I think I need to come shop at your thrift store! I can't find anything in a size 4 to save my life...all the nice jackets are made for, shall we say, more operatic ladies.
Don't come to Wisconsin. We have cheese and we LIKE it! I don't know of too many size 4 people here!
Breed shows are LOOKING for the brilliant mover, not advanced training or great turnout but the best horse. It's been explained to me as a halter class in motion which I sadly find to be pretty true.
As such, the drivers each tend to wear an outfit with bling (especially if the horse is a plain bay or other color that's easy to lose on the rail) in order to be memorable but the judges are so used to bling I really don't think they focus on the driver. You can use your outfit to get a good second look from the judge but then it's up to you to make sure your average mover is showing off how consistent and rhythmic they are at the moment the judge is looking or all he's going to do is admire your outfit and move on to a better horse.
I completely agree with you, Leia. ADS shows are looking for the brilliant mover, too (as long as the horse is moving "true" with roundness and tracking up...) and if that horse is satisfying the requirements, it is on the top. But because our turnouts are different, we don't have to wear bling to be memorable (if you did, you would be "memorable" to the judge, but not how you want to be!
). Now, I did have a student that has a nice moving mini that didn't place in a class once. Since I was in the class, too, I asked my mom to watch her in the next class to see what she was doing wrong and my mom's comment was, "I couldn't find her". She had a very white overo maxi-mini put to a Meadowbrook, but had a light cream coat with no color, and basically got lost in a field of about 11 minis. She "blended" too well. We had her add a bit of color next year, and she was back in the ribbons, so I know that catching the judge's eye is important no matter what style you show. But the driver with the average mover has to do SO much more in a breed class because everybody has the same cart and harness. At ADS shows, you can have Meadowbrooks, Road Carts, Jerald-style, Minicrowns, Smart Carts, and my Phaeton Cart all in the same VSE class.
I think that Diane D. has the right idea about dressing "conservatively" (nice jacket vs. bare shoulders and sequins, etc.) for breed shows, including a nice hat, to be "different" than everyone else. (I've seen photos of Leia with the same). If I had to tell people how to turnout for the breed ring, I guess that is what I would suggest. We have done very well over the years being "different". We showed a Pinto Arab in Saddleseat and the absolute only times we were out of the ribbons was from major rider error (my student cued Spider wrong and blew a lead, etc.) I would watch the whole class and see much more impressive movers than Spider, but because he was big and white in a field of 20 chestnut and bay Saddlebreds, he would place over really nice horses (and because he is so "loud' the kids had to wear very conservative suits). When we started driving competitively almost 20 years ago, my mom's gray mini would sometimes be the only mini in the class, and usually it seemed the judge didn't know what to do with him, so he would invariably be in the middle of the ribbons ("I don't dare place a mini over a Morgan
, but he's doing a nice job..."), but he always placed. He was different, but within the rules. We showed that gray mini to a Jerald style cart, but after he won quite a bit and the VSE division became more competitive, we had to go to different cart, as there were nicer Jeralds in the ring than ours.
Fit the "mold" as much as it takes to be within the rules, but then change it up! Don't do what everyone else is doing. And Show your Good Horse. Ultimately, it doesn't matter how you dress if your horse isn't great.
Myrna
