[QUOTE=OverandOnward;8775156]
At a schooling show, once, and it wasn’t so much lameness as radical over-use of a young horse. There were actually 3 of us, 2 of us volunteers and one the show coordinator, who in the last few classes were watching this poor young horse who had been jumped and jumped in every possible class since the morning. All three of us started talking to each other about it at the same time - this was way too much.
The trainer was the rider’s mom and was insisting the horse had to keep going because “he has to get it right”. The horse was just tiring and getting more wrong. Show coordinator was debating telling them they just couldn’t show him any more, but was hoping to get a good decision from them and not have to go that step.
Finally all 3 of us talked to the mom in the warm-up ring (where the rider was jumping and jumping the horse, on mom-trainer instructions - as she had in every warm-up before all the classes he was entered). The mom was obdurate. Horse went into the class and jumped the best he had all day. Teenage rider was all smiles and ready to take him to the trailer. But mom-trainer rose up and insisted “he has to do it again”. Well, all 3 of us stood up and said “three experienced horse people are trying to tell you this horse has had enough and you are likely to injure him seriously by continuing - and he is unlikely to be this good again, as tired as he is, you are going to lose this good experience”.
Mom-trainer (who really did not have that much experience) continued to insist the horse had to continue. Fifteen-year-old rider spoke up like a hero: “HE IS FINISHED AND GOING BACK TO THE TRAILER”. And she got off and started walking the horse away.
Fifteen-year-old rider took good care of her horse, then came back to tell us without her mom-trainer around, with great poise and determination, “My mom does not know what she is doing. I am taking over this horse and I am not going to let her do that again.” And from her tone and bearing, that is exactly what was going to happen. Between the girl and the mom, the girl was clearly the older and wiser soul, and she knew it. 
There was one other time, another schooling show when I was one of about a half-dozen people who said in a positive, casual and friendly tone to a rider, “hey, have you thought about having his hocks done?” Rider was very quiet in response. Learned later that the horse, a 4-yo, was retired after that show. His hocks HAD been done - and that was not the problem. Whatever it was, he was not asked to be sore any more. I understand he is still living happily at pasture as a companion horse at a breeding barn.
So sometimes it does help to speak up. Far more effective if it isn’t just one voice. :)[/QUOTE]
I did see a judge once tell a rider that she needed to be done with her horse. She had the horse is about 10 classes (Walking Horse so no jumping) but it was in the 90s and the judge just said, “Your horse is tired and has had enough. You will not be allowed back into the ring”. Kudos to that judge. I had forgotten about it until your post here.