Having judged at two major shows during the past three weeks, I find myself asking more questions about the future of shows, finding fewer answers and as a result having little contribution to make as to how to improve things.

Since the drivers of both pleasure and ambition through competition, in my view, are directly linked to money, until the economic situation resolves itself, I fear that it will be some time before we see any improvement in competitor numbers.

Worryingly, in order to achieve an elite level of affiliated competition at the very top, it is necessary to have a large number of people competing at the base level. The reality seems to be that many fewer people can afford to compete at that base level, be it for pleasure or through ambition, with the resultant threat to high level of competition in the long term.

Sadly, for those with limited funds, in the immediate future it will be the wealthy within society who will be left to fight it out, while the less well off moth-ball any ambition or undiscovered talent. I fear this is a sad reality currently exacerbated by spiralling energy costs and high inflation.

Thankfully, grass roots competitors continue to support unaffiliated events and local shows.

Who knows what the long-term effect of declining competitor numbers will lead us, however it's not all doom and gloom as I recently experienced while judging firstly at the Great Yorkshire and then NPS Summer Championship shows.

The two are very different in nature and serve completely different purposes. The Yorkshire continues to showcase farming to a huge public audience, while traditionally offering a wide spectrum of equestrian classes at the highest level outwith the scope of grass-roots.

The NPS Championships, on the other hand, targets sectors within its remit as well as membership; there are very few spectators other than exhibitors, however competitors have ample opportunities for their ponies to compete in several classes during the three days of the show. There are classes for all levels and interests including fancy dress and even a 'lorry' dog show.

As expected, numbers were down across the board at both shows although not noticeable in the HOYS ridden Mountain and Moorland sections where I was a conformation judge at both. These classes were huge, with some beautiful ponies forward in all the classes – but were there many stars, not that I could see.

Form and function are terms which the majority of exhibitors don't seem to appreciate these days, so conformation and correct movement aren't high on the agenda not only for them but breeders. Good limbs and feet are among my priorities as a judge and sadly I found few ponies with both or either of them.

As judges, we are made more aware than ever of the importance of body weight of the exhibits and encouraged to penalise those considered to be too fat or, worse still, obese. To be fair, at this level there are few that fit into the obese category, however there is a very fine line between good 'show' condition and fat, which creates a problem for judges as the vast majority fit into the former.

At the Yorkshire, I found my own assessment at odds with that of the vet who awarded a rosette for the 'best conditioned' exhibit in each class. Throughout the section, only one recipient of this rosette came from the eventual prize winners.

This was a concern for me as I thought that a large number in the tickets were just right for condition and penalised several exhibitors for being too fat.

The experience certainly raised my awareness, so needless to say by the time the NPS Show came, I was on high alert and explained to riders that their ponies were too fat and had marked them accordingly.

The downside of this came in the Welsh Cob class when the rider from South Wales didn't quite understand my Scottish accent. When she started explaining that it was due to her eating too much food during a recent holiday, I had to interject and explain it was her cob to which I was referring and not her!

On a serious note, I witnessed several ponies winning championships which were wobbling with too much fat – so what does this say about the judges, as well as the exhibitors? It is a real problem based on welfare grounds, something to which I constantly seem to refer in this column.

Over-kindness and ignorance on the part of owners may account of over-fat ponies but so, too, does the need to make others look big in order to accommodate jockeys that would look even larger without a fat pony under them.

This brings me to the same old chestnut: When are inappropriately mounted ponies going to be penalised by the judges? In my view, there is only one place for them – down the line.

The problem would soon be solved if our judges stepped up to the plate and did the right thing – ie, no rosettes to over-fat, or inappropriately mounted ponies and that would soon resolve the problem.

However, the latest move by HOYS organisers, Grandstand Media, of randomly videoing HOYS qualifying classes, brings a new dimension to the show ring. Apparently, the policy of recording performances is a response to an increasing number of complaints from competitors about poor or unfair judging which affiliated societies are failing to address.

Grandstand will now have its own evidence to make decisions about the quality of judging within its qualifying classes. It sends a clear message to all judges that they are being 'watched' – however, who judges the judges is yet to be disclosed.

With no discussion/consultation about the process with societies or their judges, to say there is some disquiet surrounding it would be an understatement.

It is too early to predict how effective Grandstand's action will be, however it does highlight a problem which needs to be addressed and won't go away on its own. In my view, every horse or pony society needs to up its game on the education front for both exhibitors and judges so that there is a greater understanding of the judging process.

In addition, regular reviews following upgraded assessment procedures for judges is key with a formal quality control process in place to ensure the standard of judging is maintained at a high level.

Far too often we hear that judging is a matter of opinion and is subjective in nature. The time has surely come when objectivity is placed on the table and 'opinion' is not removed but put to the side while measurable criteria are also brought into place.

Surely there is a place for both. There should always be a difference between the show ring and the dressage arena however here is a model, albeit with its own critics, fit for adaptation which may help towards better, fairer and more transparent results in the show ring.

With falling numbers presenting a fairly bleak outlook for showing, I’d say that time is of the essence.