Driving People--Has anyone ever had a judge...

[ThreeCFarm]

Has anyone at the Regional/World level (AMHA or AMHR please) ever had a judge walk by the basket of your cart to see if you have the proper shoes on for what you are wearing? In other words, would I be risking my placing by wearing a pair of black tennis shoes with a dress that isn't floor length? I won't have much time to get my horse harnessed and myself dressed in between my halter and driving classes at Regionals, so I'm trying to cut time. At the local shows I just change my jacket but keep my halter pants on, so it doesn't matter.

 

[disneyhorse]

Hee hee hee... as long as they are solid black I wouldn't worry about it. By the time you have gone through your class the judge has a pretty good idea of who they are going to pick anyway... your SHOES aren't going to deter them too much! I doubt they'd ever even notice. It's like the movie "Shawshank Redemption"... no one ever looks at a man's shoes....

Andrea

 

[ThreeCFarm]

Just had to be sure!

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[Davie]

Hi Stephanie

Yes, I have had judges look into my cart for appropriate footware (especially those who are formal driving judges--and there are a few out there) and some have commented on the type of footware I was wearing. I wear tennis shoe type footware that is black leather and has a slight heel so that I can wear them in roadster class. Wearing flat soled shoes in Roadster is not a good thing--trust me.

When it is an formal attire class I do wear a shoe that is a little more formal looking but still serviceable if I have to get out of the cart.

I wear a full length skirt for some driving classes. It is so easy to just slip it on over pants for a quick change and it's length hides the pants--also a good thing if you have to bail out for some reason and your skirt reveals more than you wanted to show.

The AMHR rule book says the following.

Part 6-Ring Procedures. It is the tradition of the show ring that handlers and drivers be correctly attired for their classes. T-Shirts, shorts, clothes with logos or monograms are not correct attire and will not be allowed in the show ring.

It goes on to say in the specific rules:

Part 12-Driving Division

C. Dress Code: Headers, Drivers and their passengers should be dressed appropriately.

1. Hats may or may not be worn by gentlemen, except when in formal attire.

2. No strapless dresses in any driving class

3. No sandals or open toes shoes to be worn by driver or header

4. No T-shirts or shorts

Hope this helps

 

[disneyhorse]

Oh Davie that is a good point... NO SANDALS OR OPEN TOED SHOES... I have seen drivers DQ'd because of that. Since she specifically had said black tennis shoes I figured she'd be okay.

Andrea

 

[ThreeCFarm]

Hi Davie! :saludando:

Well, my driving classes are spread out over three days, but I only have halter the first day. I do have a long black skirt that I could use for that first class, and then use the dresses for the other classes. Then I could keep my jacket and slinky on too, for an even faster change!

 

[Davie]

That is what I do Stephanie,

Make the change from halter to cart as smooth and quickly as possible. Especially if its a day time class in halter I wear black pants and my jacket that has a false front in it so I don't have to wear a slinky under it unless I want to change the color of the false front.

This way I can get out of the ring go to my cart (which is already at ring side) harness and then just slip my skirt on over my pants, grab my gloves and I'm ready to go.

Another suggestion, if you have only driving classes and are wearing a full length dress or skirt, I would still wear a pair of shorts underneath--again just in case of an emergency exit from the cart is needed.

It would be my luck that someone I knew would be standing at ring side with a camera if I had to exit quickly and had a skirt expose some portion of my anatomy that I did not want seen

:

: better safe (pair of shorts on) than sorry :new_shocked: :bgrin

 

[ThreeCFarm]

It would be my luck that someone I knew would be standing at ring side with a camera if I had to exit quickly and had a skirt expose some portion of my anatomy that I did not want seen

:

: better safe (pair of shorts on) than sorry :new_shocked: :bgrin

Oh, that would be something, wouldn't it? That would be my luck too. :lol:

 

[Karen S]

Hi Stephanie,

Yes we have had judges ask us to show them our feet. Some people have asked why?

Well stop and think about this.....you're at the Area or National Show...you're suppose to be spit shine for your class and stand heads above the rest. That includes you (hair neat and in place, show clothes clean and free of as many wrinkles as they possibly can), your horse (well groomed), your harness (polished not dirty) and your cart (polished and clean), the over-all picture should be as perfect as it can be. When the judge has two horses that perform the same then what other criteria can a judge use to place those two that are tied? Picking apart you, your horse, harness and cart. We've even have had them to ask us to name the parts of the harness! If one answered wrong and one right then who do you think wins? We've even had it happen in the Showmanship Class between two people who were perfect in every way, but when the judge asked a question regarding their horse and one could answer and the other couldn't then the one that had the correct answer won the class.

I keep some stylist but cheap black patton flats in my show stuff just to slip my feet into when I go into a driving class. This way I'm as spit-polished as can be in case a judge does ask to see what I have on my feet under my skirt.

Karen

 

[MiLo Minis]

Shoes for driving should be neat, clean and match your outfit. But the big thing is, particularly for Country Pleasure, they should be comfortable for walking in should you have a breakdown out in the country and have to get off and walk. I have had several judges check my footwear in a driving class. Once I won over another girl as when the judge checked her feet she had one in a cast and should NOT have been driving at all as the judge pointed out! :bgrin

 

[Coventry Lane Farm]

Yes... We have had a few judges look into our baskets to see what type of footwear we had on and had made a comment to someone in the class that was a man that had tennis shoes on that "He must have not wanted to win the class since he had improper footwear on". Seems like there has been more judges looking for the proper footwear lately in the driving classes than before.

 

[Sanny]

This post caught me eye and I am curious about this whole thing.

I did see someone at Nationals last year wearing formal dresses with strappy high heel sandals for some driving classes. I felt dumb when I saw that and wondered if I should have done the same but I always wear my black Ariat style lace up riding boots with all of my outfits, including long dresses. It just makes more sense to me, but the whole high heels thing didn't seem to hurt the person wearing them in her placings.

I have had several judges this year that made a point of looking in my basket during the line up in driving classes and I wondered what they were doing or looking for (DUH). Until that happened I used to have stuff like used baby wipes, leather wipes, ribbons from previous classes, driving gloves, etc. After the first time I saw a judge look I started making sure it was cleaned out and wiped down before each class. I didn't want it looking like the floor of my car if the judges were going to be checking it out.

:

 

[Amy]

I have been checked for footwear as well. Looking for sandals mainly-- NO open toed shoes allowed in either flat or dress shoes with heels-- so not allowed in either Pleasure or Country Pleasure driving classes.

 

[Sunny]

This is an interesting question and one I hadn't thought about until the last show I attended. In one of the youth driving classes, there was a variety of carts, everything from Jeralds or Houghtons to metal easy-entry carts. From where I was sitting up in the stands, I could see that a young lady in an easy entry cart was wearing flip-flop type sandals with her very pretty dress. It occurred to me then that the judges had no way of knowing what the other drivers may have been wearing unless they specifically went and looked. Neither of them did that in this particular class, so I wondered if they even noticed this girl's footwear or what. She didn't win the class, but neither was she placed last.

 

[Margo_C-T]

Any judge worth their salt should be checking this kind of detail. There are REASONS for rules like this(as MiLo pointed out)--'real world' reasons! I have been 'doing' horses for a very long time, and have to say, anyone who 'hangs out' around horses, even little ones, in flip flops or other kinds of sandals, is not behaving very wisely.

Margo

 

[D.M. Minis]

was it GUYFOX or malinda they are knowen for that. I have seen them lift a drees up to see the shoes you are wearing

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[Sanny]

was it GUYFOX or malinda they are knowen for that. I have seen them lift a drees up to see the shoes you are wearing

Russ....can we see a picture of you in your dress?? :lol:

Actually...yes......I've been judged by both of them this past year and they did check the footwear of everyone in the class. Kind of a nice twist because both times the classes were competitive enough that it might take a small thing like footwear to decide between two very equal drivers/horses.

 

[Russ]

Just wanted to add I noticed at the Winona,MN show a couple judges kinda leaning in to take a peak in the driving classes. After reading this thread I know why now......learned something new!

The black boots Sanny was talking of.......go to the post made by manyspots about my mare Rose. In that pic look at what Kim Seipp and Claire Purdy (judges) are wearing for boots at the show in that picture. Now, for the ladies that gives you a pretty good idea.....if a judge wears them.....

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