Hilarious Hunter/Equitation Judge’s Shorthand
January 26, 2008
I’m still working on catching up on Practical Horseman reading, and the October 2007 issue ends with a hilarious glossary of judging acronyms. Kim Ablon Whitney explains that using shorthand is an essential skill for judges watching horses and their riders tackle the same course all day. She says…
“the trick is to come up with a repertoire of acronyms that immediately jog your memory of the horse and rider when you are looking back at your card 20, or even 50, rounds later. Judging is also a very solitary and sometimes monotonous occupation. At some shows, hours pass where you see horse after horse jumping the same ‘outside-diagonal, outside-diagonal’ course, and you have no commun ication with anyone but your starter. One way to keep it lively is to have amusing acronyms.”
And let me tell you, they are definitely amusing. And with no further ado, for your Saturday afternoon reading pleasure …
IHOP (International House of Pancakes)
A horse that jumps “flat as a pancake.”
HP (Hunt Print)
A rider badly left behind over a jump (as so often seen in old-fashioned hunt prints).
CIA (Chair in the Air)
Another favorite for a rider left behind.
TYT (Take Your Time)
A rider who takes a leisurely tour of the ring before the first jump.
VGR (Victim of a good ride)
A mediocre horse piloted by an excellent rider.
NAPP (Not a pretty picture)
A horse and rider who just don’t look good together.
OOC (Out of control)
Enough said!
LFT (late for train)
Horse is running, too strong.
MAP (Roadmap)
Rider took a “creative” path to the jump.
PS (Power steering)
A rider who can’t steer properly or doesn’t jump the middle of the jumps.
WR (Wrong ring)
Horse’s style better suited to the jumpers.
DOF (Dressage over fences)
A rider continually behind the motion.
J.Lo (Jumped loose)
A weak rider jumped out of the tack in the air over the jumps.
H20 (Water-skiing)
A rider who stands in the stirrups and braces against the horse’s mouth
HA (Hideous attire)
A rider wearing very bold, bright colors.
NNR (Needs new rider)
A nice horse who is poorly ridden.
NNT (Needs new trainer)
A rider whose trainer is yelling from the in-gate.
R&G (Run and gun)
A rider who sees the distance too late and then makes a big move.
NS/NS (No stride, no scope)
Self explanatory!
9-1-1 (Emergency)
A frightening jump that had both judge and rider gasping.
GGH (Game me a gray hair)
A scary round that made the judge worried for horse and rider.
VP (Valet parking)
Too deep to a jump.
DOA (Dead on arrival)
Chipped the first jump.
SM (Stairmaster)
Poor mover with lots of knee action.
LG (Landing gear)
A horse who hung a leg over a jump.
My favorite is HP. What’s yours?
Posted in Horsin' Around, Riding and showing
January 26th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
I like IHOP. In fact, I just ate there today. My intestines are still screaming at me. I guess I should have gone to the Nugget and had an Awful Awful Burger, like my husband suggested, although somehow I doubt that would have been much better.
My horses are not jumpers and usually evade the little wood posts I lay on the ground for them to jump, so they probably would have earned an ESL (Exit Stage Left).
January 26th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I love the shorthand comments, I have been to numerous shows when my children and myself were showing and the day sometimes never seemed to end. Just watching and waiting until it was time to ride could be pretty boring, don’t know how some judges do it all day. Thanks for leaving comments on my blog, glad you liked it, you made some good points.
January 27th, 2008 at 1:53 am
Amusing notations!
Have seen more than a few of the NNR category, not to mention the NNT’s that seem to make themselves heard to everyone.
Fun list!
January 27th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Nuzzling Muzzles … ESL (Exit State Left) is great! I may have to add that to the original post as creative acronyms from readers. I think I like that idea ….
GreyHorseMatters …. I’m a huge sucker for grey horses, by the way…I always wondered how on earth judges figured out how to pin a class of 38 horses. We always tried to go for our rounds close to the beginning or end where you are more memorable, and not get lost in the middle. Of course, riding a super flashy, dappled steely-grey horse goes a long way towards getting noticed.
Simply Marvelous … thanks for stopping by. I know we laugh at this list because if we haven’t performed them ourselves, we’ve certainly seen others do it. It certainly helps us to keep ourselves in perspective, doesn’t it?
January 28th, 2008 at 8:38 am
I like NNT - slightly nicer than NNR!!