I remember how showing in all the classes was so important. My first live show was in 1990 and I had a customized Stablemate Morgan Mare. She took the overall Grand for the show even though she only showed in halter. The judge explained that she was so exceptional, especially given that she was a Stablemate, that she deserved the win. I don’t think I’ve ever been more thrilled with a championship.

Thank you for setting this up, Elaine! I was thinking about how you connected me to Haynet back when it was just a mailing list. It’s hard to believe that was more than 32 years ago now!

As a judge, I sometimes find myself wondering what color the shower intends the horse to be. That’s usually because the rendering of the color is a little “off” for a valid color for the breed, and slightly closer to something that isn’t. However, it’s not something I weigh heavily. Real colors have a surprising amount of overlap between them - more than many “online color experts” allow - so I give the benefit of the doubt whenever I can.

I also don’t count against entries that have a color misidentified unless it renders the horse unrealistic for its designated breed. If I have them handy, I have been known to put post-its on documentation correcting common misunderstandings, but as long as the model is a reasonably believable version of a legitimate color for the breed it isn’t something that factors in my placings. When it comes down to it, misidentifying your horse’s color is about as real-to-life as it gets. ;)

Unless a host requires something different, I don’t DQ entries unless they are ineligible for the class - wrong breed, wrong scale, etc. Unless the model belongs in another class, nothing is so wrong that I can’t assess the model against what else is on the table.