First one suggestion: have you ever volunteered as a scribe at a show? That’s a pretty good way to get a better idea of judging. Either contact the show organisers beforehand and/or become friendly with a judge. I tagged along as a scribe for one judge at a few shows. Was great fun!

The rest is kinda off-topic because I’m not familiar with the American system, but I thought some may be interested in how it works in Germany:

To become a judge you need to meet the following requirements: * Min. 21 years old * Member of a riding club * No criminal record * Several placements in dressage AND jumping on second level or in either on third level * Been a “trainee judge” for min 1, max 4 years and participated in min 5 different events in which you need to be involved in...