How do you become a judge at the Hawkesbury Show? Did you know there are competitions that judge judging? We look at what it takes to become a show judge.
SHOWBAGS and rides might be at the top of your list when attending the Hawkesbury Show, however for many people, the Show weekend is all about competing.
The next-closest show with a rural bent is the Castle Hill Show, so many people will be travelling from the Hawkesbury and beyond to exhibit their produce and showcase their prowess across a number of competitions.
Putting together a show the size of the Hawkesbury Show takes countless hours of manpower and input from volunteers involved with the Hawkesbury District Agricultural Association (HDAA).
But in the case of show judges, preparation includes years of training and experience in their field - they are not only highly qualified, but they also have a true passion for their area of expertise.
Showjumping
Joyce Brook is 93 years old and has been judging showjumping at the Hawkesbury Show for 50 years. She has helped train many new judges and scorers over the years, and at this year’s show you will find her in Ring 2 of the Main Arena on Friday, May 5, judging pony club and open showjumping events.
“I often judge the smallest events and leave the rest to the judges who want the experience. I quite enjoy doing the children and the younger people these days,” she told the Gazette.
Mrs Brook is a Wilberforce resident and honorary life member of the HDAA in recognition of her services. She is a patron of the Sydney Showjumping Club (which she calls ‘jump club’) in Clarendon, where her daughter Colleen is vice president.
“Our jump club runs judging clinics throughout the year, where we train a lot of judges. There is a set of rules laid out: you need to do a clinic and you do practical work. They start off as probationary and then do levels 1, 2 and 3,” she said.
“You get a lot of people who have come up through pony club. If anyone’s interested they can come along and sit in with the judges - we operate the third Sunday of every month, which is a comp day.”
She said showjumping is “a very fair sport”, and rule books are available through Equestrian NSW.
“You get so many penalties for mistakes - like if you knock a rail. So it’s not all based on the judge’s opinion, and they need to be very highly qualified,” she said.
“It’s very rewarding. If I had the choice of going on a holiday or going to a country show, I’d go to the show! The riders are well-trained and the horses are well-looked-after. And it’s a wonderful hobby for keeping your kids out of mischief!”
Mrs Brook grew up in the Bellingen area on the north coast and was raised around horses. She was on the committee for the Bellingen Show for many years.
Her late husband, Bob, was a well-regarded course builder and was Australian Equestrian head coach for a time. The duo officiated all around NSW at shows, horse trials and showjumping events at all levels. Their interest also took them overseas.
“My husband and I had the most marvelous time, going overseas. And wherever you are, if you’re with horse people, you feel at home. People always called ‘horse people’ our extended family!” Mrs Brook said.
She has lived in the Hawkesbury for 24 years, and the local show has become - by far - her favourite show event.
“The Hawkesbury Show is one of the biggest shows outside the Royal Easter Show now. They do a fantastic job. It’s so big now you nearly need a helicopter to get into the place!” she said.
“I remember in 1987 we went overseas at the same time the show was on, and I thought to myself: I miss the Hawkesbury Show!”
Mrs Brook and her husband were recognised by the Equestrian Federation of Australia NSW Branch with a special award for services to showjumping and eventing. They were made honorary life members of the NSW Showjumping Council, Sydney Showjumping Club and - of course - the HDAA, and first became members of Sydney Showjumping in 1964.
Mrs Brooks’ earliest memory of attending a show was in Bellingen in 1927, when she was four. This was before horse floats and trailers.
“The competitors and their horses came by train and they’d ride one horse and lead another horse from the railway to the showground, almost 20 miles,” she said.
Fruit and vegetables
Sarah Waldron-Jones, 25 years old, has been coming to the Hawkesbury Show for a little over a decade. She has a keen interest in agriculture and horticulture, and is training to become a show judge.
“At the Hawkesbury Show this year I will be a steward - assisting with the scoring, and collecting the score cards. The future plan is to be a judge in my own right. I still need to do a lot of training and get myself out into the industry,” she told the Gazette.
Ms Waldron-Jones works in the agricultural commodity industry at a company in Windsor, in a quality-related role. She wants to further her career in the industry, so for the time being she is shadowing the show judges and learning what she can from them.
She has already come as far as she can through competitions, having competed for the past decade in junior judging contests that train young people (aged 15 to 25) for the show circuit.
Last year she won the Fruit & Vegetable Junior Judging at the Hawkesbury Show, and this year she won at the Royal Easter Show - which is her second win at a state level.
“At the Royal I judged apples, onions and potatoes, and there were 17 of us in the competition,” she said.
“You’re judged by an over-judge who observes you by how you handle the fruit, how you present yourself, and what you’re observing. Then you do a speech verifying why you placed them in those orders - if they had damage, for example. It’s all about training young people to take over in the future.”
- Hawkesbury City Chamber of Commerce is putting together a crew of volunteers for the Show. If you have four or five hours free on Friday 5, Saturday 6 or Sunday 7 May, and would like to volunteer your time, call Kerry Spindler on 0418 386 582.
