2019 Garryowen - What the Judges Saw

This article is from the November 2019 Horse Deals magazine.

There were six judges for the Garryowen this year and five of them were former winners and the Conformation and Soundness judge was Dr Christopher Heislers. All very well qualified for the task with Sara Love judging Riding, Kylie Hearn (nee James), Mount, Bev Gardiner, General Appearance, Susanne Pedersen, Costume and Lynette McCallum, Saddlery.

With Riding Ability worth 50 points, Conformation and Soundness 50 points and Manners and Paces 40 points, it is fair to say that it is almost impossible to win unless you ride very well and have a well conformed, good going horse. It does not have to be a beautiful horse, although if it is, as was the winner this year, they would get a good percentage of the 20 General Appearance points.

For this brief report on what the judges saw, Horse Deals spoke to Riding Judge, Sara Love who won riding her $500 purchase, the Thoroughbred/Clydesdale, Tulloch Ard in 2010. We also spoke to Saddlery Judge, Lyn McCallum, as this is often an area were valuable points can be lost.

Sara Love

“What an honour to get an invitation to judge the Garryowen this year and I could not have been more pleased to get to judge the riding. The riding is important, there are so many points out there for it and I don’t think you can win if you are not a very good rider. Of course, having said that you need to pay attention too to all the other elements of the class. When I won I had a Clydesdale Thoroughbred cross and although magnificent, he was not a typical Garryowen winner, so I made sure that every other element was perfect. I did not want to lose a point on something like a garter or a spur strap, or gloves, as sometimes a point can make the difference between winning and coming second. I judged the costume for the Esquire Turnout after the Garryowen and I saw deficiencies in these areas.

“I thought the standard of riding this year was very good and the top ten stood out, especially the winner. However, I was amazed, given that they were given the workout on paper beforehand, how inaccurate some of them were. The workout stated canter halfway across the short side (roughly the equivalent of A or C in a dressage test) not in the corner before. I want them to canter in the middle and if they didn’t, it really annoyed me and I marked them down. And if it says a 20m circle, that is what I want, not a 40 or 50m circle. It was a pretty simple workout and there was not a circle of sitting trot, for which doubtless many were thankful, it was just halfway on the short side (approximately 15m) and back to walk.

“The Garryowen represents a standard of excellence in all facets of riding and presentation, far more so than for a normal hack class. A lot of the girls don’t ride in their gear, or it is brand new and the only time they ride in that outfit is in the Garryowen and that can affect the way they ride. The Garryowen is an expensive exercise, so get it right and if you are given a work out-do it correctly.”

Lynette McCallum

Lyn won the Garryowen for the second time in 1970 wearing top hat and tails, so she is no stickler for it all having to be like it was in the 1934 inaugural event. However, being the proprietor of Saddle Up Saddlery for many years, she is passionate about beautiful, well made, well maintained and correctly fitting gear.

“People are obsessed with having the correct gear to the point of forgetting that the horse has to wear the gear, and their comfort is occasionally forgotten. One of the main things I noted was in the effort to have the bridles all very even, they were so tight across the horse’s poll that the horses were so touchy behind the ears. Some of the bradoon bits were so small they went through the horse’s mouth when the reins were used. A lot of the gear appeared to be brand new and very stiff and not worked in; it was rigid and inflexible which was very disappointing. I think the horses look so nice in just plain gear and that really stands out when you get a nice set of gear.

“Some of the saddles were so tight and so down on the horse’s back and sometimes the ridge of the numnahs was under the back of the saddle causing a pressure point. My feeling is that some competitors throw away marks in their attempt to have the perfect saddle. If the horse is not comfortable it is not going to work well and that affects riding and manners and paces points as well. I don’t think some consider the fit of the saddle on the horse enough. Quite a few saddles could have fitted a lot better and some could have been balanced a lot better. A correctly balanced saddle will improve the marks in conformation and soundness, and riding. Mostly my issue was the fit of the saddle and I checked it with the rider on and the rider off.

“One of my pet hates is that they get really nice stirrup leathers made, but they forget to give the maker of the leathers the dimensions of the stirrup iron slot. Those turnout irons only have a small slot for the leathers and the stirrup won’t run through it.

“My points ranged from 8 to 19 (out of 20). The ones that got 19 had nice gear, matching, supple and the saddles sat on the horse well. I gave about five or six 19s for saddlery and the winning horse just matched from start to finish. The others ranged from 8 to 18.

“There was no one out there that was really underdone; they were a really nice, consistent lot and most of the competitors seemed to really enjoy the occasion and it was a beautiful lineup.”

Article written by Anna Sharply

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