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Re: [RC] Letters to the World -- showing - Chris PausThank you for the explanation, Kristen. That doesn't explain how a horse like my Zabbie who would be a really classy WP horse would definitely lose to the Big Name trainer horses who crank the noses down to the horse's chests. Zab has natural self carriage and presence. We have pinned at a local show against stock horses. I didn't try to hold him back to a QH speed nor did I try to crank his head down. He carried himself the way he was supposed to. Too often, I've seen good riding and good horses lose to the ones who are the most exaggerated. chris --- Kristen A Fisher <kskf@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: Unless it's an equitation class, it is the horse that is being judged. Chances are this person has more money than talent. If she can afford Mr Big Name Trainer, most likely she can afford a horse that is capable of winning classes *despite* its rider. I would say that is more the case of the big name trainers winning, rather than a bunch of nefarious politicking. They can be selective about the horses they will work with and reject all but the cream of the crop, hence increasing their winning percentage. I have seen this happen in Region IX last year - but I can tell you that most likely, the 3 judges who all came from OUTSIDE Region IX, did NOT happen to recognize her horse and/or trainer out of the other 600 horses at regionals, but gave her horse the reserve championship because it as a better specimen and performer than all but one other horse in the class. The AHA judges pool is made up of trainers, enthusiasts, breeders, etc. and I think the majority of them try to objectively judge horses on their qualities and merits. To state otherwise is to cast aspersions on the integrity of some very fine people in the Arabian breed. Kristen ===== "A good horse makes short miles," George Eliot Chris and Star BayRab Acres http://pages.prodigy.net/paus ============================================================ The very essence of our sport is doing the trail as quickly as practicable, while keeping one's horse fit to continue. Taking the clock out of the equation makes it another sport altogether. The challenge is how to keep the sport what it is while honing our skills (both as riders and as those in control roles) in detecting where "the edge" is for each horse so that we don't cross it. ~ Heidi Smith ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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