GoHorseShow Asks – Judging Travel Nightmares

GoHorseShow asked several judges some of their most memorable moments while judging a horse show. Many involve traveling to foreign countries; insane travel and weather problems; funny events happening in the show arena; the shows they had the opportunity to judge; people they have met, and exhibitors that have left a lasting impression in their minds.

Regardless of the memory, all of the judges are thankful that horses gave them the opportunity to have these once-in-a-lifetime experiences. We separated the moments into a three part series, and this is the second part discussing travel nightmares. Also stay tuned to the third part of the series: memorable moments in the show pen!

Travel Nightmares

ADVERTISEMENT

Kenny Hall–When I judged in the country of Panama, they had to stand up the air tower at the airstrip because the cows kept knocking it over…..only to be bested by the fact that when it came to Grand Champions Stallions in halter, the show management told me who the Grand stud would be. When I didn’t agree, they locked me in the office and went on with Grand and Reserve without me. Then, they refused to take me back to the airport. The guy that went Reserve arranged for me to have a ride to the pasture with the airstrip. I rode with a few chickens and goats to the next town. Then, the plane I was put on was missing over half the gauges in the dash – and had no seats in the back. It was definitely an experience!

As we marched out to the parking lot, I discovered that the drive to the show was going to be about three hours. It was July and the temperature was about 98 degrees. Our ‘ride’ turned out to be an early 70’s Chevrolet impala. It was a spiffy 2 door coupe and it had a bench seat. I am over six feet so I looked at her, then at the seat which appeared to be almost touching the dash board and thought maybe I should get in the back seat. No such luck! In the back seat was the biggest German Shepard I had ever seen. It took up the whole seat. It got better as it turned out the car did not have air conditioning. So off we went with my knees up by my head and Fido hanging his head over the back of the seat, panting and drooling in my ear. It was a very long three hours!

Charlene Carter–After several days of judging and clinics in Israel, I headed to the Ben Gurion International Airport. As my plane took off I realized that I had left my cell phone in the car that had brought me to the airport. After several minutes of panic, I decided that I could survive without it. However, as I landed in Philadelphia, the snow started coming down in thick blankets. My connecting flight was delayed and it wasn’t looking good to get out that day. So I got out my laptop to check the status of later flights. To my dismay, my computer crashed. How could I survive without a cell phone and a computer? After sleeping in one of the white rocking chairs in the terminal and using the one pay phone, I decided that I could make it. It was nearing Christmas, so I decided to do use my time wisely and do my Christmas shopping. At the time, my grandchildren had told me that they wanted Zuzu Pets (small little mechanical mice) for Christmas.

Late into the third day, I was told that there was an Admirals Club, but it was outside of security. I headed out to the club. Outside of security I went, with my carry-on bag, my briefcase and my huge bag of Zuzus. To my horror, there was a sign on the Admiral Club’s door. “CLOSED DUE TO BAD WEATHER!” I returned to security to get back into the terminal. However, the very nice lady/NOT, would not let me back in with three items. I tried diligently to explain to her how I had come about having the extra bag of Christmas toys, but she would have no part in me getting through. Almost in tears, I made my mind up that she would not get the best of me. So I found the nearest restroom and proceeded to remove the toys from their boxes, and since my carryon was already overflowing with clothes from my trip, I found that I didn’t have enough room to haul the little Zuzus.

So, not to be undone, I took every possible piece of clothing and put them on. I was wearing a long casual skirt with street shoes, so I put on my cowboy boots and stuck my shoes down the insides of my knee hi socks. I put three rows of scarfs around my neck. Layer upon layer, finally I got everything on my body. It wasn’t a pretty sight. I waddled when I walked.To my dismay, when I walked back up to security, the nice lady/NOT, was gone and another very nice lady looked at me strangely, but motioned me through. With my now two pieces of compressed baggage, I gladly returned to my terminal and my white rocking chair for one more day. A memory that I will never forget, but I still love judging to this day.

Karen McCuistion–My daughters (then ages 12 and 15 ) were with me on a judging trip to Panama. The cross-city transfer from the international airport to the domestic airport took too long, and we missed the last connecting flight of the evening. Arrangements were made for us to be driven across country early the next morning.  A few minutes before 5 am, a beat-up Toyota Supercab pulled up to the lobby. I couldn’t believe this was our ride, but after talking to the driver, the bellman insisted it was. We crawled into the back of the cab (the driver wouldn’t let anyone sit in front) and off we went, me with my hat box in my lap, wondering if the old truck was capable of making the six hour trip.

A few minutes later the driver asked me which airport we needed. I told him we weren’t going to the airport, we were going to the city of David. After a few moments of back and forth, him insisting I choose an airport and me attempting to refuse (the conversation was in Spanish) It dawned on me this might not be our driver! Were we in a truck with somebody we didn’t know going somewhere we had no control over?

Close to panic because my girls were with me, I demanded the driver give me his name – or at least I tried to. I didn’t want to ask if he was “Umberto” because I was afraid he would say “yes” whether he was or not. I started frantically asking “¿Cómo se dice? ¿Cómo se dice?” over and over but he would not respond. The driver was frustrated, I was flustered, and we were getting farther and farther away from the hotel. 

Luckily my oldest, putting her year of high school Spanish to use, came to the rescue. “Mom, I don’t think you’re saying what you think you’re saying.” I paused, regrouped, then began shouting “¿Cómo se llama? ¿Cómo se llama?” By this time the driver – who told me his name was Alejandro – must have decided I was completely crazy. He quickly turned the truck around and sped back to the hotel.

The bellman seemed sheepish about his mistake, but I couldn’t think of a way to express my displeasure in Spanish, so he was spared. Umberto finally arrived at the hotel, about 45 minutes late, in a lovely Land Rover which took us in comfort across the beautiful countryside. As the saying goes, all’s well that ends well.

Bonnie Miller–I love to travel and I remember the first time I judged in British Columbia. I was so excited! I couldn’t wait to experience the province – the mountains, the wildlife, the beautiful vistas…..

Well, that isn’t exactly what happened. My flight was delayed and I arrived in Vancouver after dark. The show committee put me in an old hotel – there were four rooms total and I was in room number four. It didn’t take me long to figure out that those rooms were normally rented by the hour. The light bulbs were about 10 watts. The lamps were screwed on to the dressers and the sliding glass window would not lock. I actually went downstairs to the bar which happened to be right underneath my room to look for the judges that had judged that day. As I stepped into the bar, a guy at the end of the bar looked at me and said, “honey you don’t belong here.” I quickly figured out that my inner sense was telling me get out of there and go upstairs and lock the room. Then, I got concerned because the window that would not lock had a common balcony to the other three rooms. I spent the night with one eye open and placed the furniture strategically around the window that would not lock so that if someone tried to come in my room I might be prepared. Of course, the band played wildly into the night and the floor and bed shook while I tried to sleep to prepare myself for my judging the next day. 

Well, the next morning it was raining and overcast. Lucky for me the show was indoors and it rained all day. The show got done after dark and I left for the airport the next morning in the rain. As my plane took off I remember thinking that this show could’ve been anywhere – I did not experience British Columbia at all. Of course, I have more than made up for that since.

Ruth Ellen–Several years ago, I arrived in Denmark to judge the Youth World Cup and none of my luggage arrived. Gary Roberts was judging with me. Luckily, we are really great friends, and even luckier, his jeans fit me because that’s what I wore the first day judging–Gary Roberts’ jeans!

(At times, many judges have felt like they have ridden in a plane like this!)

ADVERTISEMENT

Thanks to Dutch Guthrie for sending us this funny photo!