Horse Illustrated Magazine

“Showing is so political.”

“The judge was practicing politics.”

“We’re nobodies so it wasn’t politically correct to pin us.”

How many times have you heard those excuses when your barn buddies come home from a show, ribbonless? They blame it on politics, a reference that has nothing to do with voting parties but more with the ribbons being decided due to favoritism.

Personally, I’ve heard these political comments since I was a kid. More recently I heard it from the mouth of a western pleasure competitor, who was lamenting losing a futurity championship.

“Apparently we didn’t have the right person training our colt,” the woman told me. Right there, in line at the feed store, she was purporting that her tobiano colt deserved the title, but, “we didn’t have So-and-So riding him, and he always rides the futurity winner, so consequently the judge gave the blue to the horse he was on.” Then she shifted her weight to better balance an armful of grooming supplies and added in a hushed whisper, “Everyone knows it’s all just politics.”

I about dropped my tub of psyllium right there. As a horse show judge I can’t help but take offense at yet another claim of politics. Speaking for myself and my judging peers, we make a concerted effort to not care who is riding a certain horse or which trainer is barking instructions from the back gate.

In fact, last weekend I judged a large county-rated show at a very posh show site. A long-time trainer friend of mine, who lives not far from me, brought several horses to the show. When a small flat class entered the ring toward the end of the day, I realized that one of her horses, a little bay gelding, was among the group. He seemed sweet and dependable, but he was outmatched by the competition. When the entries lined up at the conclusion of the class, I started reading the results on my scorecard to the announcer. As I got to the end of the placings, I about dropped the walkie-talkie. The ribbons went to sixth place and there were seven entries. Guess whose horse was the lone entry that left the arena without a ribbon? The one belonging to my trainer friend.

Guess I’ll be dodging her next time I spot her in my local Target, huh?

No. She was good-natured about it. She knew her horse didn’t move as well as the other horses. “We were just here for practice,” she said. “It was important that he behaved in the group, that’s all.”

Now that’s the right attitude to have! And I wish more competitors would be that way. Instead of accusing the judge of playing politics I wish they’d consider the more likely reasons they didn’t win. Maybe the other riders made fewer mistakes or demonstrated superior horsemanship skills. Perhaps the other horses were of higher quality or simply performed better. I know it’s tough to consider those possibilities, but it’s more productive than taking the easy way out and simply blaming the judge.

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