Our Story
The idea for British Showing has been ruminating for some time. The push to iron out the finer details, build the website and get it live was my own personal desire to carry on showing and judging whilst injured and unable to do this myself in person! It has been spurred on by two areas which I know are sometimes lacking in showing - accessibility and feedback.
Plus there is no-one who doesn't love a decent rosette, sash or prize. We guarantee great rosettes to all placings and all entrants will be entered automatically into our annual league, with the chance to win more rosettes and/or sashes!
Accessibility
We all know showing (and horses in general) is not the cheapest of hobbies. It can also be so easily affected by many factors - currently the weather this summer has been atrocious and we know getting out in the monsoon rains this summer, let alone the awful winter weather, can put a dampener (literally) on our appetite let alone ability to travel to and enter a show. In addition, we all know horses/ponies love to break themselves just before a big event and we ourselves (myself frustratingly this season - I'm four months in following a fracture and still a few months away from getting back on a horse) can injure ourselves or struggle with lack of transport or even a correctly fitting saddle! Many things can conspire against us entering shows and this indeed can be frustrating.
The joy of online showing is that you can submit an entry from the comfort of your own house or tack room and can either use a video/photo(s) you already have taken or pop out into the yard or field and be able to take a video/photo(s) which will be sufficient to enter this month's show.
In addition, the entry fees are not exorbitant and you will be guaranteed a fabulous fancy rosette or indeed sash to all the placings and champions.
We want to provide a safe environment for both encouraging the less confident/inexperienced combinations, yet also provide a place for those competitive/experienced combinations to enter regular events. Therefore we have developed the idea of having two sections to each class - Grassroots/Local Level competitors and then also the County/National Level competitors. Therefore those who want to be competitive can be and those who would like encouragement against similar level entrants can enter knowing they aren't against HOYS ponies! Please see the website for more details.
Feedback from judges
I have listened to so many competitors, both novices, competitive amateurs and professionals alike, lament the lack of clarity around judging decisions in the show ring over the past few years; and we all know that clear feedback is something that we all want from judges to really find out why we got the placing we did.
Our judges will supply feedback to every competitor in the video classes - this will allow you an insight into how a judge views your show and also what parts they felt were good and what parts they felt could be improved upon. We would hope that if you were able to work on these areas of improvement and entered the shows on a monthly basis you would see an improvement in your placings and this would translate into the 'real' world for any shows you enter too.
Looking at mark sheets after a class for those that mark/publish them has never really given any more of an insight into where we went wrong or why a judge didn't like us on that day. Judges often can be judging large classes and it's not always possible to ask them at the time why we weren't placed or indeed why we got fourth when we thought we should be second! So this is a good opportunity to get proper, relevant and constructive feedback from the judge for EVERY competitor that enters the classes. Sometimes it can be difficult for a judge put on the spot to tactfully say to you that they don't feel your horse/pony is good enough for that level or the right type for that class, or indeed say you didn't ride that very well today, so often they will say something relatively bland and ultimately unhelpful for fear of being rebuked on social media. However, our judges will be able to review your submitted video and write down some considered and constructive comments which may help you assess if you're in the right class, if there is a simple bit of schooling you can do at home to improve your transitions or if indeed what you were doing was excellent, but you didn't show enough of the good bits for them to be able to place you higher!
We promise all feedback will be positive and constructive - we have no desire to quell anyone's aims of working towards an important show or a big qualifier - but we do hope to be able to point you in the right direction of how to get placed first rather than fifth if you are more than capable of achieving that with a few minor tweaks.
About me
I am a BSHA and CHAPS HOYS-level panel judge, wtih many years of experience judging at all levels from local shows to society national championships, including several times at the BSHA National Championships, the CHAPS Championship Show and the inaugural Traditional Of The Year Show (TOYS). I am also a BHS Accredited Professional Coach (Level 3/BHSAI) and teach clinics from Local/Riding Club level up to HOYS competitors.
Having started off my showing career as a home-produced amateur from a non-horsey family, I'm very aware of the struggle at times of the novice/amateur competitor, so am very keen to coach and encourage grassroots competitors to enjoy showing. Having spent time riding out for one of the most successful show producers in the country, as well as riding out for the Household Cavalry for several years, and a stint for several years as a keen side saddle rider and competitor, I have a keen eye for detail to help improve even the most experienced of combinations at the top level.
