It's always fun when great questions pop up in our email or on our social media channels. This week, MJ Kaplan asked: "Equitation judges! Talk to me about toe angle. 45 degrees? More or less based on the rider’s conformation? Toe forward? Aligned with knee?"
Julie stepped up and answered on Facebook:

The countdown is on to the launch of our digital book on Monday March 28! We chose Apple Books as our first partner in digital sales and will be expanding to other platforms through the year, so stay tuned.
I've found the digital publishing process has closely resembled the winter show season with my Green Hunter, On Point. We were both facing new experiences and figuring out an unfamiliar culture, community, and slightly nervous as we began.

The cliche' "you win some, you lose some" is one that I found myself thinking this week as it pertains to our sport and its subjective nature.
In one instance, a friend's horse pulled a rail in a hunter class and still won (the judge obviously missed it), and this week my horse had a beautiful trip but a hard rub over the final fence. In my case, the judge sat in her SUV on the far side of the ring, staying warm on a cold, misty day. Most likely, she didn't hear it as loudly as we did at the in-gate, and her score reflected that.

Most of the time our sport is based on individual results, and while we always cheer on our barn mates and friends, our time in the show ring is ours alone. Perhaps that's why I enjoy attending and judging the scholastic competitions so much. It's all about the team camaraderie, and it's contagious!

With all of the sad news about the EHV outbreaks in California last week, it was a ray of sunshine to hear from Felice Singleton Hybert about her success at WEC Ocala (Florida).

It was 25 years ago that I photographed the inaugural WCHR Palm Beach Hunter Classic Spectacular when junior rider Liza Towell (Boyd) won aboard her Monday Morning. And, once again, I stood ringside last Saturday night with my camera in Wellington, Florida, on a lovely February evening.

Due to popular demand, we're pleased to announce that our book will be available in E-Book format! We are hard at work preparing the files and setting everything up for an early March launch on Barnes & Noble.com. We will keep you posted on the pre-order details and specific launch date as we get closer.

I was honored to be a featured speaker at the Penn State Horse Show Judges School this past weekend in State College, Pennsylvania. More than 110 people registered for the two-day school, which was hosted by the Penn State Extension and the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences.

This week's Judging WTF Question of the Week generated great conversation. Using a stick in the show ring is a major deduction and an automatic score of 60, or in that range, depending upon the other rounds in the class.

Open numerical scoring in the hunter sections has pros and cons for exhibitors, trainers, parents, show management and judges. As judges, we know when we work certain horse shows (Devon, the East Coast Fall Indoor shows and World Championship Hunter Rider-sanctioned shows) that we'll be using that system for the A-rated hunters. In addition, some hunter and equitation classes have open numerical scoring in their specs.This year, we've seen more discussion on social media and at the in-gate regarding scoring. In fact, exhibitor and judge Susie Baker wrote an eloquent Facebook post last week in reference to issues on the Winter Equestrian Festival circuit in Florida.

As Julie and I started thinking about writing this book way back in 2016, we spent lots of time brainstorming ideas and considering what should be included. It wasn't long before we realized a pattern was developing: We'd talk about something we'd learned about judging while sitting with someone or sharing excellent advice another judge had given to us about strategy and showmanship, and that would be added to the list. So, eventually, we realized the people who contributed to our educations and with whom we've worked with should have a voice in the book, too. Thus, our WTF Judging Panel was born.

This new newsletter is based on the book Judging Hunters and Equitation WTF? (Want The Facts?) by Julie Winkel and Tricia Booker.

We're thrilled to have you join us as we spend time together talking about judging, the history of the sport, scoring, tips to improve your show ring performances, judges' pet peeves, and show ring strategies, and best of all answering your questions! Something on your mind? Email us: info@judgingwtf.com

Many of us start the year with New Year's resolutions or goals, and I'm one of them. As I formulate new resolutions, I make a point to think about how the previous year went and return to my notes to see how I did.