard enough to see the gaits themselves and disect the footfalls, much less try to actually place them.
So I can understand this judge not feeling they know enough about a Clydesdale’s conformation. I think it’s better that she was honest with you rather than simply place you somewhere in the the class with no rhyme or reason behind the placings.
One of the things that I always do is I ask the show management long before the show if they ever have any horse breeds/types that show up that I should be aware of. I’ve had a lot of show managers tell me that they always have a mule show up, a draft show up, several Saddle Seat riders, or that they have a lot of Arabians.
As an exhibitor I would recommend asking your show management to pass on that they’ll have a draft horse at their show to any future judges so that the judge has a chance to bone up on the breed’s characteristics. Best of luck!
When I did Horse & Pony Judging in 4H, we went to a LOT of different breed farms – from Arabs to Clydesdales, with of course a lot of AQHA thrown in. It was really helpful, and it’s stuck with me through the years. I think it’s incumbent on the judge to at least know some basics – like, this horse is bred for driving, and then keep in mind that it’s being shown shown hunter halter, so… does it work for you as a hunt seat horse? If it’s being shown just “halter,” is it a good representative of its breed?
It drives me CRAZY that so many open shows hire judges that are AQHA or APHA, and don’t know a THING about other breeds or disciplines. Watching a saddleseat class get judged at one of our local shows is pretty painful. I think it’s the mark of a true horseman to know at least SOMETHING about other breeds & disciplines than the ones you are personally involved in. I kind of wish that there were generic judges cards that actually MEANT something, so that we’d stop getting judges who only know Western Pleasure & Quarter Horses.
I don’t disagree with you one bit. But keep in mind, knowing so much about various breeds can be difficult. Sure, I know that a draft horse’s purpose is to pull, so they should be built to pull. But could I tell you the finer points that would separate one from another? Probably not. Unfortunately, western pleasure and QH type horses are the vast majority of what shows up at the open shows. Because of this, most open show judges lean more toward that. It’s what they know and what they’re comfortable with, and what they’re asked to judge 95% of the time.
I find your comment about generic judge’s cards very interesting. And it brings me to a special announcement. Very soon there will be a national open show association. It will have an awards component for members. Members will compete with members from across the country. The vast majority of membership fees will go directly to awards. While the final award categories aren’t approved yet, there will be at a minimum awards for high points in the major divisions (western, hunt seat, saddle seat, gaited) and of course overall. As the association grows additional divisions will be defined (possibly driving, over fences, games, etc.).
Another piece to this organization will be to card open show judges. For a judge to be carded at most of the associations, it can be quite costly. This association will keep that cost down, not require expensive travel, but will still provide testing opportunities to ensure our carded judges are capable. Judges can test in one or all four divisions. Western, Hunt Seat, Saddle Seat, and Gaited.
Stay tuned for updates!
Are you going to post anything new?
When I showed over fences, the most stressful part for me was memorizing my course. Even a training level dressage test kind of freaked me out.
But it also made the little patterns at open shows seem like a NOT big deal.
I think it should be the judge’s responsibility to get those patterns posted & printed. Actually, I kind of like going into a class, lining up, and having the judge TELL you the pattern. Then you can ask intelligent questions.
The judge isn’t actually responsible for posting the patterns. That’s left to the show management. However, as a judge I do ask that show management post them as soon as they can. And most are accomodating. As to the judge telling you the pattern, I can see the benefit for smaller or schooling shows. But for larger shows competitors should know the pattern before they enter the arena. There is a learning curve here. It can take a while to figure out how to remember/learn a pattern. I always walked them on foot, no matter what type of pattern it was. I would spin around on my boot heel to simulate the spins in a reining pattern. I’d lope around to simulate the canter. And I’d back up for the . . . well . . . the back up. Everyone has their own best way to remember, competitors just need to figure out what works best for them. I know someone that brings a notebook with them. They write the pattern over and over until they get it.
The only way I discourage my clients from learning patterns is to actually ride the pattern over and over. This leads to a host of other problems. Quite often the horse will learn the pattern before the rider. Then the ride looks really bad.