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Discuss horse riding and ownership on our Horse forum.

The tack room

A shocking piece if judging.....

11 replies

Saggyoldclothcatpuss · 27/08/2011 01:08

Ive been meaning to post about this since the event, just got round to it...
At a show recently, bigger than local, not quite county, a person I know of took a pony into the ring. The judge placed the pony down for a minor fault, a marking, which is actually acceptable in the breed standard. The owner took the pony out of the ring, masked the marking with makeup and entered the next class under the same judge. The pony was placed first in the class and went on to win the championship!
I am personally disgusted by this, piece of judging!
Firstly that the judge marked the pony down in the first place for an acceptable marking.
Second that they could be stupid...blind enoughto place the same animal wearing makeup!
The owner deserves a mention for using makeup in the first place, but surely the judge should have penalised them for it?

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jasper · 27/08/2011 01:23

priceless! But not unexpected, sadly

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Callisto · 27/08/2011 09:06

There are an awful lot of shite judges out there. I am permanently disgusted at the state of the horses in show hunter and working hunter classes - the fatter the horse the higher it is placed it seems.

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MitchiestInge · 27/08/2011 14:52

my favourite was the judge who said 'he is very chunky for a dartmoor', of an exmoor

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QuietTiger · 28/08/2011 17:13

My favourite was the judge who saw my well built Lusitano boy outside a Welsh cob class and told me he was a nice cob specimen!

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Saggyoldclothcatpuss · 30/08/2011 16:25

What got me was that this was a HOYS judge!

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Callisto · 31/08/2011 08:08

Which is one of the reasons that showing just doesn't interest me. It is so bloody cliquey and down to personal opinion.

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Saggyoldclothcatpuss · 31/08/2011 11:49

This judge also judged DD and her pony. It was the veteran class. She was placed low, she admits it wasnt her best performance. As the judge went down the line, she gave out rosettes and a few words of advice /encouragement. When she got to DD, she looked them up and down, said "I cant do anything for you" and walked away! She was a 12yo in a class of mainly adults. Bloody cow!

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Callisto · 31/08/2011 13:48

How nasty. Judges are meant to encourage young riders not make them feel like shite. This one is obviously on her own little power trip. Is there any point in making a formal complaint?

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Saggyoldclothcatpuss · 31/08/2011 13:55

It didnt even cross my mind at the time! I was too busy being annoyed! We didnt find out about the makeup incudent till after, that was the icing on the cake really! It just went to prove that she was a twat!

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rogersmellyonthetelly · 05/09/2011 13:58

Firstly, she should have known the breed standard, but with some like dales/fell, if you aren't a breed judge it can be really hard to distinguish between the finer points of the breed, particularly if it's not a very typey example (not saying this is the case here) that said, if you don't know the breed type you shouldn't be judging the class!
With the placing in the next class, I have to make notes on my entry sheet when judging so I don't cock up and forget some glaring error/fault when placing, otherwise I would really struggle with more than 10 or so in the class to remember who did what and which pony was clean limbed and which had a huge curb/splint/windgall. Not impossible that i would forget a White marking between classes if it had been artfully disguised in the mean time!
I know it's really hard to see the judges point of view sometimes, but having stood at the ring side wondering what the hell the judge is seeing that I'm not, and then having stood in the ring and judged classes, it's a completely different experience and actually a lot harder than anyone would guess or imagine, especially when you do an all day judging session with only a quick coffee between classes and a short break for lunch, sometimes I don't know how I'm still standing by the time I get to the championship!
Anyhow, I think what I'm trying to say is that judging is a tough job, which you don't get paid for, someone is always dissatisfied at the end of the day, but all you can do is judge what's in front of you in the class, make sure you are fair and consistent, and accept that you are only human and there will be the odd cock up, like this one.
Btw, the comment about not being able to do anything for her was inexcusable, I always make sure I have a constructive comment especially for the kids, as if we don't encourage them, where will showing be in 10 years time?
Showing can appear cliquey, but I've met some truly lovely people over the years, and I think any discipline can be a bit like that at higher levels, no one is just there for the day out, they want to win and will do anything they think they can get away with to make sure that happens.

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Saggyoldclothcatpuss · 05/09/2011 23:21

Well, on a nice note, DD went to another show yesterday. The judge couldn't have been nicer. Was cheerful, helpful, geed everyone along, made them laugh and didn't make any dubious decisions. She wasn't placed but came back really positive and happy.