Practical Horseman "Ask the Judges" Clinic
The show I am currently attending has been sponsoring, along with Practical Horseman magazine, a series of clinics here on the show grounds. I missed the early ones on modeling and a mounted water jump clinic, but was able to attend the "Ask the Judges" talk tonight and I thought I would share some of the highlights with everyone here.
Just to provide some background, the judges present were Betty Oare, Scott Fitton, and Barry Lobel. The discipline is USEF Hunter/Jumper so keep that in mind if you compete in hunters in breed shows since the expectations may be different there. That said, here are the highlights roughly arranged into general topics.
Biggest Pet Peeves:
Overly short releases - this came up again and again, especially in regard to the equitation divisions and all three judges complained about the use of restrictive releases and how they interfere with the horse's jumping style. They did point out that they didn't want to see some huge overdone throw-your-arms release but said that it has become disturbingly prevalent to see riders planting their hands and horses jumping flat or downright inverted.
Another pet peeve was people who take an exaggerated tour of the ring before beginning their round. As one judge pointed out, if you need to show your horse most of the ring and fences it means you are not prepared.
A third dislike was riders who arrive at the ingate and then have to sit there going over the course for several minutes and holding up the ring before they begin their course. They all said they understand that trainers and riders may have conflicts that delay a class but felt that it is the riders responsibility to know the course and be prepared by the time they arrive at the ingate.
Rails and Rubs:
This was addressed for both the hunter and equitation divisions. In hunters, they all agreed that a rail was a major fault, exceeded in severity only by a refusal. They also stated that they considered a hard rub a fairly severe deduction, and that if the rail bounces or ends up tipped up on the cup edge, it might as well be a dropped rail. On the other hand, light rubs by a horse that otherwise jumps in good form are considered very minor and a good round by a nice horse that rubs one or two will still beat a lesser round or lesser horse.
In the equitation division it is a different matter. Rubs, other than ones where the rail only stayed in the cups by pure luck, are entirely dismissed. Rails, and severe rubs, are penalized at the discretion of the judge. If it is not the fault of the rider, the deduction will be mild, but if it is due to rider error, then the penalty will be similar to that used in the hunters. They did point out, however, that although you will occasionally see riders win with rails in the equitation, most of the time the rail is the riders fault (often due to that earlier mentioned pet peeve, the too short release) and therefore merits a deduction. They also said that they were slightly harder on even innocent rails in the jumper oriented medal classes.
Handy Classes:
For those of you unfamiliar with the USEF divisions, pony, junior and amateur-owner divisions are now required to have one handy round per division. This is a round that can include not only roll back turns and bending lines, but also trot or walk fences and hand gallops. The idea is to show the agility and rideability of your hunter and riders often choose to add in other flourishes such as proceeding directly to the first fence without an opening circle and finishing a course by coming immediately to a walk and exiting the ring without a closing circle.
Betty and Scott both emphasized that they would like to see a bit more pace in handy rounds. They also said that just because one rider does an extreme tight, inside turn it does not mean that everyone must do it. Consider your horse, they said, and if it would be better for you to go a little further out, or just barely around an extra fence, then do that because the bonus for extreme handiness is fairly small and doesn't make up for a rough turn or bad fence. That said, they did warn that making no attempt to show off your horse and using unnecessary space is a deduction.
The same goes for the extra, but not required, flourishes. For example, when it comes to a quick downward transition and exit after the last fence, they said go for it if your horse is good at that, but they would rather see someone go past the gate and do a nice transition as quickly as possible, rather than a rough or last minute walk right in front of the gate (for those who don't know, we are required to enter and exit the gate at a walk for safety reasons). As they pointed out, if it is not required (and it can be) that you walk immediately after the last fence, there is no deduction for failing to do so, but there may be a deduction for doing it badly. Yes, the quick transition demonstrates handiness and will earn points, but only if it is done well.
Odds and Ends:
They all said that they do not judge or try to form an opinion about a hack class before it has officially begun. They said are too busy trying to make sure they catch the rider's numbers and maybe a distinguishing feature in order to make later judging easier, and Scott pointed out, there's no need to pre-judge, they've usually seen the horses three or four times over fences and have a pretty good idea who the good movers are. Their suggestion was simply to do what is best for your horse, even if that is only to walk quietly until everyone is in the ring.
While they all say that it is expected that the horses mane be braided at the bigger shows, they all said that they do not care if the tail is done since they know that there may be valid reasons (hair loss, expense, odd tail carriage) for not braiding it. While they agreed that it definitely adds to the overall appearance, they do not mark down for the lack of a braided tail. They did qualify this to say that at the big year end shows, you would be better off to braid the tail since it is generally expected there.
They said they keep a running tally of rounds as the class progresses and that there is no disadvantage to going early, and in fact, being prompt and prepared might even be a plus.
On changing directions in flat classes (especially equitation) a simple small half-circle is preferred. They said they did not mark up or down for performing a turn on the haunches or other maneuver, and really they were unlikely to have the time to even watch carefully to see if it was done well or not. Again, it was a case of, not required - not rewarded.
If a line is marked as being over 100', they do not count the strides and don't penalize for doing one more or less as long as it is done smoothly and within the rhythm. The same goes for the bending lines sometimes seen in equitation classes but not marked with a distance on the course diagram, especially if there is not a course walk available prior to the class. That said, they pointed out that gross differences from the norm will be obvious and probably ugly and so will receive a deduction.
I think that about covers the worthwhile stuff. I do want to mention how nice and receptive all of the judges were, taking time to think and answer every question seriously and pleasantly, no matter it's degree of import. Betty Oare, who is the grande dame of show hunters, was particularly gracious and articulate, inviting the other judges opinions and just generally being the lovely example she is.
I hope that some of you have found this interesting and informative. I just thought it was worth my while to spread the knowledge around.
Just to provide some background, the judges present were Betty Oare, Scott Fitton, and Barry Lobel. The discipline is USEF Hunter/Jumper so keep that in mind if you compete in hunters in breed shows since the expectations may be different there. That said, here are the highlights roughly arranged into general topics.
Biggest Pet Peeves:
Overly short releases - this came up again and again, especially in regard to the equitation divisions and all three judges complained about the use of restrictive releases and how they interfere with the horse's jumping style. They did point out that they didn't want to see some huge overdone throw-your-arms release but said that it has become disturbingly prevalent to see riders planting their hands and horses jumping flat or downright inverted.
Another pet peeve was people who take an exaggerated tour of the ring before beginning their round. As one judge pointed out, if you need to show your horse most of the ring and fences it means you are not prepared.
A third dislike was riders who arrive at the ingate and then have to sit there going over the course for several minutes and holding up the ring before they begin their course. They all said they understand that trainers and riders may have conflicts that delay a class but felt that it is the riders responsibility to know the course and be prepared by the time they arrive at the ingate.
Rails and Rubs:
This was addressed for both the hunter and equitation divisions. In hunters, they all agreed that a rail was a major fault, exceeded in severity only by a refusal. They also stated that they considered a hard rub a fairly severe deduction, and that if the rail bounces or ends up tipped up on the cup edge, it might as well be a dropped rail. On the other hand, light rubs by a horse that otherwise jumps in good form are considered very minor and a good round by a nice horse that rubs one or two will still beat a lesser round or lesser horse.
In the equitation division it is a different matter. Rubs, other than ones where the rail only stayed in the cups by pure luck, are entirely dismissed. Rails, and severe rubs, are penalized at the discretion of the judge. If it is not the fault of the rider, the deduction will be mild, but if it is due to rider error, then the penalty will be similar to that used in the hunters. They did point out, however, that although you will occasionally see riders win with rails in the equitation, most of the time the rail is the riders fault (often due to that earlier mentioned pet peeve, the too short release) and therefore merits a deduction. They also said that they were slightly harder on even innocent rails in the jumper oriented medal classes.
Handy Classes:
For those of you unfamiliar with the USEF divisions, pony, junior and amateur-owner divisions are now required to have one handy round per division. This is a round that can include not only roll back turns and bending lines, but also trot or walk fences and hand gallops. The idea is to show the agility and rideability of your hunter and riders often choose to add in other flourishes such as proceeding directly to the first fence without an opening circle and finishing a course by coming immediately to a walk and exiting the ring without a closing circle.
Betty and Scott both emphasized that they would like to see a bit more pace in handy rounds. They also said that just because one rider does an extreme tight, inside turn it does not mean that everyone must do it. Consider your horse, they said, and if it would be better for you to go a little further out, or just barely around an extra fence, then do that because the bonus for extreme handiness is fairly small and doesn't make up for a rough turn or bad fence. That said, they did warn that making no attempt to show off your horse and using unnecessary space is a deduction.
The same goes for the extra, but not required, flourishes. For example, when it comes to a quick downward transition and exit after the last fence, they said go for it if your horse is good at that, but they would rather see someone go past the gate and do a nice transition as quickly as possible, rather than a rough or last minute walk right in front of the gate (for those who don't know, we are required to enter and exit the gate at a walk for safety reasons). As they pointed out, if it is not required (and it can be) that you walk immediately after the last fence, there is no deduction for failing to do so, but there may be a deduction for doing it badly. Yes, the quick transition demonstrates handiness and will earn points, but only if it is done well.
Odds and Ends:
They all said that they do not judge or try to form an opinion about a hack class before it has officially begun. They said are too busy trying to make sure they catch the rider's numbers and maybe a distinguishing feature in order to make later judging easier, and Scott pointed out, there's no need to pre-judge, they've usually seen the horses three or four times over fences and have a pretty good idea who the good movers are. Their suggestion was simply to do what is best for your horse, even if that is only to walk quietly until everyone is in the ring.
While they all say that it is expected that the horses mane be braided at the bigger shows, they all said that they do not care if the tail is done since they know that there may be valid reasons (hair loss, expense, odd tail carriage) for not braiding it. While they agreed that it definitely adds to the overall appearance, they do not mark down for the lack of a braided tail. They did qualify this to say that at the big year end shows, you would be better off to braid the tail since it is generally expected there.
They said they keep a running tally of rounds as the class progresses and that there is no disadvantage to going early, and in fact, being prompt and prepared might even be a plus.
On changing directions in flat classes (especially equitation) a simple small half-circle is preferred. They said they did not mark up or down for performing a turn on the haunches or other maneuver, and really they were unlikely to have the time to even watch carefully to see if it was done well or not. Again, it was a case of, not required - not rewarded.
If a line is marked as being over 100', they do not count the strides and don't penalize for doing one more or less as long as it is done smoothly and within the rhythm. The same goes for the bending lines sometimes seen in equitation classes but not marked with a distance on the course diagram, especially if there is not a course walk available prior to the class. That said, they pointed out that gross differences from the norm will be obvious and probably ugly and so will receive a deduction.
I think that about covers the worthwhile stuff. I do want to mention how nice and receptive all of the judges were, taking time to think and answer every question seriously and pleasantly, no matter it's degree of import. Betty Oare, who is the grande dame of show hunters, was particularly gracious and articulate, inviting the other judges opinions and just generally being the lovely example she is.
I hope that some of you have found this interesting and informative. I just thought it was worth my while to spread the knowledge around.