THOUGHTS FROM OUR JUDGES:
As a portion of each of the 2003 KWHA-HIO Judges Clinics attendees were
asked to participate in various work sessions. For the first work session
each participant was asked to switch roles and view himself/herself as a
horse show manager and to share what traits that he/she would be looking for
in an individual to be hired to judge their 2003 horse show. The quality
that was almost unanimously named was "the ability to judge fairly and by
the rules." Presented were several modifications of this one quality
including: "offering opinions without favoritism;" "ability to mark cards
based on the horse’s performance and not who is in the saddle;" and
"commitment of honesty to the show and its participants."
Other named traits were "reputation of the judge",
"knowledge of the rulebook", "perception of the judging record of an
individual", "appearance of a judge while judging previous shows",
"personality of the judge", "ability to draw horses", "a known name",
"integrity", "confidence to tie horses", "industry’s perception of the
individual.", "someone that I feel that I can work with", and "will the
judge’s actions compliment the charity that will receive the show’s
proceeds."
The Clinics’ work session that involved the subject of
"Trainers & Exhibitors ask for better judging vs. Judges saying we need
better perception of judging. What can KWHA-HIO do to improve this
difference?" drew several noteworthy comments. Some of the remarks follow:
a. Trainers need to be more honest with their
customers at shows. Reflections were made that often when a customer’s
horse comes out of the ring then the trainer feels the desire to make
reference that the horse could or should have tied better. At the moment
of exiting the ring, the trainer often feels the need to assure confidence
to the exhibitor or to the owner and will do so by commenting that a
higher placing could/would have been justified rather than saying "if you
want to do better than you may want to consider buying a better horse."
The bottom line expressed was that the short-term satisfaction gained from
saying "you could have been tied higher" is offset by the long-term
possibilities of customers becoming negative on the industry’s judging and
with this negativism carrying over to other aspects within our industry
which ultimately costs everyone.
b. As participants without our industry, we need to
direct our complaints of judging to the parties who may be in a position
to improve judging rather than spending our time running from trainer to
trainer or from exhibitor to exhibitor or on the telephone the next
morning complaining of the judge’s performance. Quoted was "Airing your
dirty laundry, unless to the appropriate parties and in the correct
manner, is not good and not good for our industry."
c. The HIO needs to do a better job of educating
everyone within the industry---that is from show management to owners,
trainers, exhibitors, and spectators. With education, you will have more
knowledge of what is expected and education will promote understanding to
accept or to channel comments in the right direction.
d. Judging is far better than what we are giving
it credit. If you were to score a judge based on his correct placings in
comparison to the total placings that he makes on a given night then his
score would probably be surprisingly higher than you may think.
e. If we could eliminate the buddy-buddy system then we would
probably have acceptable judging.
f. Everyone who complains at a horse show should have
to judge just one time. Then they would be more appreciative.
g. You may hear that a judge knows the rulebook
forwards and backwards but he can’t judge. Yet generally speaking the
better a judge knows the rulebook the better he will do in judging.
h. Exhibitors need to understand that a judge is hired
to only offer his professional opinion. Many people who have shown horses
all of their life have yet to understand the difference between opinion
and exact science.
i. It is surprising as to how many people in this
industry who think they know the rules but don’t.
Judging Clinic participants were asked to express, since
they will be the parties evaluated, what should appear on the 2003 Judge’s
Evaluation forms. The following were some offered suggestions:
a. Did the judge arrive on time and appropriately dressed?
b. Did the judge exhibit knowledge of horses and of rules?
c. Did the judge violate any rules?
d. Did the judge give equal review to all horses in each
class?
e. What impressed you about this judge and what disappointed you
about this judge?
f. Would you consider using this judge or would you
consider showing in front of this judge
again?
g. Was there any apparent favoritism shown to any specific
exhibitor(s)?
h. Did the judge tie a consistent show?
i. Did the judge timely tie the classes and did the judge
move the show in a timely manner?
j. Did the judge seem to tie one division as well as
another? (Padded, Flatshod, other breeds)
k. Did the judge correctly comply with calling gaits, handling
workout situations, dismissing horses, and observing correct tack?
The general opinion was that submitted evaluation forms should be signed.
As to the work session on naming the rules that you
consider in need of more attention the following were noted more than once
during the Clinics:
a. Hoof Bands are permitted on all walking
horses, including flat-shod, at KWHA-HIO events.
b. Rules for shoeing for the different divisions and the
allowable bit length for pleasure classes.
c. Any abuse, verbal or otherwise, will be subject to penalties.
d. The guidelines for the newly created "Performance Pleasure" division.
e. No Judge shall be contacted relative to a show in which he is
judging by any person.
f. If the judge finds an entry is in violation of
the Horse Protection Act then he must excuse the entry immediately.
g. Rules relating to time-outs—what conditions
constitute allowing for a time-out, the number of allowable time-outs, and
the maximum allowable time for time-outs.
h. Rules pertaining to novice divisions and amateur vs.
professional status situations.
