I think you are thinking of the old traditional that mares had an even number of braids and stallions and geldings had an odd number of braids.
It would likely be much easier to bend down and check for an udder or testicles than to try and count braids. 
Totally possible, and I do remember that there was a braid number thing! But I thought there was something about the side of the neck the mane was on as well. I remember my trainer telling me something when I was a kid and I agonized over whether I should try to retrain my horse’s mane as a result. But he was also a bit of a prankster, so maybe he made it up just to torture me…that certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibilities!
ETA - after rudimentary research via google, it appears that this is just another one of those little “nuggets” of a practical joke that I’ve discovered 30 years later!
Daventry, I absolutely agree with you that proper turnout won’t make a poor quality horse into a great one, but it does show knowledge and “try” on part of the rider (or crew who helped get the horse to the ring). I don’t think it needs to be expensive, but just correct. 
Perhaps my example wasn’t the best, but I do think trying to do things right to the absolute best of your ability is always the correct thing to do, and that if you’re going to bother to put braids in, it just makes sense to put them in on the conventional side.
All of that being said, if someone is braiding their own hunter, they can by all means do what they’d like - braid or not, traditional, button or scallops, left side or right or alternate one on each side! Just expect people to assume they didn’t know better if it’s something other than the norm.
And yet, while poor performance won’t be overlooked, many judges will tell you that first impressions are important. I just read an article by Julie Winkel, IIRC, saying that you need to walk into the ring looking the part. Braids to the right IS the part, even if it’s not in the rulebook.
We’ve got rules about coat color, for goodness sake, that has NOTHING to do with performance. We are always being judged on little things, even if they aren’t written down.
If i were in a situation to braid a left-laying mane, I’d do it to the right. If no braids, I would just let it be on the left. I also think my lucky stars that even though I love the look of a perfectly braided hunter, I don’t have to do it…and most likely never will.
I absolutely agree with you. I am not denying that. What I said was that perfect tack and turnout will not mask a poor performance.
As a professional braider I would never braid on the left. I also don’t see any point in trying to train a mane to stay on the right, it makes no difference where it is when we go to braid that horse. What does matter is how it’s pulled! Be sure to pull it (or shorten it) on the right side so that when it is time to braid it is manageable on the right side.
I guess I didn’t think Small Change was saying that her poor performance was being masked, but that it would have been attributed to different factors such as a fresh or green horse, perhaps, rather than a backyardigan.
As a recent convert to hunterland from dressage-world, this is the most wild thread I have read in a long time! You guys seriously dwell on which way the mane lays? On top of using a nauseating number of braids? This is too much.
Another thing that really bothers me is if the USHJA/USEF won’t put what it takes to “look the part” in the rule book, how am I supposed to know what that is? As an adult, who tries to make well informed decisions about the equipment that I use, I am really struggling with how vague the rulebook is. I have a horse who is really naturally suited to hunters, but I don’t love knowing that I could ruin our placing by using a bun cover (rather than putting my hair in my helmet), or braiding my horse’s mane on the wrong side.
In my opinion, it won’t…and that’s coming from a USEF R hunter judge. I get so tired of hearing a small few competitors stating you won’t win in the hunters unless you ride with X brand bit, X brand saddle, brown tack and on and on. It is ridiculous comments like these that make outsiders loathe our sport even more. 
Honestly, for the most part, I blame the trainers for all of the fearmongering.
As a judge, I have more important things to concentrate on while you are on course. As long as you have a quality hunter horse or pony who jumps and moves with style, has a great pace and lay down a nice trip, that is what counts. Just because X trainer said everyone must to show in X brand saddle of the week doesn’t mean you have to show in X brand saddle of the week in order to get a ribbon. Those who don’t believe me, take the time to shadow judge in the hunter ring one weekend. Sit down and talk with a few hunter judges. You will soon realize what is important to a hunter judge and what isn’t.
Flame suit on!
That is reassuring to hear. It’s almost like hunter riders enjoy complaining about hunters, and I know first hand that that similar self deprecation has been really damaging participation in dressage. Hunters are much more popular, but that doesn’t mean this community is going to be immune from how self-destructive sour grapes can be.
After many years of poo-poo-ing hunters as a dressage queen, I am going to give hunters a shot next month. But some of the little things that people get really fired up about make me wonder if the jumper ring would make me happier.
I have heard that a horse can literally EXPLODE if braided to the left. DON’T RISK IT!!!
Congratulations on coming over to the dark side! Good luck next month. Worst case scenario, if you find you don’t like it, you can definitely always switch over to the jumper ring right next door!
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.
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!
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?
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.
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.
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.
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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