KMSHA Kentucky State Championship

First of all, we want to congratulate Marcia Spencer on her very first blue ribbon! She rode Barb's Stormy Knight in the Novice Trail class at the KMSHA Kentucky State Championship held in Lawrenceburg this weekend. She made an awesome ride with her confidence shining through. Way to go Marcia! We really enjoyed having Marcia and her husband, Tim, with us during the show. Tim even brought their grill! We had corn-on-the-cob roasted on the grill along with tin foil dinners. It was great. We also congratulate their champagne spotted colt on his win in the Open Four Gait class. We also enjoyed the company of Marty Morris and two of her sisters all the way from PA. We missed her husband, Bob, but understand that he had to stay home to take care of their horses (their son had an injury which prevented him from being able to care for their horses as he usually does). They own Mountain Vista Thunder - a handsome chocolate stallion who has been with us since November. Dale and Edwina Honn also came over from Lexington to watch their filly, The Cross Filly, show in her classes. She placed fourth in tough competition in the 2 & 3 yo Trail Pleasure class and in the Mares & Geldings Trail class as well.

While our horses made some great performances, judging is pretty subjective. In large classes we often see horses that miss being seen by the judges because they turn around in the middle of the class and they miss seeing someone. Continual training is an important element to help judges know and see the postitive aspects of horses performing in the ring. One of the most fair systems we have seen is the Majority Opinion System where three judges judge at the same time. It is an expensive system because it requires three judges in the ring at the same time. There is a computer program (or a tabulation system) that allows the horse with the best 2 out of 3 highest ties to rise to the top of the class. At the show this weekend, there were two judges. They drew before each class to see which one would be judging. This system results in less consistent results because each judge judges independently. There were times that we agreed but many times that we didn't. Judging committees are constantly working to increase the opportunities for educational experiences. I know I'm glad that the responsibility for judging is not mine. Anyway, the horses looked great and we really enjoyed everyone's fellowship.