Dressage judging

ihatework said:
I once got a comment that my leg yield was 'too lateral', I still PMSL at that comment now.
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You see I can understand that - too much sideways, not enough forwards (I am at fault with this!) but the funniest comment I have had this year (or maybe last year) was "Circle too round". ?! I would have loved to ask the judge what he/she meant by that.

Sorry for going off topic!
 
BeckyD said:
You see I can understand that - too much sideways, not enough forwards (I am at fault with this!) but the funniest comment I have had this year (or maybe last year) was "Circle too round". ?! I would have loved to ask the judge what he/she meant by that.

Sorry for going off topic!
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Yes, I came to that conclusion too. Although I hit the markers required in the test so it kind of confused me on the day. Too much sideways I would have expected to return to the track early.
Anyway, easy to see how all sorts of judging comments can be misinterpreted :) I've written for a number of judges and there is a clear split in the quality of comments, one L2 I have written for a few times always baffles me, god knows what the competitiors think!
 
ihatework said:
I think the funniest thing about that is that there are people commenting who haven't twigged its a joke!!
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It's still probably the funniest thing I've read recently!!!

I'll never forget when PS was told on her PSG sheet that CS needed to 'breathe more' in the changes...
 
Booboos said:
See I don't find that odd either. Couldn't he have been holding his breath because of tension?
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I find it an odd comment, although amusing at the same time.

While your interpretation is possibly/probably correct, it isn't the kind of comment that judges are trained to use in that kind of circumstance. And yes most people do know what the judge may have been 'getting at'

I just have visions of some half-blind old dressage judge (joke peeps!) watching to see if the horse is turning blue from lack of oxygen!!
 
In defence of judges - I'm a trainee, all judges and trainees have to go to a certain amount of judge training sessions and judge seminars a year to retain their list/status. Judging is volunteer with often not enough money to cover fuel let alone time etc. I think people should be a little more respectful to the judges who without them there would be no competitions.

With regards to the OPs post - you say you videod it? Would be interested to see the video if you have a link? As all other marks were low in your class then at least the judge was marking everyone else in a similar fashion. Unfortunately you win some and you loose some, chalk it down to experience but also try and look at the comments and discuss them with your trainer and maybe let them see the video of your test as well to see what went wrong
 
One of the greatest shames is that BD is not brininging judges' training into at least the 20th century. It would be very easy to set up a website with sample tests for trainee judges to judge. They could then discuss their scores and the reasoning behind them with other trainees and with teacher judges - it would be much easier to get a lot of practice and much easier to discuss the finer details of the decisions to award this or that mark. It could also be made transparent with non-trainee judges being able to view the tests and discussions.
 
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