Rude Showing Judge?

[silkec]

I just reviewed the video we took at the Royal Windsor Veteran Showing a few days ago. My daughter was competing in the In Hand Class, and being judged by two of the highest judges in that type of showing.

I was shocked to see that one of the judges did the individual inspection with my daughter, and then asking her to do the usual walking away and trotting back past in a large half circle and a halt.

Half way through the trot the judge simply turned her back to my daughter and walked away. My daughter stood up her pony in her final halt and tried to greet the judge, just to find out that she had long gone already.

I cannot believe that this can be considered proper judging, especially at a Show where you pay £40 per class to enter.

Are there rules for correct judging manners? Should I complain (obviously not in order to change the result, but in general)?

 

[Tiffany]

Did the judge see them trotting towards & passed her? Some judges just go to next competitor if they have seen them pass and others see them trot until they are back in line.

Think it depends how many competitors and how much time they have allocated for class.

 

[humblepie]

Unfortunately can happen. My horse has won serious classes and has very good conformation but at a show last year, OH told me the conformation judge did not watch him at all but was talking to the steward the whole time. Was odd as conformation judge had said don't need to see him as you were in the earlier class. I said that we had not been but obviously was not interested at all. Hey ho, such is showing.

 

[popsdosh]

It would be normal in higher level shows as the judge will already have seen enough of your horse to make their mind up .They obviously did not see you as in contention in that class .

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

As said above, if horse is past the judge in trot & time is pushed, then they will turn to the next one.

What IS rude is a judge who turns away before you have even got the horse towards them. I had one once who was not looking when I turned in walk to trot back - so I halted & waited till they 'bothered' to look - boy were they a little red faced as the steward saw what I had done & had to point out to the judge that I was waiting for their opinion Worth doing if you are brave enough sometime

 

[KidnapMoss]

Shouldn't be nomal though and is one of my pet hates (I show my M&M at local and county level) if you have paid for the class, got up at the crack of dawn, schooled your pony, bathed your pony etc etc, then it's common courtesy for a judge to give you his/her time, I always end my ridden show with a square halt, nod and smile at the judge and it makes you feel very despondent if they haven't bothered to watch you finish! OP I am afraid it happens, sadly probably won't make a difference if you complain, do what I do and have a little black book of judges, there's some who are utterly delightful and others I wouldn't go under again!!

 

[silkec]

Shouldn't be nomal though and is one of my pet hates (I show my M&M at local and county level) if you have paid for the class, got up at the crack of dawn, schooled your pony, bathed your pony etc etc, then it's common courtesy for a judge to give you his/her time, I always end my ridden show with a square halt, nod and smile at the judge and it makes you feel very despondent if they haven't bothered to watch you finish! OP I am afraid it happens, sadly probably won't make a difference if you complain, do what I do and have a little black book of judges, there's some who are utterly delightful and others I wouldn't go under again!!

Thanks, I certainly will start my book with this lady!

 

[yeeharider]

As said above, if horse is past the judge in trot & time is pushed, then they will turn to the next one.

so I halted & waited till they 'bothered' to look - boy were they a little red faced as the steward saw what I had done & had to point out to the judge that I was waiting for their opinion

Good for you,what bad manners the judge is showing. I judge both ih-hand and ridden at county level and believe that every competitor deserves the judges consideration and attention,they have all paid their entry fee,put in the time and effort to turn out on the day,and should all be given equal time and consideration Sadly this is not always the case

 

[silkec]

As said above, if horse is past the judge in trot & time is pushed, then they will turn to the next one.

so I halted & waited till they 'bothered' to look - boy were they a little red faced as the steward saw what I had done & had to point out to the judge that I was waiting for their opinion

Good for you,what bad manners the judge is showing. I judge both ih-hand and ridden at county level and believe that every competitor deserves the judges consideration and attention,they have all paid their entry fee,put in the time and effort to turn out on the day,and should all be given equal time and consideration Sadly this is not always the case

You put my thoughts in words! It is about respect towards the competitor!
My daughter got up a 5am on Wednesday for the Royal Windsor Show, spent numerous hours together with me washing the pony over and over again due to the muddy grounds and was an absolute gem of politeness when it came to talking and listening to the judges. And of course, we spent a fortune one those entries! To walk away in the middle of my daughter's individual presentation was anything else than good judging!!

May we all have your name and a list of shows your are judging, .....(just kidding!)

 

[3bh]

Did she ASK for the half circle and halt from every competitior?

The usual procedure in hand is walk away, trot back - given there were huge entry numbers in those classes on a tight schedule, i don't see a problem in the judge watching the necessary bit, she is after all loooking for straightness in the movement at that point, (she has seen you trot side on etc before) - and the quickly move on to the next competitior in order to flow through the class, rather than wait for everyone to do whatever they decide to do. In the conformation section of ridden classes as soon as you have trotted back judge has often moved onto the next competitior already lined up alongside you.

However if she specifically requested that you carry on trotting and come back to halt, then yes, she should have watched all of it.

 

[silkec]

Did she ASK for the half circle and halt from every competitior?

The usual procedure in hand is walk away, trot back - given there were huge entry numbers in those classes on a tight schedule, i don't see a problem in the judge watching the necessary bit, she is after all loooking for straightness in the movement at that point, (she has seen you trot side on etc before) - and the quickly move on to the next competitior in order to flow through the class, rather than wait for everyone to do whatever they decide to do. In the conformation section of ridden classes as soon as you have trotted back judge has often moved onto the next competitior already lined up alongside you.

However if she specifically requested that you carry on trotting and come back to halt, then yes, she should have watched all of it.

Yes, they wanted to see the "Oldies" trotting in a turn, probably in order to see how sound they are. And there was in fact two judges, the other one still busy with the next competitor, so there was no apparent need to rush away.
(I obviously can judge only what I have seen on the video and what my daughter told me)

 

[3bh]

Yes, they wanted to see the "Oldies" trotting in a turn, probably in order to see how sound they are. And there was in fact two judges, the other one still busy with the next competitor, so there was no apparent need to rush away.
(I obviously can judge only what I have seen on the video and what my daughter told me)

That I understand now, it is quite common to ask a veteran to carry on trotting past their straight line so you can indeed see them cornering. If this is what she asked for then this is what she watched- the stop and halt is not part of the request, and not really the "done thing" in in hand classes unless you have a dot on top and its called lead rein then! ;-) hehe!

 

[NooNoo59]

As a competitor I am always respectful and polite to judges and do exactly as they ask. I expect to be treated in return with a smile, constructive comments and politeness, I REALLY object to being judged by someone who never smiles or talks to you and just looks down there nose at you. My pony is my star and I work hard to get the best out of him, everyone in a class deserves the right to be judged in the best manner possible and treated equally along with fellow competitors who ever they might be, this is exactly why showing gets a bad name !

 

[silkec]

As a competitor I am always respectful and polite to judges and do exactly as they ask. I expect to be treated in return with a smile, constructive comments and politeness, I REALLY object to being judged by someone who never smiles or talks to you and just looks down there nose at you. My pony is my star and I work hard to get the best out of him, everyone in a class deserves the right to be judged in the best manner possible and treated equally along with fellow competitors who ever they might be, this is exactly why showing gets a bad name !

I fully agree here! Even though not everyone can be the winner of the class, we all look at our horses as "stars", especially children. If my daughter decides to stop showing because of impolite behaviour of judges, and if 1000s of other kids would join her, then these ladies and gents will be soon out of business!

There is no excuse for bad manners - as a competitor you'll be excused from the ring, and as a judge you should definitely lead with an example of correct behaviour in order to spark the same from competitors!

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Ah but if such things didn't happen then it wouldn't be showing and it wouldn't be being talked about would it?