One of my trainers, Jennifer Moshier, is doing a video show series this winter. You can check out the facebook page: Fuzzy Fun on Film Facebook Page for more info. Essentially, she posts patterns (or instructions for the rail classes) and you send her a link to your video. She then judges the classes and sends written comments to each entry. Show clothes not required and Fuzzy horses are encouraged.
Jennifer is a carded judge in many breeds and associations including the Pinto Horse Association and is certified with 4H in 10 states. She was the judge at the very first show Junior and I were in, was the clinician at the Show N Tell Clinic last spring, and I've had some great private lessons with her.
I wanted to enter the January show, but my back wouldn't let me. On Wednesday, with the help of my BO, I recorded my entry for the Adult Showmanship class for show #2. For us, I'm hoping to get some feedback on what we should work on next. I didn't count how many times we ran it, but the truth is I could run it all day and it still wouldn't be any where near perfect. Though we've come a long way in our showmanship work, we have MANY things to work on. I can already tell lots of the things she's going to say about our pattern, and I've already figured out how to fix one of our issues, which is that unfortunate dipping motion I do when I cross over during the inspection. After watching the video I You-tubed some of the QHCongress finals and I know what to do to fix that, which is to run my hand down the lead so I have slack for the inspection, moving it back up before we do anything else. I suppose ideally you never move your hand from a fixed position, but we're not anywhere near "ideal" yet. :) It hasn't been an issue for us at shows because he's never had his head that low. And there's all kinds of crooked issues and I basically had to punch him in the face to get him to move into the pivot. Ugh. And you might notice him trying to bit my thigh every time I cross in front of him... he is such a brat.
Anyways, for what it's worth here's our entry!
Nice pattern! I would suggest that when you are set up for inspection that you glance from Junior's hind feet to the judge, especially when changing corners. This shows the judge that you are monitoring your horse's set up. I've heard this over and over again at the AQHA clinics... Junior looks awesome! And I'm so jealous of your huge indoor!
ReplyDeleteHi Fellow Roanie! Thanks! I have heard that before, but I've actually been told by this particular judge that she does not like that particular movement, at least not in an obvious "look at me I'm moving my hat sharply so you can see where I'm looking" sort of way. That's one of those things you just never know what judge is going to prefer. The last show I did the guy who won our Western SMS class did that VERY obviously but I'm not sure if that was a point earner for him or not since he was clearly the best in the class with or without that movement. I wish all judges would agree on little things like that!
DeleteAnd yes, I LOVE the indoor...when it's not set up with 6 jumps. :)
Interesting about the "looking"... I always keep an eye on Lilly's hooves, but I never make it obvious. Maybe I should try it sometime and see how it is received!
ReplyDeleteI like seeing your pattern from the judge's perspective. It adds a whole different dimension to things rather than seeing it only from the side when someone records us.
When do you think you'll hear back about your pattern?
Yes, the judge's POV makes it easy to know how straight the horse is. There are two other entries I found on Youtube for the class: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekDlRyFiWI8 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1u-PQkaq6Q Judge said it was one of the biggest classes so I assume there are more. It is SO nice to see it from that perspective because I feel I can judge the competition more fairly because I see exactly what the judge sees. That being said, I have NO idea where we'll be placed. I thought there were nice elements to all 3.
DeleteShe had posted on FB last week that the results would be announced on Friday but she hasn't posted them yet... I'll post as soon as I get my comments back.