Thank you @RugBug, that is exactly what I was trying to say, but perhaps not doing such a great job at articulating. I also hope I didn’t come across as insinuating that X brands of anything are mandatory - just that, to my own way of thinking, hunters should be turned out to a certain standard if you’d like to step into the ring with your best foot forward. 
Dressage is most definitely the dark side, complete with black tack. I’ve been describing myself as a “recovering dressage rider” as a way to explain and apologize for all the things I don’t understand, or that I am just too stubborn to accept.
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Daventry - I couldn’t agree with you more and definitely don’t think you need a flame suit!
And, you guys, THIS IS A HUNTER JUDGE COMMENTING! You couldn’t get it more “from the horse’s mouth!”
I’ve made a lot of tack/turnout decisions over the years based on individual horse needs and circumstances (e.g. showing without a saddle pad, not braiding at AA shows in the Baby Greens, wearing a “jumper” show coat, showing in the Pre Greens in white breeches, and so on) that people have sworn up and down would absolutely impact my placings. And…funny story…none of those things have affected anything noticeably ever. What does impact my hunters seems to be what the individual judge actually prefers and is looking for. For example, I had a 4yo young hunter. At one show we placed 4th or 5th (out of 18-20) every single day seemingly no matter how things went. At another show he was 1st/2nd every day, also seemingly no matter how things went. And at another show he was in the 7th/8th range seemingly no matter how things went. So, gasp, could it be that the judge was looking for his or her favorite “type” of horse and NOT who was braided on the right side?! (And again, you absolutely cannot tell me with a straight face that if a hunter walked into a ring with a well done braiding job on the wrong side that you would notice. Good braids are effectively invisible!)
But to Daventry’s point, I think that a lot of trainers MAJORLY overstate things to their clients. I hear it all the time from my trainer friends. “No, Sue, the world will actually come to an end if your bridle doesn’t match your saddle.” “No, Jenny, I will literally die of embarrassment if you ride in just a half pad.” “Lauri, so help me god if you pull those rust breeches out!” “Nope, that light shade of navy will actually summon a demon on the spot if you wear it outside of these portable stalls, Marge.” And so on.
I get that trainers hold their clients to high standards. But once you get outside of a trainer program, horseshow “requirements” are much much lighter!
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Fashion trends etc aside- What is so difficult about braiding the horses mane to the conventional side? If someone is paying me- I’m certainly not going to braid it to the left, I wouldn’t expect to pay a braider and have it be on the left.
There are more important things to worry about but are we really at the point we are going to just do whatever we want whenever we want and not put in just a smidge of effort?
I’m saying this as the person who took a pony that had a roached mane to WEC (and he did fine). Is it really that much trouble to attempt to do turn out as per standard or are we craving being different and “exciting” and just do what we want.
Is it really that big a deal to braid the mane to the right?
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You’re right. But she’s also only one judge. 
She speaks for herself and herself alone. Other judge’s have chimed in.
The only flame suit I think she needs is because she’s painting people here as saying something they didn’t.
It’s a hard theory to test the unconscious bias, though, because most people with the horse/pony that jumps and moves with style, great pace, nice trip is usually going to show up turned out “properly.”
I actually agree with this…and I think where I’m stuck is that turnout DOES matter when it comes down to it. I fully believe If you lay down the trip, you’ll still get rewarded accordingly. But I also know that I come from a background of being a heavier rider that was riding ‘off color’ horses that had to be better than the bay to be considered. It informs my thoughts on the matter.
And that we while we are told that as long as you are conventionally turned out with nothing distracting, we should be fine…but then we make RULES about what color coat you can wear, because God forbid someone wear a burgundy coat. It’s just too distracting. So, judges don’t care, or do they? What else is just too distracting and is awaiting to be formalized in a rule?
It’s like showing up to a bank for a job interview in tee shirt, jeans and flip-flops. You’re clothed, but dang you are now going to have to overcome the bad first impression you made.
Is braiding on the wrong side that drastic? No. But do what you need to do, so long as you know it’s a bit off from the expectation. I actually don’t think it will affect anything, but the talk that the ‘look’ isn’t a factor is silly.
I 100% agree with this. I actually just explained this to a non-H/J person recently. It’s easier (and potentially more lucrative) for the trainers to just create a dress code and blame it on the judging instead of trying to deal with all the one off conversations. And when they are getting deals from brands? well, it just makes it all the more likely they will demand a certain item.
I have done ‘Turnout 101’ clinics for the riders at my barn that are new to showing. I always tell them to start out with basic navy, beige, white and recommend lower cost/used if it’s a kidlet that is going to grow out of something in 6 months. Once they have that down, I tell them to branch out within the rules…and within their comfort zone of standing out at a horse show. I mean, I LOVE rust breeches and WILL show in them, railbirds be damned, but a 14 year old might not want too.
Then again, I was all set to buy the burgundy coat…and am obviously upset with the pettiness of the sport right now. 
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I went to the USHJA/USEF judges’ education event in Dana Point, California in 2017. I learned a ton about bookkeeping and managing a card. One of the grand dames who taught the clinic, a name you should all know and admire, taught us to assign a quality score based on immediate impression as soon as the entry walked into the ring. Looking like you belong, and know what you’re doing, DOES matter.
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RugBug, you know you can buy the burgundy coat, right? You just have to wait until April 1st to wear it when the new USEF rule goes into effect.
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I’m going to disagree with you here. It would be noticed. I don’t know that I have ever seen a hunter braided on the left. You’d think it’s a small detail, until you actually see it.
Back in the dark ages, a BNT had a giant blown up picture on his tack room of a fabulous horse making a great effort. I was walking by and said, “How did he end up braided on the left?” He said he had had the photo reversed but he was going to get another done in the original format because the only thing people ever mentioned was the braids on the left.
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Just for an FYI, the first and only place I ever heard people worrying if their bridle and saddle were the exact same color, was here on this BB. I’ve been going to A shows for 45 years. When I showed, almost everything I had was used, or off the rack. I did not have high end tack, my clothes were knock offs or the things that were fashionable a few years before. Not one time did I think, “If only I had something better than a Bobby’s bridle! I would have won!” That said, everything fit and my non custom boots were polished.
Beige breeches and a navy coat and you will be fine.
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I just got access to a horse that it would look okay on…so when I say ‘set’ I mean, at some point in the future. I really heart it…
Yes, first impressions are important when show in the hunter ring because 1) your are judged from the moment you enter the ring and 2) your overall score is opinion based. That being said, in my opinion, a hunter judge’s first impression revolves around making sure your boots are polished, your horse’s braids are tidy and neat, the coat shins and the horse is in good weight, your horse is well trained and you enter the ring at your horse’s best gait. This helps the judge form an impression about the quality and movement of your horse. That is very different than assuming braids on the left, black tack or white breeches automatically makes a bad impression. Maybe I am incorrect, but I think you misunderstood what was being discussed at the clinic in regards to first impressions. I have attended these clinics regularly too. Did the clinician actually state during the clinic that a horse must be braided on the right, black tack is not acceptable and riders shouldn’t be wearing white breeches?
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But I think that a left-braided mane would be much more noticeable on a photograph than it is live in person. I still would argue that if you saw a horse in the arena cantering around a course (and the braids were well done, meaning unnoticeable otherwise), I just don’t think it would be some bizarrely distracting detail (though the photos of the round afterward might be!).
@Pennywell Bay - I have a mare who has a left laying mane that I haven’t been able to get over to the correct side. As I mentioned above, I’m positive my braider would simply braid her to the right and be done with it and it wouldn’t be a big deal. But f I were braiding her myself I might not. She’s uber sensitive (like seriously sensitive) about everything. And I guess my thinking is that if it’s anything like changing a part in human hair it makes your hair sore when you first change things. If I were to braid her I might keep it on the side that her mane lies on anyway.
But to that point - I guess my point was not that “people should braid on whatever side they want.” But more that if you have a legitimate reason you need to do something minorly unconventional (and making the assumption that we’re not talking about something specifically against the rules), it’s really truly seriously not a big deal. And if your turnout around that little minor thing is impeccable, then I think that the majority of the time no one is going to notice.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve been in situations where I had to do something that I’ve heard trainers say would result in immediate implosion and absolutely make it impossible to place, and never had it be an issue under many, many different judges.
Would I recommend that people try to do weird unique things in the hunters? Of course not. But if the need is there I just think that the unspoken rules of hunterland are way WAY overstated.
As much as I’d like to believe that there are more judges out there like that, I have to say that you’d be a maverick in my part of the US.
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I’ve had several horses whose manes naturally fall left, and I don’t fight it. I actually find those manes easier to braid right, because the rest of the mane is out of my way. That said, what the braider stated earlier in the thread about pulling it from the right is true. And a right pulled mane lying left does look less tidy.
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See I find all these comments very interesting, only because I tend to score much higher under judges from the Eastern side of North America! The ones that, apparently, are the more “traditional " zones”! Yet, my attire and horses more forward pace, is definitely not the way a lot of you are saying these judges like! Guess they might secretly like the "mavericks " or could it be, they just judge the rounds and don’t notice the small stuff. As long as you’re horse is clean, in good weight, you’re tidy and clean, they really DON’T notice the side a braid job is done or you have a black saddle!
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Hmmmm. No, more that all of the above are excused if the horse is “fancy”. Not always. But often enough to raise eyebrows.
Watched the Hunter Spectacular from WEF last evening. Didn’t notice a single braid job UNTIL a dark bay horse came in with something white in a middle braid on his (right-braided) neck. It bothered me, wanted to pick it out like a big piece of shavings.
Yes,…but the judges scored the round not the braid job! I believe, if I’m remembering correctly, this was one of the horses that made the 2nd round? I found , overall, I really enjoyed watching this class and completely agreed with the top 3 placins!
I’m not showing anymore, so perhaps this is a moot question, but…when I was showing, every flat class I ever entered had an announcement of “You are now being judged” and it was always a couple of minutes AFTER everyone was in the ring and walking on the rail. That doesn’t suggest that (at least on the flat) riders are being judged from the moment they step inside the gate.
Or…are you referring to over fences classes only?
I was referring to over fence classes.
