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Take a break from showing, and put the funds toward regular lessons with a quality, respectable trainer instead.
Terms such as “pivot foot” and “showmanship” makes me think you’re probably talking about a stock breed hunter versus open/USEF hunters, which are the focus of this forum. You may get some advice tailored toward that here (might be limited though), but I’d also suggest seeking input from the Western forum as well. No matter the discipline, the “frame” is not about where the horse’s head or nose is, it’s about the whole body position and it’s driven by whether or not the hind end is engaged. If you do not have your horse working properly from behind with its back up, you’ll never have the energy and connection needed to perform properly at any gait, let alone something more complicated like the counter canter.
Is somebody helping you? Lessons? One reason the others look and do better might be they have more help learning and teaching the horse.
The judges are NOT writing you off because they figure you aren’t working hard enough, it’s because you cannot do whatever the requirements if the class are as well as the others. That’s what the judge has to judge, how well you do or do not perform certain things each class requires.
Sometimes the other horses are just nicer then yours, that’s horse showing.
Counter canter is quite advanced, since you admit you are still a novice and the horse still green, I wouldn’t worry too much right now.
The Showmanship? How’s your grooming compared to the others? Mane pulled/braided/banded? Clipped neatly where customary for your discipline? Hooves clean, every hair in place? Show halter/bridle sparkling clean and properly fitted to your mare? And do you spend time every day practicing Showmanship as you lead, groom and work around your horse? Stand her up? Pretend the judge is walking around inspeting her and adjusting your position? Halt, stand up and pivot several time at random every day when leading into the grooming area or back to the stall???
Showmanship is mostly regular practice and impeccable grooming. Go on YouTube and watch videos of horses in Showmanship and Halter classes, you can pick up some helpful tips in presenting your horse the absolute best it could be. There should also be some instructional videos out there for download. But most of what wins Showmanship is attention to detail that really does not cost any money or require a drop dead fancy horse, just a ton of time and discipline.
One other thing, are you friendly with some of these other girls? Put envy aside and reach out in friendship, they may be able to help you and make you feel less the loner.
As Gone Away said. Put your money in lessons where you can learn where and why you are getting in your horses way, and how to fix it. Continuing to show will only make you more frustrated.
Remember, Olympic riders in all disciplines still take lesson.
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[QUOTE=Cora;7697526]
Yes I am talking about stock type. Sorry I didn’t realize this forum was for open and USEF. I will definitely go to the western forum. And thanks for your advice about making sure her back is lifted and her back end is engaged. I have been sort of assuming that since she has plenty of forward motion that she is using her back end correctly. I will definitely keep that in mind and start looking for an affordable trainer. Thanks :)[/QUOTE]
Its all good. We like to try to help, some if us have done stock types and western over here and sometimes post over there too. More is the same then is different. Have fun over there. Look forward to following your journey.
[QUOTE=Cora;7697526]
Yes I am talking about stock type. Sorry I didn’t realize this forum was for open and USEF. I will definitely go to the western forum. And thanks for your advice about making sure her back is lifted and her back end is engaged. I have been sort of assuming that since she has plenty of forward motion that she is using her back end correctly. I will definitely keep that in mind and start looking for an affordable trainer. Thanks :)[/QUOTE]
“Forward” does not necessarily equal “engaged.” A horse can be dragging itself along on its front end at a pretty good clip (plenty of forward momentum), but not use its hind end (may be why your mare is strung out). A good trainer will help you figure that out. If they have better schooled horses, they can put you on those and help you feel the difference, and work with you and your mare to develop that in her.
Unfortunately, you can’t teach what you don’t know. That’s not an insult, that’s just the truth - how can anyone teach their horse to do something if they (the rider) have no idea how, or even what the right thing feels like? That’s where a reputable trainer (especially a dressage trainer) comes in. Your education and your horse’s development are way more important right now than showing, and you’ll probably find you have a lot more fun learning and making progress. Best of luck and have fun! 
I am very good friends with one of the girls I was talking about, and her older brother, who is a trainer, lets me use his arena and and occasionally gives me an unofficial lesson. I do practice showmanship every day and I try to make my grooming impeccable. I must be doing something wrong, though, because I have practiced every day for about 2 years and she still isn’t planting a pivot foot. Oh well.
I will look up videos on YouTube about grooming to see if there’s anything I’m not doing that I should be.
Also, the only reason I’m worried about counter cantering is because it might be asked for in my equitation classes.
Thanks for your input
[QUOTE=Cora;7697526]
Yes I am talking about stock type. Sorry I didn’t realize this forum was for open and USEF. I will definitely go to the western forum. And thanks for your advice about making sure her back is lifted and her back end is engaged. I have been sort of assuming that since she has plenty of forward motion that she is using her back end correctly. I will definitely keep that in mind and start looking for an affordable trainer. Thanks :)[/QUOTE]
See the bolded part? Don’t make that assumption and don’t take lessons from anyone else who doesn’t know the difference between speed, going forward and going forward by raising the horse’s shoulders and pushing from behind.
I’ll bet that your horse doesn’t push from behind and while she can do some things well, she hits the wall at the counter canter. I’ll bet she’s stiff and doesn’t bend terribly well, either. Use those as signs of some physical conditioning holes and educational holes in her training and your riding.
I mention this because, ironically, you might have better luck going outside the breed show version of HUS to someone who does USEF hunters or, even better, dressage.
Many AQHA and stock-breed horses seem to be able to do a lot of tricks-- counter canter with a pretty green rider, change leads automatically, deliver what appears to be very slow, strength-based collection. That’s because you guys get horses very broke, very young. That’s cool. But! You (generally, in the world of westerner showing) don’t always get them physically built up to do the job you want easily.
That’s why folks here would call the counter canter a more advanced move. What they think of in a horse who as a reliable counter canter (AND a rider who can reliably produce one) is probably an animal/person with a deeper foundation than you are used to seeing. I’m just guessing based on what I have seen in English- and Western Worlds. I don’t mean to offend or judge, but to inform. I’m I have got it wrong, ignore my point of view.
Hope you can find a good, knowledgeable pro to help you sort this out. You might have to take a few steps backward with your mare, but if you fill in those gaps, your performance will be much better in the long run.
[QUOTE=GoneAway;7697544]
“Forward” does not necessarily equal “engaged.” A horse can be dragging itself along on its front end at a pretty good clip (plenty of forward momentum), but not use its hind end (may be why your mare is strung out). A good trainer will help you figure that out. If they have better schooled horses, they can put you on those and help you feel the difference, and work with you and your mare to develop that in her.
Unfortunately, you can’t teach what you don’t know. That’s not an insult, that’s just the truth - how can anyone teach their horse to do something if they (the rider) have no idea how, or even what the right thing feels like? That’s where a reputable trainer comes in. Your education and your horse’s development are way more important right now than showing, and you’ll probably find you have a lot more fun learning and making progress. Best of luck and have fun! :)[/QUOTE]
I never thought of it like that. Are there reputable trainers that I can pay for with babysitting money? 
[QUOTE=Cora;7697573]
I never thought of it like that. Are there reputable trainers that I can pay for with babysitting money? :P[/QUOTE]
I imagine by skipping a couple shows you should be able to afford some lessons.
What’s your boarding situation? Are you keeping your horse at home? At a farm with in-house trainers? Farm without trainers? If you have to travel or have a trainer travel to you, it’s going to be a bit harder.
It would cost an arm and a leg, and a lot of babysitting jobs, but what might really help is a more intensive experience. Does the trainer you were talking about above do training board? How much? How many months of work would it take to save up for one month at that farm, where he worked on the horse and you got some lessons? Winter is coming soon, so maybe if you stop showing now, put that money into savings, and ramp up babysitting and slow down the horse stuff, maybe you could afford an arrangement like this for a month during the winter (sometimes for arrangements like this you can barter a bit by doing barn work in exchange for lessons, etc).
Also wanted to say from what you describe you’ve done a really nice job so far. Don’t discount that with horses things often happen on a plateau - it’s not just a constant rate of improvement, but you can make great leaps forward for a while, then stagnate and not get anywhere for ages, then hit some improvements again, etc. So try not to let the current situation get you too down.
On that pivot, without really knowing but guessing? I bet she’s not rocked back over her hinny in hand any more then she is under saddle. She’s strung out just like she probably is under saddle. The first move setting up the pivot is to rock the horse back so they can roll over that pivot foot, if they are not rocked back, they just swap ends like a Reiner that’s trying to spin with its weight on the forehand.
Can you have somebody video you? Even just on a cell phone? Watching yourself can be a real eye opener. Humbling but helpful if you seriously want to get better. And watch every video you can find. It’s free. Some will teach you what to do, others what to avoid doing, but they get your brain working in a different way- to honestly see what you are doing, admit what’s wrong and devote yourself to making it better.
I also agree spend your money on some lessons, skip the shows for now.
I can’t help you a ton on some of the more breed show specific type stuff, but a few ideas to help you improve your canter and counter canter.
In the canter, don’t just endlessly canter around and around on the rail. Get off the rail and onto a 20 meter circle. Do LOTS of transitions, both to and from the canter, and in the canter. So, lots of canter-trot-canter and canter-walk-canter, and lots of working canter, lengthen the stride, back to working canter. Do only good transitions. So, if it takes you 20 steps after you trot to have a good enough trot before you can ask for canter again, then take the 20 steps. Also, don’t wait for the canter to get strung out, do a nice downward transition while the canter is still good. This might mean that you only canter half a circle at first. That’s ok! Don’t forget to do lots of transitions in the other gaits, too. Transitions are the weight lifting exercises of the horse world (look at Grand Prix dressage horses. They’re so beefy because of ALL the transitions they do! Among other things). So, with that in mind, don’t do a ton right off the bat. Just a couple at a time in each direction to start. Build from there. As she gets stronger and able to hold herself better, you should be able to do a couple of canter-trot-canter transitions on one circle. Also, to help you along, don’t forget to do simple changes through the trot and walk as part of all of this. That will come into play as you work on more advanced counter canter. Which leads us to…
Counter canter. Don’t ASK for her to pick up the wrong lead to start! This is a pretty advanced move and can be MIND BLOWING to a green horse. You spent all this time teaching her how to pick up the correct lead, and now you want her to pick up the wrong lead?!? WHAT?! (that’s what she’s thinking). You need to introduce counter canter in baby steps. Start by doing just a very shallow loop on the long sides of the ring. Just kind turn out of the corner like you’re going to go across the diagonal, go to MAYBE the quarter line of the ring (if she’s really struggling, maybe just a couple of steps off the rail) then just gently bring her back to the rail and back to the correct lead. Repeat on the next long side. Do it in the other direction. As she gains confidence and balance (counter canter is a BIG balance exercise and also another strength builder), go further. Go to the center line of the ring and back. Go to the far quarter line and back (all very gradually. This is a couple of weeks of riding, not all in one ride). The next big step is to go across the diagonal and into the new short side, maintaining the counter canter. Don’t get carried away here. Maybe just counter canter through the corner or to the midway point of the short side. But do a downward sooner than later, and make a big deal. Gradually increase. Once you hit the point that she can counter canter through a short stride and into the new long side, you can start to test her with maybe half a 20 meter circle. Or back across the diagonal back to the true lead. Eventually you should be able to counter canter a full circle around the ring, and all over the place. But it does take time. Be VERY VERY VERY sure that you are sitting right in the middle of her (people new to counter canter tend to get crooked which can make the horse swap or break to the trot) and be sure your canter aids are VERY clear. I tend to over exaggerate my aids at first on a green horse- outside leg (for the lead, not the direction of travel) WAY back, and a very active inside leg.
Once she learns HOW to counter canter you should be able to ASK for the counter lead. Remember all those transitions you’ve been doing? This is where they will help. You’ve got her soooo tuned to your aids now, this should be pretty easy. I would start by picking up a lead (probably start with her harder lead), canter on the true lead on the rail, then turn down the center line of the ring, then, after she is straight, do a simple change through the trot or walk. You can then choose to turn to maintain a counter lead, or change direction. Whatever you want (by this point, she should happily make a turn in counter canter). Repeat until it is pretty smooth with one simple change, then try for two. Then maybe three. You can do as many as you have room for and she is capable of (if she needs a few steps in the change, take them. NO bad transitions). Once she can do this consistently on the center or quarter line. Try in on the rail. True lead, simple change to counter canter. If you’ve done your homework, it should be right there for you.
I definitely ditto all the things people have said. You two may need to take a break from showing and get the skills you need down pat. Or do simpler classes (just rail classes without patterns) so she can get the show mileage, but without having to ask for the things you all are struggling with until you can reliably get them done. I agree. You sound like you’re on the right track. Maybe some lessons and even a few schooling rides from a pro would be a better way to spend your show budget for right now. Keep us posted!
