If you compete in Dressage you will be given a specific time that you must be present and ready to go down the centerline. So if your time is 10:42 am at 10:42 am precisely you must be there and you will ride down that centerline. Other disciplines are not so precise.
For the hunter jumpers there will be a time for the class and an order of go but there may be some waiting involved as the timing is appraoched in a much more liquid way than in dressage. At the Winter Equestrian Festival horses are brought to the International ring by their groom and they can wait in the shade for the rider to arrrive and mount up.

This little rider is waiting. She is waiting to go in to the ring to compete in a childrens class.

This pony is waiting with the groom for his rider.

Even the Queen’s Horse Guards are waiting, in front of Buckingham Palace, for the parade up the Mall to start.

The Draft horses are waiting for the judge to decide who is the winner.

Patience is not just about waiting for something . It’s about how you wait, or your attitude while waiting.”
Joyce Meyer
This is my response to the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #72 WAITING. Thank you Amy from The World is a Book for this challenge.
I’d love to hear from you!