The Judge is going to borrow my glasses

Judges & Judging

"Intermediate"
The Judge is going to borrow my glasses
Win or lose I don’t think most of us care as long as we are beaten by someone who did a better job than we did in that class that day.
Submitted by A. E. Lowe, 2/2/2009

The judge doesn’t know it yet but they are going to borrow my glasses. I don’t know if they wear glasses, but these are bi-focals and I am certain the judge needs them. Maybe it will help them watch the class more closely, and more importantly mark their card correctly. Far be it for me to say that I know more than they do, but when you blow the whistle and call a rider off course, don’t place them first on your card. After all, the other 14 riders managed to ride for you and did not get the whistle blown. So what’s the excuse, you don’t remember, you couldn’t see your card, or you just recognized the horse and “assumed” it would be a good ride. I don’t care what your reason is, you were wrong and it is about time you are held accountable.

If I sound a little harsh, it is with good reason. This incident (and yes it did happen at an AQHA show), is not isolated. It seems to happen often-quite often. I can understand missing an error in a hunter under saddle class; you could have 30 horses in the ring, and you don’t have eyes in the back of your head. However, in the over fence classes, like other individual events, you only have one horse in the ring at the time. So what’s the excuse? You don’t know, you don’t care, or you just need to take of some friend’s client since they will be judging your clients in the next couple of weeks. Whatever the reason, you are hurting the whole industry. Don’t think so; well let me tell you why.

We all know that we are in tough economic times and the horse industry has been hit harder than it has been since World War II. Registered horses are selling for as little as $50 at sales, and in some states owners are just turning them loose in state parks. With fuel averaging $4.00 a gallon, it is getting expensive to haul. Most households are making some tough decisions; they can no longer afford to do everything they want to do. So things that don’t offer the benefit and gratification for the cost are getting cut out. It is not that showing horses is too expensive for many families in the horse industry-they just want to get some value for their dollar. At a USEF hunter show this spring, they ran eight rings for five days from 7 am to 7pm or later some nights. They had to close divisions because there were so many entries. They weather was miserable-it was cold, it was wet, and it was windy. But they had over 2,000 horses on the grounds. Many were from Florida, New York, Colorado, a long way from home. I doubt they bought fuel with discount cards. So why did they come? It is a well managed show, the show grounds were spectacular, the courses were beautiful, but most of all they hired the BEST JUDGES available.

While many of the associations are blaming the economy on the drop in entries at the horse shows; that is not something I have heard from any of my friends still showing horses. The single complaint I have heard from all of them is about the judges. You see the dollar amount is the same whether the judge knows what they are judging or not. Even when I was showing, I would haul farther to a group of judges that I felt were fair and knowledgeable than judges that I felt were going to play the same old game. Win or lose I don’t think most of us care as long as we are beaten by someone who did a better job than we did in that class that day. We are not there to show on our reputation or the number of ads we have placed in the magazine, we are there to show for that class, that moment, that one go. And all most exhibitors want is to be treated fairly by someone that knows what they are looking at and is willing to follow the rules. That just seems to be too much to ask now of days.

Why is the judging so bad particularly in the hunters? According to the western breeds we have the best educated judges in the industry. Well they may be the most versatile, but the best? I would pay to put any of them in the judge’s box next to the late Jimmy Williams and Ronnie Mutch. These were not only great horsemen, but great judges. And they were great communicators and teachers as well. Years ago over fences classes at the Quarter Horse shows were large and very competitive in many parts of the country. Are they just not breeding as many of these horses, is that why the numbers are down? No-the good hunters and good riders are tired of beating their head against the wall and have in large part decided to spend their dollars at the USEF hunter shows. And why not: a good round will be credited, and a bad judge can be immediately cited through the USEF steward. Yes, there are politics, but USEF judges are not going to make a blatant error of placing a horse that rears, wheels around, and runs backwards on the course ahead of a horse that is clean and breaks to the trot for one stride. A USEF judge knows that to do so would get a complaint filed against them with the steward, brought into the show office, and the issue would be dealt with that day. No secretive meetings and waiting months to address the problem.

But maybe all the blame should not be placed on the judges. Could it be that some of the blame lies on the administrative bodies of these associations. After all, are they not the ones that set the standards, credentials, and amount of education a judge must maintain before they go into the ring and sign that card? Why are they letting this happen-do they not know, do they not care, or do they not want to deal with the problem? It really doesn’t matter what the reason, the exhibitors that pay the entry fees that pay for the judge have in large part spoken. They are not going to the shows so we are not paying. And when exhibitors don’t go to the shows and don’t pay the entry fees, we all pay. No one I know is asking for favors-they just want the same fair chance as everyone else paying the same entry fee to show in that class. May show management ought to provide a short survey form for the exhibitors when they close out their tab that would allow them to make comments about the judges and the show overall. Send those forms to the association, and let them review them; it might take some work but isn’t that what our annual membership fees are for?

Until the associations and judges decide to “clean up their act” I have two suggestions for the exhibitors. My Space and U-tube have become great venues on the internet to bring attention to problems both big and small. There are a number of blogs as well that deal with issues in the horse industry. Maybe the hunter exhibitors or all exhibitors for that matter should set up a site to keep track of the judges-sure there is the risk of some bias, but if you have been beaten by a rider that was disqualified by the judge, can it get any worse? Or maybe the hunter exhibitors need to wear arm bands that say “Judge me fairly”-maybe that would might jog the judge’s memory as to why they are there. If nothing else it might catch the judge’s attention and wake them up from that brief nap they want to take. Judging is hard, and I will be the first to admit it. I made some mistakes in my math on my judge’s card a few weeks ago, but I fixed the errors. I was approached by some trainers after the show as to why I placed things the way I did. I showed them my score sheets. Yes it was a long day, and in some classes I had to look past the fact that I knew the rider or owner of the horse. But people that know me understand I am going to place what I see in front of me at that moment, not what I know from the past. After all, I have to go look at myself in the mirror the next morning. And by the way, did I mention that I as wearing my glasses?

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