P'd off !! Dressage judge forgot me . . . .

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Notimetoride

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Turned up in plenty of time for my test and trundled down to the warm up ring for a quick 10 min warm up - long warm ups don't work with my horse. Realised no judge in car. Then it went past my time and still no judge. Husband went to investigate to find judge tucking into a bacon roll and my name on the list as w/d ??? Husband corrected them on that and told them I was there 10 mins prior to my test and they said someone else had withdrawn meaning they had run early. They told him they would come and judge me, but that then wasn't for another 15 mins - they carried on with their break ! Eventually after a total of 25 mins they came and judged me, AFTER they had issued the sheets and rosettes, and I was awarded 6.5 on the entire sheet apart from 1 8. Makes me feel they didn't even watch my test and had to mark me low ish so as not to upset the placings. I'm totally flabberghasted at what they have done. They were more than happy to take my £15 tho.
 
That's dreadful, poor you! I once got judged by a judge who, by their own admission, couldn't see past B or E. I got identical scores for movements at A that I got for the ones I did at C.
Makes you wonder what the point is sometimes of getting plaited up, suited up, boxed up, warmed up etc...
 
That's terrible! You should get at least some of your entry fee back. Any competitions I've helped at it (which is a good few) doesn't matter if they run ahead, no one should ever be expected to go ahead of time. A steward can by all means ask if you'd like to go early, but you'd certainly not be obliged to.

From a scoring perspective, even with all 6.5s and one 8, that may well have put you in the placings, the scorers may not have been made aware they were waiting on another sheet. That's happened to me more than once as a scorer, all the class placed to find another sheet turns up and everything needs redone. Scorers are often tucked away unaware of what's going on other than sheets coming in. If they don't get the info they can't act on it.
 
sarahann1 said:
That's terrible! You should get at least some of your entry fee back. Any competitions I've helped at it (which is a good few) doesn't matter if they run ahead, no one should ever be expected to go ahead of time. A steward can by all means ask if you'd like to go early, but you'd certainly not be obliged to.

From a scoring perspective, even with all 6.5s and one 8, that may well have put you in the placings, the scorers may not have been made aware they were waiting on another sheet. That's happened to me more than once as a scorer, all the class placed to find another sheet turns up and everything needs redone. Scorers are often tucked away unaware of what's going on other than sheets coming in. If they don't get the info they can't act on it.
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I checked all the scores and I was second last. Yet at another venue a couple of weeks ago we were 2nd with 73%. I average high 60's. But not today funnily enough. I just can't believe this can happen at a very well known competition centre
 
Was it BD? I would complain tbh and ask for a refund. If not, post a link to this thread on the competition centre's facebook page.
 
No you don't have to. I've been there many many many times and and when I first started going there I used to go and check in but they always told me no need. so obviously I stopped. I'm known there and know how it all runs. The flipping judge should have just waited in her car until after my due time (I was in the collecting ring 10 mins early)

No it was just unaff. I did speak to the secretary afterwards and she was full of apologies. But I know I was unfairly marked down as they had already done the placings when I did my test. I will stick to BD from now on I think if this is how unaff wotks 😥
 
Well if you were on the writers sheet as W/D then writer and judge were not expecting to see you. It's not the judges fault that someone made this mistake. Maybe the judge needed a break if they'd just done a few hours of judging. Also not the judges fault that scores and places awarded before you were judged. The stewards / person in charge on the day are the ones to blame. They put you and the judge in an impossible situation that could have been avoided.
 
I know you feel you were marked unfairly. You may have been,or you may not have been. Dressage is only one persons opinion,I have had scores varying from 63% to 74% for the same prelim test where I thought my horse worked the same as he always does.
At the end of the day, were YOU pleased with your horses behaviour? his work? his attitude? If the answers yes, who cares what the judge thinks anyway? You've had a good day :)
 
If you feel really strongly about it you could ask for your money back. You were not part of the competition if the rosettes were awarded before you were judged.

Personally I would not bother, and just chalk it up to experience.

Maybe if you do complain, do it in writing, so you can proof read it for reasonableness. It would be a shame to lose a venue through a mix up, and I do think that a mix up is all that it is.

I sometimes work in the office at a local venue, and if the prizes were given before someone was judged, and they made a complaint, they would have got a refund. The owner would have been mortified that someone had travelled all that way, plaited etc, and then the prizes were given so they were not part of that competition. It is about preserving goodwill. If you really would not go back then a reasonable letter explaining why you feel so aggrieved may see the venue wish to restore the goodwill.
 
Ive seen this happen at miniature horse classes before...someone turned up but was not aware their class was on cause the steward was crap (so did not call out the class/entant despite them standing there) and just waited for others to come in and did whatever class they were doing. They were judged at the end too and given a rosette but fortunately were in time for the championship.
 
Mari said:
Well if you were on the writers sheet as W/D then writer and judge were not expecting to see you. It's not the judges fault that someone made this mistake. Maybe the judge needed a break if they'd just done a few hours of judging. Also not the judges fault that scores and places awarded before you were judged. The stewards / person in charge on the day are the ones to blame. They put you and the judge in an impossible situation that could have been avoided.
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Indeed. I feel for the judge here - they can only work with the information they've been given and if they're told you've withdrawn, why on earth would they wait on the off chance. And they are entitled to their break - unaff judges don't get much for their trouble.

As for the marks, it's entirely possible that the judge just didn't like the test, or that the horse was past its best given the longer warm up (annoying but you're in good company on that one - thinking 2012 eventing, AN and some rather inclement weather iirc). Not saying I wouldn't be annoyed, but probably better to focus that on the organisers rather than the judge themselves.
 
I think the situation could have been turned around to everyone's satisfaction if the judge had come back down to the ring (where I was) as soon as the error was highlighted. But they didnt. I was left hanging around another good 10 mins before they came and judged me. Basically they added me onto the beginning of the next class (but I was obviously riding the previous test). When my husband went to the office to bring the problem to their attention, he was told by the secretary that the judge would come back down to judge me. I just wonder if I had done an outstanding test what they would have done about the placings, as they had already issued the sheets and prizes when I rode my test.
Ive calmed down a bit now and will just take it on the chin, but will be very mindful in future to avoid this happening again.
For the record, my horse behaved impeccably, waited patiently for over an hour between the Prelim and Novice tests, and tried her little heart out for me. Love her to bits. Thank you all for your views on this - much appreciated :-)
 
How terribly frustrating for you, I would be really annoyed and probably complain in writing. I always feel it's unfair when things like this happen...of course it's really all about the experience and the horse behaving etc but at the same time it's so disheartening to think that your lovely little horse tried her heart out and didn't really have the opportunity to be placed for her efforts.
Had something similar happen only last weekend with an incredibly unorganised riding club show, so I feel your pain.
 
JFTD said:
Indeed. I feel for the judge here - they can only work with the information they've been given and if they're told you've withdrawn, why on earth would they wait on the off chance. And they are entitled to their break - unaff judges don't get much for their trouble.

As for the marks, it's entirely possible that the judge just didn't like the test, or that the horse was past its best given the longer warm up (annoying but you're in good company on that one - thinking 2012 eventing, AN and some rather inclement weather iirc). Not saying I wouldn't be annoyed, but probably better to focus that on the organisers rather than the judge themselves.
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Yes i take your point and do think now with hindsight you may be right. However I had to pay to be there. I forked out £15 for what was basically just 4 minutes of arena hire. Nice arena tho !
 
I think if you had scored to place they would have just awarded you the rosette and of they post the results they would have been corrected. I did a winter indoor trec competition few months back and did the top score class. You do the obstacles 1 to 10 as usual then with whatever time you have left you can do whatever ones you want, with a chosen obstacle as joker which scores double. It was only until after when we'd all collected sheets and I perused score sheet during lunch that I realised they'd missed off about 4 obstacles I'd done. I complained and it all took time but in the end I bumped up from 5th to 2nd place. Long story short they'd already given the rosettes out so they just gave me the correct one and it was recorded correctly.

I feel for the judge as don't think it was their fault. I would have just asked for money back as like you say the competition was technically over.

Just a separate note if you only have a 10 min warm up I would still let steward know you were there as technically judges can call you 10 mins before your start time.
 
As they had already given out the placings you should have been asked if you wanted to be judged H/C or not at the start of the next class, with grovelling apologies for withdrawing you by mistake and at least a partial refund.
was there a collecting ring steward?
 
Elbie said:
I think if you had scored to place they would have just awarded you the rosette and of they post the results they would have been corrected. I did a winter indoor trec competition few months back and did the top score class. You do the obstacles 1 to 10 as usual then with whatever time you have left you can do whatever ones you want, with a chosen obstacle as joker which scores double. It was only until after when we'd all collected sheets and I perused score sheet during lunch that I realised they'd missed off about 4 obstacles I'd done. I complained and it all took time but in the end I bumped up from 5th to 2nd place. Long story short they'd already given the rosettes out so they just gave me the correct one and it was recorded correctly.

I feel for the judge as don't think it was their fault. I would have just asked for money back as like you say the competition was technically over.

Just a separate note if you only have a 10 min warm up I would still let steward know you were there as technically judges can call you 10 mins before your start time.
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No they cant. You can be invited to ride your test early but you're not obliged to. Youre within our rights to make them wait until your allotted time (tho I have never made them wait and am always happy to go in early)
 
ester said:
As they had already given out the placings you should have been asked if you wanted to be judged H/C or not at the start of the next class, with grovelling apologies for withdrawing you by mistake and at least a partial refund.
was there a collecting ring steward?
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Im not sure there was. There was someone there who seemed to know what was going on and went off to sort out my problem but did nothing meaning my husband then had to go to the office to try to rectify it. Normally that venue doesnt have any stewards and the competitors organise themselves. Usually it works pretty well but today something clearly went awry.

Yes, if they had done what you suggest I feel that would have rectified the problem to some extent and I wouldnt have been quite so upset about it. A partial refund would have been greatly appreciated as it costs so much to get out competing so a level playing field is always a good start !
 
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Notimetoride said:
No they cant. You can be invited to ride your test early but you're not obliged to. Youre within our rights to make them wait until your allotted time (tho I have never made them wait and am always happy to go in early)
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I was writing for a judge the other day and she said they could?
 
Elbie said:
I was writing for a judge the other day and she said they could?
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Ive no idea why she would say that.


Dressage Etiquette
• You will be assigned a ride time. You should not
be asked to ride earlier, and you cannot ask to
ride later. Ride times are set based on how long it
takes to ride each test, and they allow each rider to
properly schedule his or her warm-up.
• You may ride around the outside of the ri




4. If you have been given a time for the test, you do not have to enter the arena before this time, even if the
dressage judge asks you to do so.
 
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