slightly perplexed

[windand rain]

was watching a Working hunter class today. Not something I normaly do nowadays the winner was a very forward pony with a tiny girl on that jumped clear then bogged off in the individual. Second was a horse that napped and reared for at least 10 minutes before it got to the first fence then jumped clear and did a nappy but reasonable show. Third was an impeccably behaved pony that jumped clear all be it by a circuitous route due to rider getting lost nno track crossing that I could see the other placings went to the ones that didnt really jump I appreciate it must have been hard but what order would you hae placed them. Personally I would have chucked the rearing napping one out after a few minutes

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Difficult to say without seeing the confo of the ponies involved but usually jumping/jumping style and manners take precedence. It certainly sounds as if the 3rd placed pony is the one any normal parent would want for their child.

 

[Goldenstar]

Did it do it’s rearing and napping behind the judges

 

[windand rain]

Did it do it’s rearing and napping behind the judges

no they stood watching it

 

[splashgirl45]

i would agree the 3rd pony sounded like the best. the other 2 had bad issues from what you say and wouldnt want to put a child on them..

 

[cauda equina]

I wonder if it's to do with the points system of judging?

 

[splashgirl45]

it is quite likely it is but common sense should override the points system IMO... the points system should be there to assist with the judging not decide it again IMO...

 

[Pearlsasinger]

You can't over-ride the points because the connections can look at the score sheets, if you are running the class under BSPS rules and most shows do a version of them. However the manners score can be adjusted for a poor display. The jumping score is usually 50% of the marks so a clear round will be most likely to be highly placed.

If you are not actually standing where the judge is, you can't see what the judge can see - and you may have different priorities.

 

[splashgirl45]

i dont mean completely override but as you say the manners score is important as well as the jumping so the result should represent that as well

 

[Pearlsasinger]

i dont mean completely override but as you say the manners score is important as well as the jumping so the result should represent that as well

The trouble is that manners only count for about 20% over all. A clear round gets you 50% with 20 % available for jumping style and manners and then another 10 in the 'show' section for manners, so it is very difficult to over-ride the jumping score.

Some novice judges get carried away and mark the early horses in the class too high and then have nowhere to go to mark a better horse higher, so that can skew the marks too! I must say that personally I would have given a rearing child's pony very few marks for manners in the jumping phase!

 

[splashgirl45]

thanks for that ,i have stewarded for normal showing classes at county shows but never working hunter and didnt realise that the manners portion was so low. yes a rearing pony (or horse) should be penalised...

 

[Micky]

County level showing..(Cheshire) nappy half rearing won’t stand still in line up at all, reasonable show, over weight, come first..I do wonder where they get their judges from sometimes! 🙈