Who's judging who and what?

My wife and I went to the State Fair in Des Moines, which ended up being a rainy, cold day. We ducked into the horse pavillion to get out of the rain. Fortunately there were horses being shown and we stayed until the end.






They were showing large horses and they have different age groups for this. The adults of course have their group and there are two younger groups. This guy was in a division that was for 13 years old to maybe 16, I am not sure. You can see him working his horse to hold still and have a perfect stance.






As a part of the judging, the horses are to trot or run down the length and come back. One of the things that are allowed is that a runner may follow behind to scare or inspire the horse to gallop. You can't see it in this photo but this guy had a little brother following behind with a stick to keep the horse going. The don't ever hit the horse, but they are present to assure the horse that they could be encouraged if it is needed.





In this next photo, the younger brother 13 years and under is showing the very same horse. As with all kids, I doubt either one had spent too much time at this but it was fun to watch the relationship between those two guys. Older brother really gives instruction to little brother as the showing takes place, but he doesn't have great patience. I suspect the boys are good friends but the older guy has probably shown more than the younger so he thinks his little brother should know more than he does.






The younger brother is coming in for his final run and in this photo you can see the judge taking in all the info he needs to make a decision. I am sure that the person who is showing is a big part of the final decision. It was a new experience for me but as an outsider coming in, I could see how the judging was so subjective.







As they take their turns showing, they line up on the opposite side of ring, waiting for the results. The younger maybe got third place but I actually don't remember. Big brother is watching over his brother as he does thing the horse is too big for him to handle.
The two horses standing there are beautiful animals and we went into the barns later to see all of the horses in their stalls. That is right, I still haven't shown you a horse sleeping while standing up. Maybe that will be a photo of the day, sometime later.
Next year we will watch the schedules and hit the horse shows again. We will be able to go into a very large new pavillion next year.
I am moving my outdoor fish inside today. It is time to keep them out of the ice.
Thanks for reading......