Now that all five winter circuits have come to an end, it’s time for all of us to reflect on what we’ve done this winter and where we’re taking the sport in which we all participate all year long.

I was a part of three of the circuits since I judged at the HITS Desert Circuit in Indio, Calif., and the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Fla., and my barn showed at HITS Ocala, Fla. We have a variety of customers, from young children to adults to pre-green and working horses. In other words, we have hunters and jumpers of all levels.

Even though all the winter circuits I attended were healthy in numbers, I’m concerned with the way we’ve allowed ourselves to act in the different roles we all have at horse shows. Are we conducting ourselves with class and style as trainers, riders, owners, judges and parents?

I have to admit, I hear too much screaming by trainers in the schooling areas. Their voices reach volumes that any rider cannot digest with any semblance of understanding about the point they’re trying to put across.

And, when one trainer is constantly screaming, it’s really hard for the rest of us to teach our students. Think about the other sports—do these trainers conduct themselves like that when they coach their students?

Poor sportsmanship by trainers is becoming the norm. We’ve all seen the trainers who spin at the in-gate as the announcer calls the results—hands on their hips, shaking their heads because they don’t agree with the judge.

Let’s be clear: Most of the time those trainers have watched only their own horses go, from one end of the ring. So they couldn’t possibly see what the judge sees. In addition, I have never seen one trainer act in this manner after watching the entire class to know how the rest of the horses performed.

Here’s another trend of poor sportsmanship: We’ve started a trend this winter of having people jog hunters for ribbons dressed in torn shorts, sandals and tank tops. Not only are they not properly attired, but they also don’t have the first clue about jogging horses. This trend is disrespectful to both the judges and the owners.

I often wonder how parents and owners react to this distasteful performance. If we want to sell this sport to the public and to newcomers, I don’t think this is the way to show ourselves off.

I did, however, judge an interesting class in Palm Beach, the $25,000 Welling-ton Equus Medal, an equitation class for riders who had competed on a Nations Cup representing the United States (see Feb. 28, p. 8). The entire group rode really well, with style, with a plan, with seriousness about the task ahead of them, and with humor.

The five of us who judged were treated with great riding, different styles, and a group of dedicated professionals. Among them were Lauren Hough, Molly Ashe, McLain Ward, Debbie Stephens, Buddy Brown, Hap Hansen, Peter Pletcher, Anne Kursinski, and Andre Dignelli, the winner.

Most of them were riding horses they’d never sat on before. Some ran into difficulties, but they never lost their temper. Most showed us great riding, no matter what happened. I wish this class had been a part of the judges’ clinic in Wellington the following week, for which I served as a panelist, as it was such a great teaching tool.

For that USA Equestrian-sponsored clinic, I was privileged to serve as a panelist along with Scott Williamson and Jimmy Lee. It was one of the largest clinics held to date—more than 150 people participated. We had one day of classroom training and the next day did a live clinic.

I’d like to take this time to thank all the riders, trainers and owners who allowed their horses to be demonstrators for us to evaluate, along with Organizer Sherry Robertson and all her volunteers. Margie Hough announced for free, Jeri Freels ran the in-gate, Gene Mische provided the grounds, the jump crew and the jumps. Some of those riders and trainers were Samantha Darling, Beezie Madden, Emily Williams, Jimmy Torano, Jack Stedding, Jay Matter, Louise Serio and Havens Schatt.

For the live day, we started with a model class and then had a hunter under saddle class, equitation on the flat, two hunter classes over fences, and an equitation class over fences. We had some outstanding judges participating, including Don Stewart, Danny Robertshaw, Susie Humes, Bill Ellis, Randy Mullins and Kip Rosenthal, along with such future learner judges as Michele Grubb, Gary Duffy and Jeff Gogul, to name just a few.

These clinics are most productive when we have dialogue between knowledgeable participants on all sides. Unfortunately, though, several people who attended this clinic acted poorly and came there to have only their voices heard.

Again poor sportsmanship came into play. Their agendas were clear and didn’t mix well with the agenda we were working with. What ever happened to manners? Fortunately, the people who spoke with knowledge and style were still heard and we all learned from them.

Clearly, we all get busy with our own agendas and need to slow down and observe more. The hours at most shows are long and intense, so let’s all try to review our book of manners. Let’s try to be better exhibitors, trainers and judges!

Before you condemn the judge, make sure you’ve spent an entire day judging, from 8 a.m. until 6 or 7 p.m.

Before you start screaming at your students, reverse the roles and decide how you’d want to hear instructions if you were the one riding.

Make an effort to watch the top jumper and hunter riders and trainers. And let’s all act as if we all have the same passion—and make sure we include our equine friends.

I’ve never taught a lesson, judged a class, given a clinic, watched my own horses go, or listened to a trainer whom I respect give a lesson without learning something. It’s time for us to listen more and to learn more about making our sport better.