HORSE-SHOW MANAGEMENTS 197 



and not the best hunter and jumper at the show 

 wins the class. This is most certainly not as it 

 should be if the word championship is to have any- 

 real meaning. A class for "model" hunters is an 

 excellent thing and should be included in every show 

 as well as a prize for the most consistent jumper, but 

 it should not be confused with the championship. It 

 is grossly unfair that horses who have gained their 

 eligibility to the championship by some fluke, such 

 as perhaps winning a blue or red in a class of only one 

 or two entries, should be able to walk into the cham- 

 pionship class and carry off the ribbon on conforma- 

 tion alone, beating those horses who have won the 

 most ribbons throughout the show. In the year of 

 1918 at the National Show there was just such a case; 

 a handsome thoroughbred horse, who had gone very 

 badly throughout the week, managed to spruce up 

 and win one class, thereby gaining eligibility to the 

 championship; he entered this, and being judged on 

 conformation and quality alone, past performances 

 not being taken into account, he calmly walked off 

 with the ribbon; a win he in no possible way deserved. 

 This sort of thing makes the word championship ab- 

 solute y meaningless. 



In a championship class a horse should be judged 

 on his conformation plus his record throughout the 

 week of the entire show, and the ribbon awarded to 

 the best made and most consistent hunter of the show* 



There is, however, a still further improvement in 

 the wording of championship classes, which I might 



* This plan mustmot be confused with the one in vogue at the Devon 

 horse show where each ribbon that a horse wins counts so much toward 

 a final prize. This scheme is excellent in its way, but does not exactly 

 fill the need of a championship, inasmuch as in the Devon way the 

 conformation of a horse has naturally been counted each time that he 



