04/19/2026
Yesterday I took my son to a horse show. This was NOT one of our events, but I feel like I need to talk about it.
This was the first time we let him off the lead rope so as a mom, I was stressed out enough. Let's add a 99% chance of storms to the mix to paint an accurate picture.
The show management team made a risky decision to press on and made some judgement calls to make the show go faster before the rain came in around...well anywhere between noon and 2:00.
One of those calls was to bring in another judge so that 2 events could run at once. Side note: I am a HUGE fan of the initial judge. She has judged for me several times and is always my first call, so this post should not take anything away from her being amazing.
However, the 2nd judge was our judge. My trainer friend who's horse my son was riding is predominantly a barrel trainer...and a damn good one, but as a great friend of mine always says, "When in Rome...go to Rome." Do all of her kiddos went into the showmanship class.
After the class, this angel of a woman called the kids back into the ring and the first thing she told them was that they did a great job, and then got a little emotional and said, "The only way you will ever fail is if you don't try." Then proceeded to take her boot and draw the "boxes" in on the ground to show them how to move around the horse during showmanship.
There wasn't a dry eye on the rail.
At that point, all my stress of letting my child off the lead went away. She also remembered my son's name in both of his classes and I'm sure that she also remembers that he loves horses, but he "also loves cats and dogs." 😂🤦♀️
The equestrian world needs more judges like her and show managers that are going to take a risk so that Mommas like me don't have to tell their babies that the show that they have been looking forward to is not going to happen.
Yesterday was not only a win for my son, but a win for the horse show world in Middle Tennessee.
(This is a random picture I took off Google because I want to respect her privacy, and I won't mention the show either, but if you all are reading this and so inclined, take the much deserved credit that's due you.)
