Working at a Horse Show

Hey! I haven't gotten to try out those exercises. Been way to sick to even think about trying it. I did, however, end up working at a local unrecognized hunter/jumper show today. I showed on this circuit heavily for a two years two seasons ago. I did one or two last year but otherwise hadn't been involved till a friend called needing someone to fill in. An hour later, I was signed up to manage the Large Hunter Arena. Physically the largest ring at the show, it contained all the 'big' hunter classes. Manage a ring for a day and make $100. That was it. No problem. Mostly.

The day started off with a bang. Turns out their getting you ready for the job was:
- handing you a binder with class entries
handing you a highlighter and a pen
- handing you a big box of ribbons
- handing you a walkie talkie set to channel 3. Push the button, talk then let the button go
- being told to highlight whoever's name had gone in and strike through whoever scratches. Adds need a pink slip and need to be written under the normal entries
- report to your ring gate at 8:30
It took about 2 minutes. No problem right?

Turns out it would also be nice to know:
- who your judge is
- what information needs to be given to the judge as a rider goes in for an over fences class (which ring, which class, their number, trip number)
- what to do when the ring is over
- how to set people up to rotate through courses without pissed trainers and confusion
- how to get everyone to cooperate for a medal class over two different fence heights
Those would have been really nice to know. Just sayin.

There was some confusion to start with because I didn't know what information the judge needed but that was quickly sorted out. The real fun started when a woman asked to go toward the beginning of the rotation for my first class. Green Hunter O/F. I OKed it and got her in and out of the ring. Then she left. I ran the rest of the class and suddenly realize that I'm missing a rider. I scan the list and realize the girl from before was riding a second horse. And has now disappeared. Completely. I finish up the final rotation and sit to wait for my rider. 20 minutes later my judge is getting annoyed. I let it sit another 10 minutes. Nothing. I start going back and forth with the people around the end gate. No one knows where my rider is. Finally 40 minutes after my last rider the judge and I decide that we're just going to start the flat class and the missed rider will just have to get over herself. By the way, this show is the epotime of unrated hunter show. About 1/2 the judges are actually dressage judges and there has been more than one occasion when mothers of the competitiors have judged. Its not some huge expensive/important thing that someone trained for years/months for and will prosper greatly from showing in. In horse shows, this one is nothing. Anway, 40 minutes late we try to move on. The second I start sticking girls in the ring people come screaming. Literally screaming. If you ever need to find a rider at a show, threaten to skip her if she doesn't show. I turn to deal with the older man and woman that have showed up and get BLASTED. No lie. People screaming in my face about me having no right to move the show along and how I'm screwing everything up. All I remeber was this creepy guy screaming YOU CAN'T DO THIS like 5 times in my face. Finally I just turned away and let them continue trying to tell the people around me how wrong I was. (the rule book reads that a ring is not going to be held for an unreasonable amount of time because a rider won't show). Ten minutes later I am told to get the riders out of the ring (they had just been walking around) because the rider that won't show HAS to do her over fences classes. Twenty minutes later, she shows. We've been waiting on her for nearly an hour and a half at this point. Finally she shows up and does her courses. It is then and only then that the woman who blasted me turns me around and says "She is a trainer. You HAVE to hold the ring for her and tell the judge it is a trainer conflict. You CAN'T just move the show along not matter how long it it. YOU are WRONG. I'm talking to the SHOW MANAGER!" This is a) the first time I find out she is a trainer (she didn't ride or act like one) b) the first time that I've heard that the judges call isn't final and c) the first time that I find out that she wasn't just missing, she had little girls in another ring.
I'm not a mind reader. No one on the show staff is a mind reader. We can't guess what you know. You have to TELL us. I had already held for one trainer that class and had no problem with it. No one did. Judge, competitiors and ring staff was completely OK with waiting when we were TOLD.
Anyway, my old trainer and her daughter were ringside and are watching the other thing. The 22 year old daughter immediatly recognized the missing riders new mount. Turns out the trainer had entered a horse that had shown for 3 years over fences in a green division (a horse is not allowed to compete if it has shown over fences for 2 or more years). She takes a complaint to the show office that the horse that we waited FOREVER for isn't even eligible for the class. Neither is one other horse the trainer had entered. While she was in there someone comes in there to complain about me and the daughter immediatly jumps in and tells the manager that I had no idea where the rider had gone, that she was a trainer and I had given 3 calls over the PA for her with no responce. The woman with the complaint quickly left the office.
I know the situation probably could have been handled better but after a point, I can only run my ring with the information I have.

After that, several trainers came up and told me they saw no problem with my actions and that the woman who screamed at me was known for blasting people that she felt was under her. She also had no relation to the rider/trainer that could not be found. She just felt like informing me that I was doing things wrong. Other trainers were amazingly kind enough to let me put their riders in what rotation I needed them in instead of demanding a spot. People who asked to be put forward in the rotation were put forward while I kept other trainers/riders informed on where we were. Oh, and the man who was yelling with the older woman, no one has any idea where the he came from. Personally, I just think he liked yelling.

About an hour after the first issue two big name/well known/nasty trainers nearly went at it. I just let them figure it out. One was a private well paid instructor that only worked with two riders (who are from a very wealthy family) and the other had a large barn with lots of winning girls. Both are known for being nasty. The private instructor asked me if her riders could go in first. I was good with it and turned to mark off riders. While I was turned away, the trainer with the winning riders opens my ring gate and starts trying to put girls in. I debated on telling her to wait for me to put the other riders in but then the private instructor came up and they seriosuly had a stare off. The trainer with the big barn won and immediatly sent in her first rider. I informed the judge of the rider, class and trip then turn to watch the private trainer walk off bristling. She was pissed. Not at me though, at the other trainer. Had I tried to step in, I would have gotten blasted again but show politics took care of who got the ring without me trying to fix things. I let the trainers drive each other crazy after that. That was the closest call to an outright argument but there were several other face offs during the day.

The day was rather uneventful after that. Trainers directly told me when there would be a trainer conflict and girls told me whether or not they wanted their trainer at the ring for their ride. If I knew at the start of a class who wanted what, I could do it. Just not with people screaming or expecting me to mind read.

Oh and there was huge barn drama but I'm staying out of that. Way, way out of that.

The show was a lot of fun on the whole, hanging out with friends and horses always means a good time. I'm sunburned and tired but $100 richer and happy.