Professional horseman, trainer and judge Patti Harnois started a vibrant conversation on Facebook last week when she posted “A good professional horse trainer = a good judge. Please get your cards!”

I was honored to be invited on the Athletic Equestrian podcast with my Ink Horse Publishing partner, Michelle Bloch, to discuss our path to book publishing with host Sally Batton. Sally, a successful author, coach and horsewoman herself, asked us thoughtful and interesting questions about writing, books and how our careers, centered around horses, turned out to be so meaningful.

Now that you've had time to read our book, maybe you're thinking, "What's next? I want to learn more." Well, we have the answer! Join us for the Second Annual Judging Hunters & Equitation WTF Workshop September 16-17 at Julie's Maplewood Stables in Reno, Nevada.

After spending the past few months sitting in the judge's box as well as in the saddle, I've noticed some small details we should all think about when we're on our horses. In general, they aren't going to be the difference between a great performance and a disastrous one, but they can detract from the picture you want to present to the judge and affect how you communicate with your partner.

I've enjoyed attending and judging a variety of horse shows so far this summer, including a special week at Thunderbird Show Park during their 50th Anniversary season. Thunderbird, located in beautiful Langley, British Columbia, draws top competitors from Canada, the Pacific Northwest, down to California and beyond. I was fortunate to judge with Bobbie Reber and Lynn Caristo Forgione, two amazing professional horsewomen who have spent their lives working with horses, training students and judging.

I was honored to be a panelist with esteemed horseman and judge Oliver Brown for the 2023 VHSA Judges Clinic, held last Sunday in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia. Special thanks to Sue Bopp for organizing the clinic and to Karyn Zambrano Clifton for her assistance during the event taking photos and selling books.

As the 2022 show season comes to a close, the Las Vegas National CSI-4*W and Marshall & Sterling/USHJA National Championships are the grand finale for us this week, November 15-20. I'm on site to cover the event for the USHJA and In Stride magazine, and Julie is judging the prestigious West Coast Equestrians Medal Finals with Ginny Edwards.

The East Coast fall indoor shows are almost concluded, as the National Horse Show in Lexington, Kentucky, finishes this weekend. It's been a great season of competition, with rising stars sharing the spotlight with our seasoned pros in the hunters, and top young riders finishing their junior careers with remarkable performances in the equitation ring.

We're counting down the days until next week's USEF Pony Finals! Julie is on the judging panel, and I'll be on site working and selling our book. We're both super excited, as it's been several years since we've attended this special competition.

As the saying goes, there's one constant in life: change. This summer I've faced some unexpected challenges and decisions. One of them was to relocate my horse, I'm Joking M, nicknamed Joker, from Julie's Maplewood Stables in Reno to South Carolina, where I've now been based for over a year.

A few weeks ago, the United States Equestrian Federation licensed officials received an email to inform us of a recent improvement to the Confidential Competition and Licensed Official Evaluation process. In short, the new process allows judges to receive both positive feedback and constructive criticism on a timely basis.

It's only June, yet unseasonably hot temperatures have been in the news from coast to coast. Here in South Carolina, we expect to endure some hot and humid weather during the summer, so we try to ride and train as early as possible. But when you're showing, you're at the mercy of the show schedule and Mother Nature, and they dictate when and in what conditions you compete.

In this era of emails, text messages and IMs, walking out to the mailbox isn't as fun as it used to be. More often than not, what I pull out are bills and junk mail.

After a short break, our newsletter is back, and we're thrilled to announce that Judging WTF is now available on Barnes & Noble as a digital download for the Nook and other compatible devices. Initially, we launched the digital version via iTunes, but because we received so many requests for another ebook option, we are making it available on B&N!

After Julie and I judged the IEA National Finals, I returned a few days later to the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg for the IHSA National Championship Horse Show, May 5-8.

Julie and I had the absolute pleasure of judging the IEA National Finals in the legendary Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, April 28-May 1. Although we have a nice chapter in our book about judging the Interscholastic Equestrian Association shows, we never had the privilege of judging the National Finals.

This past Monday and Tuesday, Julie co-facilitated the USHJA Hunter Breeding Licensed Officials Clinic with Oliver Brown, where they went over the processes for judging these classes. In our book, we devote Chapter 3 to focusing on Models and In-Hand Classes. You might wonder if an entire chapter is needed to explain the seemingly simple act of walking into the ring and standing a pony or horse up for conformation judging—but it is! Handling your horse or pony and presenting them at their best is an art unto itself and one that takes a lot of practice.

Last week's "Did You Know?" was based on an experience my friend Lee had at our last show together. She was having a beautiful trip in the Adult Amateur Hunters with Amoroso when a gust of wind blew down the final oxer when they were two strides away.

With this past week's severe weather and torrential rains in the Southeast, I had to adjust my riding and training goals—and it turned out to be a change for the better. Although the footing in our ring is quite nice, it just couldn't handle the 4+ inches of rain we received. So, with the Francis Marion National Forest in our backyard, I took the opportunity to spend time out on the trails, where the well-maintained, sandy roads were rideable.

I traveled to Little Rock last weekend to give a judging clinic for the Arkansas Hunter Jumper Association and discovered the Thoroughbred is still alive and well on the track and in the show ring! As a Thoroughbred aficionado, I was thrilled to find out how many clinic attendees showed and competed them in the hunters as well as eventing, some even crossing over from one discipline to the other with the same horse. With more than 60 people in attendance (and the most amazing "Grazing Table" I've ever seen), the clinic included lots of great questions and discussion points.