Bit of rant - BSJA judging

[frannieuk]

Well, we went to Dorchester Show. Chucked it down as soon as we went into the ring for the BN and I had forgotten the studs so decided to have a bit of a hack around for experience

Jumped the 1st fine but landed disunited and legs abit akimbo and the 2nd fence came up a bit quick so we had a stop, jumped it on the second go and then came around to the 3rd.

As I got to it I realised that the front plank was down so I circled and pointed at it - the fence putter-uppers (!) were right next to it and hadn't realised! The judge didn't ring the bell or anything as I stopped, but as I came in to jump it once they'd rebuilt it, the judge gthen rang the bell as I was on my last stride and it completely threw me - reacted instinctively and ended up pulling out so was therefore eliminated.

I think it was bang out of order, surely the bell should be rung as you are passing the place where you stopped, not as you're mid take off, espcially as they hadn't rung it to stop me. I didn't complain as we'd had a stop anyway, but I am very disapoointed as I wanted to use it as a bit of a schooling round and it doesn't do the horses confidence any good to be pulled out. I know I should have probably just jumped anyway, but by the time I'd thought about it, I'd already reacted if that makes sense?
Got a good pic of us jumping the first fence though, and got to watch a fab display of the falconry in the rain!!
Thanks for listening if you get this far!

 

[Fiona]

Someone with more exp of SJ judging may correct me, but I think that's a bit mean. Seems sensible that bell should not have been sounded in last stride before fence. Even if the whole thing was a schooling exercise for you, you still did not get to complete the course which is what you had paid your entry fee to do.

And got wet as well!! - bet you were fun to be with coming home. I would have been spitting.

Fiona

 

[Patchwork]

The PC Area SJ this year was held on a windy day and featured an upright of planks that was constantly blowing down. We were told that if it blew down earlier on in our round we could choose to either jump it as it was (i.e. minus the top plank) or raise a hand to indicate to the judge to stop the clock and wait for it to be rebuilt... one competitor ended up with a ridiculous number of time penalties because she didn't signal to the judge so the clock kept running as the jump was rebuilt. Seemed dodgy to me (I thought raising a hand indicated that you were retiring?).

 

[Santa_Claus]

There are different ways of raising a hand its happened to me before if the pole is down safely I will jump as it is for examples had a 4 plank fence blow down leaving one plank at bottom and three on top of each other in front of the fence literally as I approached so as on a good stride and the planks were at a safe distance etc I jumped it as was.

On another occasion the jump itself was fine but the number had been left infront of the fence from the previous class' jumpoff (i was first to go in next class) in my opinion it wasn't safe so i came to a stop raised my hand and pointed to the offending fence. Judges couldn't see problem so were a bit unsure as to what I was doing but coursebuilder quickly remedied. I still was at a loss how as a whole class of riders none of us had spotted it when walking the course to be honest!!

They are not required to ring the bell when you pull up as you are pulling up not them pulling up you. They are though meant to ring the bell to allow you to restart. In your case it would depend on how quickly after the fence being rebuilt you had attempted the fence, If the course builder had raised his hand (to indicate rebuilt) and you literally were already on route to the fence then the judges were not at fault and had given a sensible time for the coursebuilder to move away. If the coursebuilder had raised his hand you had then ridden a half circle and then approached the fence lets say 20 secs later then the judges should have rung the bell earlier and not when you were literally about to take off.

Hope that makes the situation a bit clearer but either way you shouldn't restart until the bell is rung even if the bell wasn't rung when you stopped which it almost never would be as you chose to pull up and not jump the fence as it stood.

Katie

 

[frannieuk]

That makes it a bit clearer - thanks Santa

I didn't realise they didn't ring the bell to stop as it I thought it was part of the timing thing?
Hopefully it won't arise again

 

[dieseldog]

They were actually doing you a favour as they managed to ring the bell before you took off, if they hadn't and you had jumped it you would technically have been eliminated.

 

[Peanot]

[ QUOTE ]
They were actually doing you a favour as they managed to ring the bell before you took off, if they hadn't and you had jumped it you would technically have been eliminated.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thats what I was going to say.
Also, I was told, only this morning as friend was getting ready for a show we were talking about it, and if you are on the way to a fence and it blows down, then if it is safe to jump, you can jump, unless they ring the bell. If they ring bell, you must stop, unless you are comitted obviously. If they don`t ring the bell and you stop or pull out, you can be penalised for it!
So to be on the safe side, only stop if bell goes - if it is safe to carry on and jump, then jump.

 

[goeslikestink]

um i have had that happen to rare its but have tuaght myself to have a good look round before the start bell and if anythings out of order say so

 

[MagicMelon]

If a fence is being rebuilt - I believe you do have to wait for the bell before continueing. So they were probably trying to NOT get you eliminated by very quickly ringing it as you were about to jump! Make sure you wait for the bell if any fence needs to be put back up.

 

[lizstuguinness]

i was jumping on a windy day, and about 5 strides from a upright plank fence the planks blew off in a heap. safe to jump so i carried on and ended up poping over a 2ft pile of planks as opposed to 4ft (fox).....

this is fine as the judges didnt ring the bell to stop me, had they rung the bell i would have had to stop to allow them to re build it!!!!

a few cross remarks (especialy as it was a dodgy fence which wasnt jumping well!) were made but totaly legal so nothing happened.