This is video of a beautiful dressage test at New England.   This is Rosevale Leggo owned by Bill Broe.

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Here is video of the 2 year old Park Harness Stake.  Thanks to the viewers who gave it to me!

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The Morgan Medallion Classic has designated the Ladies English Pleasure Championship on Saturday morning (8/16) as the UPHA Pink Ribbon Class for the show.  The show has proudly joined together with the UPHA to use the opportunity to raise awareness of (and hopefully some $$ for) breast cancer research.  We look forward to seeing the entrants in the class wearing something “pretty in pink”.  Please contact Kate Brownie cjsmum@sbcglobal.net for sponsorship information.   See you in Santa Barbara!

There has been a lot of discussion about not only the judging at New England this year, but about how deplorable horse show judging is in general.  Complaining about the judging has probably been going on since the very first horse show.  However, I have seen very few suggestions for improvement or change.  What are YOU willing to do to affect positive change?  Are you willing to pay more into the judges’ education fund that we pay at all of the Regional shows?  Are you willing to spend the time and money to educate yourself and practice making decisions in order to become a judge?  Are you willing to use your vacation time to spend 12 – 14 hour days judging shows for minimal compensation?

There are good, honest people in AMHA who are attempting to make improvements to the judges’ pool.  But let’s face it, they are facing an uphill battle and perhaps they could use some help.  We can’t expect them to find the time to wade through all of the chatter to pick out the pearls.

I would like to see the AboveLevel community become a force for positive change.  Let’s generate suggestions for improving and increasing the judges’ pool and then discuss the pros and cons of each suggestion.  I will volunteer to consolidate the suggestions, along with the pros and cons of each idea, into a letter to the AMHA Board of Directors, the AMHA Professional Committee, and the Judges’ School for them to consider.  I will post the letter for everyone to review before sending it to the Board.  I would like to have this done before it’s time to leave home for OKC.  Are you in?