Tonight, me, the clueless one is dressage writing?!

[poiuytrewq]

Ok so not knowing the first thing about dressage I saw a request for help and offered my services. Last time I banged in arena markers with a hammer.... Easy!
This time I'm told I've just volunteered for two hours of dressage writing!?
Does this simply mean I write what the judge says and that's it? (Please say yes!) do I write it exactly as she/he says it?
Are they going to realise I'm a dressage dimwit rather than diva and get irritated by it?
Bit out of my depth! Need to make the most out of doing my bit whilst competitions are local though so I don't turn into one of the members who get moaned about for never helping!

 

[Fuzzypuff]

I've done a fair bit of writing and they judges have always been lovely They will normally tell you how they will want you to write - probably the comment for the movement first, and then the mark. Sometimes they won't give a comment, only a mark. When the horse first comes in use this time to write out the top of the sheet. I normally wait until I have seen the number to write down number/horse/rider details as sometimes people don't turn up and venues don't like you to waste the sheets. If you miss a movement don't panic, wait until the end of the test and then ask the judge what it was. When each test finishes you need to pass the sheet to the judge to write in their comments. They may also ask you to keep the collectives for them, ie. write down the collective marks for each horse - the venue should give you a list of all competitors so you can write it on here. Remember to take a few pens with you, if you only take one it is bound to stop working! And have fun, you should find you learn stuff from it

 

[BobbyMondeo]

writing for the judge is really easy dont panic!!

You need to keep and eye on where the rider is, listen to the judge and just write what he or she says in the box and then the score in the box next to it. First time i did it i was nervous but it was actually fine If you are nervous, just have a word with the judge before hand im sure they will explain everything to you

 

[Kat]

Don't worry my mum wrote for dressage the other day and she barely knows one end of a horse from the other. You just have to listen and write quickly

 

[Gloi]

Don't worry about it. Just tell the judge you haven't done it before and I'm sure they'll be helpful. You can learn a lot that will help you if you ever compete from writing for a judge.

 

[hnmisty]

I wrote for my neighbour when she was judging once. Just try and make it legible so the poor person getting the marks sheet can read the feedback!

It was good fun, especially since we had a rather recently ex-racehorse who thought the boards were going to eat him

 

[kc100]

You will be fine, its easy once you get the hang of it. I write most weekends so here are some tips for you:

- Tell the judge it is your first time writing, they will go easier on you : )
- Take a number of pens with you, some venues provide them, some dont
- Check if this is an unaff or affiliated class; if its affiliated they have to wear bridle numbers so that will help you when you check who has come into the arena. If it is unaff not all (if any) will wear bridle numbers so before you start writing ask the steward/organiser if there are any withdrawals and ask him/her to come in and tell you if someone hasnt shown up, it will save you a bit of stress and wasted sheets.
- Try and keep your handwriting as neat as possible, it doesnt have to be perfect as you will be scribbling comments down quickly but the competitors want to be able to read their feedback from the judges, nothing more annoying than getting a sheet you cant read!
- The judge will normally give a comment and then the mark at the end of the movement, but if you are writing a particularly long comment and she/he gives the mark when you are in the middle of a comment, stop to write the mark down then carry on with the comment. The competitor will survive without a comment, but the marks a crucial!
- If you get a bit lost or the judge has not given a mark, refer to the movement by its number rather than for example 'free walk on a long rein' - that way its easier for the judge to find the movement they missed the mark for and give you one quickly
- Abbreviate where possible to save you time. For example it is fine to draw a square if the comment is 'halt not square' rather than writing out the word itself. Centre Line is 'CL', transition can be 'trans' if you find that easier, balance can be 'bal' etc. Dont be afraid to shorten a word if you think it will save you time and still be legible for the competitor.
- When a competitor goes wrong, put an asterix by that movement (anywhere is fine) to note where they went wrong. Then at the end of the test they will need 2 marks deducting, you will see a box at the bottom of the sheet saying something like 'first error of course' with 2 penalties next to it so I normally put a 2 in that box so when the organiser is adding up the marks they will deduct 2 marks.

You will have some tests where the competitor isnt having a great day so there will be a LOT of comments, those are the hardest for the writer as you have to keep up. But when someone is doing a good test often the judge wont have any comments for a lot of the movements and will just give a mark. So be prepared to have a few tests where you are scribbling furiously, and others where you will just be noting down the marks.

As others have said, at the end of the test you write the final comment and mark for the halt, then you give the sheet back to the judge who fills the bottom section in. You dont have to do any maths - the organiser will normally take the sheets away where they add up the scores and work out the percentage.

Good luck and have fun - it really is quite easy when you get used to it and fingers crossed everyone does a good test so you dont have so much to write!

 

[Honey08]

Don't worry about it, its not hard and its very interesting. I volunteer whenever I can now.

Some shows will give you a pile of blank sheets and you have to fill the horse and rider etc in at the top of each form. Others will have filled them in already. They should hopefully also give you a list of competitors and times. If I have to fill these details in, I do as many as I can while first in the car, and then carry on with them while the judge is filling in their comments at the end. The judge will often ask for a sheet to read from too. As people have said, comments come first then marks, which helps you realise when you're into the next box! If you're not sure, ask "was that mark/comment for the change of rein" etc?


Make sure you can spell words that will come up regularly, ie, rhythm. Draw squares and circles to save time.

 

[Lexi_]

I second pretty much all of the above replies!

Don't be afraid about telling the judge that you've never done it before - they'd much rather that you took 5 mins beforehand to have a chat about how it'll work and how they like to do things rather than you not saying anything and then things going wrong half way through the first test.

Make sure you get the marks written down - they're essential. The comments are really useful and obviously you need to do your best to get them written too but it's not the end of the world if you have to miss one out. You'll probably find that the judge will often just give a mark with no comment which means you can look up from the test sheet and watch some of the action

Definitely use abbreviations - draw circles etc, use 1/2 instead of half, don't bother writing out the longer words. "Trans" will still make sense and transition takes far too long to write out!

Write the word rhythm on your hand or use a shortened version when you're writing during the test. It's one of those words that always looks wrong and look weirder the more you write it so you don't want to have a panic halfway through the session that you've been spelling it wrong the whole time

Also if you have a few spare minutes today, there are some practice tests you can run through on the British Dressage website. I did that before my first time dressage writing at a BE competition and it definitely helped me.

 

[limestonelil]

Hope you enjoy yourself tonight and def.rembr to abbr. and take a supply of pens. I agree with what other posters have said about practicalities, ptic writing quickly and staying organised.remember to listen hard to the judge, and after a little while you may well be able to watch the test as well as write correctly on your record sheet, so you will learn oodles from judges comments and see how you can ridea movement better/get yourself that extra mark. It can get a bit addictive for some people . great fun.