[hijack mode- off] Not a hijack! Just an answer! [hijack mode- off]
[QUOTE=t-bonham@scc.net]
Why the heck was she wearing a cell phone at a horse show, anyway?
It was probably that distraction that made him get Reserve rather than Grand Champion in those classes. He ought to stomp on her toes, too, besides the cell phone!
In classes where I’m officiating, I’ve had exhibitors pull out a cell phone and answer it, while the class was in session! Sometimes even pull into center ring and ask us to declare a time out for the whole class, so they can talk on their phone. My response: “Take the rail, or take the gate – NOW”. And they had the gall to complain to the Steward afterwards. I just can’t understand people who think their phone calls are so important that everyone else must defer to them.
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We haven’t shown in ‘main ring’ for several years now, but I can’t say I’m surprised at the selfishness of those prima donnas. In the dressage arena on the other hand, an exhibitor with a ringing cell phone will be swiftly excused (read: eliminated) by the judge. (Saw it happen, just once, and I was in full agreement. Maybe you should judge dressage?) Even spectators are ruled by an iron Germanic fist. Should a spectator’s cell phone have the timerity to ring, the best the poor fool can hope for is a short circuit that incinerates him into a pile of ashes. I once had this happen to me-- ringing, not the wished-for incineration. It rang *once * for pity’s sake, before I shut it up. But I got a distinctly unfriendly reception even around the barns that lasted for days.
Another time I had a sneezing fit (clearly less controllable than a cell phone with an ON/OFF switch!), one of those five-sneezes-in-a-row things. When I looked up it was into a host of razor-bearing eyeballs that were slicing my sorry ass into tiny cubes. I almost crawled under the turf.
There must be a happier medium somewhere between main ring and dressage. Sigh.
Regarding the current incident though, Wife was not in the arena. Wife won’t carry her phone anywhere *near * the arena. (Wife is, as you may surmise, typically smarter than I am.) Wife and Horse were in the grooming stall, braiding mane for the next test. Phone was in a carry-all bag (Wife uses the Southern description “…in a Publix sack…”) placed carelessly on the floor. (Wife is not *always * smarter than I am!)